This collection assembles the best interviews from Steve Cushing's long-running radio program Blues Before Sunrise, the nationally syndicated, award-winning program focusing on vintage blues and R&B. As both an observer and performer, Cushing has been involved with the blues scene in Chicago for decades. His candid, colorful interviews with prominent blues players, producers, and deejays reveal the behind-the-scenes world of the formative years of recorded blues. Many of these oral histories detail the careers of lesser-known but greatly influential blues performers and promoters.

The book focuses in particular on pre-World War II blues singers, performers active in 1950s Chicago, and nonperformers who contributed to the early blues world. Interviewees include Alberta Hunter, one of the earliest African American singers to transition from Chicago's Bronzeville nightlife to the international spotlight, and Ralph Bass, one of the greatest R&B producers of his era. Blues expert, writer, record producer, and cofounder of Living Blues Magazine Jim O'Neal provides the book's foreword.

Exceptional discussions with early blues makers, from the blues heritage radio showcase

About the Author

Steve Cushing has been the host of Blues Before Sunrise for thirty years. He has served as anchor of WBEZ's nationwide broadcast of the Chicago Blues Festival, performs frequently as a drummer, and has produced several recordings by Magic Slim, Lurrie Bell, and Smokey Smothers.

Reviews
"A vibrant account of a bygone era when blues and gospel were at their artistic zenith. . . . Blues before Sunrise 2 is sure to long stand as a prime research source for Chicago bluesaholics." --ARSC Journal
". . . it would be difficult to find a figure more responsible for introducing a deeper appreciation of the blues to a wider audience. Blues Before Sunrise: Interviews From The Chicago Scene is not a casual book about the Chicago blues scene, but it is an indispensable one for hardcore fans and scholars." --Chicago Blues Guide
"Cushing has provided a massive public service ... with this enthralling volume."--Juke Blues 69




Book Information
ISBN 9780252033018
Author Steve Cushing
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Weight(grams) 594g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 25mm