https://vimeo.com/205123584?fbclid=IwAR0Zg7BDUxUoPaIhpbGc_c4vWHvn_og6G3pqNG0ZkawckAZmKbIb1gkotEs
Unsung series doc on him. He was born today in 1930 and died in 2013. Great singer even when he lost ability to hit high notes & snorted instead.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 22:37 (three years ago) link
When I first learned about him, he seemed like a big deal. All the Rolling Stone guides etc. and guys like Dave Marsh and Robert Christgau treated him like one of the greats, and Salon even did one of their "Brilliant Careers" essays on him (remember those?) But I've rarely heard him mentioned since his death, and even the critic Bill Wyman rated him as some kind of second-tier or possibly third-tier artist in a recent NYMag feature. So yeah, he's under-appreciated now, hence the Unsung doc, which is a damn shame.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 22:53 (three years ago) link
In the over age 50 Black American community he's a bigger deal.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 28 January 2021 00:02 (three years ago) link
I saw him live a number of times in the DC area, and the crowd was largely Black.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 28 January 2021 00:03 (three years ago) link
Two Steps from the Blues was the one that was listed in the Treasure Island section of Stranded, iirc.
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 28 January 2021 00:12 (three years ago) link