Original Blues The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville By Abbott & Seroff

Description

The Original Blues
The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville
By Lynn Abbott
and Doug Seroff

480 pages (approx.), 8 x 10 inches, 187 b&w illustrations, index
From the desk of Chris Strachwitz:
I just wanted to give a quick, great big “shout out” for the
amazing new book “The Original Blues” by Abbott & Seroff – with the sub-title: “The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville: 1899-1926”.
It is a master piece of research and dedicated work with much of the information derived from early
black newspapers with tons of illustrations giving the reader an incredible picture of what amazing
entertainment was being presented by and for African Americans in spite of their
often hostile environment. Just reading the inside dust cover notes and the
introduction was a revelation – and the story of how the minstrel shows’ wide spread
popularity gave birth to black vaudeville and how the songs evolved from “coon
shouts” to Blues – as did “coon shouters” who turned into Blues singers!
I just started reading this tome, so please excuse my brief but enthusiastic
endorsement of this book to anyone interested in the true history of the very rich
world of black music in the United States – it is absolutely fascinating. (Mr.Chris)