Bayou Underground: Tracing the mythical roots of American popular music
$12.95-
A veteran music journalist explores rock-n-roll’s bayou roots in “a jolting 18-track joy ride [that] unlocks secrets and back-stories worth savoring” — The Wall Street Journal
The bayou of the American south — stretching from Houston, Texas, to Mobile, Alabama — is a world all its own, with a rich cultural heritage that has had an outsized influence on musicians across the globe. In this unique study of marsh music, Dave Thompson goes beyond the storied stomping grounds of New Orleans to unearth secret legends and vivid mythology.
In Bayou Underground, the people who have called the bayou home — such as Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, a one-armed Cajun backwoodsman, and a gator hunter named Amos Moses — are revealed through their own words, their lives and music, and interviews with residents from the region. Including interviews with legendary musicians like Jerry Reed and Bo Didley, Bayou Underground is part travelogue, part social history, and part lament for a way of life that has now all but disappeared.
Check availability at your local Canadian independent bookstore:
Remember that most stores can easily order books they don’t currently have in stock.
Dave Thompson is the author of over 100 books on rock, erotica, cinema, and pop culture, including bestselling biographies of Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), David Bowie, and the Cure. His latest titles include the already-controversial I Hate New Music (Backbeat Books) and London’s Burning: True Adventures on the Frontlines of Punk (Chicago Review Press). Thompson lives in Newark, Delaware.
-
Published: September 2010
ISBN: 9781550229622
Dimensions: 6 x 9 in.
Pages: 256
Reviews
“One of the best music books to come out in the past year. Hell, it may be one of the most distinctive on Southern music and culture to come along in quite a while.… a tremendous piece of work.” — Crawdaddy!
“Bayou Underground is a must-read for any serious scholar of American pop music, or American pop culture, as well as for anyone who just wants to know where Louisiana music got it’s distinctive sound.” — Bibliotica
“A jolting 18-track joy ride [that] unlocks secrets and back-stories worth savoring.” — The Wall Street Journal
“An intriguing folklore travelogue … the focus is on the filter through which writers (sometimes thousands of miles away) view the southern states of the U.S. This neatly illustrates the far-reaching impact that New Orleans continues to have on the wider music community.” — Record Collector Reviews
“In this part travelog, part music history, and part personal reminiscence, prolific rock writer Thompson … conjures up images of a mythical Louisiana. He uses 18 rock ’n’ roll songs as a backdrop to weave a tale of voodoo queens, riverboats, swamps, crocodiles, prostitutes, and pirates. To add flavor, he sprinkles food recipes, such as Alligator Broulettes and Hummingbird Cake, throughout … Thompson clearly knows his music history.” — Library Journal