Charles Burnett's "Warming by the Devil's Fire"

Charles Burnett's "Warming by the Devil's Fire" is as naive and childish as it could get, yet it still has its charm. It's another production in the series of blues documentaries called "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues".

The movie tells a story mixed with archival performances somehow related to the storyline. Young boy visits his family in the Mississippi delta during 1950s and is kidnapped by his uncle who shows him around and tells about the blues. Acting is just terrible and the story rather weak but it doesn't matter that much. It shows one's love for the blues. Archival performances are great in the whole series and this part is no exception: from Bessie and Mamie Smith, through Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Big Bill Broonzy, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

Director said he tried to show "the tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues". Uhm, whatever... Even if the movie didn't capture it that well, there's something out of this world in music played in the delta during 20s and 30s and it's worth further research ;)

Mark Figgis' "Red, White & Blues"

I've already watched and reviewed two movies of blues documentary series called "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues" and they didn't amaze me. This time it's no different, but directed by Mark Figgis "Red, White & Blues" is a nice movie. It contains lots of original material: Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Tom Jones and others enter famous Abbey Road Studios (I've always imagined it waaay different!) to play and discuss blues standards. It turns out okay.

"Red, White & Blues" is about British blues boom of the 60s and white men playing the blues. Interviews are quite interesting, although it was a pain for me to see how some of the famous musicians aged, Peter Green (known as the man who took one too many trips) seemed like he was far from being fine. Talking are many important figures of blues movement and British music scene. Particularly interesting are scenes with Eric Burdon, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, Tom Jones, Lonnie Donnegan and... B.B. King! There was also a short clip of the Rolling Stones in their early days playing "I Just Want to Make Love to You"... Brilliant stuff.

Of archival material, I loved clips by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly and Alexis Korner, who was probably one of the most important British bluesman of all times. And the absolute highlight of the movie was Jeff Beck forced to play the blues... He paired well with old worn-out butterscotch Fender Telecaster ;) He's such a nice guy and one of the greatest guitarists on the planet, for sure one of the most underrated, but he isn't playing too often and didn't record anything interesting between late 70s and late 00s... Just listen to his "Truth" from 1968, though... :) Lulu was nice, too. I didn't know she was such a great singer.

In overall: "Red, White & Blues" is not as interesting as the absolutely perfect "Blues Britannia" documentary produced by BBC, but it's worth watching nevertheless, because it covered quite different aspects. Good work x)

PS. Beautiful redhead Christine Tobin singing an old Bessie Smith's track is a treat, both for your ears and eyes :-)

Marc Levin's "Godfathers and Sons"

Marc Levin's "Godfathers and Sons" is another blues documentary in the series "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues". Still far from perfect, but enjoyable piece. Just like "Feel Like Going Home" (Scorsese's part) its first half is very good and the second one bores the hell out of me. "Godfathers and Sons" is built around Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder, and a rapper called Chuck D. Don't ask! The original idea of the movie was telling me how similar blues and hip-hop cultures are. As you probably already figured out, they are not and that was a very bad idea.

"Godfathers" - meaning Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf - are inspiring "Sons", here black hip-hop singers. There's a lot of talk about "the worst blues album of all time", "Electric Mud" by Muddy Waters: the band that made it gets back to the studio after all this years and records new stuff with Chuck D and Common, two contemporary rappers. Chuck D tells us how he adores Muddy and transforms his persona into rap music, we can even see a short part of his concert and that's really pathetic. Anyway, Marshall Chess is telling stories from Chess Records and Chicago blues scene and we get a fair share of performances. Koko Taylor with Magic Slim are rocking a small club, Sam Lay and Pinetop Perkins play at the Chicago Blues Fest and, from archival footage from Chess' archives, we can see Bo Diddley, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson II. The last one was the most interesting for me, playing harp without hands... wow. His teeth also knocked me out ;)

There was also a nice scene with a quote about Paul Butterfield (white bluesman) who "would be into the blues even if he was a tuna sandwich"... That was cool. Mentioned were Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, for whom Marshall Chess was working in the 70s.

And the movie... well. Marshall Chess sucked at being a record producer and his stories could be better: he was the man who witnessed so many great sessions! And those young hip-hop stars aren't the brightest people I've ever seen, not to mention they didn't sound good on blues records. It isn't the first or the last idea of mixing blues with hip-hop, though: the Black Keys tried (Blakroc) and their efforts were better.

A good movie, but again I just don't understand how the hell it got so many "great" reviews from critics... It's not worth it, but if you're a Chicago blues enthusiast, go and see it.

Martin Scorsese's "Feel Like Going Home"

Martin Scorsese (famous American film director) is a great fan of the blues. In 2003 he decided to produce a series of 7 movies about the blues: its varied styles and roots. Each was directed by a different guy, and Scorsese chose "Feel Like Going Home". It was the first movie from that collection (named "Martin Scorses Presents the Blues") about delta blues and its African roots.

I didn't like the movie that much. It was made in an effective way: interviews and performances were mixed with stories, lots of archival footage, both videos and photos. The thing I dislike is... uhm... it's nothing new. Nothing that interesting. The whole movie was guided by Corey Harris (a fine musician) who travels to West Africa to find how the blues started. Well...

Archival performances were cool, though. You gotta love Son House, Muddy Waters or Leadbelly. Also, John Lee Hooker surprised me with some of his early boogie. Of contemporary artists, Willie King, Corey Harris and Keb' Mo' did well: the latter two played mean "Sweet Home Chicago" on acoustic guitars! Johnny Shines talked a little about Robert Johnson and that's all. That was too much of Africa-related stuff that failed hard at gaining my interest.

Scorsese didn't even try to romanticize the early blues musicians. Didn't tell amazing stories, the whole blues mythology, the devil connection... Nope. It wasn't a typical "talking-heads" documentary you see on TV, but it wasn't that special, and it should be! It was a bit messy and soulless. It didn't make me listen to the blues whole next weekend.

It Might Get Loud

"It Might Get Loud" by Davis Guggenheim is a film about electric guitar. Or, in other words, a complete disaster. Three famous guitarists (the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White) gather to talk and play a little. It got pretty good reviews from professional critics (70 on MetaCritic and 78% on RottenTomatoes) but the movie bore the hell out of me. Now come on, I hate U2/the Edge (and anyone who calls himself like that) and Jimmy Page is a nice guy, sure, but my dishwasher has more interesting stories to tell. Those guys gather in a room and have totally nothing to say to each other! And it could really be a marvellous movie.


Page played stunning things in 1973 and made Led Zeppelin the 2nd greatest blues-rock band in the world. But he's so boring, really... Fortunately, they've shown some archival footage of him playing skiffle and it was priceless. On the other hand, you can see that on YouTube. Another nice clip was Jimmy playing his favorite records on a gramophone and playing air guitar, but it seemed awfully staged and far from natural anyway. I can't even comment on the Edge.

However, that's enough of complaining, because Jack White stood up to the task. And I don't adore any of his bands that much. And he's got weird style of playing. Anyway... I totally fell in love with his attitude. A magnificent opposite of that guy from U2. Tradition blah blah blues blah blah hard work ;) He even played Son House and called "Grinnin' In Your Face" his favorite record. And it was plain to see he was really enjoying playing and life in general. Nice to see.

Don't waste your time, folks.