As I headed into my blues music deep dive this year, I discovered the 1991 documentary, Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads. During the time I was looking for it, the movie wasn't available on any streaming platform, but my local library had a copy on DVD (score yet more points for both physical media and libraries).
Hosted by music critic and author Robert Palmer, the film follows a journey from Memphis into the Mississippi Delta and North Mississippi Hill Country, exploring traditional blues in its birthplace. It documents the culture and music of rural musicians of the early 1990s, featuring both live performances and interviews with blues artists. A few of those artists subsequently enjoyed a revitalized interest in their music. Sadly, many of the juke joints and all of the featured musicians (as well as Palmer himself) are now gone, but at least we've got this movie and its soundtrack as a sort of time capsule. The movie is highly recommended; the soundtrack is authentic, entertaining, captivating, and like many soundtracks, its enjoyment is only enhanced by seeing the movie.
I was already somewhat familiar with R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, but this movie and soundtrack album were my introductions to the other musicians. The movie not only taught me the difference between Delta blues and North Mississippi Hill Country blues, it also introduced me to several long-standing blues traditions such as fife & drum blues and the homemade diddley bow.
Press of the time for both the documentary and its music:
- Los Angeles Times:
- movie: "It’s a genuine document, deep and earthy; a peek into our national soul."
- music: "when we hear it there, there’s a jarring recognition. The music fits like a glove. Listening to it in these surroundings is almost like hearing it for the first time."
- CashBox:
- movie: "tepid."
- music: "rather swell."
- Billboard:
- movie: "an estimable, essential look at life in the crucible of the blues."
- music: "exemplary performances from all hands"
- Rolling Stone:
- movie: "On porches and in front yards, sweaty bars and fields, Palmer enlists an array of artists...who provide both a history of the blues and firey samples of its myriad forms."
- music: "the emotional repercussions of these songs will haunt you."
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks:
| Song | Artist | |
| 1 | Jumper On The Line | R.L. Burnside |
| 2 | Jr. Blues | Jr. Kimbrough |
| 3 | Catfish Blues | Big Jack Johnson |
| 4 | Daddy When Is Momma Coming Home | |
| 5 | Big Boy Now | |
| 6 | Midnight Prowler | Frank Frost |
| 7 | You Can Talk About Me | Jessie Mae Hemphill |
| 8 | Shame On You | |
| 9 | Long Haired Doney | R.L. Burnside |
| 10 | Heartbroken Man | Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes |
| 11 | Ain't Gonna Worry About Tomorrow | |
| 12 | Love Like I Wanna | |
| 13 | Terraplane Blues | Lonnie Pitchford |
| 14 | If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day | |
| 15 | Devil Blues | Jack Owens & Bud Spires |
It's a literal soundtrack - music heard on the CD is heard in the movie. Not only that, the music is as seen in the movie, performed in such intimate settings as juke joints, front porches, and small bars.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but I'm left feeling like I should have spent my mid-twenties exploring this scene before it disappeared forever.
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