Something About the Blues

By Al Young

Like Harlem renaissance poet Langston Hughes, who first popularized the blues as a poetic form, California Poet Laureate Al Young has written about the blues, played the blues and drawn inspiration from the blues. Something About the Blues uses the blues as a theme throughout 100 new and previously-published poems. Selections evoke the cold, hard city, love gone wrong and blues music itself, with tributes to Ma Rainey, Lena Horne and other notable performers. Something About the Blues includes an audio CD with Al Young's dynamic, soulful readings of more than 20 of the poems from the book, plus Langston Hughes' reading of his classic "The Weary Blues." Many of Young's performances feature a live blues band.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402210647
• ISBN13: 9781402210648
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Sourcebooks MediaFusion
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Very cool book for the Blues fan

I bought this as a gift for my dad, who loves the Blues. He loved it and thought both the book and the CD were just great!

Working at the top of his game

This is a book written by a master poet working at the top of his game. The fusion of music and image, poetry and rhythm is seamless; it rings with the clear bell of pure authenticity. Reading these words is as effortless and evocative as sinking into a vinyl booth at a blues bar, feeling the buzz of the music take you out of yourself into another place of soul, of light, of being grateful to be alive. The book itself is crafted with care and attention to detail. The addition of a CD was a stroke of genius. This collection is a real treat... a must-have for anyone who loves music, or words, or (especially) both.

The Blues are Life

Usually when I think about the blues I imagine a singer with a melancholy voice singing something like: My man done beat me, treats me kind of mean. I say, My man done beat me, treats me kind of mean. But . . . Well you get the idea. But of course the Blues, which is the basis of jazz, bebop, R & R,etc is much more than that. With this book, Al presents the Blues as it is; poetry about all aspects of life, mostly life affirming, set to music or imagined. To quote part of one of Al's poems: "Something about the blues swoops down on you so soft and easy that the slippery salt-seam that sews sleep to wakefulness melts down to let love pour out all over you like radiation" With this book I believe Al Young has come of age. He beautifully distills his talents as a poet, musician, and wonderful story teller into the work of art which is this gift. The book itself is "eye candy." It is visually appealing in its layout and makes the poems easy and compelling to read and very tempting to recite. As a bonus Al includes a wonderful CD in which his performance makes his poetry come alive, with and without musical accompanyment.