Search - Legends of the Delta Blues on DVD

Disappointing

Mr. Einstein | Tokyo, Japan | 09/07/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Although the title of this product is "Legends of the Delta Blues," the performances it contains are far from legendary. If fact, they are down right uninspired. Most of the tape is of Johnny Shines "performing" in what seems to be his living room. He appears to be sort of rehearsing, and he never even got my feet taping. Poor John Lee Hooker looks like he's sleepwalking through his 2 numbers. The director of the film has him seated alone in some ugly room with apparently no audience to play to. No wonder he sounds bored! There's some footage of Bukka White, but the camera work and audio are so horrendous that it's barely watchable. Only Son House leaves the viewer with some kind of positive impression but again, the producers have the audacity cut off his final number right when he's really getting into it. One of the main problems with this tape is that there is no continuity to the performances. You have one guy do a number, then another, then cut to another, etc., so you never really get a feeling for a performer or his performance. If you want to hear some REALLY good blues, I urge you to check out Yazoo Records "Masters of the Country Blues" series. These tapes just leave the viewer pleading for more and more and more."