Lightning In a Bottle: A One Night History of the Blues

 

 

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Billed as "a one night history of the blues," Lightning in a Bottle (with Martin Scorsese serving as executive producer) assembles a ton of great performers to retrace the steps of the blues from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago to the rest of the country. The concert took place in Radio City Music Hall in February 2003, and it packs a lot of music and history into a little less than two hours. Old clips, interviews, and snippets of rehearsal accompany the performances themselves, offering a blues history lesson of sorts. I won't pretend to be an expert on the blues; Muddy Waters is about the only blues singer I've ever spent time seriously listening to. That will probably change, now that I know a little more about the incredible music I've been missing out on all these years.

It would be impossible to talk about every performance crammed into this concert - blues songs tend to be pretty short (especially when you don't include any jam session stuff), so an incredible number of songs were performed on this historic night. Go check out the soundtrack to see who performed what. All of the living legends were fantastic, and their vintage blues is still the best blues on earth. Mavis Staple really gets the ball rolling with her spiritual performance of Blind Lemon Jefferson's See That My Grave is Kept Clean. David "Honeyboy" Edwards (at 88) still shows the world what acoustic Delta blues was all about with his performance of Gamblin' Man. The incomparable Clarence "Gateway" Brown plays Okie Dokie Swamp like only he can. Hubert Sumlin, despite having recently lost a lung, pours great energy into Killing Floor (although I thought singer David Johansen came off as hopelessly contrived). Ruth Brown, Mavis Staple, and Natalie Cole (with a little help from Bill Cosby) make Men Are Just Like Streetcars one of the most entertaining songs of the night. Natalie Cole, I have to say, can sure 'nough sing the blues, as she proves with her version of W.C. Handy's classic St. Louis Blues.

Robert Johnson is represented by Keb' Mo' performing Love in Vain, while Odetta wows the crowd with Lead Belly's Jim Crow Blues. James "Blood" Ulmer (with Allison Kraus) takes us all the way back to 1930 with The Mississippi Sheiks' Sitting on Top of the World. The incomparable Muddy Waters was well represented by Buddy Guy on I Can't Be Satisfied. Buddy Guy, as far as I'm concerned, stole the whole show. How important is this man to the blues and music in general? He's the very nexus between Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix. Later in the show, Guy returned to perform his own First Time I Met the Blues. Then, after giving us some riffs of Hendrix's Red House, he is compelled to come back out to perform Hendrix's Voodoo Child with Angelique Kidjo. Solomon Burke gets the crowd jumping with Turn on Your Love Light and Down in the Valley. Last but not least, B.B. King puts the final exclamation point on this historic night, making Lucille wail on his classic Sweet Sixteen.

The younger performers feature some hits and misses. Shemekia Copeland, who performs I Pity the Fool with Robert Cray, is incredible. The Neville Brothers shine on Big Chief, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry bring their own style to I'm a King Bee, and Bonnie Raitt shows she belongs onstage with Coming Home. I didn't particularly care for John Fogerty's rocked-up performance of Midnight Special, though, and Macy Gray (after appearing quite clueless at rehearsal) had a little too much fun with Big Mamma Thornton's Hound Dog. I have nothing but disdain for Chuck D, I have to say; turning John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom into rap is bad enough, but this guy momentarily spoiled the whole evening by using the song to make a political statement.

Don't think of this concert as the blues' funeral. Lightning in a Bottle is a celebration of all the greats who defined this uniquely American style of music. The blues will almost surely never return to the heights of the old Delta and Chicago eras, but the classics will always be a part of us, and there is at least some hope (Shemekia Copeland, for sure) on the horizon for its future. One of the problems with the blues is the fact that so many people still haven't experienced it for themselves. This DVD goes a long way toward solving that problem, and with any luck, it will inspire one or more young performers to follow in the giant footsteps of those celebrated here.

I will admit/confess that I was never big on the blues. I'm more of a rock kind of guy, but all my heroes were so strongly influenced by the blues - I felt I owed it to myself and to them to listen to the roots of the music I love. I was so underwhelmed by the blues I would hear on record/cd (by the "masters", I simply didn't get it. I found the music to be badly recorded, dull, repetitive, somewhat lifeless. Then I saw this dvd for $10 in a wholesale club and decided to give it one more try. Frankly, I thought it was gonna be a BB King dominated show and wasn't expecting too much. But I finally got around to watching it.

OH! Now I get it! Now I see! Now I understand! It's as if I had been listening to the blues on a transistor radio in 1964 and suddenly someone replaced it with an iPod with the best blues music ever performed - by the original artists! This concert "threw the switch" for me. I've watched this 10 times and each time it gets better and better and better.

A reviewer previously said, "If you like Blues Music and at the same time, want to discover the roots of blues, this DVD is a must...". Good advice. But I would add: if you "DON'T like the blues", this might just change your mind! One of the best concert videos I own (and I own many).

The musical atmosphere of this release is so warm, inviting, and artistic that the viewer feels his/her own presence in the audience. The spectrum of the performances is exquisite, nostalgic, and poignant reflecting on the African-American experience. The audacity of some visuals and lyrics in narrating the stories is unforgettable.

This release is a must to have! Hoomy

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4.0 out of 5 stars Can't Stop Watchin' it Over & Over
Wow! Gotta say my wife is wondering why I'm coming to bed so late so many times a week as of late. It's because I can't stop watching this phenomenal event. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Red River Blues Man

5.0 out of 5 stars What a night!
This was recommended to me by a friend and it's well worth the money - great editing, fantastic voices and music and love the history.

Published 6 months ago by Ernest Sargent

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing spectacular
This DVD is not something you'll be looking to view again and again. Quality is decent, wide screen, sound pretty good. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Objective

4.0 out of 5 stars History of blues and much more
If you like blues or want to find out about blues, this CD won't disappoint you. History of blues is well represented with the blues legends performing. Read more

Published on April 28 2010 by YEMANA

5.0 out of 5 stars Lightning in a Bottle
Claims of a great blues event are true, although I don't know who invited Chuck D. and the Fine Arts Militia. I definitely recommend it to modern blues fans.

Published on Dec 4 2009 by David Verdi

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!! A MUST HAVE, if you love the blues!
Words fail to convey the passion, emotion and talent of these blues legends. It is however, portrayed and conveyed in raw form in this DVD that will leave you wanting more!!

Published on Mar 3 2008 by Paulie

5.0 out of 5 stars The best "blues music" DVD that I have ever heard
If you like Blues Music and at the same time, want to discover the roots of blues, this DVD is a must. Read more

Published on Oct 15 2005 by Marielle Chevrier

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