Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The big problem with this book is working out exactly what it is trying to cover. Take away the foreword, introduction, photos, photographic descriptions, endnotes, bibliography, authors' notes and the page about the human rights pressure group Jubilee Campaign, one is left with 185 pages which chronicle the history of the loathsome slave trade, detail how early spirituals sometimes contained coded messages for runaway slaves (eg, "Wade In The Water" isn't just about baptism but an instruction to runaways to travel along the shallows of the river to avoid being tracked by bloodhounds), the development of early forms of African American music, the birth of the blues and how rock'n'roll came into being as well as taking in a myriad of subsidiary topics like the practice of record companies and music publishers to cheat black composers out of their royalties, the American Civil War, Little Richard's views on Mick Jagger's book advance (one of the few times Danny Smith uses original interview material) and other subjects as well. Just about all the material here has been published previously, and in more depth, but this brightly written volume may still be useful as a basic primer if you know little or nothing about the harrowing slave trade or the development of African American music. Probably the most disappointing thing about the book are the errors which occur through its pages (eg, the Drifters didn't sing on "Stand By Me", it was one time Drifters vocalist Ben E King who was the sole vocalist; the RCA "race records" subsidiary was Blue Bird, not Black Bird; and most embarrassing of all, it was the Staple Singers, not Sisters). Overall then, not a great piece of work.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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