Includes discographies, bibliographical references (pages 279-283) , and index
Blues singers included are: Charley Patton, Eddie "Son" House, Skip James, Big Joe Williams, Robert Johnson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Johnny Shines, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, Tampa Red, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Otis Spann, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Aaron T-Bone Walker, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Johnny Copeland
(cont.) Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Sippie Wallace, Victoria Spivey, Willie Mae Thornton, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Pete Johnson, Roosevelt Sykes, Blind Boy Fuller, Big Joe Turner, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Professor Longhair, and John Mayall
Profiles the lives and musical careers of fifty blues singers born before 1940