In the 1960s, Europe hosted a series of tours of American blues musicians known as the American Folk Blues Festival (originally billed as the American Negro Blues Festival). Many of these were filmed including German and British events. Footage was released on DVDs in 2003 and are now, in my opinion, some of the greatest (if not the greatest) live blues video recording one could experience.
The films, titled simply The American Folk Blues Festival, span 1962 to 1969 and are composed of three volumes. Big Mamma Thorton, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Earl Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Willie Dixon, and John Lee Hooker are just a few of the blues legends who performed. The only downside of the three-part set is that it leaves you wanting more. Much more -- which I suppose is not all together bad.
There is also another release of the same name and subtitled The British Tours 1963-1966. I have not had the opportunity to view this, however, if it is half as good as the aforementioned set, it is worthy of any blues lover's collection. In short: watch these videos. It might very well turn many people on to blues and deepen the appreciation of the music for those who are already fans.
Happy watching!
No comments:
Post a Comment