Description: Before the blues? If you take Webster's first definition--"Low spirits: melancholy"--well, then we're not talking pre-W.C. Handy. We're going back to Eve and the Apple. But, for Yazoo's three-disc Before the Blues series, it's safe to assume the anthologists worked off of the second definition: "A song of lamentation characterized by 12-bar phrases [and] 3-line stanzas in which the words of the second stanza repeat those of the first, and continual occurrence of blues hones in melody and harmony." That works. The 23-song first set in the series offers up a vastly entertaining assortment of rags, breakdowns, and shuffles. Some names may ring a bell with noncollectors (Henry Thomas, Mississippi John Hurt), and a few tunes have become a part of America's musical landscape (notably the eerie "Pretty Polly"). Most of what's found here, however, is unfamiliar, and fascinating. --Steven Stolder
Price: 19.99 USD
Location: Monroe, Georgia
End Time: 2025-02-02T19:52:14.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Artist: Various
CD Grading: Mint (M)
Record Label: Yazoo
Release Title: Before the Blues: The Early American Black Music Scene
Case Type: Jewel Case: Standard
Color: Black
Case Condition: Mint (M)
Inlay Condition: Mint (M)
Edition: Best Of
Type: Album
Format: CD
Release Year: 1996
Style: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Features: Sealed
Genre: Blues
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
