WHEN HOUSTON HAD THE BLUES – A Review by John Strange
I grew up in Dallas, Texas in the late 50s and the 60s listening to the sounds of the times be it rock and roll or country. But I heard about the Deep Ellum sounds of blues and R&B at the same age. I listened to the music with my soul.
As I got older, I broadened my musical listening horizons with the blues artists that I thought came from Dallas. Some of them did. But I learned that many of them actually came from Houston as I watched Alan Swyer’s documentary When Houston Had the Blues.
Music from the 3rd and 5th Wards of Houston gave us such talents as Big Mama Thornton who recorded “Hound Dog” long before Elvis Presley did. Houston also gave us Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bobby Blue Bland, Freddie King, T-Bone Walker, and Katie “The Swamp Boogie Queen” Webster.
My biggest surprise is the information about Zydeco music and its relationship with Houston. This is something I will have to check out some more!
Mr. Swyer gave us a peek at the sounds that came from Houston during the Jim Crow era as well as post-segregation which opened my eyes to more than just the singers. He broke the stories down by the sounds and the people, from the instruments to the politics of the time and from the recording studios to the music halls.
Name-dropping people like Jimi Hendrix and the Vaughn brothers will grab some of you, especially those of you from Oak Cliff.
I love listening to music and I love documentary films. If you do as well, this is a great film for you. I loved it!
At the end of the credits are these words:
“If you enjoyed the music and the musicians shown in this film, please consider buying some Texas Blues recordings from your local record store.
And be sure to support your local musicians by going to see Live Music!”
I did and I do!
Director: Alan Swyer
Cast:
Recollecting the Houston music scene in interviews are:
Jewel Brown, C.J. Chenier, Lizette Cobb, Grady Gaines, Billy Gibbons, Diunna Greenleaf, Dr. Mable John, David “Guitar Shorty” Kearny, Trudy Lynn, Carla Olson, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, Billy Vera, Betty Williams, Jerry Williams,
Also sharing personal insights are:
Jake Andrews, John Andrews, Marica Ball, Kimberly Callegari, Deidre Handy, Bill Bentley, Armando Compean, Jim Dawson, Eric Demmer, Clifton “Fou Fou” Eddie, Rod Evans, Howard Harris, Lynda Herrera, Milton Hopkins, Steve Krase, Rick Lee, Augie Meyers, Moogstar, David Murray, James “The Blues Hound” Nagel, Nuri Nuri, Willie Ornelas, Guy Schwartz, Hammond Scott, Sonny Boy Terry, Steve Tyrell, Jerry Williams, Roger Wood
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Selig Rating: 5 Stars
Runtime: 117 Min.
VOD Release Date: 09/24/2024
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Music
Trailer: WHEN HOUSTON HAD THE BLUES Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
