Stepson of the Blues: A Chicago Song of Survival by Larry Hill Taylor

Blues, the powerful root of America s popular music, is in danger of extinction. By telling his life story, singer and drummer Larry Hill Taylor shows you why. Larry grows up during the 1960s in the historic Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago s rough and soulful West Side, with almost-famous singer Vera Taylor, his mother; and guitarist Eddie Taylor, his stepfather. He survives family abuse and conflict, gangs, prison, drugs, and the streets. He spends 30 years on stage learning the blues from his musical elders as they change people s hard times to good times. Now Larry wants to lead his own band and make a better living for his family, but finds himself slogging through a cesspool of greedy, ugly, race-ridden dynamics among musicians and promoters. Trying to speak out, Larry finds his career shut down. But he won t shut up! His open the door so he and other upcoming African American musicians can take the lead and earn their just due. Once their energy is freed, the blues can take its true place in healing a wounded world. Read this book, and help loose the chains! Co-author Bonni McKeown compares the process of writing Stepson of the Blues to Alex Haley s writing the autobiography of Malcolm X. From dozens of interviews, I would write down not just Larry s words, but I would guess at his thoughts and feelings. He would read the drafts and confirm or change what was said. When a person has lived through a lot of pain and trauma, they tend to bury a lot of their past life and just try to make it day to day. Because he felt that his truth should get out, Larry was willing to re-live the experiences behind his feelings. My job was to check this with outside sources of history, such as old blues magazines and African-American history books dealing with Chicago, the Black Panthers, street gangs, all of it. The West Side of Chicago is a poor, very under-rated part of town. Just so happens it has produced some of the best musicians in the world. This book is about the real life behind the music.