Alan Lomax - John Szwed

The definitive biography of Alan Lomax-from John Szwed,"the best
music biographer in the business" (L.A. Weekly).

One of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century, Alan
Lomax was best known for bringing legendary musicians like Woody
Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Muddy Waters, Lead Belly, and Burl Ives to the
radio and introducing folk music to a mass audience. Now John Szwed,
the acclaimed biographer of Miles Davis and Sun Ra, presents the first
biography of Lomax, a man who was as influential as he was
controversial-trailed for years by the FBI, criticized for his folk- song-collecting practices, denounced by some as a purist and by others
as a popularizer. This authoritative work reveals how Lomax changed not
only the way everyone in the country heard music but also the way they
viewed America itself.

John Szwed is the author of So What: The Life of Miles
Davis and Space Is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra,
among other works. He is a professor of music and jazz studies at
Columbia University. He lives in New York City.