Really the Blues by Photographs by Stephen Green, Interviews by Mindy Giles

The startling photographs featured here are by Stephen Green, whose fine Going to Chicago, (in the same large format), was a big success in 1990 and is still available from Woodford Press. Interviews by Mindy Giles are with bluesmen located in the Delta, the Southwest and the West. Their names are mostly unknown. They liken blues to the Bible and offer, as the following excerpts reveal, pertinent notes on inspiration that apply equally well to jazz.

Marcia Wright: “What the blues is about, getting on with it all.” Henry Townsend: “Serious music, connects with your life.” Otis Clay: “It’s all about respect.” Scott Carr: “A simple thing, feeling good.” Willie Foster: “An expression of life.” Charlie Musselwhite: “A place that takes over and plays you. Anyone that improvises looks for that place.”

These insightful quotes constitute a recommendation for this fine book.

Originally Published January 1, 1998