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Book Cover for: Bluegrass Odyssey: A Documentary in Pictures and Words, 1966-86, Neil V. Rosenberg

Bluegrass Odyssey: A Documentary in Pictures and Words, 1966-86

Neil V. Rosenberg

The fruit of four decades of collaboration between bluegrass music's premier photographer and premier historian, Bluegrass Odyssey is a satisfying and visually alluring journey into the heart of a truly American music. Combining more than two hundred of Carl Fleischhauer's photographs with Neil V. Rosenberg's expert commentary, this elegant visual documentary captures the music-making with the culture and community that foster it.

Book Details

  • Publisher: University of Illinois Press
  • Publish Date: Dec 1st, 2006
  • Pages: 208
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 10.60in - 8.70in - 0.55in - 1.72lb
  • EAN: 9780252074004
  • Categories: Genres & Styles - Country & Bluegrass - GeneralHistory & Criticism - GeneralGenres & Styles - Blues

About the Author

Carl Fleischhauer coordinated digital library projects in the Library of Congress's Office of Strategic Initiatives before his retirement. Grammy Award-winner Neil V. Rosenberg is the professor emeritus of folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is the author of Bluegrass Generation: A Memoir and Bluegrass: A History.

Praise for this book

"Chock-full of photos capturing the first decade of the festival movement. . . . Those pictures reflect the passion, commitment, and simple pleasure of performers and fans alike, supporting the notion that a good weekend of bluegrass music can make a believer of anyone." --Richard Harrington, Washington Post
"Bluegrass Odyssey is a superb work. The text is fascinating, and every picture captures the emotions that create the high lonesome sound and the style of the musicians who play it."--Hal Bruno, ABC News
"Striking photographs. . . . Covers many aspects of the music's culture, including small-town nightspots and support systems like instrument makers, radio stations and record companies, before concluding with a marvelous chapter on Monroe. It's also chock-full of photos capturing the first decade of the festival movement. . . . Those pictures reflect the passion, commitment, and simple pleasure of performers and fans alike, supporting the notion that a good weekend of bluegrass music can make a believer of anyone."--Richard Harrington, Washington Post
"This book is about not just the musicians but also the devoted fans, the streets and stores and offices, the buses and pickups and festival sites and musical instruments and traditions that reveal the cultural landscape of bluegrass. Rosenberg's narratives set the stage for Fleischhauer's compelling, black-and-white photographs, photographs that invoke a remarkable intimacy in the revealing faces, the intensity and stillness, at the hillside and nightclub, in the parking lot jams or at a peaceful mountain gravesite."--Choice
"In this well-presented, well printed book Fleishhauer really captures the essence and excitement of a unique period."--County Sales
"The daily rhythm of bluegrass music and culture in the American South -- instrumental jams, porch gatherings, and impromptu parking-lot concerts -- is documented alongside appreciations of some greats of the genre: Bill Monroe, the Stoneman Family, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs. Bluegrass Odyssey doesn't just list names, dates, and places where bluegrass has grown -- it salutes the values that a tradition has held dear: passion, community, family, and the craft of storytelling."--Doubletake
"Superb . . . documentation by a photographer/folklorist and a writer/folklorist, depicting what they saw, heard, observed, learned, loved (and still do) and now share with all through these beautifully constructed pages."--Sing Out

"Fleischhauer's photographs coupled with Rosenberg's text document the rich history and cultural community of bluegrass across 20 years. . . . [They] provide a unique balance of explanatory text and illustrative images to tell their discovery story of bluegrass music."--Patrician Lynn Kilby, Appalachian Journal

"Fleishhauer's black and white photos capture something essential about the bluegrass experience. . . . One rapturous viewing wasn't enough -- these photographs demand to be mulled over. . . . That process is greatly aided by the generous and informative photo captions. . . . Exceptional work."--Bluegrass Unlimited

"There are no two people with more knowledge of and dedication to bluegrass than Carl Fleischhauer and Neil Rosenberg. Here they combine their long-time friendship and considerable talents to produce a unique look at one of America's most distinctive art forms. The result is a vivid family album of bluegrass that will appeal to veteran fans and newcomers alike."--Charles Wolfe, author of A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry