Ted Anthony

Another book based on an attempt to trace a very well known song, but Anthony makes it much more of a personal odyssey than Cecil Brown did in "Stagolee Shot Billy". The story is fascinating, from the Lomax recording of a white teenager's version through various commercial and folk versions of the song to Anthony's connection with the children of the woman whom Lomax first recorded in 1937. Along the way, I picked up some recommendations for musicians to listen for, too.

This is one of the most well written books I've read in some time. The concept of following the roots and history of a single song is facinating, and the writing style is engaging and fun. If all non-fiction was written this well, I'd hardly need to read fiction at all.