Description
Book SynopsisFrom the very beginning, the blues has had a close connection with the LGBTQ community. There is a long and decorated history of so-called 'dirty blues' songs, stretching back beyond the earliest attempts to capture the blues on record. The 1920s and 30s saw the release of dozens of raunchy, bawdy blues recordings aimed at a knowing LGBTQ audience. Queer Blues tells the story of the pioneering LGBTQ composers and entertainers that wrote, performed and recorded these wonderfully outlandish, life-affirming songs and chronicles, including: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker to Frankie 'Half-Pint' Jaxon and many more. This is the definitive account of the LGBTQ trailblazers of early blues and a fascinating consideration of the intersection between music and LGBTQ history, from the award-winning Darryl W. Bullock.
Trade ReviewA Guardian Music Book of the Year 2023 A Resident Records Book of the Year 2023 'Darryl W. Bullock excavates and celebrates the fantabulous intersection of Blues and Queer Culture, highlighting racial struggles, explosive joy and creativity. I love this book!' Simon Doonan 'Meticulously researched and rich in detail, Queer Blues is fabulous in its debunking of myths and righting of wrongs' 4**** Mojo
