I went to the movies over the weekend for the first time in several years. Larry and I went to see Cadillac Records the story of Muddy Waters and Chess Studios. I loved it. This is just about the only movie that I can remember where there was real applause at the end. (Picture at left is the real Little Walter at Theresa’s just before he died.)

I have to say that I am a great fan of Muddy and Little Walter, so I knew most of the story already, and I was aware that the movie was a dramatization, and in many places not historically correct. I may have been the only person in the audience who has played Little Walter’s Juke many hundreds of times, much of it at half speed, trying to get all of the nuances down. When the screen version came up, all I could think is that’s not Walter. It was damn good harp playing, though.

The movie recounts the time when the greatest musicians of what was called Race Music, broke out of the race charts and crossed over into the white pop charts. It is a vehicle for Beyonce to play the vivacious and beautiful Etta James. I had heard the name Beyonce before, but that kind of music is not my music and I had no idea who she was. By the end of the movie, I was in love. Beyonce did some pretty fair acting, and she nailed the Etta James songs. I would know because I have spend hours listening to Etta, as I have all of the Chess discography. There have been some criticism on the nets of her performance, but I can’t find fault. It is not Etta, but her interpretation captures the essential feel of the wonderful Etta James. I would not have wanted Beyonce to just mimic the way Etta sang, there is too much of that in blues. Beyonce has taken the classics and moved them up a level.

Probably for economic reasons all of the performances of the classic songs are redone by modern musicians. I would have preferred if they had used the original versions and there was no reason not to do this except for the movie to make more money. There’s a funny scene, though where they are making fun of Howling Wolf’s sideman Hubert Sumlin. The real Sumlin is sitting, playing guitar next to the actor who is playing him.

One thing that I hope happens is that young black musicians discover their blues roots. Black music has returned to the days of the Race charts. Chuck Berry and Etta James crossed over, but modern Rap and Hip Hop has crossed back, producing music targeted for a largely black audience.

The roots of modern rock, jazz and pop is the blues that came out of Chess Studios. It is my sincere hope that the movie Cadillac Records will remind people of this and music will be enjoyed because it is good and not because it is associated with small racial or sociological group.

There was one bad thing about the movie experience, and that was that my brother Larry bought the tickets and asked for a Senior Citizen discount. Damned if the low IQ teen thing selling tickets didn’t give it to him. I am too young to get the senior citizen discount. Really, I am!