William Barlow: Looking Up at Down

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>The evolution of the various strands of blues music<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9780877225836&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="497_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><h1>Looking Up at Down</h1> <H2>The Emergence of Blues Culture</H2> <h3>William Barlow</h3> <P>cloth 0-87722-583-4 $29.95, Mar 89, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Print</FONT> <br>paper 0-87722-722-5 $38.95, Jun 90, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <br>Electronic Book 1-4399-0975-X $38.95 <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Print</FONT> <BR> 464 pp </P><BLOCKQUOTE><I>"If you want to find your way back to the roots of the blues, this book is your ticket."</I> <br>&#151<b><I>Taj Mahal</I></b><I></I></BLOCKQUOTE> <p>More than just a history of a musical genre, <I>Looking Up at Down</I> traces the evolution of the various strands of blues music within the broader context of the culture on which it commented, and discusses its importance as a form of cultural resistance and identity for Afro-Americans. William Barlow explores the lyrics, describes the musical styles, and portrays the musicians and performers who created this uniquely American music. He describes how the blues sound&#151with its recognizable dissonance and African musical standards&#151and the blues text, which provided a bottom up view of American society, became bulwarks of cultural resistance. <p>Using rare recordings, oral histories, and interviews, Barlow analyzes how the blues was sustained as a form of Afro-American cultural resistance despite attempts by the dominant culture to assimilate and commercialize the music and exploit its artists. <BR> <h2>Reviews</h2> <p><I>"A masterwork.... [Barlow] includes all types of blues in his analysis, without losing sight of the music�s density, its humor, and its satire, when the blues get so bad that we are 'lookin� up at down.'"</I> <br>&#151<b>Ruth A. Banes</b>, <I>Popular Music and Society</I> <p><I>"Bill Barlow�s fine study is a major contribution to our understanding of blues. He carefully traces the music from its roots in the rural South to urban traditions in Memphis, St. Louis, and Chicago. Barlow�s broad portrait of the blues and his perceptive analysis make this study a classic."</I> <br>&#151<b>Bill Ferris</b>, Director, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, The University of Mississippi <p><I>"...encyclopedic..."</I> <br>&#151<b><I>Publishers Weekly</I></b> <p><I>"...a definitive work on black culture. The major value of the book is its exhaustive scope and its demonstration that blues continues African culture in America under new conditions. A rare jewel in the scholarship of Afro-American culture."</I> <br>&#151<b>Sterling D. Plumpp</b>, University of Illinois at Chicago <BR> <h2>Contents</h2><P> <p>Before the Blues <p><b>Part I: Rural Blues</b> <br>Introduction <br>1. "I Been 'Buked and I Been Scorned": The Folk Roots of the Blues <br>2. "Everyday Seems Like Murder Here": Mississippi Delta Blues <br>3. "Po' Boy, Long Ways from Home": East Texas Blues <br>4. "Pickin' Low Cotton": Piedmont Blues <p><b>Part II: Urban Blues</b> <br>Introduction <br>5. "Laughin' to Keep from Cryin'": Vaudeville Blues <br>6. "Chocolate to the Bone": Urban Blues in the South <br>7. "Stormy Monday": Urban Blues in the Southwest <br>8. "Goin' Down Slow": Urban Blues in the Midwest <br>9. "Looking Up at Down": Chicago Blues <p>Conclusion <p>Notes <br>General Index <br>Song Index <br>Permissions </P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2> <P><b>William Barlow</b> is Associate Professor in the Radio, Television, and Film Department of Howard University. A music programmer for alternative radio stations for more than fifteen years, he currently produces "Blue Monday" on WPFW-FM. He is also the author of <I><A HREF="1315_reg.html" TARGET="_top">Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio</A></I>.</P> <BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2> <p><A HREF="/tempress/general.html" TARGET="_top">General Interest</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/african.html" TARGET="_top">African American Studies</a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9780877225836&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="copyright.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Web Copyright Policy';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Web Copyright Policy">©</a> 2015 <a href="http://www.temple.edu" target="new" onMouseOver="window.status='Link to Temple University home page';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Link to Temple University home page">Temple University</a>. 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