Blues and the Soul of Man: An Autobiography of Nehemiah "Skip" James

by Stefan Grossman

Skip James was one of the most influential early Bluesmen, but his importance as a stylist remained undiscovered until he was brought out of a long retirement by the Folk/Blues revival of the early 1960’s. Born in 1902 and raised in Bentonia, Nehemiah Curtis James was brought up in a religious his father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a Baptist preacher. Skip learned piano in school but picked up guitar from his friend Henry Stuckey. In 1931 Skip was picked up by a scout for Paramount Records and he cut 26 tracks, of which 18 were released, in a two day session at their Grafton, Wisconsin studios. These recordings presented a unique and haunting genius that influenced legendary bluesmen as Robert Johnson, Kansas Joe McCoy and Johnny Temple. But the recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity. We have included as online downloads Skip’s 1931 recordings. The crackling sound of these rare recordings cannot obscure the brilliance of this seminal Blues master. After over 30 year’s retirement from music, Skip was rediscovered by Blues enthusiasts Bill Barth, John Fahey and Henry Vestine. They persuaded Skip to appear at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, where his renditions of his old songs were still powerful and moving. His performances as well as his old and new recordings influenced a generation of new Eric Clapton, Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, Cream, Deep Purple, Chris Thomas King, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Derek Trucks, Beck, Big Sugar, John Martyn, Lucinda Williams and Rory Block to name a few. Books on legendary Blues musicians written by white musicologists tend to offer a subjective perspective on how the artists felt, thought or reacted. A tainted picture is captured that has more to do with the writer’s social and musical experiences. This autobiography is different. The words, thoughts and feelings come directly from the artist’s lips. This is the story of Nehemiah “Skip” James told by Nehemiah “Skip” James.

Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2019

Reviews

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authentic, but not well presented

First a caveat: This book is actually a collection of articles rather than a biography. Some are about Skip James, but most appear to be transcriptions from interviews with him. You should be aware of this going in.

Pros: You get Skip James’s actual words, along with all of his personality. His anecdotes are interesting and give you a sense of how life was for him. He also provides background on some of his songs. You also get a sense of his tendency to exaggerate, which is fantastic. Nice photographs throughout. There is also a collection of guitar tablature for some of his songs at the end, which is great for guitar players.

Cons: Since it’s a collection of articles, there’s no coherent narrative throughout the book. And since most of those articles are verbal transcriptions, they tend to ramble. For those reasons I would not consider this an autobiography. The ebook is also poorly formatted (it’s basically a big pdf formatted like a magazine), so I would recommend getting the print version of you can.


Overall: Just ok. I would prefer it had not been labeled as an autobiography, because I think that’s misleading, but the content is good, considering what it is. This needs to be formatted as an ebook, and not a pdf. I like the tabs at the end. Buy if you are interested in Skip James, but skip it if you just want a fun read.