History of the Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People from Charley Patton to Robert Cray

This marks the second or third time I have read The History of the Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People from Robert Johnson to Robert Cray by Francis Davis, having used it to teach class last year. I am again using the book as a textbook for the Honors Colloquium I am teaching this semester, title Black, White, and Blue: Race Relations in the US through the Blues.

Davis provides a survey of the Blues, starting from the Mississippi Delta and the migration to Chicago and beyond. He places heavy importance on figures such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Son House, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. Davis also does a great job of providing brief descriptions of the social context surrounding the Blues milestones on which he is focusing. Davis also provides insight into his own thoughts and theories surrounding important events. While not intended to focus on race relations, given the history of the Blues one cannot help but think about the topic.

Overall, I enjoy the book. I gain new interests and insights each time I read. This time, I found myself running to my computer and the iTunes store to listen to song he was referencing in the text, especially those that might be useful in illustrating certain points to my students.

The History of the Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People from Charley Patton to Robert Cray

Elwood's BLues: Interviews with the Blues Legends & Stars

I received Elwood's Blues: Interviews with the Blues Legends & Stars by Dan Aykroyd and Ben Manilla as a gift from a colleague, Michael Blackwell. He found it at a YMCA book sale and thought I might enjoy it due to the class I am teaching about the Blues this semester.

I wasn't sure what the quality of the book was going to be, as its title was derived from a character from the Blues Brothers. However, the book has some really great interviews with some really important figures in the world of the Blues. These include: Luther Allison, Junior Wells, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Little Milton, B. B. King, and more. The book also includes interview with icons from the world of rock who trace their path in music back to the Blues.

The interviews actually come from Elwood's House of Blues Radio Hour, but they highlight Aykroyd's deep understanding of appreciation for the Blues. While I was initially hesitant about this book, it turned out to be a great find.

Elwood's Blues: Interviews with the Blues Legends & Stars

Without Fail

Without Fail is the sixth novel in the Jack Reacher series, a collection of books I have been reading lately. This time, Reacher is up against a group of covert assassins bent on killing the Vice President of the United States. He's paired up with an old army buddy, the Secret Service, and his brother's ex-lover. While working to stop the assassins and save the VP, Reacher deals with the ghost of his brother.

This was not my favorite of the Reacher books that I have read so far, but it was still a good story. It hooks you at the beginning and there are some interesting characters on the periphery. It's also interesting to see Reacher, a loner and sometimes-vigilante, work alongside a bureaucratic government agency. For anyone who enjoys this type of books, it's definitely worth a read.

Without Fail

Wilco: Learning How To Die

I picked up Wilco: Learning How To Do by Greg Kot sometime over the past year. My guess would be that it was probably around June or July, either in preparation for or response to seeing Wilco in Charlottesville, VA. I pretty into them, picking up live concert DVDs, their documentary and this book. I picked it up a couple of days ago and read it pretty quickly.

The book reads like a fan's platonic love letter to singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy, following his musical start in Belleville, IL with the Primitives. The Primitives morphed into fan favorite Uncle Tupelo, who are credited with the start of the alt-country movement. It then follows the disbanding of the group and  the Tweedy's new group, Wilco (the subject of the book). It also focuses on Tweedy's involvement with Golden Smog and Loose Fur. Kot chronicles the hiring and firing of various band members. He also devotes a good amount of time to detailing the various Wilco recorded up until A Ghost Is Born (the album most recently released at the time of the book's publication). It is clear that Kot admires Tweedy; throughout the book, he is written in a mostly positive, or at least sympathetic, light. Even during passive-aggressive firings of band member, during which you know Tweedy's performance was less than admirable, the singer-songwriter comes out in a positive light.

While the book is described as the story of Wilco, it is really the story of Jeff Tweedy, focusing mostly on the front man. However, to be fair, maybe Tweedy is Wilco and the stories are one in the same. Either way, it was an interesting and mostly enjoyable read.

Wilco: Learning How to Die

Echo Burning

Echo Burning is the fifth of the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. This book finds Reacher back on the road, hitchhiking down in Texas. He is picked up along the road by the alluring and somewhat mysterious Carmen Greer, a mother who tells Reacher a tale of domestic abuse. Along the way, Reacher encounters her abusive husband and his relatives, a small town filled with secrets and scandals, and a plan larger than anyone can imagine.

This book, like others in the series, tells several different stories that eventually weave together into an intriguing plot. Some Reacher novels rely on his investigative skills, while some rely on his brute strength and iron will. This novel uses both for the resolution.

Overall, it was an intriguing tale and an enjoyable read.

Echo Burning

Running Blind

Running Blind is the fourth book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. The series continues to be enjoyable and provides compelling action-based mysteries. In this novel, Reacher digs himself a whole in which his only option to get out is to assist the FBI as they investigate a series of murders in which the murderer exhibits a strange MO. The FBI is baffled and the agents believe there is involvement with the Army, so Reacher's experience and skills prove helpful in the investigation.

I have found this to be one of the more enjoyable novels in the series. The story is interesting with quite a few twists. Additionally, the novel explores Reacher's relative unease at being tied to one specific geographic location. He continues to be an intriguing character, a man of absolutes who does not quite fit into regular society.

Running Blind

Crazy Heart

I saw the film adaptation of Crazy Heart a couple of years ago, long before I read the book. I think I watched it with my folks the weekend I graduated from my master's program at UGA. I remember liking the film, starring Jeff Bridges and being a fan of the soundtrack. It was a good story and I liked its focus on country music. The soundtrack popped up on my iTunes a couple of weeks ago and I decided I wanted to read the book.

 Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb is the story of aging country music star Bad Blake. Bad is the epitome of a has-been. He tours the American Southwest in his van, playing gigs in bars and bowling alleys, eating road food and living in cheap motels. He's a hard-drinking, hard-living working musician in his late fifties. The novel centers around Bad as he deal with his mortality, contemplates his career, and tries to build and save several relationships. In some ways, the novel provide more insight into Bad's character than does the movie, and yet the novel also misses some of the charm the film provided through its music. In the end, Bad is a lovable loser who just can't seem to tame his crazy heart.

Crazy Heart