Topic: Pioneers of the Blues Revival

[Bunker Hill]

Pioneers of the Blues Revival
By Steve Cushing
Publisher University of Illinois Press (due Spring 2013)

Interviewees: Paul Oliver, Sam Charters, Pete Whelan, Dick Waterman, Gayle Dean Wardlow, Robert Dixon, Bob Koester, John Broven, Ray Flerlage, Mike Rowe, Jim O'Neal, Dick Spottswood, Jacques Demetre, Phil Spiro, David Evans, Chris Barber, Chris Strachwitz.

I'm trying to acquire photos of the interviewees and the names they invoke in the course of their interview. I have roughly two more weeks before deadline if it's to be published in spring of 2013.

Steve tells me that several whom he contacted declined the invitation to be interviewed for this project, with laudable modesty no doubt.

[uncle bud]

Should be some pretty interesting tales in there. I look forward to it.

[dj]

Thanks for letting us know about this, Bunker.

[Bunker Hill]

One person who couldn't be interviewed was the late Mike Leadbitter but, lest we forget, here's a truncated on-line obituary which originally appeared in Blues Unlimited at the time of Mike's death.

http://www.recordsbymail.com/MikeLeadbitterBluesUnlimited.php

[Parlor Picker]

When I ran into Prof. Longhair in Carnaby Street in the early 1970s, on realising I knew something about this music, he asked me if I knew "Mike Legsbitter" [sic]! I explained that I didn't know him personally but was very familiar with his writing.

[Bunker Hill]

I note that Illinois have already got this on their site but not due until July.

http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/25pzt3np9780252038334.html

[Stuart]

Thanks for the update, Alan.

[jphauser]

The book is now available.   Amazon is selling it for $67.50 ($75 list price).  The Kindle edition is almost $50 less at $18.59. 

Jim

[Bunker Hill]

At that price one would expect rather more from the "look inside feature" and also on Amazon UK. A great expense. As some one once sang "How can a poor man stand such times and live?".

[Stuart]

Steve has some related clips up on YT:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIdOjUItg3gF9HiqSLqrH2Q/videos

[Bunker Hill]

Due at Amazon UK July 25th - 47GBP

They've made available Steve Cushing's very short preface, Barry Lee Pearson's introduction, and Paul Oliver's entry. I guess the same goes for Amazon.

[jphauser]

At that price one would expect rather more from the "look inside feature" and also on Amazon UK. A great expense. As some one once sang "How can a poor man stand such times and live?".

I've never seen such a huge price difference between hardcover and Kindle editions.   If I see similar differences for other titles in the future, it may be time for me to invest in a Kindle or some other device.

But I'll get a copy of this particular book from my local public library in Florida.  It probably won't buy it, but, after about 3 months from the date of publication, it will borrow it for its patrons from a library that has it, probably a university library.   Hopefully, libraries in Europe do the same kind of thing.
Jim

[Stuart]

I just went through the titles on first couple of pages at UI Press' "Music In American Life" series to see if I could figure out if there's any obvious formula regarding HB vs. PB and/or pricing:

http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/find_books.php?type=series&search=MAL&viewed=0

There is generally a spread between HB and PB pricing, as one would expect, but there are exceptions. Usually the cloth editions are priced high (but not always) and for libraries and people with a strong interest in the subject and/or those with a love of books, and the PB editions are more affordable and priced to be within reach of everyone else. Let us hope that the PB edition will be published at some point--sooner rather than later. Until then, it's time to submit a purchase request to my local library.

[jharris]

This looks like a fascinating book but the pricing is going to cause many to pass this up. I usually like to have the hard copy but this time I'll purchase a digital copy for my ipad. I'll be reading this on my vacation that starts tomorrow and I'll try and give a review when I return.

[Bunker Hill]

As a rule I tend to stay out of debates of this nature but I think the publishers are extremely short sighted in their pricing policy.

Steve Cushing's laudable book will fail to be read by those who would most benefit from it. They are shooting themselves in the foot.

Personally I prefer books to read rather than Kindle screens (or similar).

Does  anybody know what the RBF and its high profile membership make of it? I'm told Facebook is the place for campaigning, now's the chance. 

That's enough soapboxing from me.

 

[Stuart]

Hi Alan: I have no idea why the publishers would not also publish a PB edition, given that most--but not all--of the other books on the first and second page have PB editions. Perhaps they are waiting to gauge potential PB sales based on some formula, but that's just a guess. A PB edition may be forthcoming as I noticed a time lag of several months (and in some cases years) between the date of the HB and PB for several of the titles.

[Bunker Hill]

Stuart, you've probably hit on it. Steve's last book for Illinois was published in 2009 (50GBP) and a year later appeared in paperback (17GBP). We live in hope.....

[TenBrook]

I was wondering if anyone has read this and would recommend it? The price is still a bit steep, even for a used copy but I'm intrigued by the stories that it might contain.

[Stuart]

Hi TenBrook:

I read it last year and enjoyed it. It's a collection of interviews. However, I borrowed it from one of the local libraries, so it was a cheap date. IMHO, $75 is beyond what it should be priced at. $25-$30 is more in the range of a trade book like this.

OCLC lists it as being held by 650 libraries:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/pioneers-of-the-blues-revival/oclc/861676380

So perhaps your local library could get you a copy through Inter-Library loan. And since it's also published as an e-book, maybe you could log in and read it on-line, if the library has it in its e-book holdings. And if you have access to Project MUSE, it's available if you have access:

https://muse.jhu.edu/book/31335

Here's a link to a report done on the costs of publishing monographs. It's primarily focused on university presses. One of the editors at the University of Washington sent it to me and said that $30K is the cost to bring a book to the pre-print stage at the UW Press. So there are various considerations re: what books are priced at.

http://www.sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SR_Report_Costs_Publishing_Monographs020516.pdf

[TenBrook]

Thanks Stuart for all the info. I haven't used Inter-Library loan at my library yet but maybe now is a good time to do so. Thanks also for the pdf link on the cost of publishing for University Presses, interesting info to have access to.

Thanks again,
Lew

[Stuart]

Hi Lew:

It's definitely worth a trip to your library to discuss what's available with the people there. In recent years there's been a move toward "Open Access" (OA) with the goal of making a lot more available than what a single library or library system can hold (or afford). Google Books is a good first step, but it has its limits. And OA is not without problems as it has the potential to result in lost sales--and it's sales that allow the print publishers to remain viable.  Here are a couple of links to Lever Press. Its focus is on academic publishing, but many of the books on music that we value are published by university presses.

http://www.leverpress.org/

http://www.middlebury.edu/newsroom/archive/2016-news/node/538116