Review: Crossroad Blues

Robert Johnson is considered a blues legend to top all blue legends. He was only known to record twenty-nine songs in his short life, before he was allegedly murdered in 1938. Now, sixty-some years later, it appears that just before he died, he laid down nine more tracks that have never seen the light of day. Maybe. No one is really sure.

Nick Travers is a PI, but not like most PI's we've come to know. He's an ex-Tulane and New Orleans Saints football player, but is now a blues historian with a doctorate. One of his compatriots has gone missing while looking for the Holy Grail of blues historians - the fabled lost Johnson recordings. Nick is asked to find him, and begins his quest in the Mississippi Delta, the birthplace of the Blues. Along the way he runs into one too many dead bodies, a beautiful blues slide guitarist, a blues promoter interested more in creating a Blues Disneyland than preserving the blues, and a murderous Elvis Presley look-alike acolyte, among others.

Lest you think this sounds like there's too much emphasis on the Blues, or music in general, and not enough on the mystery, you may be right, but I think not. The plot works, because it's so plausible. What makes the book so exceptional is the authenticity of the background. Robert Johnson did exist, he wrote what are now considered blues classics, (many will be familiar with Cream's version of the song that gives the book its title) and he died at an early age, under somewhat mysterious circumstances, before he was well known. His untimely passing created a vacuum and a need for more Robert Johnson songs, thereby establishing the validity of the plot.

And whether you enjoy this form of music, or not, you will enjoy the writing in this book. Ace Atkins is an ex-college football player himself, but don't let that lull you into believing he doesn't know which end of the pencil to write with. This guy can write stuff you want to read. I learned a lot about, and came to appreciate more fully, this form of music called the blues, and in the process, enjoyed a truly good mystery. He had me checking the internet for more information on Robert Johnson, and I now own a copy of his next book, "Leavin' Trunk Blues".

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, John Purcell, Jr. - RAM

Book Review: Crossroad Blues