Had all that cork on our face... made us look even blacker... shit, painted our mouths white... made 'em look big... I had to have a shot of liquor before the show. If I didn't it seemed like I couldn't be funny in front of all them people. When I had one it seemed like them people was one and I would throw up the banjo in the air and really put on a show. - Gus Cannon, on performing with Dr. Stokey's Medicine Show in Clarksdale, Mississippi
That looks great, on the BBC also for those of us in the UK! With Jack Black's involvement I would suspect the Wisconsin Chair Company gets a mention AKA Paramount Records. I wonder how this ties in to the Paramount boxed sets, if at all? Looking forward to this. h
Finally seeing Alan Lomax's actual footage of Honeyboy Edwards in Clarksdale, Mississippi, from the time of his Library of Congress recordings in 1942 - that is what I'm excited about. I wonder if that Sonny Boy Williamson & Robert Lockwood film from King Biscuit Time will also be included in its entirety.
Looks like this may actually be out there for our eyes and ears soon, though the only site with info on an air date for the first episode (May 16th) is the local NYC PBS website. I'm assuming it will follow shortly or on the same days for the rest of the U.S. but my local PBS site doesn't have any info.
I also found this listing (which sadly lacks artist info though most of us can likely infer who is who) for what I assume is the Columbia box set that will be released as a companion to the documentary. Third Man Records is also set to release a vinyl box set though there's no details on that yet as far as I can tell.
Also Third Man records has some more info on their slated 'American Epic' releases. Looks like in addition to a blues collection and a country collection they are planning on doing LPs focusing on specific artists including Blind Willie Johnson, the Carter Family and the Memphis Jug Band. More on those can be found here (scroll to the bottom for the details and links on more info on the LPs): https://thirdmanrecords.com/news/third-man-records-set-to-release-american-epic-recordings-on-vinyl/
« Last Edit: May 09, 2017, 07:41:32 AM by TenBrook »
Here's another write up that goes into a little more detail on the subject and approach of each episode of the series. And, of course, if you're in the US you should be able to tune in to your local PBS station to watch the first episode tonight.
I saw a lengthy preview of this at a film festival last year, and I have to admit I enjoyed only the blues segments. I predict many of you will have the same reaction. I might wait for a recording of this so I can skip through the other parts! Cheers, Narrow-Focus Chezz
The libraries here have the DVD on order so put in a purchase request to your local library if it doesn't show up on a search. The same goes for the CD sets.
The fourth episode, American Epic Sessions, looks interesting. I'm not sure I need to see Elton John performing roots music, but the producers recreated a complete 1930's recording studio and I can't wait to see how that works.