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

[MARK BURNESS <markwjburness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The name "Little Walter" also pertained to Walter Horton up til '52, who was 
originally the child prodigy...when Juke broke, Horton became "Big", Jacobs 
picked up the "Little". George Smith was also apparently known as Little 
Walter/Walter out on the West Coast.

I can appreciate the movie makers jazzing up the story, artistically creating 
scenes to 'set the stage', but this particular scenario is bizarre...there are 
plenty of existing anecdotes about LW that they could have picked up on. The 
music industry wasn't nationwide back then, it was pretty regional & no MTV, I 
wouldn't be surprised if a lot of acts had impersonators in other areas.

Geoffrey Wright (Muddy), Eamonn Walker (Wolf)  & Mos Def (Chuck Berry) all put 
in good performances, despite the inaccuracies...Adrien Brody (a puppy dog eyed, 
dreamy Leonard) & Columbus Short (LW...played all his own harp don't y'know 
:-o!)...er, not so much. Shame really, the least you might expect from a 
professional actor is to do a little research & listen to the recorded footage.

But as has been said, this is Hollywood & personally I'm looking forward to the 
sequel, with the light sabre battle between Muddy & Wolf, on hoverboards...;-)


________________________________
From: John Neff <soulchicken@xxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, 10 May, 2011 18:32:29
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter


I agree that it's just a movie, and most of the folks on here know better about 
the folks portrayed in it, but unfortunately, the unwashed masses out there tend 
to take this stuff as gospel. I can hear someone now talking about the blues and 
saying " Oh yeah, Little Walter shot guys for using his name". Oh well, such is 
the effect of media in America. Would be nice if they were a little more 
realistic in the storyline, still would have made a great movie.

> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter
> From: icemanle@xxxxxxx
> Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 11:52:39 -0400
> 
> It's a movie - not a documentary.
> 
> 
> I loved "Amadaus", but don't really believe that Mozart was a giggling 
>goofball.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Bill Kumpe <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: cljdm <cljdm@xxxxxxx>; harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 7:30 am
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter
> 
> 
> I agree that Walter and others had reputations of doing morally
> questionable things. If they had shown him getting in fights, doing
> drugs and alcohol and being a womanizer I would have enjoyed the movie
> just fine. As it is, I will always add a warning to my recommendation
> to watch the movie.
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com
> 
> On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 10:15 AM, Bill Kumpe <bkumpe@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I'm not saying it's right. But I am saying don't tamper with history about
> > these characters just because we like their music. They were not saints for
> > the most part. (Excepting maybe Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie Johnson,
> > Josh White and maaaybe Son House.) The blues lifestyle killed many of its
> > servants one way or another. All I'm saying is be truthful about it. Don't
> > slander them but don't try to make them something they're not either.
> >
> > Bill Kumpe
> > Tulsa, OK
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
>