Harper's memoir is beautifully wrought, and populated with an array of vivid and memorable characters... Flecked with insight, wit and warmth, it proves to be an evocative portrait of a bygone era.
MOJO Harper shares his stories of searching for the blues in Chicago in his crisply told, energetic, and vibrant memoir.
No Depression Harper absorbed Chicago blues utterly and wholly, and in this gem of a book, he imparts his passion and knowledge in a witty, intelligent, revealing and honest manner. It's a real page-turner.
Record Collector Part memoir, part history and part. . . bluesological lament for a time and place that we will never see again.
Goldmine Like a great concert that makes you want the owner to leave the bar open for one more round, one more encore. A tip of the pork pie hat to Alan Harper.
American Blues Scene Harper's book, packed with interviews with club owners, musicians and magazine editors, and illuminated throughout by his own thoughtful and sensitive reactions to the many gigs he attends all over the city, is as enlightening as it is racy, as much an unblinking (and often engagingly self-deprecating) eyewitness account, full of telling detail, as an intriguing social history, dealing with such burning issues as authenticity, racial politics, music-industry practices, the difficulties of making a living as a blues player in an increasingly rock-dominated world.
London Jazz News