Known to many readers of PiF as the guitarist with Davey Ralph And The Road Band, Derek Bright's new book 'Highway 61 - Crossroads On The Blues Highway' is due for publication on May 5th.
Published by the History Press
Highway 61 – the legendary Blues Highway and route taken by modern-day blues pilgrims on their journey south into the Mississippi Delta. Littered with iconic place names and immortalised in the songs of the Deep South, the great river road was taken by countless African Americans in search of the promise of work in the northern cities and escape from the legacy of slavery and hardship of the rural south. Highway 61 takes in the work of the early musicologists looking for an authentic delta folk music in the 1930s, the music arising from the struggles of a newly emerging black American proletariat in the 1940s, and the young white musicians who brought their awareness of blues back to the States from England in the 1960s. A heady mix of blues and civil rights unfolds as the reader accompanies the author on a southbound trail from Chicago, known as the ‘blues capital of the world’, to New Orleans, close to Chuck Berry’s fabled ‘gateway from freedom’. For anyone embarking on the journey this is essential reading that ensures.
Above video: Rick Parrington interviews author Derek Bright about his latest book, Highway 61 Crossroads on the Blues Highway published by the History Press, which explores the themes of blues music and civil rights that unfolds as he journeys south from Chicago following the Mississippi down to New Orleans.
The book will be available from Amazon (and other retailers):
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