Once you get past the self-important cooler-than-you intro, you’ll find a load of insightful writing in Red Hot and Blue. Historically important writing, even. Stanley Booth hung around with seminal bluesmen and wrote about Elvis Presley in that crossroads year of 1967. Red Hot and Blue collects two dozen of his essays written over the years plus a script for a documentary on Memphis music commissioned by Cybill Shepherd. Booth is as well informed on Memphis as just about anyone and his insights into the city and its culture are valuable for understanding the evolution of American music. And when he criticizes the commodification of “outlaw” and insists on defining it for real, his sharp attitude finds a deserving target.
