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Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Red, White and Blues
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JazzDigger Home > F - Jazz Artists > Chris Farlowe > Item 19
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Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Red, White and Blues
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by Marcia Ball, Chris Barber
Price:$13.85
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Listener Reviews & Comments
Most Americans still don't understand the roots of our own music. Certainly the record companies and radio stations don't _ slotting musicians and music into categories without with no thought about the connections among all varieties. The Brits do, as this, the best of the Scorcese-sponsored series demonstrates. There are numerous examples here of how American musicians had to have their music transported overseas and brought back. The classic: when the Rolling Stones arrived in the U.S. and cited Muddy Waters, among others, as their model, few people knew who he was. There is some stunning music here, no more so than at the start, when Van Morrison walks into the middle of a session at Abbey Road studios, sits down and starts singing incredible blues with a band that includes Jeff Beck. That session is interspersed throughout and also includes Tom Jones, of all people, and Lulu, who had a hit in the 60s or 70s with "To Sir With Love,'' but really is a pretty good blues singer. But what hit me is how the British musicians were able to popularize American roots music in this country, something American radio couldn't or wouldn't do. Steve Winwood, a true musical genius, talks about going to Tennessee and understanding the roots of country music. And the Beatles covered Carl Perkins and Buck Owens. (An aside: Albert Lee, a great British player who is interviewed for this film, has played electric guitar with Earl Scruggs, one of the inventors of bluegrass.) Finally, Mike Figgis, the director and a musician himself, ties it all together in an extra interview. Turns out that he had no idea whether the enigmatic Morrison would show up. So the opening scene is relatively spontaneous _ Van walking in, taking off his coat (but leaving on his hat) and joining the session. One curiosity. When British musicians show up, a line appears over them: "Van Morrison, born 1945, Belfast,'' etc. Even John Lennon "1940-1980, Liverpool.'' Except for Clapton. The assumption, I suppose, is that everyone knows Eric, who is a central figure in this movie and, obviously, in the British blues scene. Or maybe he decided he didn't need to be identified. He's also involved in a gratuitous scene repeating what he's said many times: that "Music from Big Pink'' by The Band changed his entire musical orientation. It di, although The Band was not especially bluesy and Clapton, or course, recently recorded an album with B.B. King. (B.B. is also in the movie repeating what he's said many times: that he's grateful to the Brits for making an African-American music part of the mainstream.) In any case, this is well worth the investment.
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Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Red, White and Blues
by Marcia Ball, Chris Barber
Price:$13.85
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