[eBuddha]

Welcome to a forum dedicated specifically for discussion about this multiple episode film series, directed by veteran Martin Scorsese...

!

[BlueJazzman]

With three installments behind us, I am super impressed.

Today (Oct 1) is my birthday. I am seriously considering buying the Deluxe package PBS is offering (all the DVDs, book, etc) as a present to myself.

But, at $200 it's a bit pricey (without a job right now).

But, if any loyal listener wants to purchase the 7 CD music set and donate it to the show, I promise we'll play the heck out of those CDs !!!!!

Also, we're carrying a snippet about the series on our daily play lists to remind listeners to watch every evening (see web site for today's play list).

[NotBosco]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BJ !!!

[Craig Ruskey]

Happy birthday BJM...

As to the Scorsese series...

Part 1, directed by Scorsese himself was a fair, but all-too-brief, overview and introduction to blues. At a mere 60 minutes (give or take 10) while there was some very nice vintage film footage, there wasn't an awful lot of depth or explanation on the music's beginnings, importance, or longevity.

Part 2 was far stronger with some very interesting film work. The re-enactment scenes of Blind Willie Johnson and Skip James were fantastic with old, hand-crank cameras used for period effect, and were superbly done. The actual footage of Skip from the Newport festivals was also incredible and moving, as was the previously unseen film of J.B. Lenoir. The most disturbing parts were the dreadful examples of the influence on artists like Beck, Jon Spencer, Mark Ribot, Nick Cave, Lucinda Williams, and a few others. Moronic interpretations, in my opinion.

Part 3 with its focus on B.B. King and Bobby Rush was well-done as the cameras rolled through performances, life on the bus, and chatting with friends and acquaintances at shows. Again, maybe lacking depth, but some of the vintage films shown were stunning... Howlin' Wolf for one, and LoC footage of Forrest City Joe and friends.

With three down and four to go, it's maybe been a fair representation of the music so far. My main gripe is that with seven different directors (each allowed to do what they wanted), there is a lack of cohesion. Each episode (in and of itself) has had its share of jarring back and forth, but there's no continuity between episodes, and that leaves one wondering why it wasn't done in a more chronological manner.

I'm pleased in the long run that blues is getting this sort of exposure, especially in a prime-time slot, but those new to blues might be left wondering why the music has been so influential, and for those with a good working knowledge of blues, the questions remain as to why there was no set game plan from Scorsese, aside from allowing all the directors to do what they desired.

The final verdict won't be in until all seven episodes are aired...

BW

This post has been edited by Craig Ruskey: 01 October 2003 - 05:34 PM

[Mountain Blues]

I'm rather disappointed in "The Blues," but there's a reason for that--I had imagined something much different. As it turns out, it's not an in-depth look at blues and its major players, and that disappoints me. It's more a look at a few people from independent directors' points of view, and while what has been included is great stuff (for the most part) that I have thoroughly enjoyed, after each program I have felt that it's incomplete.....that there should have been more.

Where are Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Walter, Robert Nighthawk, Elmore James (admittedly not much--if any--visually available of him, there is certainly the music and the mark he left), not to mention Tommy Johnson, Houston Stackhouse, etc.? Of course, only three episodes have been aired, but I would hope we'd see much more Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and others who rather defined a great portion of blues.

Although the purpose may not have been to produce a historical approach or documentary of blues, that is precisely what leaves me a little less than thrilled with the entire thing. Of course, just having blues programs aired on TV is a giant step forward! I will continue to watch, because the footage of Wolf, Muddy, Hooker, House, and others has been amazing. There could just be so much more.......

Mountain Blues


Happy Birthday, BJM!

[Skyy Dobro]

I am sitting here at mid-week with mixed emotions. I have watched three of the seven films being presented on PBS titled “Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues.” I am not disappointed, but I am less than satisfied.
I have known about this project for months. Ever since I heard about 2003 being Congressionally declared “The Year of The Blues,” I have been anxiously awaiting the climax – the seven night series of films by seven different directors.
The first night’s program on the genre’s roots spent too much time in Africa and not enough in the Mississippi Delta. The second night wasted too much time interviewing old burnt out hippies and not enough playing the music. When they did play some music, among the featured artists were the one-hit-wonder Lou Reed and the simply awful Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I’m sorry, but screeching and convulsing on the floor is not a blues music performance!
The third night’s “Road To Memphis” had a better flow to it.
Perhaps I am too left-brain oriented to appreciate the artsy-fartsy approach to film making, but parts seemed too esoteric and pedantic for an intended “general” viewing audience. This was the series that was to introduce blues to the uninformed and absolutely captivate their interest. I doubt they made it through the first night!
Most irritating, in my opinion, is the interruption, after 30 seconds, of a beautiful archival music performance with another talking-head interview. The creators would quickly tell me there is a simple solution to this problem: buy the seven soundtrack CDs of uninterrupted music that accompany these seven films. Believe me, this entire project is a marketing bonanza.
Coming to a store near you, just in time for Christmas gift-giving is “The Blues” in six different configurations: (1) A seven disc collector’s set of DVDs containing the seven films plus bonus material (2) A five CD Deluxe boxed set with over 100 songs (3) A 21 track single CD offering an overview, i.e. Robert Johnson to Shemekia Copeland (4) The aforementioned seven soundtrack CDs (5) A companion book (6)Twelve individual artist CDs by the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, and others such as J.B. Lenoir.
Jury is still out! Having this series is 100 times better than not having it!

[Mountain Blues]

Wow! No sooner said than done....I wanted to see more vintage footage of some of the greats--and there they were tonight. Awesome! Muddy, Little Walter, SBWII, Mississippi John Hurt, and others. Just great. So far, this installment has been the hands down favorite in my book; the format for this little blues history lesson is very appealing.

Mountain Blues

[Craig Ruskey]

Part 4 - While the objective for last night's episode was a valiant one (an uncle teaching his nephew about the history of blues), it completely lost its steam before the halfway point. The youngster got a few scraps of information, but he wound up with far less than what Scorsese projected in the introduction. Some of the acting was fine, but the blind guitar player who was to teach the youngster some pointers was hardly convincing, Sleepy John Estes was referred to as Sleepy "JOE" Estes (another fine example of what not to teach), and although there were some fine clips of archival footage, much of that seemed slapped together and often times far outside the storyline. This one struck me as more of a Davey And Goliath claymation film... "Gee Davey, I told you not to go with that man."

BW

This post has been edited by Craig Ruskey: 02 October 2003 - 06:24 AM

[Mountain Blues]

[quote=Craig Ruskey,Oct 2 2003, 06:22 AM]Part 4 - While the objective for last night's episode was a valiant one (an uncle teaching his nephew about the history of blues), it completely lost its steam before the halfway point.

BW[/quote]
[QUOTE]

hmmm...boy, I don't see it that way at all. At about the halfway point (or shortly before) is when some great clips of many wonderful bluesmen were shown, and before that there were some interesting ones of the female blues singers. I loved it simply because of the footage. Nothing like seeing SBWII, Little Walter, Lightnin' Hopkins, and others. I'm not sure where it lost steam; to me, it kept momentum and the premise was charming. My favorite one to this point.

Mountain Blues

[Craig Ruskey]

I completely agree that there were some great clips spliced into the story, but showing vintage films of Muddy and John Lee Hooker without even mentioning their overall importance is not teaching. And it was also quite the lesson in teaching to have a clip of a sign that read "Entering Arkansas," show a few seconds of Lightnin' Hopkins (Texas Blues - not Arkansas), and never mention his name either. The strongest part of the kid's lesson was the classic blues era of Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith, but I'm still not quite sure why Billie Holiday landed in there aside from the director's fixation with that era.

BW

[Mountain Blues]

Again, this was certainly NOT a documentary, so things do not need to be in a chronological sense of order. These were remembrances--entering Arkansas, seeing different blues people, and positioning these people as important to the formation of blues. John Lee Hooker was not a Delta artist, either, but he was "remembered" by the boy. I enjoyed the format very much, and the fact that so many clips were shown was a draw for me.

As for teaching people about blues, I would think the first 3 were sorely lacking in that area. A beginner attempting to watch those would wonder "what's up with blues?" Not the most appealing of blues programs I've seen.

Mountain Blues

[Craig Ruskey]

True that it didn't have to be chronological, but can you explain exactly what this youngster was taught about the history of blues aside from the classic era? There were recollections of great artists, no question there, but where was the teaching? Did he learn anything beyond the classic era? Not to my knowledge. There was little if any mention about how blues rolled out of the Delta and into cities like St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit. That to me would have been a lesson worth remembering, but instead we wound up with a good information on some of that classic period and barely much else. I still think this is far better than having no blues coverage at all, but I think the series so far has fallen way short of its intended purpose.

BW

[Mountain Blues]

How was he to be taught how it rolled out of the Delta? That was not the purpose. His uncle took him to the Delta to show hime from whence "he" came. And IMO it was beautifully done, with all the vintage footage, if nothing else, making it quite worthwhile. Not a history lesson.....a lesson in "roots." The one thing I have not had a problem with all along concerning these programs is the footage of blues people of the past. That is the part I love, and this program not only had tons of that -- of the very important ones-- it was attractively done all around, while the others had the feel of a disjointed, poorly done documentary, and talk about leaving out tons of important info...it was missing in spades in the first three!

But differences of opinions make the world go 'round!

Mountain Blues

This post has been edited by Mountain Blues: 02 October 2003 - 07:34 AM

[Sassie]

[quote=Skyy Dobro,Oct 2 2003, 01:53 AM]
I am sitting here at mid-week with mixed emotions. I have watched three of the seven films being presented on PBS titled “Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues.” I am not disappointed, but I am less than satisfied.
I have known about this project for months. Ever since I heard about 2003 being Congressionally declared “The Year of The Blues,” I have been anxiously awaiting the climax – the seven night series of films by seven different directors.
The first night’s program on the genre’s roots spent too much time in Africa and not enough in the Mississippi Delta. The second night wasted too much time interviewing old burnt out hippies and not enough playing the music. When they did play some music, among the featured artists were the one-hit-wonder Lou Reed and the simply awful Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I’m sorry, but screeching and convulsing on the floor is not a blues music performance!
The third night’s “Road To Memphis” had a better flow to it.
Perhaps I am too left-brain oriented to appreciate the artsy-fartsy approach to film making, but parts seemed too esoteric and pedantic for an intended “general” viewing audience. This was the series that was to introduce blues to the uninformed and absolutely captivate their interest. I doubt they made it through the first night!
Most irritating, in my opinion, is the interruption, after 30 seconds, of a beautiful archival music performance with another talking-head interview. The creators would quickly tell me there is a simple solution to this problem: buy the seven soundtrack CDs of uninterrupted music that accompany these seven films. Believe me, this entire project is a marketing bonanza.
Coming to a store near you, just in time for Christmas gift-giving is “The Blues” in six different configurations: (1) A seven disc collector’s set of DVDs containing the seven films plus bonus material (2) A five CD Deluxe boxed set with over 100 songs (3) A 21 track single CD offering an overview, i.e. Robert Johnson to Shemekia Copeland (4) The aforementioned seven soundtrack CDs (5) A companion book (6)Twelve individual artist CDs by the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, and others such as J.B. Lenoir.
Jury is still out! Having this series is 100 times better than not having it![/quote]
Hey Sky (and everyone)....I agree with what you are saying here, but I do have to say that it bears remembering that these folks are FILM artists. They might well be targeting a new, uneducated audience. To a man/woman, we all would have done things differently, but to a newbie to the blues, they might find this stuff captivating.

Yes, I would have loved more archival footage (and might I add here, that the Godfathers and Sons was a delightful surprise! I didn't expect much from this one, and boy was it great! funny, I expected MORE from last night's Warming By the Devils Fire, and not much from this one. Tables turn.....yep!)

bottom line....these guys are film folk. They claim to be blues lovers, and maybe they are......and maybe they will rope in some film-heads. Who knows?

all in all, any blues exposure is better than none, and in spite of a few embarrassing moments (like Jon spencer) I'm really thrilled to see this series aired.

[BlueJazzman]

As usual, Sassie, your insights are right on target.

As you said, this series was not directed as much to blues lovers as to the uninitiated masses.

In that it has generated interest in the blues for millions (even hundreds of thousands) of viewers, IMHO, it has done a wonderful job.

My favorite was the "Road To Memphis" episode but I'm biased since I grew up skipping school and hanging around Beale street to listen to Furry Lewis and Bukka White.

The "Warming With The Devil's Music" installment wasn't bad at all, either.

The only fault I saw on "The Road" one was the inclusion of Bukka White as bluesmen who went to jail for homicide. Bukka did NOT kill a man. He was alledged to have shot another fellow but not to have killed him. He was never convicted of it either. He went to prison for skipping bail - not for the original allegation/charges.

But, since so many authors have accepted and repeated the myth that he killed the man, I guess it's a minor inaccuracy and it might even add to Bukka's legend.

Having heard the man's version of his story from his own lips, though, I just get a bit miffed when I hear it mistold.

Otherwise, the series has been nothing short of entertaining, informative and riveting.

I did find one comment I heard on this evening's episode of interest and worth mentioning: Music critics can't create music. They just enjoy putting down those who can. The same probably applies to film critics too, uh?