Josh White: Society Blues (review)

Ah, the Greenville Kid's my name folks I'm trying to introduce myself to you
The Greenville Kid is my name, try to introduce myself to you
'Cause I'm all hot and bothered, but I don't know what to do

So sings Josh White in his 1932 "Greenville Sheik." Even in his first solo recording session, White exuded a confidence that would become a trademark of his performing style. With equal assurance, if slightly less swagger, Elijah Wald has written the most comprehensive publication to date about White, and it will likely become the definitive work.

While still a child, White left his Greenville, South Carolina home to accompany or "lead" numerous influential blind bluesmen as they traveled and made recordings. By the mid 1930s, White settled in New York City, where he became a fixture in the cabaret scene and was associated with left-leaning politics. By the mid-1940s, he was a nationally known performer. One of the first black performers to bring folk and blues to white audiences, he paved the way for other black entertainers such as Harry Belafonte. Although his career was devastated by McCarthyism, it flourished again during the 1960s folk and blues revival.

Wald grounds his book in the notion that White's charismatic performance quality transcended all other aspects of his career. Although his musical style, repertoire, the venues in which he performed, and his audiences all changed, his personal charm—a strong physical presence combined with warm generosity—remained constant. From this vantage point, Wald explains how White became both a musical celebrity and a trailblazing black artist. Over a five-year period, Wald gathered information from archival sources and through interviews with many individuals who knew White, including members of the White family. The result is a detailed account of the activities, personality, and music of this complex and seminal figure.

Society Blues is divided into twenty chronologically ordered chapters, some covering half a decade, some a single year. An overview of the 1960s folk revival, for example, precedes the chapter describing White's role in that movement. His early career, easily overlooked in light of his subsequent fame, is afforded equal time. This balanced approach to chronology is typical of Wald's objective treatment of White. Wald's opinions and prejudices—inevitable in such a lengthy project—are rarely visible.

A strength of Society Blues lies in Wald's ability to discern themes recurring during White's life and to use these to illustrate his personality, career, and musical style. Wald traces White's musical influences, from his childhood to his final U.S. and European tours in the late 1960s, marking the resultant changes in style. A noted musician himself, Wald deftly describes White's repertoire and that of his contemporaries, giving an immediacy to the music culture that surrounded him. The reader follows White as he maneuvers through the complexities of race, politics, and popular music. With White as its focal point, Society Blues provides a glimpse of the interaction between twentieth-century American society and its vernacular musics.

In view of the anticipated place of this book in Josh White literature, two research-oriented enhancements are unfortunately missing. First, a comprehensive discography, with an eye toward reissued recordings, would have given the reader an overview of White's recorded output. Second, a separate song title index could have been compiled for ease of reference. Both of these would have added emphasis to the book's true topic, the music.

Despite minor flaws, the reader is treated to that lucky combination of a writer who knows his topic, knows what story he wants to tell, and possesses the tools to tell that story. Society Blues will likely be viewed as the definitive work about White, overshadowing Robert Shelton's biographical introduction to The Josh White Song Book (Quadrangle Books, 1963...