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Summary: update on featured artists
Review: As a country/delta guitar man I was thrilled to see this un-slick and organic presentation of "the real deal" living the blues and making the blues., not to mention the rural country side and people. Once to see/hear Junior Kimbrough and Jesse Mae Hemphill as well the rest of the artists, you'll be better for it. Speaking of Junior, (passed on) his juke burnt to the ground.. and a few years back Jesse Mae Hemphill suffered a stroke. Her condition has takin away her guitar ability however she states "I still sing for the Lord" .. She lives alone and has no family and feels she's forgotten. She still lives in Mississippi and I understand she's just making it. There are web sites that will give you a mailing adress if you are so inclined to drop Jesse a card of thanks.Back to the DVD, Robert Palmer (also deceased) is an unsung hero of keeping the blues and he truly was a musicolgist and a blues encyclopedia, he kept blues in the consciousness of our country and it was great to see him in this film. and I noticed I few reviewers "dissed" in so many words Dave Stewart.. Lighten up a little on the guy. It was Englishmen that "introduced" the blues to our own musically ignorant generation in the 1st place and he's helping to keep it going with this great DVD. Other reviewers did a much better job than I could in depicting diffrent parts of "Deep Blues" but I would like the blues guitarist out there to take a good look a the instruments being played.. If you look closely you'll see that some of them are imported "clones" and I even saw a Squire being played. Not very many of these players have multi-thousand dollar guitars, it seems like in place of expensive fancy guitars they use talent to play the deep blues. GET THIS DVD IF YOU WANT THE RAW REALITY of WHATS ITS REALLY ALL ABOUT -
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Summary: Reads like a novel. Parker is a wonderful writer.
Review: As a student of music history for 30 years, I can say I have never read a more enlightening book, with wonderful insight and a true sense of style in every sense of the word. For the reader who wrote to Palmer c/o Rolling Stone and did not receive an answer, you should know that Robert Palmer died in 1997 at the age of 53 awaiting a liver transplant. He never got an organ. When the reader wrote to him, he was already terribly ill, hospitalized down south, and most likely could not respond. I work at the hospital in NY where he died, and I can tell you, if he could have responded, he was the kind of man who would have. We'll all miss him. Makes the plight of organ donation in this country all the more real. Consider all those who could be helped if we all took organ donation more seriously.
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Summary: can the impact of "deep blues" be measured?
Review: Bankrolled by rockstar superstar Dave Stuart and presented by Robert Palmer, author of the superb book of the same name, this film was a very timely voyage into the blues of missisipi. Timely because a number of the cast have died since this film was shot, including the presenter. Traditional old blues haunts such as Memphis, Clarksdale and Greenville are visited, and fine artists relatively unknown at the time were recorded such as Big Jack Johnson, Booba Barnes and Lonnie Pitchford. Delta old timers Jack Owens, Bud Spires and Booker T. Laury also turn in fine, spirited performances. But for me the highlight is the attention given over to the more obscure "hill country" blues of north missisipi, featuring Jessie Mae Hemphill, R. L. Burnside and the late great Junior Kimbrough and his original juke joint in Holly Springs. Here the music extends from country blues to "drum and fife", a hypnotic musical form that predates blues all the way back to the revolutionary war, but which now faces extinction since the passing of Othar Turner (not featured here, but a close friend of Hemphill). The bonus items are very welcome, especially the extra performances by honkytonk genius Booker T. to the drunk audience comprised of Stuart and Palmer, and Lonnie Pitchford's demonstration of the diddly bow. Also included are extra audio tracks that were originally only available on the soundtrack album (now deleted). This film helped to revive not just interest in country and acoustic blues in general, but the careers of all of the artists featured. This film is well shot, sounds great, and shares the passion and emotion of some great bluesmen and women. After this, try the "Feelin' Good" CD by Jessie Mae Hemphill. Not only is that a beautiful album, but Jessie's an invalid now who desperately needs the cash!
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Summary: An Engrossing History of America's Most Influential Music
Review: From the steamy cotton fields of Mississippi, to the mean streets of Chicago and beyond, the history of the blues mirrors that of African American society in the 20th century.
Respected music writer, historian, and record producer Robert Palmer traces the history of the music that begat every other form of American popular music in rich detail,
blending first-hand accounts, interviews, and historical narrative into a seamless, eminently readable and enjoyable
historical work of great importance. This book should be
required reading for highschool history students, fans of
popular music, and anyone who enjoys engrossing and entertaining non-fiction writing.
Rating: 
Summary: The Real McCoy
Review: Hippy-dufus journalist Robert Palmer & quasi-famous rocker Dave Stewart wander around the south in search of roots-blues and boy, do they ever find it! The music is sublime and when they get out of the way and let it speak for itself, the film soars. When they don't, well...
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Summary: made me smile!!
Review: i just got the dvd last night and played it right away. i had read all the previous mixed reviews but i bought the thing anyway. Boy am i glad!!! i enjoyed it from beginning to end. even the parts where our guides are involved was ok with me. i think that the more people there are who love the blues; the better off the world will be!
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Summary: It stays with you
Review: I read this book about 15 years ago, sometime after it first came out, and have probably re-read it three or four times since then. I haven't read it in about 10 years, but continually recommend it to friends who want to know something about the blues. A great read.
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Summary: An Aussie heads for Clarksdale
Review: I read this wonderful book here in Canberra, Australia's national capital, far far away from the Delta. It was hard to put it down. But I did so just long enough to revisit favourite blues tracks by The Masked Marvel [aka Charley Patton] and Henry [Texas]Thomas...so evocative was Palmer's text that their voices crossed the decades and brought me to tears. Palmer surmounts the tyranny of time and distance and brings the Delta and its music to life for me on the other side of the world. My Road Atlas of the USA is open in front of me...Clarksdale here I come. Phil Teece Canberra Australia
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Summary: Deep Blues
Review: I thought I knew a lot about Delta Blues, but after reading this book I realized I didn't know squat about the roots of the only true American Music . Blues is the only music created in the United States from music brought from all over the world. I loved this book so much I just finished reading it a second time and will probably read it again and write notes that I want to remember from the book. Do your self a big favor if you like Blues music, Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: a superb book
Review: I was given this book when it came out back in 1982. I was a music-obsessed teenager and it influenced me a lot. When I got to college a 'friend' stole it, and only several years on did I get the book back. What can I say? Palmer really sums up why the Blues are so important; perhaps the 20th century's most important musical artform. Read it.
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