The Inconvenient Lonnie Johnson Blues, Race, Identity

In this book, Julia Simon takes a closer look at Johnson's musical legacy. Considering the full body of his work, Simon presents detailed analyses of Johnson's music―his lyrics, technique, and styles―with particular attention to its sociohistorical context. Born in 1894 in New Orleans, Johnson's early experiences were shaped by French colonial understandings of race that challenge the Black-white binary. His performances call into question not only conventional understandings of race but also fixed notions of identity. Johnson was able to cross generic, stylistic, and other boundaries almost effortlessly, displaying astonishing adaptability across a corpus of music produced over six decades. Simon introduces us to a musical innovator and a performer keenly aware of his audience and the social categories of race, class, and gender that conditioned the music of his time.
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