Description

Book Synopsis

Writer, musicologist, archivist, singer, DJ, filmmaker, record, radio and TV producer, Alan Lomax was a man of many parts. Without him the history of popular music would have been very different.

Armed with a tape-recorder and his own near-flawless good taste, Lomax spent years travelling the US, particularly the south, recording its heritage of music and song for posterity, bringing to light the talents of performers ranging from Jelly Roll Morton to Leadbelly and Muddy Waters, and crucially influencing generations of musicians from Pete Seeger to the Stones, from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan.

His influence continues: recordings made by Lomax are the core of the sound-tracks of Oh Brother, Where art Thou? and Gangs of New York, and even featured, remixed, on Moby''s Play.

John Szwed''s biography is the first ever of this remarkable and contradictory man (whom he both knew and worked with for ten years); through it Szwed will tell the stor

Trade Review
A great book...hooray! * Peter Seeger *
Superb * Mojo *
Remarkable...excellent * Telegraph *
Impressive - Szwed succeeds magnificently * FT *

The Man Who Recorded the World

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    A Paperback by John Szwed

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Arrow Books Ltd
      Published 9 January 2011
      ISBN-13 9780099472353
      978-0099472353
      ISBN-10 009947235X
      Also in:
      Entertainment Composers and songwriters Music Musicians, singers, bands and groups

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Writer, musicologist, archivist, singer, DJ, filmmaker, record, radio and TV producer, Alan Lomax was a man of many parts. Without him the history of popular music would have been very different.

      Armed with a tape-recorder and his own near-flawless good taste, Lomax spent years travelling the US, particularly the south, recording its heritage of music and song for posterity, bringing to light the talents of performers ranging from Jelly Roll Morton to Leadbelly and Muddy Waters, and crucially influencing generations of musicians from Pete Seeger to the Stones, from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan.

      His influence continues: recordings made by Lomax are the core of the sound-tracks of Oh Brother, Where art Thou? and Gangs of New York, and even featured, remixed, on Moby''s Play.

      John Szwed''s biography is the first ever of this remarkable and contradictory man (whom he both knew and worked with for ten years); through it Szwed will tell the stor

      Trade Review
      A great book...hooray! * Peter Seeger *
      Superb * Mojo *
      Remarkable...excellent * Telegraph *
      Impressive - Szwed succeeds magnificently * FT *

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