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Rating:  -
If you have a real interest in blues music and those who created it, this DVD can be a jaw dropper. It's well worth the price.
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This is an absolutely fantastic DVD of historic Blues performances. There are COMPLETE (not clips) song performances by many great Blues greats including Leadbelly, Son House, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and several others. The performance by Leadbelly is galvanizing. All of the clips are highly entertaining, many of them in unusual formats, such as the imaginative Jimmy Rushing dramatization of his song. Jazz-blues performances by performers such as Billie Holiday and Count Basie are also included. In between the performances, the narrator tells about key episodes in African-American history and the history of the Blues. Accompanying the narration are historic photos, video clips, and more music. As a college teacher, I find this an ideal video for classes on African-American culture and literature.
Unlike many documentaries, there are NO talking heads, NO pretentious "musicologists" boring us with their large vocabularies. The heart of this video is the music and the cultural background. Kudos to the producers of this excellent video. All producers of music history films should be forced to view this model music documentary.
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For ardent blues aficionados and neophytes, this is an excellent foray into what makes the blues the blues. Many people like to gloss over the arduous road black musicians had to surmount in order to even be heard by an audience outside their own neighborhoods---not here. We all need to be schooled by those who not only paved the way for those to follow, but to remember that they cleared the land, leveled the path, mixed the asphalt and never missed a beat into the bargain. Here are people who would have played to a cat on the front porch, much like the musicians in the equally excellent "Buena Vista Social Club". They play for the simple reason that the music is in them and needs to get out! No telling can be entirely comprehensive, and this one is not. But is sheds unflinching light on music that triumphs. The archival footage is its true treasure. Just to see these inimitable musicians in their own metier is worth the price of admission. This dvd is akin to an art history course. sometimes, we look at a painting and say, "I hate it!" But when you understand some of what the artist was living through, you can appreciate it---perhaps, even come to like it. Same with the blues. You might not like it at first, but when you hear and learn what the artists were living through at the time, you come to respect their expression. Kudos to all involved with this project. It bears up over several viewings as well.
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I've been into Blues & a collecter for yrs & just got this DVD & it's not just the great performers on it but it also tells what & where the Blues come from. Anyone who just got started with the Blues or is a longtimer with the Blues in anyway should have this DVD. I know I'll be seein' it over & over again. L.K.
Rating:  -
the dvd is a fairly good description of the plight of the black americian in the amount of time allotted by a dvd but as a history of the blues i believe that it comes up short. the musical performances are definitely geared toward the jazzier side of blues as is the focus of the majority of the film. folk blues, chicago, new orleans, texas, apilachian, ect, either barely get a mention or no mention at all. also cronologically it seemed to jump around a bit they didnt seem to be consistently foloing a time line
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