[Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[Bill Kumpe]

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

[cl...@aol.com]

[cl...@aol.com]

Hi,

It just SEEMS to me that the Little Walter scene where he shoots someone over the taking and using of his name, is a vague reference to Sonnyboy II taking Sonnyboys I 's moniker. The scene has Little Walter shooting the dude for taking his name and going on the road with it. That is just plain WRONG. Hollywood is using to much license with the facts. I know they could not reference every Bluesman in the movie. To portray LW as a murderer in this scene is criminal in my book.

Chris Mastakas

---- Original Message ----
From: Bill Kumpe <bku...@cox.net>
To: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 10:37 am
Subject: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[michael rubin]

It think it is wrong. Little Walter has a living family. Imagine a
Hollywood movie about your father's life where they portrayed your
father as a murderer. Then is it just Hollywood license? No, it's
wrong.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 9:54 AM, <cl...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> �Hi,

[Bill Kumpe]

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

[michael rubin]

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

[The Iceman]

It's a movie - not a documentary.

I loved "Amadaus", but don't really believe that Mozart was a giggling goofball.

[John Neff]

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: har...@harp-l.org

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

> From: icem...@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 11:52:39 -0400

[Jerry Deall]

It's all inversely proportional to how famous you want to be.

Thanks Jerry,

----- Original Message -----
From: "michael rubin" <michaelrub...@gmail.com>
To: "Bill Kumpe" <bku...@cox.net>
Cc: cl...@aol.com, har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 9:29:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[Jesse]

Funny, I'm just reading* Blues With a Feeling*, Little Walter's rather
exhaustive biography (a rich resource for blues harp players), and was
surprised to find that he didn't just start drinking after he got to
Chicago, as was portrayed in the film. In the film, if I remember right, he
takes a nip to overcome his stage fright, Muddy and all the guys were doing
it, and then goes from teetotaler to full blown alcoholic in a rather short
time - which leads to his demise. That is not they way it was, of course.
Little Walter was no saint, who is? He was, like most people, a complex mix
of positive and negative aspects, and someone who was influenced by his
rather unsettled childhood and his own rambling nature. That he
revolutionized the harmonica as a lead instrument in a blues music is
indisputable. He was born with a great musical gift and started developing
that gift very early on - on the harmonica. His real story is worth checking
out for the very few here who have not read Tony Glover's book. It gives the
real lowdown on that potent time when the blues left the Delta, got
electrified and then was assimilated into Rock and Roll. It also is a great
look at the role that the harmonica had in the music of that period in the
hands of Little Walter, Sonny Boys I and II, Big Walter, James Cotton and
many others.

Cadillac Records is a little fact and a lot of fiction - Hollywood, that's
what they're good at. Guess I will have to check it out again, this time on
Youtube, get another take on it.

[MARK BURNESS]

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 <soulc...@live.com>
To: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Tuesday, 10 May, 2011 18:32:29
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[Buck Worley]

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

[Rodrigo G. Reis]

The death of LW according to Wikipedia.

Quite different of the movie regarding the place, however it match about the
circunstances of LW being injured. After watching the director's interview
you can realize how it goes with this kind of adaptation of real life facts
to a screen play. This is just based on the facts, there's no enough time on
a movie to put all fact as they were, they have to choose some characters to
focus and work on them and they have to adapt something here and there to
emphasize relations between them.

*A few months after returning from his second European tour, he was involved
in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the
South Side of Chicago. The relatively minor injuries sustained in this
altercation aggravated and compounded damage he had suffered in previous
violent encounters, and he died in his sleep at the apartment of a
girlfriend at 209 E. 54th St. in Chicago early the following
morning.[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter#cite_note-Glover-0>
[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter#cite_note-Chicago_Defender-8>The
official cause of death indicated on his death certificate was
"coronary
thrombosis" (a blood clot in the heart); evidence of external injuries was
so insignificant that police reported that his death was of "unknown or
natural causes",[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter#cite_note-Chicago_Defender-8>and
there were no external injuries noted on the death certificate.
[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter#cite_note-Glover-0> His body
was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL on February 22,
1968.[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter#cite_note-Chicago_Defender-8>
*

Rodrigo G. Reis

[John Neff]

Here's the scoop:

LW Death

A few months after returning from his second European tour, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. The relatively minor injuries sustained in this altercation aggravated and compounded damage he had suffered in previous violent encounters, and he died in his sleep at the apartment of a girlfriend at 209 E. 54th St. in Chicago early the following morning.

Leonard Chess Death
In October 1969, a few months after selling his namesake label to General Recorded Tape, Leonard Chess died of a heart attack.

Did Kim play on the soundtrack?

Kim Wilson Nominated for a Grammy for his work on the Cadillac Records Soundtrack.

[MARK BURNESS]

Buck Worley asked...

 

________________________________
From: Rodrigo G. Reis <rodrig...@gmail.com>
To: Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com>
Cc: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Wednesday, 11 May, 2011 18:00:48

[MARK BURNESS]

Buck Worley asked...

"Did Chess really die within site of the studio?" No, he sold Chess to GRT
before he died in '69. I can understand why one studio was depicted in the film,
but there were 3 studios at different times run/owned by Leonard. Chess records
& its subsiduaries had moved to E 21st Street in the last incarnation of the
Chess building, having moved from 2120 S Michigan Ave in Spring '67. Chess &
Aristocrat started out recording at Bill Puttnam's Universal Studios in Chicago,
as did certain other labels, this is where Muddy, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter
all recorded  for Chess/Aristocrat prior to 1954. Chess also bought in records
from other regional labels and at the time of Etta James' late 60's hits, were
perfectly happy to record at other successful studios like Rick's @ Mussel
Shoals, if they thought it would help get that elusive hit.

Kim plays the LW parts during the film, Columbus Short's claims of doing it all
himself seem rather far fetched...perhaps he squeaked along during the takes,
thinking he sounded great, then Kim was dubbed over & Short thought it was still
himself? ;-) "Last Night" is actually the LW recording.

As Rodrido says, the Chess story was a vast, constantly evolving & changing,
web...I don't know how it could be condensed down to a single movie.

 

________________________________
From: Rodrigo G. Reis <rodrig...@gmail.com>
To: Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com>
Cc: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Wednesday, 11 May, 2011 18:00:48

[Winslow Yerxa]

That shooting was pure fiction. But clips of it on Youtube got enthusiastic
thumbs up from folks who like that gangsta image.

As to LW's death, what the writers did was to combine his death with that of
Sonny Boy Williamson I, who did die (more or less) in the arms of his wife,
falling through his front door after staggering home following being stabbed in
a robbery.

And no, Leonard Chess did not die driving away from the Chess Records office
after selling the business. He lived for awhile and eventually did die of a
coronary event, but not while driving a car.

Hey, it's fiction based on reality. Bound to piss off those of us who see or
know the real people behind these dramatic characters.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com

________________________________
From: Bill Kumpe <bku...@cox.net>
To: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 7:37:09 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Cadillac Records - Little Walter

[Rick Dempster]

Yes;
Compared with "Three Little Words" the musical about, tin-pan alley songwriters Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby (for one example of many)
it looks like a gritty real-life doco!
RD

>>> Winslow Yerxa <winslo...@yahoo.com> 13/05/2011 13:42 >>>

[lsboo...@aol.com]

Henry Gray was dating Little Walter's sister when he met him and he also played in his band for a while. Henry told me that Little Walter was too busy hustling gigs to have done all he was accused of doing. Maybe legends get blown out of proportion from lack of facts sometimes?
Boogie

-----Original Message-----
From: michael rubin <michaelrub...@gmail.com>
To: Bill Kumpe <bku...@cox.net>