Lightning In a Bottle: A One Night History of the Blues
Actor(s):
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, James Blood Ulmer
Director(s):
Antoine Fuqua
Label: Columbia/Tristar Vid
Publisher(s):
Columbia/Tristar Vid
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Vid
Manufacturer: Columbia/Tristar Vid
Binding: DVD
MPN: 043396069183
Format(s): AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
List Price: CDN$ 14.95
Our Price: CDN$ 14.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Crossroads
Editorial Reviews
From Amazon.com
Part concert, part history lesson, part summit meeting, and all blues, Lightning in a Bottle puts a bright spotlight on this quintessential American music. There are some heavy hitters at work here, both behind the camera (Martin Scorsese executive produced, while the film was directed by Antoine Fuqua of Training Day and King Arthur) and especially in front of it, with a superb house band and a mind-boggling array of musicians (including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Solomon Burke, Keb' Mo', Macy Gray, the Neville Brothers, Robert Cray, and John Fogerty, to name but a few) performing at New York's Radio City Music Hall in February, 2003. The idea was to trace the music from its beginnings; thus we get an African song (by Angelique Kidjo), some early gospel blues (the great Mavis Staples), acoustic Delta blues, and so on, right up to blues-drenched electric rock and even some rap (a riveting version of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" by Chuck D.). Virtually all of the immortals who defined the blues (Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and even Jimi Hendrix, whose fiery style is re-enacted by Buddy Guy) enter the picture, either through vintage film clips or new performances of their songs. One might wish for more insight into the influence of the blues on jazz (Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," sung here by India.Arie, is a fine song, but it's not a blues tune) or country, but overall, Lightning in a Bottle is an edifying and, most important, highly entertaining portrait of the music and its heritage. --Sam Graham
Customer Reviews
History of blues and much more
If you like blues or want to find out about blues, this CD won't disappoint you. History of blues is well represented with the blues legends performing. The music is terrific and the DVD is very well made. I highly recommend.
Blues in retospect
The musical atmosphere of this release is so warm, inviting, and artistic that the viewer feels his/her own presence in the audience. The spectrum of the performances is exquisite, nostalgic, and poignant reflecting on the African-American experience. The audacity of some visuals and lyrics in narrating the stories is unforgettable.
This release is a must to have! Hoomy
Lightning in a Bottle
Claims of a great blues event are true, although I don't know who invited Chuck D. and the Fine Arts Militia. I definitely recommend it to modern blues fans.
Amazing!! A MUST HAVE, if you love the blues!
Words fail to convey the passion, emotion and talent of these blues legends. It is however, portrayed and conveyed in raw form in this DVD that will leave you wanting more!!
Required Listening/Viewing
I will admit/confess that I was never big on the blues. I'm more of a rock kind of guy, but all my heroes were so strongly influenced by the blues - I felt I owed it to myself and to them to listen to the roots of the music I love. I was so underwhelmed by the blues I would hear on record/cd (by the "masters", I simply didn't get it. I found the music to be badly recorded, dull, repetitive, somewhat lifeless. Then I saw this dvd for $10 in a wholesale club and decided to give it one more try. Frankly, I thought it was gonna be a BB King dominated show and wasn't expecting too much. But I finally got around to watching it.
OH! Now I get it! Now I see! Now I understand! It's as if I had been listening to the blues on a transistor radio in 1964 and suddenly someone replaced it with an iPod with the best blues music ever performed - by the original artists! This concert "threw the switch" for me. I've watched this 10 times and each time it gets better and better and better.
A reviewer previously said, "If you like Blues Music and at the same time, want to discover the roots of blues, this DVD is a must...". Good advice. But I would add: if you "DON'T like the blues", this might just change your mind! One of the best concert videos I own (and I own many).
