Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information Yonder Come the Blues combines three influential and much-quoted books: Savannah Syncopators; Blacks, Whites and Blues; and Recording the Blues. Updated with additional new essays, the book discusses the crucial early development of the blues as a music of Blacks in the United States, explaining some of the most significant factors that shaped this music. Together, these three texts emphasise the significance of the African heritage, the mutuality of much white and black music and the role of record- ing in consolidating the blues, thus demonstrating the importance of these formative elements in its complex but combined socio-musical history. Redressing some of the misconceptions that persist in writing on African American music, this book will be essential reading for all enthusiasts of blues, jazz and country music and will be important for students of African American studies and music, popular music and popular culture. is Director of the Centre for Vernacular Architecture Studies at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University. As well as hav- ing published works on architecture, he has researched and published extensively on blues and African American music, including Blues Fell This Morning, Conversation with the Blues and Songsters and Saints, also published by Cambridge University Press. is a freelance writer on blues, jazz and country music. He was editor for many years of the journals Old Time Music and Jazz Express and was the compiler and author of the compact disc series The Blues Collec- tion. He is the author of The Blues, from Robert Johnson to Robert Cray (). . is Director of the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia, and has published several books with Cambridge University Press, including Ergativity and The Rise and Fall of Languages. The fourth edition of his Blues and Gospel Records – was published in . , who died in , published discographies of the blues in specialist journals. He was co-author with Robert M. W. Dixon of Blues and Gospel Records in its first three editions. A noted discographer, , joined the team for the fourth edition and contributes an essay for this book. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information YONDER COME THE BLUES The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver Tony Russell Robert M. W. Dixon John Godrich and Howard Rye © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521787772 Yonder Come the Blues © Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, R. M. W. Dixon, the Estate of J. Godrich 2001 and Cambridge University Press Savannah Syncopators © Paul Oliver Blacks, Whites and Blues © Tony Russell Recording the Blues © R. M. W. Dixon and J. Godrich This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published as three volumes by Studio Vista 1970 and in the USA by Stein and Day Publishers (November Books) 1970 First published as a single volume as Yonder Come the Blues by Cambridge University Press 2001 Reprinted 2012 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Yonder come the blues: the evolution of a genre / Paul Oliver . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes index. Discography Contents: Yonder come the blues: introduction / Paul Oliver – Savannah syncopators: African retentions in the blues / Paul Oliver – Blacks, Whites and blues / Tony Russell – Recording the blues / Robert M. W. Dixon & John Godrich – Afterword / Howard Rye. isbn 0 521 78259 7 (hardback); 0 521 78777 7 (paperback) 1. Blues (Music) – History and criticism. 2. Afro-Americans – Music – History and criticism. I. Oliver, Paul, 1927– ML521.Y 2001 781.–dc21 00-028917 isbn 978-0-521-78259- Hardback isbn 978-0-521-78777-2 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other factual information given in this work is correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information CONTENTS List of illustrations viii Introduction: Yonder come the blues Paul Oliver Book one: Savannah syncopators African retentions in the blues Paul Oliver • Afternoon – Nangodi • Africa and the jazz historian • Music in West Africa • Savannah song • The source of the slaves • Africa and the blues Bibliographical notes Acknowledgements © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information vi • CONTENTS • Afterword Glossary of African instruments Glossary of tribes and people Record list Book two: Blacks, Whites and blues Tony Russell Foreword • Minstrelsy • Old familiar tunes • Letting out the blues • ‘That’s the idea of the white people’ • Out West • Out East Bibliography • Afterword Bibliography Recommended recordings (including CD reissues) © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information vii • CONTENTS Book three: Recording the blues Robert M. W. Dixon and John Godrich Foreword • Birth of an industry • The new market, – • The classic blues, – • Into the field, – • Hard times, – • Urban blues, – • End of an era, – Further information • Afterword Howard Rye Index to Book Index to Book Index to Book © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information ILLUSTRATIONS Book one: Savannah syncopators Paul Oliver • Fra-Fra musicians, Nangodi, Ghana • The slave compound, Elmina Castle, Ghana • King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band • Dan Emmett and Billy Whitlock of the Virginia Minstrels, s • Veteran banjo player, Happy Mose, • Ashanti drum orchestra • An Ewe master drummer • Chicago street band; photo, Big Bill Broonzy • West Africa: linguistic areas © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information ix • ILLUSTRATIONS • West Africa: vegetation • Jali Nyama Suso of Gambia, playing the -string kora, London, • Griots playing a halam duet, Senegal • Lobi musicians, Lawra, Ghana • Tuareg woman playing the inzad • Stem and hollow-log drums of the West African rain forest • Tribes of West Africa (adapted from G. P. Murdock) • Algaïta players, from Denham, Clapperton and Oudney’s Narratives • Savannah instruments with one or more strings • Butch Cage, fiddle, Willie Thomas, guitar and Mrs Thomas, patting, Zachary, LA • Fingering positions of griot Amadou Coly Sall Book two: Blacks, Whites and blues Tony Russell • Charlie Poole • Chris Bouchillon, the instigator of the ‘talking blues’ © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-78777-2 - Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye Frontmatter More information x • ILLUSTRATIONS • ‘Comic and Coon Songs’. A page from the Victor catalogue, c. • ‘Old Familiar Tunes’. Cover of the Columbia Records catalogue,