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The Blues as a Secular Religion

The Blues as a Secular Religion 11,e Blues as a Secular Religion Rod Gruver There is still much that needs to be done with the larger meaning of blues, with its full significance as a form of art, a modem mythol­ ogy, and a secular religion. Paul Oliver has studied the social and economic backgrounds of blues; Pete Welding, the lives and record­ ings of many of the singers; Charles Keil, the functions of the blues singer as a cultural hero; and LeRoi Jones, the important historical sources of blues. And while each has performed a valuable service in relating blues to the culture of its birth, none has been able to lift blues out of its status as a folk art. All tend to see it more or less as, to use the words of Paul Oliver, "a direct expression of its immediate environment." Thus no one yet has been able to see blues as poetry, defined by the literary critic R. P. Blackmur as "life at the remove of form and idea." There is justification, however, for looking at blues as poetry; for it is truly a creative expression, related to its environment, yes, but going beyond it also in giving form and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Black Sacred Music Duke University Press

The Blues as a Secular Religion

Gruver, Rod; Spencer, Jon Michael
Black Sacred Music , Volume 6 (1) – Mar 1, 1992
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Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by Duke University Press
ISSN
1043-9455
eISSN
2640-9879
DOI
10.1215/10439455-6.1.55
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

11,e Blues as a Secular Religion Rod Gruver There is still much that needs to be done with the larger meaning of blues, with its full significance as a form of art, a modem mythol­ ogy, and a secular religion. Paul Oliver has studied the social and economic backgrounds of blues; Pete Welding, the lives and record­ ings of many of the singers; Charles Keil, the functions of the blues singer as a cultural hero; and LeRoi Jones, the important historical sources of blues. And while each has performed a valuable service in relating blues to the culture of its birth, none has been able to lift blues out of its status as a folk art. All tend to see it more or less as, to use the words of Paul Oliver, "a direct expression of its immediate environment." Thus no one yet has been able to see blues as poetry, defined by the literary critic R. P. Blackmur as "life at the remove of form and idea." There is justification, however, for looking at blues as poetry; for it is truly a creative expression, related to its environment, yes, but going beyond it also in giving form and

Journal

Black Sacred Music – Duke University Press

Published: Mar 1, 1992

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