Legends Of Bottleneck Blues Guitar [2002] [DVD]

Fans of the old country blues seem to get the short straw when it comes to DVDs of their favorite artists. If the footage on the DVD is watch able it's almost always not newly found footage which can be found easily on websites like YouTube for free. I've bought and rented a number of DVDs only to find the same edited footage of Son House or Bukka White that I've seen a 1000 times. This DVD however is the first one I've seen that not only contains very rare footage but it's unedited well shot especially for guitarists like me that obsess over every detail.

The tracklist and artists found on the DVD is impeccable. Mississippi Fred McDowall plays five excellent songs that are probably my own personal highlight of the DVD but there's literally not a bad performance on the disk. Johnny Shines, Jesse Fuller and Furry Lewis' appearances are not only hard to find elsewhere but also incredibly well shot and uninterrupted by bad editing. The two Son House performances are of particular importance to me as a huge Son House fan, especially the beautiful colour footage of him playing Death Letter blues- a rare appearance in colour for Mr House.

There's a rare amount of respect to be found in this DVD, which ironically is hard to find. Many DVDs try to make "Films" out of these performances by using bad editing and fancy camera work to add a little "style". Thankfully the collectors and photographers of this footage knew the importance of what they were filming and how inappropriate it is to cut these geniuses off in their flow. I especially love the anecdotes and monologues that appear alongside the songs. Both the Son House speeches have been seen in edited forms before but as far as I know never in their entirety.

As for who will appreciate this DVD, I think that's obvious- Blues fans, collectors and wannabe blues guitarists will drool over these performances. It's so rare to find footage like this, presented in such a way. The only thing I can say against it is that there isn't enough of it.

A must have.

five songs by fred mcdowell,three by johnny shines,two by son house,jesse fuller three,furry lewis and mance lipscombe,one each.Quality is great and in clour ,the camera men get the focus on their playing ,so without actually being a lesson type film,its about as close as you can get to an instructional video....

Forget Seasick Steve, this is the real stuff - check out the Mississippi Fred McDowell clips if you don't believe me - from some of the best ever Bluesmen.