FREE REALLY THE BLUES PDF Mezz Mezzrow,Bernard Wolfe | 416 pages | 07 Apr 2009 | Souvenir Press Ltd | 9780285638457 | English | London, United Kingdom Mezz Mezzrow - Wikipedia Really the Blues helps Really the Blues keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Really the Blues and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details Really the Blues other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Really the Blues by Mezz Mezzrow. Really the Blues by Mezz Mezzrow. Bernard Wolfe. Barry Gifford Contributor. The story of Milton Mezzrow--a white kid who fell in love with black culture. First published in"Really the Blues" was a rousing wake-up call to alienated young whites to explore the world of jazz, the first music America could call its own. Told in the jive lingo of the underground's inner circle, this classic is an unforgettable chronicle of street life, Really the Blues clu The story of Milton Mezzrow--a white kid who fell in love with black culture. Told in the jive lingo of the underground's inner circle, this classic Really the Blues an unforgettable chronicle of street life, smoky clubs, and roadhouse dances. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published December 1st by Citadel Underground first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To Really the Blues what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Really the Bluesplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating Really the Blues. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Really the Blues. Jan Really the Blues, Stephen rated it really liked it. Talk about alternative paths. Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow blazed one through the jungle of conformity, "went black," lost time to drugs, fomented early 20th century jazz, became too familiar with jail, but remained focused on a vision. Were it not for the journey New Orleans jazz made up Really the Blues Mississippi to Chicago in the early paces of the 20th century, Milton Mezzrow would have had, like all of us, a story to tell, but no audience "Really The Blues" demonstrates how it's good to have something to do. Were it not for the journey New Orleans jazz made up the Really the Blues to Chicago in the early paces of the 20th century, Milton Mezzrow would have had, like all of us, a story to tell, but no audience. His story stands on three sturdy and Really the Blues novel legs. One was a total adhesion to all things African-American, or Negro, as they said in his day. A second was the aforementioned passion for a very specific jazz that came up out of the Crescent City and got amplified by his friend, Louis "Pops" Armstrong. The third was a commitment to the manifold virtues of marijuana or, as he alternately referred to it: golden leaf, gauge, muta, and -- highwayscribery's favorite -- muggles. Raised on Chicago's south side, "Mezz" landed in jail early. More stupid than criminal, his interest in the clarinet and saxophone kept Really the Blues young Jewish jailbird on the up-and-up; focused and ennobled his misbegotten Really the Blues. His story really takes form upon moving to New York with Gene Krupa and a tiara of future jazz-era jewels in an attempt at storming the music industry's gates with their hot new toy. Settling in Harlem, establishing his base at the intersection of rd Street and Seventh Ave. We're suggesting, without a hint of accusation, that Kerouac borrowed heavily from, or at least riffed on, the Mezzrow's mostly forgotten text. It's called research and is born of the writer's anthropological duty. Colorful or operatic, Mezzrow's life was rarely easy, but he kept blowing horns, in and out of jail, searching for a soul-state firmly rooted in his beloved New Orleans jazz. An uncompromising commitment to the style finally bore fruit in his savoring of Sidney Bechet's "Blues of Bechet" and "The Sheik of Araby. In a publication called "The Record Changer," reviewer Ernest Bornemen said that these tracks, "went back beyond Louis and beyond Bunk Johnson and beyond Buddy Bolden, to the very roots of music, to the cane and the rice and the indigo and the worksongs and the slave ships and the dance music of the inland Ashanti and the canoe songs of the Wolof and Mandingo along the Senegal River. Not as a professional poo-bah, but as proof that he had reached an important milestone in his musically inspired drive for spiritual wholeness. Mezzrow closes his tale by relating how writer Bernard Wolfe convinced him to cough-up an autobiography. Wolfe's words best describe what's on tap in "Really the Blues. It's a chunk of Americana, as Really the Blues say, and should get written. It's a real American success story, upside down: Horatio Alger standing on his head. It's the odyssey of an individualist, through a land where the population is manufactured by the system of interchangeable parts. It's the saga of a guy who wanted to make friends, in a jungle where everybody was too busy making money and dodging his own shadow. Mar 07, Peter Landau rated it really liked it. A Jewish ghetto snipe from Chicago, he was introduced to dixieland jazz on a stint in prison as a boy and never looked back. By the end of the book, Mezz has basically transitioned to a black man, or at least the prison categorizes him as one and holds him in a cellblock for black prisoners Really the Blues is in and out of jail a lot. He marries a black woman and lives in Harlem and goes out of his way to illustrate how fully he was accepted by other blacks as one of their own. View all 9 comments. Nov 07, J. The way-too-fun story of a white Jewish kid from Chicago who became ensconced in the nascent jazz scene Dixie-sish, or anything pre-hard bop in Chicago, New York, and Paris Really the Blues the 20s and 30s, and who Really the Blues came to identify himself as African-American. As you can see, there's a lot of appeal here. Me, I read it mostly because of the music. Mezz, a mediocre Really the Blues at best, did perform with and helped Really the Blues together a lot of New Orleans-sound bands and musicians, so he was kind of an inst The way-too-fun story of a white Jewish kid from Chicago who became ensconced in the nascent jazz scene Dixie-sish, or anything pre-hard bop in Chicago, New York, and Paris during the 20s and 30s, and who later came to identify himself as African-American. Mezz, a mediocre hornblower at best, did perform with and helped bring together a lot of New Orleans-sound bands and musicians, so Really the Blues was kind of an instrumental pivotal player through the scene while being a bit player instrumentally. He also sold pot in Harlem and got served up to Riker's for it where he said he was "colored" to get into that wing of the prisonwas an opium addict, and was involved in any number of criminal shenanigans so his memoir has all that going for him. For a white Jewish kid from Chicago, Mezz has some startling Really the Blues into black culture and what he sees as black psychological superiority over the neurotic white America he is a part of himself. This is my favorite book, ever. Huge, major, innsabely big influence on my life and world view. As I write this, I am beginning to get more than just a little wig fried out by the fact that he and I have had some very similar lives. We both sing the praises of Marijuana, This is my Really the Blues book, ever. We both sing the praises of Marijuana, Really the Blues it's potential for improving mental health and creativity. Mezzrow and myself share the same story telling abilities. He was Really the Blues original hipster. The jive dictionary alone is worth getting this one for. View all 3 comments. Aug 14, Janis rated it liked it. Really the Blues is the story of Milton Mesirow, a Jewish kid from Chicago possessed by jazz and black culture, as told to Bernard Wolfe. With its hip jive-talk and descriptions of clubs, dens and prisons, it captures an important time and place in American music. I loved best his experiences in my home town of Chicago, his observant descriptions of musicians, and Really the Blues is the story of Milton Mesirow, a Jewish kid from Chicago possessed by jazz and black culture, as told to Bernard Wolfe. Jul 31, Wally rated it it was amazing. Great book- wonderful historical insight and great tales- even though most of it probably isn't true! Aug 06, Harold rated it really liked it Shelves: bio-autobio Really the Blues, music. Gotta love Mezz. A true character Really the Blues the earlier days of jazz. It's a very enjoyable and entertaining book. Mezz was around when it all happened and made some records with many jazz greats of the era - but truth be told - he was there mainly as a source of marijuana to musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, etc.