Thanks to an act of Congress, 2003 was deemed to be the Year of the Blues. In celebration of the recognition of this musical genre, none other than noted movie producer Martin Scorsese served as the Executive Producer of the ambitious and much advertised seven part series The Blues,which aired on PBS during the Fall of 2003. While there was lots to find interesting in this series, there were also significant complaints about the lack of a historical thread or unifying theme to the individually produced episodes.
Receiving much less publicity in 2003 was a seemingly less ambitious endeavor by Reeling In The Years Productions and Experience Hendrix. The goal of this project was to produce and distribute some significant historical footage from the American Folk Blues Festivals held from 1962-1969 across Europe to bring American blues to the European continent.
The American Folk Blues Festivals were held regularly from 1962-1970 and sporadically after that until 1985. Thanks to the efforts of the two German festival organizers, Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau, Europeans were treated to an incredible array of musical talent from American blues, including established stars (Muddy Waters), classic artists (Victoria Spivey) and the “new breed” of blues talent (Magic Sam) at the time. During each tour, the performers were taken into a German television studio to film performances for the German television show Jazz Gehort Und Gesehen.
After being held in storage for over 40 years, the videotapes of these performances were brought out and restored by a team that would bring this historic footage to the American public. It should be noted that the footage captured on these DVDs are of exceptionally high quality for the time and represent not only some of the best filmed performances by these blues great, but also some of the ONLY film available at all. This is due to the fact that blues was mostly relegated to a low budget status at the time and not afforded the high level of production afforded other music genres such as jazz or rock n’ roll.
With the background of the American Folk Blues Festival and the film established, the discussion of what can be seen on these two DVDs. Volume One contains seventeen complete performances, plus an added bonus clip featuring a 1969 performance by Earl Hooker. Volume Two contains sixteen performances, plus a bonus clip with two songs by the late, great Magic Sam. The music on the discs is excellent and well produced with great shots of all of the performers on a nicely prepared studio set before a live audience.
Performances include a number of well-known living performers in the earlier stages of their careers and of many long gone blues giants who many current blues fans were never able to see live. Prominent throughout both discs are Willie Dixon who played a significant role in the organizing and booking of the acts for the Festivals, with additional support from Memphis Slim and Sunnyland Slim on piano with Bill Stepney and Fred Below making numerous appearance on drums. While it is virtually impossible to pull out any specific highlights from either disc, just identifying the performers who appear should be enough to encourage purchase. Highlighted performers on Volume One include T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Otis Rush, Lonnie Johnson, Sippie Wallace, John Lee Hooker, Eddie Boyd, Walter Horton, Junior Wells, Big Joe Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Spann and Muddy Waters. The feature portion of the DVD concludes with a finale that includes the entire cast of the 1963 television show. Included in the feature are six performances from 1963, three each from 1962 and 1966, four from 1964 and one from 1964. The bonus track offers a rare 1969 appearance by guitarist Earl Hooker noodling around on the guitar with an abbreviated “Walking the Floor Over You,” followed by a stellar performance of the original instrumental, “Off The Hook”, performed only four months before he passed away in April 1970.
Volume Two has an equally stellar lineup that features several performers from Volume One, plus Lightnin’ Hopkins, Victoria Spivey, Roosevelt Sykes, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and three very rare filmed performances by Howlin’ Wolf that include a young Hubert Sumlin. The finale featuring Big Mama Thornton from the 1965 Festival includes notables J.B. Lenior, Doctor Ross, John Lee Hooker and Walter Horton all trading off on harmonica with backing by Fred Below, “young gun” Buddy Guy and bass by Lonesome Jimmy Lee, known later as Jimmy Lee Robinson, defender of the preservation of Chicago’s historic Maxwell Street. This volume includes seven performances from 1964, four from 1963, three from 1962 and one each from 1965 and 1966. The bonus track on Volume Two features two 1969 performances by Magic Sam, performing “All Your Love” and “Magic Sam’s Boogie.” These tunes were filmed only weeks before Sam’s death in December 1969.
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1969 Volumes One and Two contain approximately two hours of uninterrupted music with no gimmicks, narrative or stories to clutter the performances that include approximately forty of the biggest names in the history of the blues. The historical significance of the two-disc set is substantial and the quality of the music and production is exceptional. This set is a must for anyone interested in the history of the blues and the people who have made had so much influence on the music.
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