Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads
by Robert Mugge
List Price:
Our Price: $13.49
You Save: $1.49 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $7.89 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Abraham Schwab, Booker T. Laury, David A. Stewart, R.L. Burnside, Robert PalmerDirector: Robert Mugge
Brand: Sony
Writer: Robert Palmer
Producer: David A. Stewart
Cinematographer: Erich Roland
Editor: Robert Mugge
Producer: Eileen Gregory
Producer: John Stewart
Producer: Robert Maier
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Shout Factory
DVD Reviews of Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads
DVD Review: In The Back Streets Of The Blues- Life On The "Chittlin' Circuit"
Summary: 5 Stars
Over the past year or so I have spent some time in this space addressing the question of why various male folk performers like Jesse Winchester, Tom Rush, and Chris Smither, from the folk revival of the 1960's,
did or did not become "king of the hill" in that genre.(I am in the process of doing the same for female folk singers as "queen of the hill"). I have also addressed that same question, although not as extensively, concerning the various 1950's rock `n' roll artists who were left behind when rock exploded on the scene. I thought I had covered so many of the artists from the blues scene that I did not think that I needed to pose the question in that genre. Apparently I was wrong as this well done blues documentary, "Deep Blues", directed by Robert Mugge and narrated by the famed blues musicologist Robert Palmer poses that very question point blank at those left behind down at the lesser levels of the blues pantheon.
This film spends no little time on setting the framework for its above-mentioned premise. That question, as the documentary unfolds, keeps honing in on who has kept the blues tradition alive back down at the roots-mainly in the rural South among the black agricultural laborers, small town black entertainment entrepreneurs and others who want to continue the blues tradition of the Saturday night "juke joint". In short this film is a labor of love by Mugge and Palmer in honor of those who have kept the blues tradition alive, mainly as a labor of their love. Although this film was produced in 1991 in the year 2009 the same question could be fruitfully posed about who has kept the faith down home. Although there are periodic revivals of the blues around such events as Martin Scorsese's six-part PBS blues documentary of 2003 the hard truth is that the blues, as a genre, is not generally a paying proposition these days. So it has to be love of this art form that drives the work.
A number of lesser known blues performers performing their work, some that I had heard of previously others that I have not, form the core of this film. After viewing the performances I come way, once again, with that nagging question about why some artists "made it" and others did not. All blues aficionados are familiar with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Memphis Minnie, Etta James,"Big Mama" Thornton and the like. But what about those on the "chittlin' circuit"- the likes of Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Roosevelt Barnes, Big Jack Johnson and Lonnie Pitchford? I thought not. Some decided for personal reasons to stay put, some were in the wrong place at the wrong time, some are merely imitative of greater artists and some are just flat out not good enough for the "bigs". Nevertheless this is their story. Kudos to Mugge and Palmer for telling it.
DVD Review: A Missed Opportunity
Summary: 2 Stars
This film should have been great. The list of musicians profiled gave me high expectations. However, it suffers on mainly two fronts: first, the filming is amateurish. Although the sound quality is tremendous, the way scenes and interviews were filmed and edited was stale and uninventive. Compare this to "You See Me Laughin'" and you'll see a vast difference in the quality. This documentary was simply not filmed or edited well. Some of the best parts of this film were the outtakes that were in the "extras" section of the DVD. Dave Stewart, throughout the film, was an annoyance, yet in the outtakes, he made a solid contribution. The second weakness, unfortunately, was Robert Palmer. In spite of his experience, credentials, and personal relationships with some of the folks in this film, his interviews were simply boring. Not the fault of his subjects, but rather he simply makes too many inane comments and asks vapid, silly questions. Simply put, he made a film with potential into a mediocrity. Too bad. Avoid this film and pick up "You See Me Laughin."DVD Review: DEEP BLUES "A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads" DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
THIS IS A DOCUMENTARY AND PERFORMANCE DVD OF A JOURNEY INTO MISSISSIPPI BLUES COUNTRY BY ROBERT PALMER (NOT THE 80'S SINGER - BUT THE ROBERT PALMER FROM ARKANSAS WHO IS A MUSIC SCHOLAR) AND DAVE STEWART (OF THE EURYTHMICS - YES THE FAMOUS 80'S DUET). THEY START OUT IN MEMPHIS, ON BEALE STREET, THEN VENTURE INTO MISSISSIPPI BLUES COUNTRY.
You get a performance by Booker T. Laury in Memphis performing "Memphis Blues". He is a blues pianoist.
First they go to the Mississippi Hill Country, where you get to see the legendary north Mississippi Hill Country Bluesman R.L.BURNSIDE AT HIS HOME! (Please see my review of the North Mississppi Allstar's "Keep On Marchin' DVD). R.L.BURNSIDE PERFORMS "JUMPER ON THE LINE" on his front porch.
Other performances include Jessie Mae Hemphill "You Can Talk About Me".
Junior Kimbrough "All Night Long". Roosevelt Barnes "Heartbroken Man". Big Jack Johnson " When is Mama Comin' Home?. Jack Owens and Bud Spires "The Devil". and Lonnie Pitchford "If I had Possession over Judgement Day. Some of these performances are at "juke" joints. All are filmed on location in Mississippi. This gives you a good introduction to some of the lessor known blues artist.
I learned from this DVD, that the term "juke" came from Africa and referred to a place of entertainment. And thus, evolved "juke" joints and "juke" boxes.
Then you get AUDIO PERFORMANCES ONLY WITHOUT ANY VIDEO. These performances are good, but they would be better if you got the video of the artist performing the song. The songs are great blues songs.
The approx. running time is 90 minutes. This Blues documentary is not as well polished as Kenny Wayne Shepard's Blues from the Backroads DVD, but it is very real, probably more spontaneous, and it tells and shows a good story of these Mississippi Blues Artists.
IF YOU LIKE BLUES OR AMERICAN MUSIC HISTORY, OR SEE A BLUES JOURNEY FROM A DIFFERENT PERPECTIVE, THEN I THINK YOU'LL ENJOY THIS ONE. HOWEVER, BE AWARE OF IT'S LIMITATIONS. IN THAT CONTEXT, I DO RECOMMEND THIS DVD!!!
DVD Review: Real Blues
Summary: 5 Stars
For those that love real rural blues this must be one of the best insights into the lives and music of the last of the old time juke joint musicians. It has all the drive and raw power that most of us white kids seldom get a chance to experience even when we were lucky enough to see some of these guys on tour. Go and buy this one and see a little of the life of these great characters and experience some their great driving electric blues.DVD Review: Worth the price just to see Roosevelt Barnes
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful DVD. The highlights for me were seeing
R. L. Burnside at his home and getting to see Roosevelt Barnes
perform Heart Broken Man. Sadly both of these great performers are no
longer around.
Description of Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads
Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 07/22/2003 Rating: NrThis superb documentary vividly illustrates the enduring vitality of country blues, an idiom that most mainstream music fans had presumed dead or, at best, preserved through more scholarly tributes when filmmaker Robert Mugge and veteran blues and rock writer Robert Palmer embarked on their 1990 odyssey into Mississippi delta country. What Arkansas native and former Memphis stalwart Palmer knew, and Mugge captured on film, was that the blues was not only alive but still intimately woven into the daily lives of rural blacks.
Palmer, a former rock musician and Memphis Blues Festival cofounder best known for his bylines in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, had already chronicled the saga of Southern blues in his seminal book that provides the film's title. He's an astute guide, and Mugge underlines this role by pairing him with British rocker Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), whose avid interest in the music makes him an effective foil.
The film's real triumph, however, rests in the team's success in capturing modern day blues survivors and inheritors playing in the bars, juke joints, and barns of delta country. Palmer, who had returned several years earlier to the delta to capture these artists for his scrappy Fat Possum label, introduces us to the now-amplified but still elemental blues of R.L. Burnside, the late Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes, and other keepers of the faith. Mugge, whose profiles of Al Green, Sonny Rollins, and other musicians probed their cultural and artistic contexts with intelligence and sensitivity, captures both the music and the milieu in crisp color footage. Deep Blues thus triumphs as a testament to the blues' deep roots and an unintentional eulogy for Palmer, who would pass away in the mid-'90s just as the gut-bucket music of Burnside and Kimbrough served notice that the blues were alive and kicking. --Sam Sutherland
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Man on WireRelease date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $13.37
Price in other shops:
Blue Planet: Seas of Life (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $17.59
Price in other shops:
Expelled: No Intelligence AllowedRelease date: 2008-10-21; DVD
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth & The Blue Planet Seas of Life (Special Collector's Edition)Planet; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $52.97
Price in other shops:
The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
A Haunting in ConnecticutRelease date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $3.53
Price in other shops:
Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $25.20
Price in other shops:
ReligulousLions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
The BBC Natural History Collection featuring Planet Earth (Planet Earth/ The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Special Edition/ Life of Mammals/ Life of Birds)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $85.99
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC SeriesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Life and Music of Robert Johnson: Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?Release date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $8.87
Price in other shops:
Last of the Mississippi JukesRelease date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $14.98
Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Third Editionby Steve Cheseborough
University Press of Mississippi; Published: 2008-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.01
Price in other shops:
CrossroadsSONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2004-08-10; DVD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
Blues StorySony; Release date: 2003-09-30; DVD
Best price: $11.85
Price in other shops:
![American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-1966 [DVD] Image](/images/American-Folk-Blues-Festival-The-British-Tours-1963-1966-DVD-B000OPP7LS-X.jpg)
American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-1966 [DVD]UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION; Release date: 2007-05-08; DVD
Best price: $8.57
Price in other shops:
Blues Masters - The Essential History of the BluesRelease date: 2002-05-28; DVD
Best price: $12.82
Price in other shops:
You See Me Laughin'Release date: 2005-03-29; DVD
Best price: $12.18
Price in other shops:
Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Deltaby Robert Palmer
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1982-07-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
The Search for Robert JohnsonSony; Release date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops: