Topic: Louie Bluie

[Roscoe]

hi. does anybody know where to find terry zwigoffs film louie bluie?
thanks roscoe

[Cleoma]

I have looked and looked for this film, which I saw when it came out (and even saw a rough cut before it came out!) but it seems to be withdrawn from circulation.  I don't know if it ever even came out as a DVD.
Suzy

[Prof Scratchy]

I downloaded it a few months ago (in twenty minute segments) from you tube.

[banjochris]

There are a couple of pricey used vhs copies on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Louie-Bluie-Howard-Armstrong/dp/B00000F4SG

[Roscoe]

thanks for the utube tip. ill check it out.
roscoe

[Stuart]

...does anybody know where to find terry zwigoffs film louie bluie?

I ran across the following at the PBS P.O.V. site. I don't know whether or not the info is still current, but it might be worth a try:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louie Bluie

By Terry Zwigoff
Premiere Date: August 23, 1988

For home video, educational or institutional sales and rentals, please contact:

Superior Pictures
290 Mullen Ave.
San Francisco, CA  94110 Phone:  415-647-5278 
E-mail:  pm12400@aol.com

[Stuart]

In a post to the PWBG earlier today, Chris Smith said that The Criterion Collection (http://www.criterion.com/) had picked up the film and plans to release it on DVD this fall. Chris' info came directly from Terry Zwigoff who made the film.

[Lyle Lofgren]

I'm listening to the Arhoolie CD, and I'd really love to see the video. All I could find on the web is info from about a year ago that Zwikoff was trying to get it released as a DVD. Anyone know if there's been any progress?

Lyle

[uncle bud]

Hi Lyle - I merged your post into an existing Louie Bluie thread. I don't know any further detail than what Stuart reports above about Criterion planning a release, but that's promising at any rate.

[Lyle Lofgren]

Thanks, Uncle Bud --

As you can tell, my ability to navigate this newsgroup is somewhat akin to Christopher Columbus's navigation skills when he discovered a short route to India.

Lyle

[Stuart]

We'll try to keep our collective antennas up so that the word goes forth as soon as it's released. VHS copies used to surface periodically at eBay, etc., but they were always bid up beyond striking distance for us mere mortals. Have you checked the video rental stores and libraries? The Seattle Public Library and King County Library System used to have copies in their holdings. OCLC / WorldCat lists 50 libraries that have it, so you should check to see if you can get it through interlibrary loan.

http://www.worldcat.org/title/louie-bluie/oclc/26004679&referer=brief_results

[RobBob]

There are copies of the VHS tape on DVD.  I watched it once while on the road in Central America (mid-west).

Rob

[banjochris]

This is being issued by Criterion on DVD August 10 with 30 minutes of extra footage, illustrations by Armstrong and more.

Here's a link (I went through the Amazon search on the Juke):
http://www.amazon.com/Louie-Criterion-Collection-Howard-Armstrong/dp/B003N2CVQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1278569947&sr=8-1

Hopefully the illustrations are of his "bible" from the movie!
Chris

[DanceGypsy]

For the curious, there's another documentary out on Howard Armstrong.  It's called "Sweet Old Song," made by Leah Mahan.  The following is from her website:

Acclaimed musician Howard ?Louie Bluie? Armstrong was renowned for a lifetime of jazz, blues, folk and country music. Armstrong?s roots in America?s musical past, his accomplished musicianship, and his sly and charming personality led the National Endowment for the Arts to honor him as a ?national treasure.? But when Armstrong met Barbara Ward, a sculptor 30 years his junior, a new chapter of his life and art unfolded.

?Sweet Old Song,? a film by Leah Mahan, is the story of Armstrong and Ward?s courtship and marriage - a unique partnership that inspired an outpouring of art and music. This creative work draws on nearly a century of African American experience, beginning with Armstrong?s vivid stories and paintings of his childhood in a segregated town in Tennessee.

The premiere broadcast of Sweet Old Song on the PBS series ?P.O.V.? on July 30, 2002, brought rave reviews - ?A delightful documentary? (San Francisco Chronicle), ?A soulful duet? (Los Angeles Times), ?Excellent? (TV Guide) - and a nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement from the Directors Guild of America. Acclaim for the documentary put Howard Armstrong, then 93, back into the spotlight with a concert tour including the Country Music Hall of Fame and honors such as the Folklife Heritage Award from the Governor of Tennessee and nomination for a W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation, considered the highest honor in the blues.

Howard Armstrong died on July 30, 2003 of complications from a heart attack. New York Times music critic Jon Pareles wrote an obituary celebrating Howard?s contributions as ?the last guardian of a vanishing African-American tradition of string-band music? who ?performed with a virtuoso?s panache, pleasing audiences with fast fingers and a droll stage presence.? In 2004 film critic Roger Ebert selected ?Sweet Old Song? for his Overlooked Film Festival, where it joined the work of master filmmakers Errol Morris and Werner Herzog.

?Sweet Old Song? was given a rare re-broadcast on the ?P.O.V.? series in 2003 and is currently part of the ?P.O.V.? ?True Lives? series, which highlights ?classic? films from the series archive. The documentary is also currently part of the Independent Television Service series ?True Stories,? which broadcasts independent American films abroad.

In 2009, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and other venues around the country celebrated the 100th anniversary of Howard Armstrong?s birth (March 4, 1909) with screenings of SWEET OLD SONG. The ?P.O.V.? series streamed the film on its Web site in March and April that year.

SWEET OLD SONG was produced for the Independent Television Service with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Outreach funding was provided by the National Black Programming Consortium and the LEF Foundation.

There is a five minute YouTube clip at the website below, from which DVD copies of the film can be purchased for $25.

http://www.leahmahan.com/films/sweet-old-song

[GaRedMud]

Louie Bluie (DVD, 2010, Criterion Collection)

Ebay $19.80