Oliver, Paul, Songsters and Saints

Songsters and Saints: Vocal Traditions on Race Records, Paul Oliver

Published 1984, Cambridge University Press, 339 pages
ISBN 0-521-26942-3

Paul Oliver turns from strict blues to look at the songs of Southern rural dances, the comic and social songs and ballads of the medicine shows and travelling entertainments, and sacred vocal traditions, from the song-sermons of the Baptist and Sanctified preachers to the gospel songs of the church congregations and of the 'jack-leg' preachers and street evangelists. Over 500 artists and 700 song titles. There is a guide to reissued recordings but it is obviously out-of-date. There are numerous black and white illustrations and reproductions of sheet music covers, advertisements, and photographs, some from the medicine show era. Highly recommended.

Pros: One of Oliver's most detailed and interesting books. Many lyric transcriptions.
Cons: Transcriptions are not necessarily complete, are occasionally incorrect.