The Bottom Line
More than a mere biography of blues legend Skip James, I'd Rather Be The Devil provides an in-depth look into the life and culture of the early-era blues artist. Once you get past author Calt's peculiar writing style and intellectual perspective, you'll find one of the best accounts of a blues artist's life that has been captured in print.
Pros
- Author was befriended by James, resulting in intimate access to the bluesman.
- Calt's inclusion of blues lyrics helps place the stories behind James' songs into proper context.
Cons
- Calt's academic tone and dismissive attitude towards critics is as aloof as that of his subject.
- Chapter on "birth of the blues" veers off the tracks into tedious technical analysis of the music.
Description
- Trade paperback, 400 pages, B&W photos
- Complete song index useful for later reference
- Glossary of blues "idioms" defines terms used within book
Guide Review - Book Review: Stephen Calt's I'd Rather Be The Devil: Skip James + the Blues
Nehemia "Skippy" James is one of the most enigmatic and unknown figures in blues music. Mystery has grown around James not because of an early death, like the fate that befell Robert Johnson, or even because of his relative obscurity, like with Ishmon Bracey. The questions that surround the life of Skip James are mostly the creation of the bluesman himself, an idiosyncratic artist known for his reputed aloofness and dismissive attitude towards his peers.
Stephen Calt's I'd Rather Be The Devil, subtitled "Skip James + the Blues," is an interesting and informative read. First published in 1994 by Da Capo Press, the book was reissued in 2008 by the Chicago Review Press in virtually the same form. The result of Calt's scholarly research into Delta blues music, as well as five years of taped conversations with James, I'd Rather Be The Devil walks a fine line between academic history and scholarly biography.
The bad news: Calt's perspective is, to be charitable, somewhat cranky. Calt displays strongly-held opinions about other blues artists, and even dismisses James' 1960s-era work as unworthy compared to recordings made by James in the '30s. Calt seems to use the book to settle old grudges, and his slightly-skewed view of the blues revival of the 1960s readily mixes fact and opinion.
The good news: Calt's research is impeccable, and his access to his subject, Skip James, was based on friendship and an open dialogue. As such, Calt documents not only James' tumultuous life and career, he also does a fine job of recreating the racism, poverty, and lack of opportunity faced by not only the blues artist, but African-Americans in the South.
I'd Rather Be The Devil isn't a book for everybody, but if you're seriously interested in either Skip James, or the history of the blues, Calt's work will inform and educate.
