NCW Libraries

Known as the father of American Primitive Guitar, many consider John Fahey to be a foundational figure in American folk music. As both musician and musicologist, Fahey made a fundamental contribution to our understanding and appreciation of such music genres as Delta blues, Appalachian bluegrass, and New Orleans jazz. Interviews, performances and archival footage with animation are combined in a musically charged tribute to a tremendously influential...

"Award-winning author Tonya Bolden and acclaimed illustrator R. Gregory Christie deliver an inspiring true story about the life, career, and impact of 20th-century blues and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was a trailblazer for rock-and-roll. Includes a timeline of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's life, author's note, and a list of sources. Before there was Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The...

Includes a CD of live music as a companion to the book! From the man who made a name for himself as a founding member and lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane comes a memoir that offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musical genius--and a vivid journey through the psychedelic era in America. "Music is the reward for being alive," writes Jorma Kaukonen in this candid and emotional account of his life and work. "It stirs memory in a singular...

Traces the musical odyssey of B.B. King to Memphis and pays homage to the great blues musicians of the Memphis tradition. Goes on the road and behind the scenes with Bobby Rush and Rosco Gordon. Filmed on the occasion of the great reunion in which Memphis musicians returned to honor their roots.

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist William Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the authentic roots of the blues. Now, Give My Poor Heart Ease puts a searing selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this invaluable documentary record. Illustrated with Ferris's photographs of the speakers and their...

"Decades before Elvis Presley was dubbed the King of Rock and Roll, before Billy Haley played 'Rock Around the Clock,' and before the Beatles revolutionized popular music, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black guitar player from Cotton Plant, Arksansas."--

One Way Out is the powerful biography of the Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long. For twenty-five years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding...

The singer and star of "Braxton Family Values" reveals the measures she took to make herself and her family whole again after heart ailments and a diagnosis of lupus forced her to let go of her past and take charge of her own healing--physically and spiritually.