Deep Down In Alabama

Honeydripper is the latest film by independent filmmaker John Sayles (The Brother From Another Planet, Return Of The Secaucus Seven, Sunshine State). Sayles has created a musical fable – a compelling mixture of blues, myth, and history woven beautifully by a novel-like script, surrealistic camera angles, and a stellar ensemble cast.

The film is set in the rural town of Harmony, Alabama in 1950. The all-star cast includes Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen, Dr. Mable John, Eddie Shaw (first film role for the legendary sax man!), Keb’ Mo’, and newcomer Gary Clark Jr.

Glover stars as Tyrone “Pine Top” Purvis, a piano player and owner of Honeydripper Lounge, which is struggling and lo-sing business to its more upscale competition, Touissant’s, across the road. The cotton harvest is in full swing, there is an army base in town, and Purvis is desperate for customers. He fires his regular singer, Berta Mae (Dr. Mable John), and tells his sidekick Maceo (play-ed brilliantly by Dutton) he has hired an electric guitar player na-med Guitar Sam for a special one nighter. While all this is going on, a young stranger named Sonny Blake (Clark Jr.) hops off a freight train with a guitar on his back and, through no fault of his own, runs afoul of the corrupt sheriff (Keach).

According to notes accompanying the DVD, Honeydripper grew out of Sayles’ fascination with the genesis of rock ‘n’ roll. He is true to the history of the genre as he depicts small-town Southern life and the twin styles of blues and gospel (the profane and the sacred) that generated rock. The film opens with two young boys creating homemade instruments – a “guitar” made of broom wire nailed to the wall played with a bottle and a “piano” made by drawing the keys on a slab of wood. Guitar Sam is a composite of Chuck Berry and perhaps legendary New Orleans showman Guitar Slim. Glover’s wife, Delilah (Hamilton) is a former dancer who is struggling to find religion. She attends church, uplifted by the music and hoping to find salvation. Keb’ Mo’ appears as the phantom blind itinerant guitarist. He is the embodiment of Robert Johnson, the devil-at-the-crossroads myth, and the African griot.

With the musical backdrop in place, Sayles created a film that is primarily about the relationships and interrelationships of the folks in Harmony. The pacing is slow and masterful; the characters are fully drawn. Honeydripper is a charming picture. It may not be playing in Chicago by the time this review comes out, but hopefully it will be released on DVD soon. You can pick up the soundtrack, which has gems like “Why Don’t You Do Right” by Lil Green, “Bertha Mae” by Memphis Slim, and “Things About Coming My Way” by Ruth Brown.

RECENT RELEASE: Looking through my stack of CDs I’ve received during the past year, I recently came across an important release that slipped through the cracks. Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton: Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down (Epic/Legacy) was released last June. After recording their Grammy-wining album, Hard Again, in 1977, Winter joined Waters and his illustrious band of musicians on tour. Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down, presents the best of three concerts from this special tour. Waters, Winter, and Cotton tear it up as bandleaders and in an ensemble setting. The three legends team for rousing versions of “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Black Cat Bone,” and “Got My Mojo Workin’.” Cotton takes the vocals on “Rocket 88,” and Winter is featured on “I Done Got Over You.” Breakin’ is a nice historical document and a complement to the popular Grammy-winning Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live (Legacy) produced by Winter.

LIVE AT LEGENDS: Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy winner Buddy Guy tore through his annual January stint at Legends with a series of sold-out concerts. Guy wowed the crowds with his usual high-energy guitar playing, tight band, and performance art that harkened back to the days of one of his idols, Guitar Slim. On the night I saw him, he waded into the crowd, serenaded one or two lucky women, then charged into the cold January night, playing all the while. Guy is one of the few showmen left in blues. He can play it slow and pretty, and switch to frantic in a heartbeat.

Some of Chicago’s finest opened for Buddy including soulful vocalist Nellie Travis, up-and-coming jazz/blues guitarist and vocalist Guy King, Wayne Baker Brooks, Matthew Skoller, The Jimmy Burns Band, John Primer, and Big James And The Chicago Playboys. Guy invited Skoller to jam with him, and together they went on an odyssey throughout the club and out onto the street. Pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph sat in one night, and blues storyteller/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Otis Taylor was spotted in the crowd one Sunday night.

SOME NEWS: Vocalist and Chicago native Deitra Farr was married and moved to Norway. We wish her the best . . . Drummer Lenny White, son of vocalist/keyboard player Willie White, has joined Magic Slim And The Teardrops . . . Stay tuned for upcoming CD reviews by Big James, Nellie Travis, Chico Banks, and other Chicago stalwarts.

– Beverly Zeldin-Palmer

Category: Columns, Monthly, Sweet Home