Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey

Author:   Robert Mack McCormick ,  John Troutman ,  Adam Verner
Publisher:   Tantor Audio
ISBN:  

9798212557368


Publication Date:   04 April 2023
Format:   Audio  Audio Format
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey


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Overview

When blues master Robert Johnson's recordings were rereleased to great fanfare in the 1960s, little was known about his life, giving rise to legends that he gained success by selling his soul to the devil. Biography of a Phantom is musicologist Mack McCormick's search, from the late 1960s until McCormick's death in 2015, to uncover Johnson's life story. McCormick spent decades reconstructing Johnson's mysterious life and developing theories about his untimely death at the age of 27, but never made public his discoveries. Biography of a Phantom publishes his compelling work for the first time. While sleuthing for Johnson's loved ones and friends, McCormick documents a Mississippi landscape ravaged by the racism of paternalistic white landowners and county sheriffs. An editor's preface and afterword from Smithsonian curator John W. Troutman provides context as well as troubling details about McCormick's own impact on Johnson's family and illuminates through McCormick's archive the complex legacy of white male enthusiasts assuming authority over Black people's stories and the history of the blues. While Johnson died before achieving widespread recognition, his music took on a life of its own and inspired future generations. Biography of a Phantom is an important historical object that deepens the understanding of a stellar musician.

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Author:   Robert Mack McCormick ,  John Troutman ,  Adam Verner
Publisher:   Tantor Audio
Imprint:   Tantor Audio
ISBN:  

9798212557368


Publication Date:   04 April 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Audio
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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"Robert ""Mack"" McCormick (1930-2015) was an American musicologist and folklorist who researched the lives of blues musicians while supporting himself by writing, census taking, and in 1968 and 1971, working with musicians in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Adam Verner is a stage, film, television, and voice actor and an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. He holds a BS in theater arts from Bradley University and an MFA from Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. John W. Troutman is curator of American music at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History."

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