Taj Mahal: Autobiography of a Bluesman

I thought this book was so interesting and it wasn't filled with too many minute music details that you put it down and return to more details about a certain track that you get bored. If you want an interesting book about a real well traveled man in music and you like Taj Mahal then what's not to like? I was crazy about the book and I'm not an overly crazed Taj fan despite seeing him many times. Simple - very good 'page turner' book that says a lot about the man and a lot about his experiences in life to make his music unique.

This book is portraying this bluesman in his own words, but also by the words of many others. It is unfair to label this as a "bad" book just by the fact that it is not an autobiography. And people complain about reading about his life. . . a book about a musician would not be a book if it didn't focus on his life. You can hear the music, but you need to read his life. This is a well written book with many celebrity interviews about this influential artist. I've bought this book for several people with no regrets. . .they don't regret reading it either. They do nothing but rave about it, and that's all that I can do.

I truly loved this book about a legendary bluesman. He seemed to be up-front and honest about his personal life and trials as well as experiences in the cutthroat world of music as business. Interviews-with/comments-from "stars" in the music industry like Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Jagger showed just what an indelible mark Taj has made on their lives. Stories from Taj's family were poignant.

The best way for me to describe this book is this. I will simply quote the announcer who introduces Taj on his live album "The Real Thing"..."If you didn't come here with a friend, you have one on the stage right now, Mr. Taj Mahal!".

Stephen Foehr is a master of networking. I can tell you, because I copy edited much of this book, that bringing it to publication was a Herculean chore. Taj Mahal's internationl concert schedule and complex family relations made him an elusive, sometimes reluctant, contributor to the project. Foehr was forced to tell the story as much by contacting Taj's myriad kin, fellow musicians, friends, and others as by getting Taj to tell it in his own words. The result is a rich, multifaceted combination of autobiography and biography that provides a classic example of the genre as well as a fascinating portrait of its subject, the world of the blues, Taj's family and friends, and a history of the blues in the last 40 or 50 years. Taj's supporting cast, his friends and antagonists, comprise a gallery of equally gifted and admiraqble characters. Foehr's relentless and creative networking with them and tracking them down made this book possible. Taj's complex, talented, intriguing life has been given its definitive treatment.