"I went to Africa to find the roots of the blues." So Samuel Charters begins the extraordinary story of his research. But what began as a study of how the blues was handed down from African slaves to musicians of today via the slave ships, became something much more complex. In Africa Samuel Charters discovered a music which was not just a part of the past but a very vital living part of African culture. The Roots of the Blues not only reveals Charters' remarkable talent in discussing African folk music and its relationship with American blues, it demonstrates his power as a descriptive and narrative writer. Using extensive quotations of song lyrics and some remarkable photographs of the musicians, Charters has created a unique contribution to our understanding of both African and American cultures and their music.

SAMUEL CHARTERS is a musicographer, novelist, poet, biographer, and producer of jazz and blues records. His many books include The Country Blues, Jazz: A History of the New York Scene, The Legacy of the Blues, and The Blues Makers.

"The Roots of the Blues is both a vivid insight into African life, and an authoritative account of the transformation of a culture in its journey from Old to New World." - THE GUARDIAN

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