Seen in only two known photographs but heard in more than a dozen of his landmark recordings, blues legend Robert Johnson is investigated and his life re-created in Peter W. Meyer's strong film, which screens this afternoon at the 1997 Pan African Film Festival at the Magic Johnson Theatres after premiering locally in the fest last weekend.
"Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life & Music of Robert Johnson" is narrated and hosted on-screen by Danny Glover, while contemporary blues musician Kevin Moore (a k a Keb' Mo') portrays Mississippi Delta bluesman Johnson in atmospheric black-and-white inserts.
With few details of Johnson's life recorded and verifiable, the filmmakers are lucky to have such willing interview subjects as Johnny Shines, now deceased, who played, traveled and competed with Johnson in the 1930s, and Honeyboy Edwards, who was present at the musician's uninvestigated murder by poisoning in 1938.
From "Crossroads Blues", about a guitar player who makes a pact with the devil, to such gems as "Hell Hound on My Trail", Johnson had a unique style and sound, which he picked up from playing mostly in juke joints and on the streets. For the Vocalion label, he recorded 29 songs, and was admired by his peers for the ability to play the guitar like a "piano."
Johnson's story is sketchy, with many long trips and many girlfriends. His classic "Love in Vain" was written about one Willie Mae Powell, one of several contemporaries of Johnson interviewed for the film. There's a healthy heaping of myth, including childhood friend Wink Clark recalling Johnson's first homemade guitar.
Keith Richards and Eric Clapton get in a few quick licks on Johnson's musical legacy. And breaking from the strict documentary format, Meyer's film mixes vintage footage with new material that evokes rough, Depression-era America, but serves mostly to canonize Johnson.
There is mention of his womanizing and heavy drinking, but a note he supposedly wrote as he lay dying in bed finds him looking forward to redemption. Johnson was only 27 when he was murdered in Mississippi, possibly by a jealous husband.
CAN'T YOU HEAR THE WIND HOWL?
THE LIFE & MUSIC OF ROBERT JOHNSON
Sweet Home Pictures
A Peter Meyer film
Producer-director-editor:Peter W. Meyer
Co-producer:Constance Meyer
Executive producers:Thom Havens, Philipp Nick
Writers:Jean Compton, Peter W. Meyer
Directors of photography:Phillip C. Pfeiffer, Ken Mandel
Color/black and white
With:Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Cray, Danny Glover, Kevin Moore, John Hammond
Running time -- 77 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life & Music of Robert Johnson" is narrated and hosted on-screen by Danny Glover, while contemporary blues musician Kevin Moore (a k a Keb' Mo') portrays Mississippi Delta bluesman Johnson in atmospheric black-and-white inserts.
With few details of Johnson's life recorded and verifiable, the filmmakers are lucky to have such willing interview subjects as Johnny Shines, now deceased, who played, traveled and competed with Johnson in the 1930s, and Honeyboy Edwards, who was present at the musician's uninvestigated murder by poisoning in 1938.
From "Crossroads Blues", about a guitar player who makes a pact with the devil, to such gems as "Hell Hound on My Trail", Johnson had a unique style and sound, which he picked up from playing mostly in juke joints and on the streets. For the Vocalion label, he recorded 29 songs, and was admired by his peers for the ability to play the guitar like a "piano."
Johnson's story is sketchy, with many long trips and many girlfriends. His classic "Love in Vain" was written about one Willie Mae Powell, one of several contemporaries of Johnson interviewed for the film. There's a healthy heaping of myth, including childhood friend Wink Clark recalling Johnson's first homemade guitar.
Keith Richards and Eric Clapton get in a few quick licks on Johnson's musical legacy. And breaking from the strict documentary format, Meyer's film mixes vintage footage with new material that evokes rough, Depression-era America, but serves mostly to canonize Johnson.
There is mention of his womanizing and heavy drinking, but a note he supposedly wrote as he lay dying in bed finds him looking forward to redemption. Johnson was only 27 when he was murdered in Mississippi, possibly by a jealous husband.
CAN'T YOU HEAR THE WIND HOWL?
THE LIFE & MUSIC OF ROBERT JOHNSON
Sweet Home Pictures
A Peter Meyer film
Producer-director-editor:Peter W. Meyer
Co-producer:Constance Meyer
Executive producers:Thom Havens, Philipp Nick
Writers:Jean Compton, Peter W. Meyer
Directors of photography:Phillip C. Pfeiffer, Ken Mandel
Color/black and white
With:Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Cray, Danny Glover, Kevin Moore, John Hammond
Running time -- 77 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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