Filmography
-Delta Blues Singer: James “Sunny” Thomas:
Life of blues man James
Thomas. It contains takes of Thomas playing his “bottleneck” style. (Film
distributed by the Center for Southern Folklore, 1216 Peabody Avenue, P. 0. Box
4081, Memphis, Tennessee, 38104.1)
-Give My Poor Heart Ease: Mississippi Delta Bluesmen:
A personal account of the
blues experience through recollections and performances by B. B. King, inmates
from Mississippi’s Parchman Prison, musicians in a Leland jook joint, a barber
from Clarksdale, and a salesman at a Beale Street clothing store. Musical
selections include prison work chants, “Highway 6i,” “Rock Me, Momma,” “Hoochie
Koochie Man,” and B. B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.” (Film distributed by the
Center for Southern Folklore, 1216 Peabody Avenue, P. 0. Box 4081, Memphis,
Tennessee, 38104.1)
-Gravel Springs Fife and Drum:
Othar Turner, leader of a
musical group, perform for
friends. The unusual cane Fife and drum music performed closely resembles
traditional West African sounds. (Film distributed by the Center for Southern
Folklore, 1216 Peabody Avenue, P. 0. Box 4081, Memphis, Tennessee, 38104.1)
-Etta James:
An informative movie about the
artiste. (http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1581909/20080220/story.jhtml)
Blues Country to City:
Illustrates
differences between country and urban blues. (Film from the PBS television
series Jumpstreet.)
Bessie Smith:
Biographical
video. ( Produced by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Co. distributed by
Films for the Humanities.)
-I Ain’t Lying: Folktales from Mississippi:
The humor and drama of black
folktales in Leland and Rose hilt, Mississippi. (Film distributed by the Center
for Southern Folklore, 1216 Peabody Avenue, P. 0. Box 4081, Memphis, Tennessee,
38104.1)
-Mississippi Delta Blues:
A collection of performances
filmed 1968—70. (Film distributed by the Center for Southern Folklore, 1216 Peabody
Avenue, P. 0. Box 4081, Memphis, Tennessee, 38104.1)
-Fred McDowell: Blues Maker:
Includes interviews with
McDowell and several of his blues. Homes and fields around McDowell’s home town
of Como are shown. (film distributed by the Department of Film Production,
University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, 38677.1)
-They Sing of a Heaven:
A history of Mississippi
Sacred Harp singing with sections on black churches in northeastern Mississippi. (film
distributed by the Department of
Film Production, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, 38677.1)
A complete list of Available Blues Films can be
found at The American Folklore Films and Videotape: An Index (Memphis, Tennessee: Center
for Southern Folklore, 1216
Peabody Avenue, P. 0. Box 4081, Memphis, Tennessee, 38104.1).
