Praised as suave soulful ebullient (Tom Waits) & a meticulous researcher a graceful writer & a committed contrarian (New York Times Book Review) Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of his generation In The Blues Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American culture It is not an easy thing to pin down As Howlin' Wolf once described it When you ain't got no money & can't pay your house rent & can't buy you no food you've damn sure got the blues It has been defined by lyrical structure or as a progression of chords or as a set of practices reflecting West African tonal & rhythmic approaches using a five-note blues scale Wald sees blues less as a style than as a broad musical tradition within a constantly evolving pop culture He traces its roots in work & praise songs & shows how it was transformed by such professional performers as W C Handy who first popularized the blues a century ago He follows its evolution from Ma Rainey & Bessie Smith through Bob Dylan & Jimi Hendrix; identifies the impact of rural field recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson Charley Patton & others; explores the role of blues in the development of both country music & jazz; & looks at the popular rhythm & blues trends of the 1940s & 1950s from the uptown West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the down home Chicago sound of Muddy Waters Wald brings the story up to the present touching on the effects of blues on American poetry & its connection to modern styles such as rap ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable