History of blues through record covers

This stunning book charts the abundant history of the blues, through the spectacular array of posters, album covers, and advertisements that have shaped its identity over the past hundred years. The blues have been among the most common however varied components of American popular music at large, and the visual art related to this unique noise has been just as varied and dynamic. There is no much better guide to this fascinating visual world than Bill Dahl– a long time music journalist and historian who has written liner notes for many reissues of timeless blues, soul, R&B, and rock albums. With his deep understanding and incisive commentary– matching more than three hundred and fifty extravagantly replicated images– the history of the blues comes musically and aesthetically to life.

Exactly what will amaze readers who thumb through these pages is the fantastic series of manner ins which the blues have actually been represented– whether through album covers, posters, leaflets, 78 rpm labels, advertising, or other marketing products. We see the blues as it was first aesthetically caught in the extremely colorful sheet music covers of the early twentieth century. We see striking and hard-to-find label styles from labels huge (Columbia) and small (Rhumboogie). We see William Alexander’s humorous art work on postwar Miltone Records; the cherished ephemera of concert and movie posters; and Chess Records’ iconic early albums designed by Don Bronstein, which would set a brand-new requirement for contemporary album cover design.

What these images jointly portray is the evolution of a distinctly American art form. And they do so in the richest method imaginable. The outcome is a sumptuous book, a visual treasury as alive in spirit as the music it so vibrantly captures.