- Series: Jack and Doris Smothers Series in Texas History, Life, and Culture (Book 8)
- Hardcover: 356 pages
- Publisher: University of Texas Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0292791593
- ISBN-13: 978-0292791596
In the clubs, ballrooms, and barbecue joints of neighborhoods such as
Third Ward, Frenchtown, Sunnyside, and Double Bayou, Houston's African
American community birthed a vibrant and unique slice of the blues.
Ranging from the down-home sounds of Lightnin' Hopkins to the more
refined orchestrations of the Duke-Peacock recording empire and beyond,
Houston blues was and is the voice of a working-class community, an
ongoing conversation about good times and hard times, smokin' Saturday
nights and Blue Mondays. Since 1995, Roger Wood and James Fraher have
been gathering the story of the blues in Houston. In this book, they
draw on dozens of interviews with blues musicians, club owners, audience
members, and music producers, as well as dramatic black-and-white
photographs of performers and venues, to present a lovingly detailed
portrait of the Houston blues scene, past and present. Going back to the
early days with Lightnin' Hopkins, they follow the blues from the
streets of Houston's third and fifth wards to its impact on the wider
American blues scene. Along the way, they remember the vigorous blues
community that sprang up after World War II, mourn its decline in the
Civil Rights era, and celebrate the lively, if sometimes overlooked,
blues culture that still calls Houston home. Wood and Fraher conclude
the book with an unforgettable reunion of Houston blues legends that
they held on January 3, 1998.
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