9781469633664-1469633663-Beyond the Crossroads (New Directions in Southern Studies)

Beyond the Crossroads (New Directions in Southern Studies)

ISBN-13: 9781469633664
ISBN-10: 1469633663
Edition: Illustrated
Author: Adam Gussow
Publication date: 2017
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Format: Paperback 416 pages
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Book details

ISBN-13: 9781469633664
ISBN-10: 1469633663
Edition: Illustrated
Author: Adam Gussow
Publication date: 2017
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Format: Paperback 416 pages

Summary

Beyond the Crossroads (New Directions in Southern Studies) (ISBN-13: 9781469633664 and ISBN-10: 1469633663), written by authors Adam Gussow, was published by The University of North Carolina Press in 2017. With an overall rating of 4.2 stars, it's a notable title among other Musical Genres (State & Local, United States History, Demonology & Satanism, Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts , Folklore & Mythology, Social Sciences, Music) books. You can easily purchase or rent Beyond the Crossroads (New Directions in Southern Studies) (Paperback) from BooksRun, along with many other new and used Musical Genres books and textbooks. And, if you're looking to sell your copy, our current buyback offer is $1.3.

Description

The devil is the most charismatic and important figure in the blues tradition. He's not just the music's namesake ("the devil's music"), but a shadowy presence who haunts an imagined Mississippi crossroads where, it is claimed, Delta bluesman Robert Johnson traded away his soul in exchange for extraordinary prowess on the guitar. Yet, as scholar and musician Adam Gussow argues, there is much more to the story of the devil and the blues than these cliched understandings.

In this groundbreaking study, Gussow takes the full measure of the devil's presence. Working from original transcriptions of more than 125 recordings released during the past ninety years, Gussow explores the varied uses to which black southern blues people have put this trouble-sowing, love-wrecking, but also empowering figure. The book culminates with a bold reinterpretation of Johnson's music and a provocative investigation of the way in which the citizens of Clarksdale, Mississippi, managed to rebrand a commercial hub as "the crossroads" in 1999, claiming Johnson and the devil as their own.

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