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Book Review: "Blues For Dummies"

About.com Rating fourhalf out of Five

By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, About.com

Blues For Dummies

Blues For Dummies

Photo courtesy PriceGrabber

The Bottom Line

Blues For Dummies provides the reader with a solid background in the blues, including a brief overview of the genre's history, artist profiles, recommended albums, instruments used to play the blues, and even how to make a blues record.

Pros
  • Written by musicians for the rest of us.
  • Well-written artist profiles.
  • Includes CD of classic blues tunes.
Cons
  • Chapters on radio stations and clubs outdated before first printing.
  • Chapter on musical instruments is beyond scope of book.

Description

  • Co-author Lonnie Brooks is a legendary blues musician.
  • Co-author Cub Koda was a musician, music journalist and well-known record collector.
  • Co-author Wayne Baker Brooks, Lonnie's son, is a respected musician in his own right.

Guide Review - Book Review: "Blues For Dummies"

Written by musicians for the rest of us, the author's credentials are strong: Lonnie Brooks is a legendary blues guitarist and recording artist, his son Wayne is a musician and songwriter that literally grew up in the blues, and Cub Koda has long had one foot in rock and the other in the blues. A noted record collector, Koda was also a contributing editor to the All Music Guide to the Blues, and a regular columnist for Discoveries magazine. Before his death, Koda was also a well-known roots musician, best known as frontman for Brownsville Station.

The trio of writers delivers an easy-to-read book that provides the newcomer to the blues with an effective guide to enjoying the music. Several chapters offer well-written profiles of blues artists, placing them in historical context. Chapters on the history and style of the music provide a valuable backdrop while other chapters provide information on record labels specializing in the blues, radio stations and clubs to hear live blues music. A section on "putting together a blues band" provides young musicians with a blueprint to the music.

To get you started, the book also includes a CD compiled by the authors that includes a bunch of great tunes from folks like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and others. The first volume on any well-stocked blues bookshelf should be Blues For Dummies.

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