Darryl W Bullock – Queer Blues: The Hidden Figures of Early Blues Music

From the beginning, the blues has had a close connection with the LGBTQ community. There is a long and decorated history of so-called ‘dirty blues’ songs, with the 1920s and 30s seeing the release of dozens of raunchy, bawdy blues recordings aimed at a knowing LGBTQ audience.

Queer Blues tells the story of the pioneering LGBTQ composers and entertainers that wrote, performed and recorded these wonderfully outlandish, life-affirming songs and chronicles, including: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker to Frankie ‘Half-Pint’ Jaxon and many more.

This is the definitive account of the LGBTQ trailblazers of early blues and a fascinating consideration of the intersection between music and LGBTQ history, from the award-winning Darryl W. Bullock.

352 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-9131-7252-7
Format: Hardback
Year of release: 2023