Black Pearls - Blues Queens of the 1920's - Daphne Duval Harrison

In the early 20's, the burgeoning blues genre was dominated by women who were considered "queens" - long before there were "divas"! They would dress flash with sequinned gowns, tiaras, jewelry, feathers, and plenty of style! They were "shouters", "moaners", "crooners" and just damn good singers. The backing varied, but they generally had bigger bands than what we associated with early male blues singers, including horns, pianos, and more of what we would consider "big band" or "jazz". But they paved the way for the evolution of the sound and many of the famous men who followed were very influenced by these queens.

This book is a good overview of these women, without getting into too much detail of anyone's lives. Harrison concentrates more on the sounds they made and the doors they opened for future performers. She explains the performance options available to these women and the adaptations that they had to make (those that could) as times and tastes changed, as vinyl was banned during the war, and as the depression hit.

Plenty here to hold the interest of anyone who cares of early blues, early African-American music, vaudeville circuits and even early civil rights. The story is often more factual (and sometimes a bit dry) than enthralling, but enjoyable none-the-less. I would like to find out more details about many of these women, but this is a good place to learn the basics. Good stuff!