George Mitchell - Mississippi Hill Country Blues 1967

This is a stunning photographic record of unprecedented musical discovery and the geniuses of Mississippi's Hill Country blues. This volume documents photographer George Mitchell's 1967 trip to Mississippi, where he searched for then unrecorded blues musicians including R. L. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Othar Turner. From Mitchell's fieldwork many others discovered the region and its distinctive style of blues. Some of the musicians Mitchell recorded had their lives transformed following his visit. The historic photographs in this book capture a vibrant blues tradition at the moment of its discovery. Intimate, without posturing or pandering, these photographs provide a raw, authentic look at African American blues musicians, their families, and their stomping grounds at a time when blues music remained a lively, though waning, part of their community and blues musicians were viewed with respect and pride.