HISTORY DETECTIVES | Josh White Guitar | PBS

Buy the DVD: http://www.shoppbs.org/entry.point?entry=3450837&source=PBSCS_YOUTUBE_HID... for more: http://www.pbs.org/historydetectives. Watch the full segment from the History Detectives Special celebrating African American contributions to music. A Michigan man owns a Guild brand acoustic guitar that he says once belonged to legendary African-American folksinger Josh White, who is credited with introducing black folk, gospel and blues music to a world audience in the 1940s. The contributor met White after a concert when he was a kid, and the guitar reminds him of a confidence White had shared with him: the Guild Company was talking to White about making a signature guitar built to his specifications and marketed under his name. If this is the guitar White had spoken of, it would be the first signature guitar ever created for an African-American musician in the United States. HISTORY DETECTIVES host Elyse Luray travels around New York City and New Jersey to explore the crossover appeal of Josh White's music and his ability to win over a racially polarized music industry.

Exploring historical objects and the stories behind them, HISTORY DETECTIVES crisscrosses the country, delving into legends, folklore and personal histories to discover potentially extraordinary objects in everyday American homes, cities and small towns. Watch for the new season of History Detectives premiering June 2009. For more information, visit http://www.pbs.org/historydetectives.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• PBS
• OPB
• History
• Detectives
• Elyse
• Luray
• american
• history
• investigation
• Josh
• White
• Guild
• guitars
• African
• American
• musi

[buddymy]

A+++

[gat569]

The guitar featured here is on sale with elderly instruments... search for the Guild F-30NT special "Josh White" (1965)... at elderly.com

[wisesatyr72]

WoW this guy was around when Delta Blues was in its prime

[RondelayAOK]

Not to be a jerk, but whites have been listening to black music long before Josh White.

[fessormojo]

Josh White was a mixed bag. He had real Piedmont blues credentials and was more of a black Woody Guthrie. When he butted heads with the House Unamerican Activities Committee, he moved to England and Europe for a few years. Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) played on his last two albums. Sonny Boy's solos are pretty well developed and hip but White's music sounds more like Rhythm and Blues without the Rhythm. He's presented more like a Nat "King" Cole than a blues king.

[lhspaiser]

Way cool - a great story about a truly great man.

[rrw1981]

Elyse is definitely hot!

[zxkid]

I was originally looking for something else, but boy this video was a very nice surprise for a musician like myself.

[statsrelick]

heck yea...she is hot

[ewhitlock]

As fascinating as Josh White's music is his relationship with FDR & Eleanor.