LibGuides: Blues: DVD & Streaming Video

The Blues (PBS)

Feel Like Going Home by Martin Scorsese Martin Scorsese traces the roots of the blues from the banks of the Niger River to the cotton fields and juke joints of Mississippi.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 1
Publication Date: 2003
The Soul of a Man by Wim Wenders Using dramatization and live performances looks at the lives and works of Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J.B. Lenoir. Shows contemporary musicians playing their works.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 2
Publication Date: 2003
The Road to Memphis by Richard Pearce Traces the musical odyssey of B.B. King to Memphis and pays homage to the great blues musicians of the Memphis tradition. Filmed on the occasion of the great reunion in which Memphis musicians returned to honor their roots.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 3
ISBN: 9780738903835
Publication Date: 2003
Warming by the Devil's Fire by Charles Burnett Charles Burnett explores his own childhood being shuttled between a religious mother and a blues-loving uncle. His film combines fiction with documentary footage in the story of a young boy kidnapped to prevent his being saved by a church that viewed blues as the devil's music.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 4
Publication Date: 2003
Godfathers and Sons by Mark Levin Call them the Blues Brothers 2003-in Marc Levin's film, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Marshall Chess return to Chicago to explore the heyday of Chicago blues as they unite to produce music that seeks to bring veteran blues players together with contemporary hip-hop musicians such as Common and members of the Roots. Along with archival footage of Howlin' Wolf are original performances by Koko Taylor, Otis Rush, Magic Slim, Ike Turner and Sam Lay.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 5
Publication Date: 2003
Red, white & blues by Mike Figgis Mike Figgis' film mixes interviews with dozens of the key players of the British blues movement with new music from an all-star jam session at the Abbey Road studios.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B58 2003 PT. 6
Piano Blues by Clint Eastwood Director and piano player Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B578 2010 PT. 7
Publication Date: 2003

Other DVD

Bluesland: a portrait in American music by Ken Mandel Features rare and memorable film performances of the greatest performers like Bessie Smith, Son House, Jimmy Rushing, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, and B.B. King. Follows the music's many tributaries as blues flows into the sophisticated jazz of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, the rhythm and blues of Louis Jordan and Dinah Washington, and the rock 'n' roll of Chuck Berry and Elvis.
Call Number: DVD ML3521.B578 2010
Publication Date: 2010

Streaming Video

America's Blues This program explores the impact the blues has had American society, culture, and the entertainment industry. Despite influencing nearly every form of American music, literature, television, film, and other art forms, its contributions often go unrecognized. Historians, performers, and artists discuss the origin of the blues and how it has evolved. Blues today only accounts for a small part of the music market, but it developed its own tourism industry and remains strong in pockets of the U.S. and Europe.
America's Music Legacy: Blues World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience. Different types or sub-genres of blues music have enjoyed popularity throughout the 20th century, including blues styles. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock evolved. This film showcases the musical legends performing the songs that continue to attract and entice the whole world, because they truly are the best of all that is America. The program is hosted by Brock Peters and features performances by B. B. King, Buddy Guy, Pee Wee Crayton, Jimmy Rushing, Ernie Andrews, and many more. (114 minutes)
Blues Beginning The blues was born in the Mississippi Delta over 100 years ago. To tell the story of its genesis and early development, Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman invites us to his club, Ground Zero, in Clarksdale Mississippi. Simple but powerful songs played by dirt-poor African-Americans went on to inspire the likes of Dylan, Hendrix, Clapton, and The Rolling Stones, and helped create modern rock music. Freeman guides us from the music's African roots, to the old Delta masters such as Robert Johnson. The program then illustrates the rich variety of the blues from the 1940s onwards. Freeman introduces live footage of BB King, Buddy Guy, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, and Etta James at the Montreux Jazz Festival; Buddy talks about his life and times as Clapton's favorite player. Other insights and musical examples come from Olu Dara, blues musician and father of rap superstar Nas, and musician and actor Chris Thomas King. This entertaining and educational narrative documents the roots and shoots of a seminal American art form.
Blues Houseparty: Music, Dance and Stories by Masters of the Piedmont Blues Featuring John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, Archie Edwards, John Jackson, James Jackson, Cora Jackson, Flora Molton and Larry Wise, John Dee Holeman and Quentin 'Fris' Holloway
Deborah Coleman This live perfomance, produced by Yves Faure, features Deborah Coleman, an American-born female blues guitarist. She is influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and Albert Collins.
Koerner, Ray, and Glover: Blues, Rags, and Hollers This 1986 documentary, directed by Tony Glover himself, contains performances, interviews, and rare archival footage of the Koerner, Ray, and Glover acoustic blues trio. It's the story of three notable American music originals, told with characteristic wit, grit, and irreverence by those who lived it. This updated version of the original film includes 1995 and 2007 chapter updates, nine additional live performances from 1991 to 1999, album-by-album postscripts, and more. It also features special appearances by Willie Murphy and Bill Hinkley. This film was called “richly detailed” and “powerful” by Rolling Stone magazine.
Lightning in a Bottle Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Performed by Gregg Allman, India Arie, James “Blood” Ulmer, Clarence Brown, Ruth Brown, Produced by Margaret Bodde, Alex Gibney, Jack Gulick, Richard Hutton, Vulcan Productions, Jigsaw Productions, Volkswagen, Cappa Productions (New York, NY: Sony Pictures Classics, 2004)1 hour 50 minutes On February 7, 2003, renowned artists across music genres and generations commandeered the stage at New York City's Radio City Music Hall to pay tribute to their common heritage and passion: the blues. Shared with thousands of fans in attendance, legendary performers from the roots of rock, jazz, and rap joined forces for a once-in-a-lifetime salute to the blues benefit concert whose proceeds went to musical education. Executive produced by Martin Scorcese, produced by Alex Gibney and directed by Antoine Fuqua, Lightning in a Bottle captures the night's magic and weaves a history of blues through the juxtaposition of performers, backstage interviews, rehearsals, and archival clips of some of the greatest names in American music, from blues royalty like Buddy Guy and B. B. King to their musical heirs ranging from John Fogerty and Bonnie Raitt to Mos Def and Indie.Arie.
Mississippi Ramblin': On the Tracks of Robert Johnson in the Deep South In their graphic novel Love in Vain published in 2014, Mezzo and Dupont, two French cartoon artists, tell the tale of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson’s chaotic life (1911-1938). Like other iconic musicians after him, Johnson met with a tragic death at the age of 27. Translated worldwide, the book became a best seller. Three years later, Mezzo and Dupont traveled to Mississippi on their character’s tracks, to the birthplace of the blues. Highlighted with music and drawings, Mississippi Ramblin’ recounts their trip, peppered with numerous encounters with genuine bluesmen of the Deep South.
Queen of the Blues Beverly Watkins plays a mean blues guitar, and that's putting it mildly. Over six decades of performing, the 77-year-old has opened for Ray Charles, James Brown, BB King and other legendary musicians. She's one of the greatest female blues guitarists, and still plays local gigs in Atlanta. Keep on jamming Beverly!
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning: The Travels of Gatemouth Moore Award-winning documentary about Rev. A.D. "Gatemouth" Moore that reveals the common roots of blues and gospel through his remarkable life story. When Gatemouth was at the peak of his blues-singing career -- B.B. King called him "one of the greatest blues singers ever" - he walked off a stage in a Chicago club one night in 1949 and became an evangelical preacher and gospel disc jockey. His hit song 'Did You Ever Love a Woman?' has been recorded by too many other musicians to name. This compelling account of blues and the Lord brings a culture to life. As renowned minister and civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks says: "The thing that saved black folk through all these years of slavery and second-class citizenship was Saturday night and Sunday morning. It took both for people to survive." This film features B.B. King, Al Green, Rufus Thomas, Benjamin Hooks, and Rev. A.D. "Gatemouth" Moore.
Who's That Comin'? The Blues: All You Need Is Love—A History of Popular Music This film features the journey of blues music from 1910 in the Mississippi Delta to Chicago to rock 'n roll. The following artists are featured: B.B. King; Bessie Smith; Billie Holiday; Leadbelly; Memphis Slim; Mighty Joe Young; Muddy Waters; Ray Charles.
Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues With its roots in the work songs, hollers, and spirituals of generations of black field hands, blues music blossomed into an art form in its own right during the social and economic transformations of African-American life in the early 20th century. Ma Rainey took the blues to a wider audience with traveling vaudeville shows, while Mamie Smith’s recordings broke down barriers for black artists of all musical genres. Featuring dozens of rare renditions of early blues songs, this program looks at the careers of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, and other legendary women who together helped to establish the blues as a vital part of America’s cultural legacy. (58 minutes)