Customer Reviews

Blues Masters - The Essential History of the Blues

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This documentary does what so many others on Black Music failed to do, it discusses the music in the context of black struggle in America. The reason this DVD was such a breath of fresh air to me is because I purchased it after returning a documentary (American Roots Music) that did the exact opposite. Where American Roots Music teases the viewer with one or two seconds of it's "rare footage", Blues Masters shows rare sessions with Son House, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith and many more virtually uncut. Where American Roots Music attempts to handle the music as if it exists in a vacuum; Blues Masters doesn't separate the music from the people who created it. The latter even makes mention and shows footage of self-determined Black leaders such as Marcus Garvey and Father Divine, who both were very influential among common Black folks of the time. It discusses the "Racist Regime of America" and it's deep mistreatment of Blacks and alludes to the fact that this deep seated oppression and pain had to be an element of what actually drove Black folks to create the blues in the first place. This DVD is a must have. Buy two copies, just in case one of your friends decide to borrow it and never give it back.

This is an absolutely fantastic DVD of historic Blues performances. There are COMPLETE (not clips) song performances by many great Blues greats including Leadbelly, Son House, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and several others. The performance by Leadbelly is galvanizing. All of the clips are highly entertaining, many of them in unusual formats, such as the imaginative Jimmy Rushing dramatization of his song. Jazz-blues performances by performers such as Billie Holiday and Count Basie are also included. In between the performances, the narrator tells about key episodes in African-American history and the history of the Blues. Accompanying the narration are historic photos, video clips, and more music. As a college teacher, I find this an ideal video for classes on African-American culture and literature.

Unlike many documentaries, there are NO talking heads, NO pretentious "musicologists" boring us with their large vocabularies. The heart of this video is the music and the cultural background. Kudos to the producers of this excellent video. All producers of music history films should be forced to view this model music documentary.

This is the worst Blues DVD I've ever seen. Many essential points to understanding the history of the Blues are missed: Mamie Smith recording the first Black vocal song with the word "Blues" that became a huge hit ("Crazy Blues"), the subsequent popularity of Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson becoming the first male Blues star in the Race Records industry, the birth of electric Blues that was necessary when blacks moved north and needed to amplify music in order to be heard in huge crowds, the birth of Rock 'N' Roll around 1954, and the Country Blues revival during the early 1960's. Facets of the terrible documentary which should have been taken out were the footage of Kennedy during the Jimmy Witherspoon song, which was simply idiotic and without reason (not to mention the documentary's failure to state that Witherspoon was covering a song Bessie Smith had popularized), the excessive talk of Blues constantly being associated with the struggle for Civil Rights (many Bluesmen's daily activities were not in line at all with morality), the mentioning of the Beatles and Michael Jackson being heavily influenced by Blues (this is plain absurd), and associating Aretha Franklin with Sarah Vaughan (they were separated by three decades). The Muddy Waters footage was terrible, as they selected one of the worst Muddy performances I've ever seen. There was no effort to fix up the sound quality of not just the performances, but also the narrator's statements, despite the DVD coming out in 1993, and then being touched up during the current decade. In addition, Babe Stovall was not a hugely popular performer during the 1920's, as the DVD states. The closing footage of B.B. King is from the early 1960's, so why was it shown after the narrator talked about B.B. being the representative of the Blues in today's world? Also, Sleepy John Estes was not hugely popular in the 1940's and 1950's, and Elmore James died in the 1960's (instead of being a huge star throughout the decade, as the DVD states). From top to bottom, this is the worst Blues documentary ever. For all of you who claim to know about Blues and give this terrible work 5 stars, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

This DVD is NOT dedicated to Blues history. It will give you an overview of what was happening politically in America from the late 1800's to today and what music was popular with Black Americans. It includes Jazz and Swing as well as Blues. I liked the footage of Leadbelly, Billie Holiday, and others. I did not like that it only briefly mentions Robert Johnson. No real history of the Blues here. I would only recommend this DVD to anyone who wants an American history lesson to learn about sharecropping, how Black Americans served in the military, etc. It does a good job of covering Black history.

Yes, I understand why the U.S. History lesson applies to the hisory of the Blues BUT: Did we really need to see video clips of JFK's presidency & his assassination as background to Jimmy Witherspoon's "Ain't Nobody's Business"? Was it misrepresentation to use late 1970's film footage to introduce Muddy Waters in the late 50's segment? Imagine my surprise to find Clifton Chenier, the king of Zydeco, listed as a Blues artist. Did they have to use the guy that recorded voiceovers in his bathroom for the Army's V.D. training films as the voiceover for this?
All I'm saying is, It could've been better.

For ardent blues aficionados and neophytes, this is an excellent foray into what makes the blues the blues. Many people like to gloss over the arduous road black musicians had to surmount in order to even be heard by an audience outside their own neighborhoods---not here. We all need to be schooled by those who not only paved the way for those to follow, but to remember that they cleared the land, leveled the path, mixed the asphalt and never missed a beat into the bargain. Here are people who would have played to a cat on the front porch, much like the musicians in the equally excellent "Buena Vista Social Club". They play for the simple reason that the music is in them and needs to get out! No telling can be entirely comprehensive, and this one is not. But is sheds unflinching light on music that triumphs. The archival footage is its true treasure. Just to see these inimitable musicians in their own metier is worth the price of admission. This dvd is akin to an art history course. sometimes, we look at a painting and say, "I hate it!" But when you understand some of what the artist was living through, you can appreciate it---perhaps, even come to like it. Same with the blues. You might not like it at first, but when you hear and learn what the artists were living through at the time, you come to respect their expression. Kudos to all involved with this project. It bears up over several viewings as well.

I've been into Blues & a collecter for yrs & just got this DVD & it's not just the great performers on it but it also tells what & where the Blues come from. Anyone who just got started with the Blues or is a longtimer with the Blues in anyway should have this DVD. I know I'll be seein' it over & over again. L.K.

I was surprised to learn that there was a DVD of the Blues Master series, after owning the CD series for a number of years. This video is well worth the cost for several reasons. One of the high points is being able to view the only known film of Leadbelly, which is excellent. Other performers include some of the best names in the older generation of blues musicians, such as: Son House, Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Guy, B.B. King and Big Bill Broonzy. The only down side is that there is perhaps a little too much of a jazz presence which might not be appreciated by someone who is a blues fan exclusively. Overall however, this DVD will be a prized item in the collection of any blues fan.

John Cole

This blues dvd displays some of the only video recordings of the early blues founders,like; Bessie Smith, Sun House, and others. It is a very good dvd for blues and music lovers.

the dvd is a fairly good description of the plight of the black americian in the amount of time allotted by a dvd but as a history of the blues i believe that it comes up short. the musical performances are definitely geared toward the jazzier side of blues as is the focus of the majority of the film. folk blues, chicago, new orleans, texas, apilachian, ect, either barely get a mention or no mention at all. also cronologically it seemed to jump around a bit they didnt seem to be consistently foloing a time line