Re: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[cljdm@xxxxxxx]

---- Original Message ----
From: Bill Kumpe <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 10:37 am
Subject: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter


Quite a bit of artistic license was taken in the film and I suspect the
Little Walter shooting was an attempt to reinterpret him as an early father
of the modern rap gangsta character.

But, we make a mistake to try to canonize these old blues men.  Every
objective report I have read describes Walter as brilliant, difficult, mean
and irresponsible.  And that was not out of the ordinary for a bluesman of
the time apparently.  Of the characters in the film, only Howlin Wolf was
what you could really call a solid citizen.  And the movie portrayed him
badly.  He did not drive to Chicago in a rusty pickup.  He was probably the
only musician to ever drive up the blues highway with real money in his
pocket ($4000.00) and while I don't know exactly what he did drive on that
particular early trip I believe he later preferred Pontiac station wagons
over Cadillacs and for that matter Epiphone guitars over Gibsons.  

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK