Art of the Blues: A Visual Treasury of Black Music's Golden Age

As the one form of music that has been a constant element in the popular music of the 20th and now 21st century, the visual art associated with the blues has been as varied and dynamic as the music itself. Ranging from the artwork for printed music, album covers, and concert posters, to press advertising and promotional material, The Art of the Blues is a unique illustrated celebration of the blues in popular culture. Arranged chronologically, the book shows how the music was reflected in the visual language of the time, ranging from the art deco graphics of the interwar years, to 1960s psychedelia and beyond. The Art of the Blues promises to be a gorgeous illustrated coffee table book, perfect for gift-giving and close perusalsweet eye candy for lovers of the blues.
This stunning book charts the rich history of the blues, through the dazzling array of posters, album covers, and advertisements that have shaped its identity over the past hundred years. The blues have been one of the most ubiquitous but diverse elements of American popular music at large, and the visual art associated with this unique sound has been just as varied and dynamic. There is no better guide to this fascinating graphical world than Bill Dahl—a longtime music journalist and historian who has written liner notes for countless reissues of classic blues, soul, R&B, and rock albums. With his deep knowledge and incisive commentary—complementing more than three hundred and fifty lavishly reproduced images—the history of the blues comes musically and visually to life.             What will astonish readers who thumb through these pages is the amazing range of ways that the blues have been represented—whether via album covers, posters, flyers, 78 rpm labels, advertising, or other promotional materials. We see the blues as it was first visually captured in the highly colorful sheet music covers of the early twentieth century. We see striking and hard-to-find label designs from labels big (Columbia) and small (Rhumboogie). We see William Alexander’s humorous artwork on postwar Miltone Records; the cherished ephemera of concert and movie posters; and Chess Records’ iconic early albums designed by Don Bronstein, which would set a new standard for modern album cover design.             What these images collectively portray is the evolution of a distinctively American art form. And they do so in the richest way imaginable. The result is a sumptuous book, a visual treasury as alive in spirit as the music it so vibrantly captures.