Eric Sackheim

This 500-page elongated quarto is Eric Sackheim's attempt to consider and place the poetry of blues-lyrics in a broader continuum of human experience. Most of the text is transcriptions from what used to be called "Race Records" -- and there are some dillies here -- but what sets this book apart is the extraordinary 51-page appendix in which the anthologist connects singers like Walter Davis and "Rabbit" Brown to ancient Chinese poets and the writers of cookbooks. Understandably, the book was met mostly with wooden incomprehension, except when it was met with hostility. Still, with the passage of years, it is clear that Sackheim's concept is, at the very least, well worth exploring.
The many illustrations by Jonathan Shahn are based on original promotional material for the various artists quoted.… (meer)