London: Cassell, and New York: Horizon Press, 1965.
British author Paul Oliver wrote authoritatively on the blues in a number of contexts, ranging from historical surveys and examinations of the music’s African roots to biographical essays and analyses of lyrics. Conversation With the Blues revealed yet another side of Oliver’s documentary skills – that of the interviewer who lets the artists tell their stories in their own words. Working with transcripts of interviews he conducted on a historic 1960 research trip, Oliver arranges the words of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Walter, Otis Spann, Walter Davis, Gus Cannon, Bo Carter, Henry Townsend, Little Brother Montgomery, Will Shade, Lil’ Son Jackson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and dozens of others into a fascinating view of the blues from the perspective of the artists themselves along with the observations of a few promoters and producers. Their tales are not divided into chapters, but the subject matter flows naturally and loosely from one topic to another; Oliver’s photos of the artists and their surroundings add another layer of depth to this collection, and in the back of the book he offers concise biographies of each artist. Oliver’s Blues Fell This Morning had just been published in 1959, and he later wrote: “I was offered a small grant ‘for leaders and specialists’ under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, which enabled me to make a research trip in the summer of 1960.” With a commission from BBC radio to do interviews with blues singers, and with the help of American traveling companions Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz, among others, Oliver and his team collected the material that resulted not only in this book, but also some landmark field recordings, including a companion Conversation With the Blues LP on British Decca and a cache of Texas blues that Strachwitz used to start his Arhoolie label.
–Jim O’Neal
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