Ted Gioia (pronounced “joy ya”) has written an amazingly interesting and readable book about the origins of the blues, covering key song writers and entertainers along with the people who promoted and recorded them. To date I have yet to find a more enjoyable book on the subject. He covers the history in fine detail but it reads like a novel.

He also offers a list of 100 songs that blues fans should hear to get a broad perspective of the blues talent that has come out of the Mississippi delta. A pet project of mine over the last couple of weeks was to create an iTunes play list on my iPod of these songs. I found over 50 of the tunes in my cd collection and had to track down the rest on line. What a journey!

Ted’s book has allowed me to discover dozens of musicians I never would have found otherwise. Each one with a distinctive sound and tone with their guitar style and voice. In some cases, instead of just buying the song or two on the list I bought the entire album because the additional cost was not significant. Some of these old albums have 14 or more songs on them for $7.00. It goes without saying my blues collection has grown in recent weeks.

One point I’d like to make, many of the songs I was hearing for the first time from the original artist were songs that bands from the 60’s and 70’s covered. Hearing the originals, along with learning about the lives of the creators made the music come alive all over again. As if I was hearing them for the first time again.

Ted has done us all a great favor. He has made something new out of something old while reminding us of the origins of the music that has been the sound track of our generation. No small feat.

More importantly get a copy of the book. It will change the way you listen to music, that wonderful cultural reservoir we all have all enjoyed through the years. I promise you that if you read it you will understand why there are 500 blues societies around the world and why one of them is the White ock Blues Society right here in your backyard.

Rodney Dranfield
White Rock Blues Society
www.whiterockblues.com