Bücher von Tony Russell

This 2001 volume combines the three influential books, Savannah Syncopators; Blacks, Whites and Blues and Recording the Blues, updated with additional essays. Together these books confront the problem of how, when and from where the blues emerged and developed, and redress some persistant misconceptions in writing on African-American music.

Based on fact, the story tells of a strike by the girls in a match factory in 1888, when unions were still groping for recognition and mass withdrawal of labour was an almost unheard-of strategy in industrial relations. The match-cutters finally rebel against working conditions in which young girls had their jaws rotted away by phosphorus, and discipline was maintained by a system of crippling fines and sanctions. A grim episode, perhaps, but not many minutes of the play are allowed to pass before the natural ebullience of the traditional Cockney sparrow helps to create sparkling entertainment which warms the heart, yet retains the essential drama of the central theme.13 women, 5 men