The prolific magazine Blues & Rhythm: The Gospel Truth was founded in London in 1984 by British blues collector and pundit Paul Vernon to provide a complementary but more wide-ranging and timely voice to the pioneering U.K. journal Blues Unlimited, which by then was publishing on an occasional and irregular basis. B&R also succeeded two earlier periodicals, Pickin’ the Blues, which published 25 issues under the editorship of Mark Harris, and Vernon’s own humorous Sailor’s Delight. With issue 23 (October 1986) Tony Burke assumed editorship of B&R and has remained at the helm for the 200-plus issues that have followed, fulfilling the original goal to provide a blues magazine that published on schedule (a difficult task for many who have tried). Moreover, B&R has been a significant outlet for serious research and discographical discoveries and has covered many artists whose music blurred the lines between blues, jazz and R&B, in addition to documenting the hardcore blues favorites, gospel, and other forms of roots music. As with most other U.K. blues journals, the primary focus has been on African-American artists from the U.S. and not British blues. Longtime contributors to the magazine include Dave Penny, Ray Templeton, Norman Darwen and Mick Stephenson. Mary Katherine Aldin once served as U.S. editor.
