Page 59 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2022

The black and white video and scratchy sounds he recorded that seeps out of the rich black soil of the lower South, where
in 1971, juxtaposed with the modern-day equivalent, lends the land was perfect for growing cotton and other crops. It
this film a distinct and visible reminder of how older blues traces the history of that part of the country’s blues from the
legends and local talent influence the sound of today’s blues. times of slavery to today, using slave narratives, archival
Interviews with Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Muddy Waters blues recordings and the music and insights of contemporary
and many others highlight this portion of the film. blues artists.
Reed’s original journey starts in Greenup, KY, (home of Bill The Black Belt takes its name from the rich dark soil
Williams) and continues towards Memphis. Along the way, collected over the years next to the rivers along Highway 80
he encounters Sleepy John Estes in Tennessee, then he’s on to in southern Alabama. The music that came out of the area
Robinsonville, MS, where he records and interviews Woodrow originates as far back as the mid-1700s when slaves were first
Adams, followed by Robert Pete Williams in Rosedale, LA. brought in to work the plantations. From the hollers and field
Today, you can follow the Mississippi Blues Trail throughout work songs sung during the day to spread the word, to music
the state. Blues Trail markers cover the state from north to south played in backyards, houses and churches for entertainment,
and east to west, covering hundreds of historical landmarks to the gospel sung in church pews, the blues of Alabama’s
and the paths of blues pioneers. Black Belt emerged.
Back in Bentonia, MS, Reed visits the Blue Front Café, You’ll learn about local Ruby Pickens Tartt, a well-off white
the oldest surviving juke joint in America, still operated and lady who worked tirelessly to preserve the lyrics of the blues
run by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. Be sure to make this a priority and gospel songs of the 1930s and ‘40s. She worked with
stop, as well as the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, the Delta John and Alan Lomax to record as much of the music as they
Blues Museum in Clarksdale and the GRAMMY Museum could, recording over 600 songs within a 15-mile radius of
Mississippi in Cleveland. Tartt’s home.
At the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, there is a map on The documentary shows the tradition of Alabama’s Black
the wall that shows the birthplace of every musician of note Belt blues living on through music and stories from musicians
born in Mississippi. The map shows a distinct concentration including Vera Hall, Zebediah “Dock” Reed, “Birmingham”
of blues artists in the northwest portion of the state – where George Conner, Little Lee, Sam Frazier Jr., B.J. Reed, Earl
cotton was once king. “Guitar” Williams and more. I was pleasantly surprised by
This update of a classic blues documentary from 50 years this documentary, and hope you will be as well.
ago will bring you new insights into the blues and a reminder Check it out at: aptv.org/alabama-blackbelt-blues
of the many blues legends that have passed on. We must now
rely on new talent that carries on the tradition. Artists like
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Castro “Mr. Sipp” Coleman and
others keep the blues flame burning.
To rent and view the film, visit: bluestrail.vhx.tv

BUDDY GUY: THE BLUES CHASE THE BLUES AWAY

What can you say about Buddy Guy that hasn’t already been
said by thousands of guitar players from around the world? Gary
Clark, Jr. sums it up well with his observation that Guy’s style of
ALABAMA BLACK BELT BLUES playing blues on the guitar “changed the course of music.”
Born George Guy in 1936 in Lettsworth, LA, Guy went
When people think of the blues, the first thing that probably from picking cotton as a small boy to playing in the White
pops into their heads is Mississippi or Chicago-style blues. But House for President Barack Obama. This incredible journey
there is a whole world of blues out there that stretches from the is told by Buddy Guy himself in the documentary The Blues
West Coast of California to the Appalachian Mountains... all Chase the Blues Away.
slightly different, but all oh so familiar. In 1957, Guy moved to Chicago hoping to meet his
The documentary Alabama Black Belt Blues, released in personal heroes: Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’
October 2020, explores the roots and history of the blues Wolf and especially John Lee Hooker. Hooker’s recording of

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