1920s
1930s
1940s
A01=Stephen Calt
African American studies
Africana studies
American
Author_Stephen Calt
black
black in America
black language
blues
blues dialect
blues singers
blues songs
Category=AVLP
Category=GBC
Category=JBCC1
colloquial
colloquialism
dialect
dictionary
ebonics
English
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnomusicology
etymology
gender
idioms
language
language history
lexicography
lexicon
linguist
living language
lyric
music
music industry
musicians
musicology
oral history
R&B
race
race records
sexuality
slang
song
speak American
speech
spoken English
style
Product details
- ISBN 9780252076602
- Weight: 426g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Oct 2009
- Publisher: University of Illinois Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
This fascinating compendium explains the most unusual, obscure, and curious words and expressions from vintage blues music. Utilizing both documentary evidence and invaluable interviews with a number of now-deceased musicians from the 1920s and '30s, blues scholar Stephen Calt unravels the nuances of more than twelve hundred idioms and proper or place names found on oft-overlooked "race records" recorded between 1923 and 1949. From "aggravatin' papa" to "yas-yas-yas" and everything in between, this truly unique, racy, and compelling resource decodes a neglected speech for general readers and researchers alike, offering invaluable information about black language and American slang.
Stephen Calt is the author or coauthor of the blues biographies I'd Rather Be The Devil: Skip James and the Blues and King Of The Delta Blues: The Life and Music of Charlie Patton.
