Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Hi Buck:
 
>From the info given at the time, Kim Wilson was credited with ALL of Little 
 Walter's playing for the movie. The Actor playing Little Walter was 
supposedly  simply taught how to mimic playing blues harp for the role. There was 
a lot of  discussion on harp-l at the time so more details should be in the  
archives.
 
As far as it not being a documentary and comparing it to Amadeus, there is  
one huge difference: Mozart lived and died a very long time ago and there 
is no  likelihood of his having surviving immediate relatives with painful 
memories and  hurt feelings due to an inaccurate portrayal. With a movie 
purporting to  tell the story of real people of just a couple of generations ago, 
there  undoubtedly is. I'm one who feels that extra care should always be 
taken to get  as close to the truth as possible, especially when some of 
those famous  people are still alive (Etta James, for instance).
 
It's simply unfair (besides being unethical) to take dramatic license with  
an individual's real life. None of us would appreciate having an  erroneous 
spotlight pointed at our own parents or other family  members.
 
Elizabeth
 
"Message: 6
Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 11:23:14 -0500
From: Buck Worley  <boogalloo@xxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little  Walter
To: <soulchicken@xxxxxxxx>,  <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID:  <SNT143-w55EEC29A403EAAA59662EA1860@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="iso-8859-1"


Yep, just a movie. When I first saw it and liked  it so much, I bought 
myself a copy. In the special features and commentaries the  director seems to 
convey that they were trying to stay as close to historical  accuracy as 
possible. But the bottom line is that it is just a movie.

I  have a couple of questions for the group:

Did LW really die in the arms  of MW's wife?

Did Chess really die within site of the  studio?

Also, if I remember correctly, Kim Wilson did some of the LW  tracks for 
the movie. Did he, or was he brought in just to coach?

I agree  with Michael R.'s statement that care should be taken when 
recommending such a  movie.

Thanks,
Buck

> From: soulchicken@xxxxxxxx
> To:  harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little  Walter
> Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 13:32:29 -0400
> 
> 
> 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."
> >