Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching For The Blues

by Gayle Dean Wardlow

Chasin' That Devil Music – Searching for the Blues presents the results of extensive research by a blues scholar who has researched the artists on old 78 RPM records to uncover their stories. Includes rare interviews and the actual songs which available online using the unique code printed inside each book. Item includes online resource.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bit more specific than you might expect, and a tad too oddly organized for some, maybe, for this is very much a story of Mississippi delta blues men and women, with a few geographic strayings here and there. You'll learn a lot about familiar names (Charlie Patton, Bukka White, and others) and learn a ton about folks you've likely never heard of. No one had when many of these essays were written, and that is both the point and the fun part of this collection. Wardlow became famous for hunting down forgotten blues masters and their biographies and these stories of going door to door looking for records and anecdotes in podunk towns and barely-towns all over the state is much of the meat of what you'll read here. The wayward tracking of these blues folk is fun to read about, chasing names and tips across the delta and even beyond. As I said, there is much to learn here about the interlinked careers and influences of many. There's even a chapter on the birth of the Robert Johnson myth of him selling his soul to Satan.
Structurally, this isn't a cohesive history, but a collection of often-related essays Wardlow published in various blues publications. Some folks might be put off by the jumping-around, but I wasn't. Also included is an amazing CD of a lot of musicians covered in the book and some interviews.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read, informative, and the accompanying cd is fantastic. But Wardlow is not the best writer. This gets bogged down in that weird, "Blues scholar" obsessive way that many of these kinds of books do. I feel like these are books that need to be written and these are arguments that need to be made by people that deeply care about the who's, why's and wherefore's, but...Well, I just ain't that guy. I like reading about the discoveries of the records and the locating of the artists and I like these guys trying to solve mysteries about all of this, that's why I read them, but when it starts going on with the back and forth shots amongst the "scholars", I need to go get a drink of...Well, something. But, you know, I give Wardlow a pass, because he seems to be much more a straight shooter than some of those other guys.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays by Gayle Dean Wardlow is mainly for blues geeks. Wardlow is concerned primarily with the facts of pre-war Mississippi blues: when and where blues musicians were born and died, where they lived, where they traveled, who they played and record with, who they saw play and learned from, and, above all else, who was the FIRST blues researcher to discover that there is such a thing as a city directory.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to be a true fan of the early blues artists to persevere with Wardlow and others' attempts to find old 78s and, in some cases, those artists that produced them. When the original artists couldn't be found or had passed away the authors often knocked on old neighbours' doors or scoured whole neighbourhoods that they may provide us with small biographical sketches of the artists. Some insights were achieved by interviewing friends of the artists and the actual musicians that recorded the old 78s.
This is a book that I periodically dipped into and it was all the better for that.

[Paul Secor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chasin' that Devil Muic is a useful source for someone who's beginning to get into pre-WWII Mississippi blues. Long time blues fans will already know about much of what's in the book - though that's not Mr. Wardlow's fault. Mr. Wardlow did a lot of first hand research in the 1960s and 70s, interviewing musicians, family members of musicians who had passed away, and friends of those musicians. He also interviewed H.C. Speir, who was a talent scout for a number of recording companies in the 1920s and 30s, and was responsible for the recording of many of the legendary blues musicians from Mississippi and surrounding states.

The accompanying CD is also useful for a beginning listener, though long time collectors will find that they already have a good 90% of the material on it. The excerpts from interviews on the CD are somewhat interesting, but are too short (each less than a minute) to be deemed necessary.



The main problem that I have with the book is Mr. Wardlow's writing style. He was a journalist and his writing is fairly clear and concise, but not very interesting. The other problem I have with the book is that it needed a good editor. An editor is credited, but much of the book is essentially a collection of articles for various blues publications. The book would have been much better if time had been taken to blend the articles into a real book, rather than just a collection.



I recommend Chasin' that Devil Music to those who are starting to get into the blues and who want to read about and listen to some of the real deal. Then spend some time listening to a few Yazoo CDs.

[Carol Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and scholarly history of hunting down old blues records and performers. There are a lot of fascinating interviews and bits of information about the early history of the blues. Oh, and it comes with a great CD of rare performances and interviews!

[Matt Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book for anyone interested in the real Blues and it's real history. Came with a wonderful cd. Must own for Blues enthusiasts.

[Ori Fienberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wardlow is hot!

[Heather O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful and detailed history of the foundations of the Blues. The author has an impressive history of tracking down long-forgotten musicians and their work. We need more people like that in this day and age, when wonderful musical artists and their catalogs are fading into obscurity as a result of a culture that does not place high enough attention on all the beauty that makes us human.

It took me a while to get through this book, but only because I was reading it specifically as a source of research. I thought it was well done, and enjoyed the CD that accompanied the book.