Books like Blues & chaos by Palmer, Robert

Nick Hornby's witty debut follows Rob, a record‑shop owner with encyclopedic music knowledge but shaky relationship skills, as he navigates love, friendship and commitment in contemporary England.

David Byrne explores how time, place, and recording technology shape music, tracing evolutionary patterns and cultural responses that culminated in the transformative practices of the 20th century.

Personal histories of great bluesmen trace the evolution of the blues from Africa to the Mississippi Delta. --Publisher.

Paul Oliver’s definitive history of the blues, enriched with over two hundred vintage photographs and a new introduction, chronicles the African American singers, musicians, and settings that birthed this enduring genre.

A definitive thirty‑year survey of rock and roll, Mikal Gilmore’s collection of essays, interviews, and reviews charts how the music mirrored America’s social transformations, from Elvis to punk and beyond.

"With just forty-one recordings to his credit, Robert Johnson (1911-38) is widely regarded as one of the greatest performers in the history of blues music. Johnson's vast influence on twentieth-century American music, combined with his mysterious death at the age of twenty-seven, has allowed speculation and myth to obscure the facts of his life. Perhaps the most famous legend in American music depicts a young Johnson standing at a dusty crossroads at midnight and selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for prodigious guitar skills." "In this volume, Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch examine the full range of writings about Johnson (such as books, articles, and record notes) and sift fact from fiction. They compare conflicting accounts of Johnson's life, weighing them against interviews with blues musicians and others who knew the man. Through their extensive research Pearson and McCulloch uncover a life every bit as compelling as the fabrications and exaggerations that have sprung up around it. In examining Johnson's life and music, and the ways in which both have been reinvented and interpreted by other artists, critics, and fans, Robert Johnson: Lost and Found charts the broader cultural forces that have mediated the expression of African American artistic traditions."--BOOK JACKET.

"More than a listener's guide, this book reveals the rich historical development of a regional music that is now embraced worldwide. Packed with incisive essays, bios, reviews, ratings, photos, and more, this guide captures the allure of reggae and other evocative styles of the entire English-speaking Caribbean region past and present.". "From Trinidad to the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, and beyond, you'll discover the myriad geographical, cultural, and artistic ingredients inside the Caribbean melting pot - where the infectious sounds of calypso, chutney, dancehall, pan, rock steady, soca, and more are still bubbling.". "Reggae & Caribbean Music explores in depth the enduring carnival traditions of each island, 100 influential performers and their recordings, devoted record producers who gave the music a voice outside the region, the early single releases, and more."--BOOK JACKET.