A review by moseslh
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis

4.0

A fascinating, if sometimes dense, exploration of three female Blues/Blues-influenced musicians and the social impact and relevance of their work. During the research process for this book, Dr. Davis discovered that the lyrics to most of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith's songs had never been transcribed. Davis transcribed the lyrics to all of their recorded works herself and includes the comprehensive collection of their lyrics in the back of the book for reference, so the book is really only half as long as it looks. I enjoyed learning about the significance of Rainey and Smith and their use of music to speak out about the realities of working class Black female lives and to empower Black women. Davis's final two chapters are on Billie Holiday, who does not fit neatly into a category with Rainey and Smith, as she was not (strictly speaking) a Blues artist. The first chapter on Holiday was the book's weakest. Because Holiday's repertoire consisted mostly of politically neutral Tin Pan Alley material, Davis relies on more subjective measures like how she sings her songs, and the resulting chapter is less convincing. The reader needs to either listen to each song mentioned in order to follow Davis's arguments or blindly trust Davis's inherently subjective basis of analysis; I think an audio book format with embedded recordings would have been a much better way for Davis to convey her message. The second chapter on Holiday, unlike the first, focuses on a specific song, namely "Strange Fruit," which does carry an overtly political message. This chapter was one of the finest in the book and more than makes up for its predecessor's weakness. The book was slow at times and felt decidedly less accessible than Davis's [b:Are Prisons Obsolete?|108428|Are Prisons Obsolete?|Angela Y. Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320521835s/108428.jpg|104488], but was a worthwhile read nonetheless.