Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues - Paperback (ONLINE ORDER ONLY)

by Paul Garon (Author), Beth Garon (Author), Jim O'Neal (Foreword by)

Universally recognized as one of the greatest blues artists, Memphis Minnie (1897-1973) wrote and recorded hundreds of songs. Blues people as diverse as Muddy Waters, Johnny Shines, Big Mama Thornton, and Chuck Berry have acknowledged her as a major influence. At a time when most female vocalists sang Tin Pan Alley material, Minnie wrote her own lyrics and accompanied her singing with virtuoso guitar playing. Thanks to her merciless imagination and dark humor, her songs rank among the most vigorous and challenging popular poetry in any language.

Woman with Guitar is the first full-length study of the life and work of this extraordinary free spirit, focusing on the lively interplay between Minnie's evolving artistry and the African American community in which she lived and worked. Drawing on folklore, psychoanalysis, critical theory, women's studies, and surrealism, the authors' explorations of Minnie's songs illuminate the poetics of popular culture as well as the largely hidden history of working-class women's self-emancipation.

This revised and expanded edition includes a wealth of new biographical material, including photographs, record contracts, sheet music, and period advertisements, which further vivify this portrait of an African American musical legend. Complete, updated discography included.

Author Biography

Paul Garon: Paul Garon has written about the blues for nearly fifty years. A co-founder of Living Blues, he is also the author of The Devil's Son-in-Law: The Story of Peetie Wheatstraw and His Songs, Blues and the Poetic Spirit and What's the Use of Walking if a Freight Train's Going Your Way, as well as a small collection of prose poems, Rana Mozelle.

Beth Garon: Beth Garon is a collagist and painter, and Woman with Guitar is her first book. She and her husband and co-author, Paul have both been active participants in the Surrealist movement in the US for many years.

The Garons operate Beasley Books, a used and rare book business in Chicago.