Yet another forthcoming expensive reference work, this time at a hugely discounted price
http://tinyurl.com/t5tqf
http://tinyurl.com/t5tqf
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John had recently flown for the first time and did not like it at all. Pat Sky tried to reassure him, saying it was a pretty safe means of transport and adding, "Anyway, when it's your time to go, it's your time to go." John thought a while and answered, "Yeah, but what if you're on the plane and it's the pilot's time to go?" - from Phil Ratcliffe's Biography of Mississippi John Hurt
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Yet another forthcoming expensive reference work, this time at a hugely discounted price
http://tinyurl.com/t5tqf Since posting I've done some Googling for the 1st edition published in 1999 and note that although out of print for a few years folk seem to be selling used copies on eBay. I note that in a few instances the original cover price of 75GBP is exceeded...
From the cover illustration, seems like author Robert Ford (apart from killing Jesse James, of course) is also one of those people who think a Dobro is a blues guitar...
From the cover illustration, seems like author Robert Ford (apart from killing Jesse James, of course) is also one of those people who think a Dobro is a blues guitar...I like it, I like it. Actually Robert informs me that he had no say in choice of cover. To show how publishers think, or rather don't, they wanted to rename the second edition "Blues Bibilography" until it was pointed out to them that by dropping the "A" the implication of their title suggested a work about blues bibliography, rather than bibliography per se. My humble apologies to Mr Ford. And I'm sure Jesse James had it coming, anyway.
I've always suspected that Dobro have a field force of agents (spiders?) employed with publishers worldwide purely to sow confusion and increase sales to beginner country blues guitarists, judging from the numerous illustrations of their instruments gracing the covers of blues-related books. I've just noticed that Amazon UK has this:
Synopsis "The Blues Bibliography, 2nd ed" is a revised and enlarged version of the definitive blues bibliography. The first edition listed over 20,000 articles, books, internet resources, and record liner notes for blues artists, ranging from acoustic country blues to R&B and modern blues performers. The new edition adds 6,000-7,500 entries to cover the last decade's writings and new figures who have emerged on the scene. "The Blues Bibliography, 2nd ed" is an invaluable guide to the enthusiastic market among libraries specializing in music and African-American culture, and among individual blues scholars. Received this short message from Robert Ford which might be of interest to some:
"Two advance copies of the bibliography arrived yesterday - it's huge and looks good. I assume the published copies will take a week or two to leave the warehouse..." The price is also huge! dj
Quote The price is also huge! List price in the US is $190. Earlier this month somebody was selling on UK eBay several "unused copies" of the out of print 1st edition - 800 pages - for a only 15GBP (1999 published price 75GBP). Now that is what I call a bargain.
Eh, it's no worse than there being a picture of a Telecaster or Les Paul on the cover. Or worse yet, Eric Clapton. My copy of this has just landed. It's a monster weighing six pounds, 11.5 x 8.5 inches, 2 inches thick and 1400 pages. I'm going to have to invest in a truss to wear each time I need to consult it! It makes the 1999 edition pale into insignificance...
On a serious note, Amazon honoured the $120 tag price of last year (when I placed the order) thereby saving me $70. Strictly one for those with good upper body strength, a robust bank account and an appetite for published blues information the like of which they probably didn't know was out there. mississippijohnhurt1928
Ooh lord that's expensive, I wish I could afford it!
Ooh lord that's expensive, I wish I could afford it!Unlike the first edition (from another publisher) which was primary aimed at the "retail blues market" this one is obviously targeted solely at libraries and institutions. I'm guessing that there will be a certain "trading up" amongst those who own the original and so cheap used copies of that 1999 edition will find their way onto ebay, Amazon and the like. mississippijohnhurt1928
Ooh lord that's expensive, I wish I could afford it!Unlike the first edition (from another publisher) which was primary aimed at the "retail blues market" this one is obviously targeted solely at libraries and institutions. I'm guessing that there will be a certain "trading up" amongst those who own the original and so cheap used copies of that 1999 edition will find their way onto ebay, Amazon and the like. Well how out of date is the '99 edition? And don't say 8 years Well how out of date is the '99 edition?Generally speaking all the major blues books, magazines, pamphlets, music newspapers and record sleevenotes/CD booklets had been covered up to 1997. This edition has obviously brought those up to date (2005), included all omissions/corrections notified by readers and has indexed the blues content of the black press, Chicago Defender etc. I'm sure there's lots of other new material too that will only come to light as I consult its pages. About a decade ago Gorgen Antonsson bravely attempted an online blues bibliography but found that the functionality he required to make it a successful tool was just too involved and expensive (in terms of development, structure and hardware). In the end he only managed a partial data load with limited search facility hosted on/by someone elses web site. It's just been brought to my attention that there is a limited view/search for this at both Amazon.com and Google Books/Scholar. Maybe some enterprising soul could come up with a short Weenpedia entry.
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