Living Blues

Living Blues
Title	Living Blues
Frequency	Quarterly
Category	Music magazine
Country	United States
Based	Chicago, Illinois
Language	English

Living Blues is an American magazine dedicated to the history, culture, and contemporary practice of blues music. Founded in the early 1970s, it has documented performers, recordings, and regional scenes across the United States and abroad while engaging with institutions, festivals, record labels, and academic studies. The magazine has connected grassroots musicians, collectors, scholars, and promoters through interviews, reviews, archival research, and field reporting.

History

Living Blues was established amid the revival movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s that involved figures and events such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, and the Newport Folk Festival. Early coverage intersected with scenes associated with Chicago, Memphis, Tennessee, Clarksdale, Mississippi, New Orleans, and St. Louis, and reported on historical moments involving labels like Chess Records, Sun Records, Stax Records, and Atlantic Records. The magazine documented connections between blues and artists including B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Etta James, Little Walter, Son House, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Phil Chess, Mose Allison, Koko Taylor, Pinetop Perkins, Johnny Winter, Big Joe Turner, Lonnie Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Ike Turner, Rosco Gordon, Elmore James, Mississippi John Hurt, R. L. Burnside, Keb' Mo'', Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Gary Clark Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, John Hammond, Alan Lomax and institutions such as Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress archival projects.

Editorial and Publication History

The magazine's editors and staff have included scholars, collectors, journalists, and musicians who corresponded with figures like Peter Guralnick, Greil Marcus, Robert Palmer, Charles Radcliffe, Eddie Cusic, Samuel Charters, Jelly Roll Morton archives and other archives tied to Alan Lomax collections. Publication efforts linked to organizations such as University of Chicago, University of Mississippi, Mississippi Delta Community College, Chicago Blues Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Riviera Theatre promoters, and independent presses that worked with distributors like Rounder Records, Alligator Records, Delmark Records, Fat Possum Records, Blue Note Records, Columbia Records and Virgin Records. The magazine transitioned across print and digital platforms while noting institutional shifts at venues including Buddy Guy's Legends, House of Blues, King Biscuit Time, and festivals like Monterey Jazz Festival.

Content and Features

Regular features covered album reviews, archival rediscoveries, field reports, discographies, and photo essays on artists such as Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Etta Baker, Big Mama Thornton, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Mance Lipscomb, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Walter Horton, James Cotton, Harmonica Frank, Susan Tedeschi, Anson Funderburgh, Roy Rogers, Keb' Mo'', Rory Gallagher, Joe Bonamassa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, John Mayall, Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac early blues era, and modern interpreters linked to Grammy Awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Music Awards and other honors. Columns often highlighted archival repositories such as Smithsonian Folkways, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and university collections at Mississippi State University and University of Mississippi. Features explored regional traditions tied to Texas blues, Delta blues, Chicago blues, Piedmont blues, and international exchanges involving London and Paris club scenes.

Influence and Reception

Living Blues influenced scholarship, reissue programs, festival programming, and public awareness of artists like R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Joe Williams, Furry Lewis, Blind Willie Johnson, Doc Watson, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and promoters such as Jim O'Neal and Joan Crawley. Academics and cultural institutions cited the magazine in studies alongside works by Samuel Charters, Barry Lee Pearson, Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, David Evans, and Ted Gioia. Coverage affected reissue campaigns at Bear Family Records, Ace Records, Charly Records, and label anthologies curated by producers like John Hammond and Steve Hoffman.

Notable Contributors and Interviews

Contributors included writers, photographers, and researchers who interviewed and wrote about figures such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Pinetop Perkins, R.L. Burnside, Junior Wells, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Keb' Mo'', Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Willie Dixon, Phil Chess, Sam Phillips, Jerry Wexler, Ahmet Ertegun, Mavis Staples, Ike Turner, Rosanne Cash, Nina Simone, B.B. King archival correspondences, and contemporary curators from Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress. Photographers and field recordists associated with interviews included those linked to Alan Lomax collections, William Ferris, and university folklore programs.

Circulation and Distribution

The magazine circulated through independent bookstores, record shops, festival booths, and mail subscriptions, with distribution partnerships involving retailers near venues such as Chess Records studio locations, Beale Street, Maxwell Street Market, blues festivals in Winfield, Kansas and Clarksdale, Mississippi, and international distribution in markets including London, Paris, Tokyo, and Berlin. Circulation figures fluctuated with print runs tied to quarterly schedules and sales influenced by releases from Alligator Records, Fat Possum Records, and box sets issued by Rhino Records and Legacy Recordings.

Category:Music magazines published in the United States