|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
New series to focus on male blues artists
By: DAVID OWENS, Staff Writer July 18, 2005
Clarksdale's Ground Zero Blues Club will once again take center stage when acclaimed filmmaker Robert Mugge returns in August. Mugge, who last year filmed Blues Divas, will focus on the men of blues with a new series entitled Native Sons.
Clarksdale will surely be in "blues heaven" the week of Aug. 9-12 with the filming being added to an already stacked few days.
The Sunflower River Blues Festival, which features Charlie Musselwhite and several divas, will also occur during that time frame.
Robin Rushing, media coordinator for Ground Zero, said Native Sons would be a nice companion to last year's documentary.
"We've expanded it a little bit this year to include prominent music writers and photographers," she said. "Last year, it was strictly music. It will be a nice tie-in with the Sunflower River Blues Festival too."
The special lineup for the occasion includes Kenny Brown, Willie King, Super Chikan, Bobby Rush, Big George Brock, Big Jack Johnson and Little Milton.
Other guests include photographer Dick Waterman and music writers Robert Gordon, Bruce Nemerov and Gene Bush.
"It's really a good lineup," Rushing said. "Blues Divas was great and this is the male side of that. I'm really excited about the performers.
"We have included some of the names people are familiar with," she said. "But, we are also bringing in some bigger names rarely seen in the Delta."
One of those big names is the legendary David "Honeyboy" Edwards who just turned 90 last month.
Edwards was first recorded in Clarksdale in 1941 by the Library of Congress and has firsthand knowledge of Robert Johnson.
Roger Stolle, who helped arrange the lineup, said he was also excited to see Milton and Rush.
"Anybody in Clarksdale who loves blues is very excited about this event happening," he said. "A lot of these artists have never been properly documented on film. It's monumental."
Stolle said the event is called Native Sons because all of them are Mississippi musicians.
"They may not live here now, but they were all either Mississippi born or raised," he said. "Some even have strong Clarksdale connections."
Stolle said the only exception is Willie King, a native of Alabama.
"He lives just over the border, but he definitely plays the style of blues people associate with the Delta," he said. Stolle said the tapings should provide many with a proper knowledge of the many types of blues.
"People come to blues with the misconception that they have heard blues," he said. "It sounds like one thing to them whether it is rockin' blues, Delta blues or soul blues. "These concerts will showcase all the different facets of blues," Stolle said. "If you don't think you're a blues fan, you will probably become one."
Stolle described Brown as a rockin' blues artist and called Willie King a "real deal juke joint player."
"Super Chikan and Big Jack Johnson have their own styles," he said. "Big George is really a throwback to the '50s.
"All of them bring something different to the table," Stolle said. "You will see a full reflection of the men's part of the blues - what it sounds like today and what it used to sound like."
There will music aplenty that week with events scheduled at the Delta Blues Museum and several juke joints, Stolle said.
"I can say without any doubt or hesitation that that Tuesday through Sunday, every hour you're awake you can go see something pretty cool," he said. "It's really a cultural experience," Stolle said. "It's something people will talk about for years. You can say you were there when it was filmed."
Ticket information was not available as of press time.
©Clarksdale Press Register
|
|
|
| FPM C10 |
Big Jack Johnson was one of the original Jelly Roll Kings.
He should under no circumstances be confused with the contemporary white singer Jack Johnson. I've never heard him but I'm pretty sure he doesn't sound anything like Big Jack.
I have some friends who have played with Big Jack on several occasions...in fact I had to turn down an offer to play bass with them and Jack at a blues festival in the Poconos earlier this month because it was too short notice.
That kinda bummed me out.
Big Jack is on my friend Nate Myers' album "The Lonesome Plowboy".
I don't really like that Mugge guy's films all that much.
|
|
