Ken Tucker opinions Robert McCormick’s Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey, and Robert Mugge’s Notes from the Highway: A Filmmaker’s Journey By way of American Music.
TERRY GROSS, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. Our rock critic Ken Tucker has been studying two uncommon books about music historical past. Robert “Mack” McCormick’s “Biography Of A Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey” is a long-awaited examine of blues pioneer Robert Johnson’s life, written throughout the Nineteen Seventies however by no means revealed till now. And in Robert Mugge’s “Notes From The Highway: A Filmmaker’s Journey By way of American Music,” Mugge reminisces about directing greater than 25 music documentaries, his topics together with Robert Johnson, jazz nice Sonny Rollins and soul singer Al Inexperienced. This is Ken’s overview.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HELLHOUND ON MY TRAIL”)
ROBERT JOHNSON: (Singing) I obtained to maintain shifting. I obtained to maintain shifting. Blues falling down like hail. Blues falling down like hail.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Mack McCormick spent three many years making an attempt to resolve the bottomless thriller of Robert Johnson, the blues innovator about whom little was identified after his demise in 1938 at age 27. McCormick’s “Biography Of A Phantom” is not a standard biography. It is as a lot about McCormick’s personal journey. He speaks to the reader within the first individual, taking you together with him as he visits small Southern cities, starting within the late Sixties, sitting on dusty porches, consuming in greasy spoons, interviewing anybody who’ll discuss to him about their recollections of Johnson.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “KIND HEARTED WOMAN”)
JOHNSON: (Singing) I obtained a kind-hearted girl, do something on this world for me. I obtained a kind-hearted girl, do something on this world for me. However these evil-hearted girls, man, they won’t let me be
TUCKER: Partly as a result of McCormick saved tinkering with the manuscript till he died in 2015 at age 85, his work wasn’t revealed till now and has been outmoded in easy analysis by a few newer biographies. However what they lack is one thing necessary, the texture, the ambiance of McCormick’s so-called blues odyssey. It is a fully engrossing exploration of the South, one which solely elevates and deepens what Robert Johnson achieved as an iconoclastic musician who was mentioned to have bought his soul to the satan for his mastery. McCormick’s guide additionally has the added present of showing how a fantastic biography could be assembled.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STONES IN MY PASSWAY”)
JOHNSON: (Singing) I obtained stones in my passway, and my highway appear darkish as night time. I obtained stones in my passway, and my highway appear darkish as night time. I’ve pains in my coronary heart, they’ve taken my urge for food.
TUCKER: In 1992, director Robert Mugge launched “Deep Blues,” a filmed highway journey that explored the Delta blues through some then residing and nonetheless very important musicians, together with R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Mugge adopted this up in 1999 with “Hellhounds On My Path: The Afterlife Of Robert Johnson,” tracing the affect of Johnson on subsequent generations. Each movies include interviews that present firsthand context that demystifies the creation of the blues, music that, at its greatest, can sting your soul and convey readability to your darkest ideas.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CROSS ROAD BLUES”)
JOHNSON: (Singing) I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees. I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees. Requested the Lord above, have mercy, now – save poor Bob in the event you please. Yeah, standing on the crossroad. Tried to flag a experience.
TUCKER: In his new guide, “Notes From The Highway,” Bob Mugge chronicles the making of those blues movies, in addition to ones exploring jazz, gospel and soul. However the tales he tells go effectively past anecdotes about musicians. He opens up the entire world of documentary filmmaking – how they’re financed, how they’re recorded and edited. He relates startlingly sincere tales about unscrupulous producers and troublesome artists, by no means sparing himself for his personal flaws or naivete. “Notes From The Highway” is the very best factor I’ve examine what it is wish to direct movies since Sidney Lumet’s 1996 basic “Making Motion pictures.” One factor these two new books show is that it isn’t solely arduous to carve out a profession as a musician, it is arduous to carve out a profession as knowledgeable appreciator of musicians. Mack McCormick as biographer and Robert Mugge as filmmaker recommend it isn’t simply artists who’ve to sometimes make offers with the satan.
GROSS: Ken Tucker reviewed the books “Notes From The Highway,” by Robert Mugge, and “Biography Of A Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey,” by Robert Mack McCormick. Subsequent month, Smithsonian Data might be releasing a boxed set of blues music known as “Enjoying For The Man At The Door: Subject Recordings From The Assortment Of Mack McCormick, 1958-71.” A brand new sequel to the collection “Justified” premieres tomorrow. Like the unique, it stars Timothy Olyphant. We’ll hear our TV critic David Bianculli’s overview after we take a brief break. That is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF GERALD CLAYTON’S “SOUL STOMP”)
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