Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas

By Elijah Wald

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues

By Elijah Wald

Robert Johnson's story presents a fascinating paradox: Why did this genius of the Delta blues excite so little interest when his records were first released in the 1930s? And how did this brilliant...

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues

By Elijah Wald

Narcocorrido: Un Viaje Dentro de la Musica de Drogas, Armas, y Guerrilleros

By Elijah Wald

Dylan goes electric

By Elijah Wald

One of the music world's preeminent critics takes a fresh look at the day Dylan "went electric" at the Newport Folk Festival, timed to coincide with the event's fiftieth anniversary in 1965.

Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas

By Elijah Wald

The Blues: A Very Short Introduction

By Elijah Wald

Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, And The Deep Roots Of Rap

By Elijah Wald

A game which could inspire raucous laughter or escalate to violence, the dozens provided a wellspring of rhymes, attitude, and raw humor that has influenced pop musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and...

The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir

By Elijah Wald, Dave Van Ronk

River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi

By Theo Pelletier, Elijah Wald, John Junkerman

Companion to the major Smithsonian Institution series for public television and radio, River of Song explores the breadth and depth of American music at the close of the twentieth century - through...