BLUES ROCK EXPLOSION - SINTIES ROCK SERIES

In the 1960s, many young, white hipster musicians in the United States and England aspired to sound "black." In their search for authenticity, artists like Eric Clapton, John Mayall, and the Allman Brothers inadvertently revitalized the careers of many forgotten bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Skip James, who, at the beginning of the decade, were strapped for cash or had given up music entirely. The first volume in a series on 1960s rock, this work documents in mini biographies the careers of 42of the decade's blues artists (all white with the exception of Taj Mahal), who battled elitism and pondered how to sell records without selling out. From reading this book, it would seem the eternal question since 1960 has been, Can white people play the blues? The contributors, however, do not seek to answer that question so much as show that Clapton and company sparked a movement that affected both the white and the black community. Surprisingly little has been written about the blues revivalof 1960-70, which produced music that lost its context quickly, created a religion of guitar god worship, and was probably responsible for the 1980s guitar tablature culture.