Blues Like the Tides

This book is a book of poetry, lyrics, paintings and line drawings tracing the source of the blues as well as the author's own interpretations and 'what ifs' -- how would famous poets write about the blues? 


Herodotus, the “Father of History,” called Egypt the gift of a river. The land of the Delta blues is also a gift of a river, not the Egyptian Nile, of course, but the American Mississippi. The Delta blues have deep roots which thrive in river-gifted soil. The blues have been derogatorily called “the Devil’s music,” but this stiff-necked judgment misses an essential point. For the blues assert one of the best qualities of true religion: empathy for the poor and ostracized. How do you hold on to your dignity in a world full of harsh, demeaning condescension? You sing the blues. That is the gift the blues bring to the exploited, the repressed, and the defiant ones who fight against dehumanization with every blues breath.


This first digital version is almost exactly the same (page by page) as the author's second edition of the book.