I saw this on a cable telecast and not the DVD, so that's where this review is coming from. Still, there was a lot of great talent on display and as a blues fan I was suitably entertained. Keeping track of the numbers performed I counted twenty six songs with a handful of singers showing up more than once. Unfortunately there was no mention of when this tribute concert occurred (2/7/2003) during it's run time, so unless you research it yourself you wouldn't know, although that might not have been a problem with the DVD.
It's hard to come up with a favorite number out of the mix, but the ones that knocked me out included Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown on the 'Okie Dokie Stomp', Bobby Blue Bland with his 'Down in the Valley', and a more than respectable version of 'I'm a King Bee' by Steve Tyler on vocals with Joe Perry along side. Though the show plays more like a concert than a documentary, there are interludes and archival clips of deceased blues musicians like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters to lend perspective on the blues experience. I got a kick out of Solomon Burke's analysis of the difference between the old time neck bone circuit and the chitlin circuit that followed it chronologically. I won't ruin it here, you'll have to check it out.
With more than a decade gone by now since the original concert, it was a bit disconcerting to count off the musicians who have since passed away. They include B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, Honeyboy Edwards, Odetta Holmes, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Levon Helm and most recently, Natalie Cole. As with all my reviews I try to pick out a meaningful quote that sums up the spirit or main theme of whatever I'm watching, so even though the one in my summary line was the best I could come up with, it's a little disappointing that it came not from one of the legendary blues artists, but from contemporary Bonnie Raitt, but I'll be darn if she didn't say it best.
It's hard to come up with a favorite number out of the mix, but the ones that knocked me out included Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown on the 'Okie Dokie Stomp', Bobby Blue Bland with his 'Down in the Valley', and a more than respectable version of 'I'm a King Bee' by Steve Tyler on vocals with Joe Perry along side. Though the show plays more like a concert than a documentary, there are interludes and archival clips of deceased blues musicians like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters to lend perspective on the blues experience. I got a kick out of Solomon Burke's analysis of the difference between the old time neck bone circuit and the chitlin circuit that followed it chronologically. I won't ruin it here, you'll have to check it out.
With more than a decade gone by now since the original concert, it was a bit disconcerting to count off the musicians who have since passed away. They include B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, Honeyboy Edwards, Odetta Holmes, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Levon Helm and most recently, Natalie Cole. As with all my reviews I try to pick out a meaningful quote that sums up the spirit or main theme of whatever I'm watching, so even though the one in my summary line was the best I could come up with, it's a little disappointing that it came not from one of the legendary blues artists, but from contemporary Bonnie Raitt, but I'll be darn if she didn't say it best.