The Blues (2003– )

Stars:

John Mayall, Carl Lumbly, Taj Mahal

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
John Mayall	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2003)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

music business | music industry

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

PBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

A blues

Company Credits

Production Co:

Road Movies Filmproduktion, Vulcan Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ghost that Jr. saw of W.C. Handy was played by his own father, Nathaniel Lee Sr.

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Connections

Features Bird (1988)

User Reviews

A mixed bag, but certainly worth seeing

Seven 90 minute documentaries on various aspects of the blues by noted film makers, ranging from the disappointing "Godfathers and Sons", "Piano Blues" to the sublime; Wim Wenders "The Soul of a Man" and Martin Scorsese's "Feel Like Going Home". The other three films fall somewhere in he middle.

As a series the overall impact was less than I hoped for, but still very worth seeing. I was surprised by the amount of overlap; not only are a number of songs, and even specific recordings repeated in several of the films, but so are chunks of the vintage footage used.

To my personal taste, I found the series most potent and alive when it examined the roots of the blues on not just a musical, but also a political and historic level. When it just presented little pieces of songs by various artists (especially modern ones) without the benefit of probing context, it could feel predictably shallow. Still, an excellent overview of blues in the 20th century for those who already have a love for the form, and for the newly curious.