By: Staff
“One of the wittiest, bawdiest, most fascinating dictionaries ever.” – Reuters
Includes Dr. John Foreword, Free Album Download
Blurbed by Bonnie Raitt, Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Vivino, Bob Margolin
Featured on The Huffington Post and Jezebel.com
Guitar International has published rock musician Debra Devi’s award-winning eBook, The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu (with Foreword by Dr. John) — a must-have for blues fans! For $9.99 on Amazon Kindle, readers also get a free download of the author’s acclaimed debut rock album, Get Free.
Praised as “invaluable” by Nat Hentoff in The Wall Street Journal, The Language of the Blues opens with a remarkable foreword by Dr. John, and is blurbed by Bonnie Raitt, Joe Bonamassa, Conan bandleader Jimmy Vivino, Muddy Waters guitarist Bob Margolin, producer Hal Willner, Ministry singer Al Jourgensen, and Fugs founder/author Ed Sanders (full blurbs below).
Since the eBook release, Debra Devi has been invited to become a Huffington Post blogger, where she is posting stories weekly based on her book.
Her posts have also been featured on Jezebel.com, a Gawker site. “As a musician myself, not a scholar,” Devi says, “I thought I could best make a contribution by talking directly to blues artists about what the words in blues songs mean to them.” She calls her book “an anecdotal dictionary” of blues terminology.
It’s packed with wild stories from her in-depth interviews with blues legends Milton Campbell, Robben Ford, Henry Gray, Dr. John, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Bonnie Raitt, Smiley Ricks, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmie Vaughan and more. It includes 20+ color and B/W photos, some rare.
Devi combined insights from her interviews with extensive research into African language, voodoo culture and oral histories to define over 150 blues terms. The book opens with “alcorub”, the drink of last resort for desperate alcoholics (remember Kitty Dukakis?), and closes with “zuzu”, slang for a cookie and “perhaps the most wholesome word in the entire book,” according to Reuters.
The print version of The Language of the Blues won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for Outstanding Book on Popular Music in 2008. This updated eBook includes new photos, color photos and updates, plus a free download of Devi’s rock album, Get Free. Debra Devi is the lead singer/guitarist for the rock band Devi – described as “Sheryl Crow meets Queens of the Stone Age” (Beat magazine). She’s a Fender Girl Rock Nation artist, and the first female guitarist to record for Guitar World’s Lick of the Day iPhone app. A former associate editor of Blues Revue, Devi has also written for The Village Voice, Rolling Stone.com, Guitar World, Vintage Guitar, and Yoga Journal. LINKS The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu – website, Amazon links
Debra Devi on The Huffington Post Blog
BLURBS FROM BONNIE RAITT, JOE BONAMASSA AND MORE.
BLURBS – The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu
“What a great resource…as fascinating as it is informative. Debra’s passion for the blues shines through.” Bonnie Raitt
“Every blues guitarist needs to know their blues history and where the blues are coming from. Debra’s book will teach you what you really need to know.” Joe Bonamassa
“This book is fascinating! Take it to the bathroom and don’t come out until you’re done reading it.” Jimmy Vivino (Conan bandleader)
“This is a beautiful book. After hearing ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ in high school I bought every vintage blues record available at the time. Upon receiving The Language of the Blues I discovered my knowledge only scratched the surface. Debra Devi has written an invaluable reference book. And it’s also great fun to read.” Hal Willner (producer)
“Don’t think that The Language of the Blues might read like a dictionary or reference book. There’s no plot, but you can open it up at random and fall into the world of your favorite Blues songs, and find out more about the lyrics than you would be guessing from context. I learned a lot more about the Blues music I already loved.” Bob Margolin (Muddy Waters Band)
“Congratulations to Debra Devi for The Language of the Blues. Its candor and witty honesty bring us into the world she describes so well with beautiful strength. This is a book that lovers of music and just plain old lovers will love to have in their collections.” Ed Sanders (The Fugs, author of The Family)
“Finally one can understand the mechanics behind the overwhelming viscera of the Blues. Debra Devi’s work is a true guide book to the soul.” Al Jourgensen (Ministry)
