Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta

Blues is the cornerstone of American popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. In this extraordinary musical and social history, Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago’s South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. Palmer tells the story of the blues through the lives of its greatest practitioners: Robert Johnson, who sang of being pursued by the hounds of hell; Muddy Waters, who electrified Delta blues and gave the music its rock beat; Robert Lockwood and Sonny Boy Williamson, who launched the King Biscuit Time radio show and brought blues to the airwaves; and John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, B. B. King, and many others.

"A lucid . . . entrancing study" -- Greil Marcus

"Palmer has a powerful understanding of the music and an intense involvement in the culture." -- The Nation

• The History Of The Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People
• Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues
• Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music
• The Blues: A Very Short Introduction
• Blues People: Negro Music in White America
• Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music: Sixth Edition
• The Devil's Music: A History Of The Blues
• Searching for Robert Johnson: The Life and Legend of the "King of the Delta Blues Singers"
• Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
• The Land Where the Blues Began