''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings'' is an
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
of
blues music
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
albums
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
released on
CD.
Content
The book was released on 31 October 2006 and was written by Tony Russell and Chris Smith with contributions by Neil Slaven, Ricky Russell and Joe Faulkner. Russell in particular is known as a musical historian, working closely with programs presented on
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
, as well as
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
on the blues.
In the book, artists are set up alphabetically and include short (usually one paragraph)
biographies
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
before showing a complete listing of their
discography
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...
. Each album includes title, a rating out of four stars, label, musicians on the album, month and year of recording, and finally a review of varying length.
See also
* ''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...
''
External links
Listing at Penguin Books.
Music history
Encyclopedias of music
Music guides
Penguin Books books
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