Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 is a compendium of lyrics by the great blues recording artists of the classic blues era. It includes over 2000 songs, transcribed directly from the original recordings, making it by far the most comprehensive and accurate collection of blues lyrics available.

Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 is a compendium of lyrics by the great blues recording artists of the classic blues era. It includes over 2000 songs, transcribed directly from the original recordings, making it by far the most comprehensive and accurate collection of blues lyrics available.

While the blues musical form has been widely studied, the structure and content of blues lyrics have been less fully explored. "The Blues Lyric Formula" is a structural analysis of the formulaic composition of blues lyrics, focusing on the songs recorded by African-American singers for the pre-World War II commercial recording companies. While some scholars have worked in this area, there has never been a rigorous and detailed exploration of exactly how blues singers used formulas in creating a commercially acceptable form of song. This book gives a step-by-step description of the rules...