Murder at the Crossroads by Doug MacLeod & Debra Schiff
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Murder at the Crossroads

Murder at the Crossroads by Doug MacLeod & Debra Schiff   A NEW MYSTERY FOR MUSIC FANS “Murder at the Crossroads” transports the traditional mystery into the world of blues music. It was cowritten by Doug MacLeod, a world-touring,…
“The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture,” by Chris Thomas King (Chicago Review Press Inc.)
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The Blues – The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture

The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture, by Chris Thomas King (Chicago Review Press Inc.) Review by Randy Murphy In his new book, “The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture,” Chris Thomas King sets out…
Bobby Rush Autobiography - I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya
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Bobby Rush Autobiography- I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya

Bobby Rush Autobiography - I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya By Randy Murphy “All bluesmen are optimists,” Bobby Rush explains in his splendid new autobiography I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya.” “You almost gotta be. The next record. The next big gig.…
Looking to Get Lost
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Looking to Get Lost

Looking to Get Lost  Adventures in Music and Writing By Peter Guralnick  Review by Greg Johnson  Peter Guralnick is arguably one of the foremost musical historians and biographers of our time. His books on the lives of Sam Cooke, Sam…
Dark Was the Night - Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey To The Stars 

Dark Was the Night – Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey To The Stars 

Dark Was the Night - Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey To The Stars  By Gary Golio, illustrated by EB Lewis  Nancy Paulson Books, 2020. 32 pages  Review by Greg Johnson  Dark Was The Night is the latest offering from Gary Golio, an award…
The Promise of the Blues - Anthony Proveaux
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The Promise of the Blues – Anthony Proveaux

Book Review by Greg Johnson: The Promise of the Blues Anthony Proveaux Pro-Arts Production 2020. 181 pages “The Promise of the Blues” is a work of historical fiction that offers more than you’d expect from such a genre of writing. It does…
Time Is Tight - My Life Note By Note - Booker T. Jones (Little, Brown 2019)

Time Is Tight: My Life Note By Note ~ Booker T. Jones (Little, Brown 2019)

by Booker T. Jones Little, Brown 2019 Book Review by Greg Johnson Booker T. Jones made his mark in the music annals with his creative energy behind The MGs and working as the house band and songwriter at Stax throughout the 1960s. With multiple…
Mississippi On The Blues Trail By Bob Gervais

Mississippi On The Blues Trail By Bob Gervais

Book Review by Greg Johnson "Mississippi, On The Blues Trail" is a new book of images taken by local photographer Bob Gervais, documenting the blues culture of the Mississippi Delta. With over 100 pages of stellar black & white photographs…
Weeds Like Us

Book Review – Weeds Like Us

Review by Greg Johnson They often say that you have to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. Well, if that is the case then Janiva Magness has paid those dues tenfold over the course of her tumultuous life. Raised in a dysfunctional family…
Up Jumped The Devil

Up Jumped The Devil – The Real Life of Robert Johnson, Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow

Review by Randy Murphy Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow, the authors of Up Jumped The Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, are not shy about asserting their purpose for writing this biography. They admit that they’re “[hoping] to…