'A richly textured collection of memories and observations ... terrific.' Straight No Chaser

In the summer of 1958 Samuel Charters and Ann Danberg travelled to Andros, an 'island on the wrong side of the wind' in the Bahamas. They were drawn to this remote location by a song, so rich and startling in its resonance that they followed it to its source.

In The Day is so Long and the Wages so Small Charters recalls the unique experience of this incredible summer. Living within the small yet vital community descended from a handful of Bahamian slaves, Charters and Danberg discovered the pleasures and the harsh realities of island life.

They also found that the historical fusion of disparate cultures on Andros, from Africa and Europe, had resulted in a rich, distinctive musical confluence that stubbornly resisted the influx of modern styles. The invaluable recordings they made that summer introduced the world to the guitar music of Joseph Spence, the ballads and 'rhyming' songs of John Roberts and Frederick McQueen, and a wealth of traditional Bahamian music.

Samuel Charters, the eminent historian of jazz and blues music, is the author of the award-winning The Roots of the Blues, The Legacy of the Blues, the novel Louisiana Black (filmed under the title White Lies) and Walking a Blues Road, all of which are available from Marion Boyars Publishers.

Price: £7.99/$16.95
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-7145-3056-5
Music