Happy Birthday Robert Johnson!

Robert Johnson Centennial Collection

Blues legend Robert Johnson (probably) was born on May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Although he was only 27 when he died — possibly poisoned by a jealous husband in Mississippi — and he only left us 29 recordings, he is more than a legend in the music world. The singer and guitar player who allegedly sold his soul to the Devil for his guitar skills has influenced generations of musicians.

In Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, Elijah Wald recounts a description of the birth written by Peter Guralnick: “Robert Johnson was born probably on May 8, 1911, the eleventh child of Julia Major Dodds, whose ten older children were all the offspring of her marriage to Charles Dodds. Robert was illegitimate, which . . . was the cause of the name confusion and the cause of many of Johnson’s later problems.”

Here is a roundup of some websites about Johnson and stories from 2011 about the 100th anniversary of his birth:

– A Sudbury Star article discusses Robert Johnson’s life and his influence on modern musicians.

– USA Today gives an overview of events occurring to celebrate the anniversary, along with a video of Gregg Allman talking about Johnson.

– The Gibson Guitar website has in interview with Robert Johnson’s grandson.

– The Seattle Post Intelligencer has a review of a new 2-CD collection of Johnson’s music, The Centennial Collection. Amazon offers additional reviews of The Centennial Collection.

– Here is a YouTube video of academics discussing what is thought to be the only known video of Johnson.

– The Republic from Columbus, Indiana has an article about the connection between Johnson and Bob Dylan.

– Mississippi’s Jackson Clarion Ledger discusses the planned celebration in Greenwood, Mississippi, where Johnson died in 1938.

– Crawdaddy has a short article connecting Robert Johnson to current Mississippi blues.

– The Robert Johnson Notebooks has a literary analysis of the lyrics to his songs.

Of course, it all comes down to the music, so consider Robert Johnson playing and singing “Cross Road Blues.” Although many assume the song is about Johnson’s encounter with Satan at the crossroads, there is no mention of the Devil in the song. Instead, the song is most likely about the singer’s attempt to get home before dark, a genuine fear during a time when African-Americans did not want to encounter lynching parties in the South.

For an electric version of the song, here is Eric Clapton introduced his version of “Crossroads,” by explaining what Johnson means to him. “It really shook me up.”

Robert Johnson seems to be such a legendary figure of the past, one may find it hard to believe that his birth was not really that long ago. He could have lived to be alive today. Happy birthday Mr. Johnson, wherever you are.

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    Jimmy Stewart’s Movie Mom

    Jimmy Stewart's Movie Mom

    Happy Mother’s Day this weekend! One famous movie mom was Beulah Bondi’s portrayal of Ma Baily in It’s a Wonderful Life. It was a great performance, including a touching scene with her son George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, as she sends him off to court Mary Hatch, played by Donna Reed. At the other extreme, in an alternate reality in the same movie, Bondi plays a bitter and angry version of the character who does not recognize her son.

    Did you know that Beulah Bondi played Jimmy Stewart’s mother in a total of four movies? She also was his mother in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Vivacious Lady (1938 ), and Of Human Hearts (1938).

    I did recently catch her as Stewart’s mom in Of Human Hearts on the Turner Classic Movies Channel. In that movie, she plays a faithful mother to Jimmy Stewart’s ungrateful son, resulting in Bondi’s second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I learned of the persistent Stewart-Bondi connection from Robert Osborne on TCM when the movie ended. This “Top Ten Facts About It’s a Wonderful Life” also notes the connection.

    I have not seen Vivacious Lady, which finally became available on DVD after this original post was written. Bondi makes a brief appearance in this trailer for Vivacious Lady at around the 2:35 mark.

    Beulah Bondi gave memorable performances in other movies, including Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), where she played an abandoned mother, and Our Town (1940), where again she played a mother but not to Stewart. Her other Oscar nomination resulted from The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), where she did not play Jimmy Stewart’s mom. Bondi regretted not playing the role of Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath (1940), where she missed portraying the mother of Stewart’s good friend, Henry Fonda.

    Bondi appeared on several television shows, winning an Emmy for a performance as Aunt Martha Corinne Walton on a 1976 episode of The Waltons. Her TV work also occasionally reunited her with Stewart. IMDb notes that Bondi played Stewart’s mother in one episode of The Jimmy Stewart Television Show (1971). Earlier, she appeared in one 1957 episode of G.E. True Theater, called “A Town with a Past,” with Stewart, although apparently not as his mother.

    In movies today, producers’ obsession with an actress’s age sometimes lead them to cast a mother who is in reality too young to be the mother of the actor son. For example, in The Fighter (2010), Melissa Leo played Mark Wahlberg’s mother while being only 11 years older than him. But in Bondi’s case, she was a more realistic age to play Stewart’s mother. She was born May 3, 1888 and Stewart was born May 20, 1908, which would have made her 20 years old when she gave birth to the fictional James Stewart.

    In real life, one of the movies’ greatest moms never married and never became a mother herself, passing away in 1981. But Bondi’s warm portrayal of movie mothers gives her a special place in the hearts of anyone who loves old movies or moms. So Happy Mother’s Day to Beulah Bondi, to my mom, to the other mothers out there, and to all those who were born by mothers.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “This man’s dead, Captain”

    Leonard Bones McCoy, DeForest Kelley Probably the person most famous for announcing deaths is DeForest Kelley, i.e., Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy on the original Star Trek (1966-1969) series. This post considers when Kelley first said the notorious phrase and why he did not utter the declaration during the most memorable Star Trek death scene of all time.

    A few weeks ago, I watched The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), starring Gregory Peck. While watching the movie, I noticed Kelley appearing in a small role and saying the line that would be immortalized on Star Trek in different variations: “This man’s dead, Captain.” The commentary on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit DVD pointed out that DeForest Kelley appears in the movie in an uncredited role in just the one scene. Kelley plays the doctor approached by Gregory Peck’s character, who is carrying his injured friend. When Gregory Peck asks the doctor for help, Kelley utters the memorable line (at around the 18-second mark) that he would repeat many times throughout his career. Did this scene launch his career?

    Of course, others have pointed out the connection in the past. But it was surprising to actually see it come out of nowhere while watching The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

    Who would have guessed while watching the movie that Kelley would build a career around proclaiming someone dead? See the video below for a montage of some of Dr. McCoy’s greatest hits.

    In a key scene of what is probably the best Star Trek movie, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, McCoy’s famous line was given to another character. According to Wikipedia — which cites Terry Lee Rioux’s biography of DeForest Kelley, From Sawdust to Stardust, Kelley recognized that his death announcements had turned into punch lines. So, he thought that if he said his famous “he’s dead” line about Mr. Spock, it would ruin the seriousness of the death scene. Therefore, in the movie, James Doohan’s Scotty tells William Shatner’s Kirk the news about his friend: “He’s dead already.”

    DeForest Kelley passed away on June 11, 1999.

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    3 Movies That Make Us Mad

    { Ignorance – Lori McKenna (Kasey Chambers cover)}

    lorimckenna_ignorance

    The Cove In the Kasey Chambers song “Ignorance,” covered above by folk-singer Lori McKenna, she sings, “If you’re not pissed off at the world / Then you’re just not paying attention.” There have have been several excellent documentaries in recent years that reveal disturbing information about our world that should make us mad. Chimesfreedom recently wrote about Gasland. Here, we discuss three other movies that make us mad: The Corporation, Food, Inc., and The Cove. All three movies are now available on DVD and Blu Ray.

    (1) The Corporation (2003) is a documentary about the role of corporations in our society. The movie paints a disturbing picture of the power that corporations have and the damage they have caused with almost complete immunity. The movie is very disturbing, and almost overwhelming at times. In watching it, I kept wanting to take a break from the movie but could not stop watching. Just when you think the stories could not get any more disturbing, they do, such as information about how American corporations profited through supporting Nazi Germany.

    Certainly, The Corporation has an agenda, so one should maintain a little skepticism. For example, the movie unnecessarily went a little overboard with a segment about corporations meeting the definition of a psychopath. But many of the techniques, like using movie clips, are designed to make the information entertaining. And if the movie makes you seek more information, then it is a success. Many of those interviewed provide intelligent commentary. In addition to insight from some who you would expect, like Noam Chomsky, there is interesting commentary from people like Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface, the world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, who had an epiphany after many years.

    (2) Food, Inc. (2008) reveals information about the sources of our food. Yes, the movie includes some information about where our meat comes from, and I know a lot of people try to avoid being reminded of that knowledge. But animal flesh is not the focus of the majority of the movie. Among the interesting information is the extent to which corporations own and patent some of our basic food sources, a topic also briefly addressed in The Corporation.

    (3) The third movie, The Cove (2009), is not as broad as the other two movies. Instead, it explores a narrower issue. The Cove delves into secrets behind the dolphin meat industry, focusing on a hidden cove in Japan. While you are learning that dolphins are more intelligent than you thought they were, you also may realize that humans are more devious than you expected. The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary of 2009.

    Unfortunately, these three movies are not uplifting. The good news, though, is that there are intelligent people making these movies and that people are watching these movies to learn about the world around them.

    It is easy to look away from unpleasant Truths. And there is a cost to having your eyes opened. These movies may affect how you view your food, the corporations around you, and your decision whether or not to visit Sea World. Do you want to know the information or not? It is like the movie, The Matrix (1999). Your decision whether or not to watch these movies is similar to the offer of whether to take the red pill or the blue pill. Welcome to the desert of the real.

    “And you can turn off the TV
    And go about your day.
    But just ’cause you don’t see it,
    It don’t mean its gone away.”
    — Kasey Chambers, “Ignorance”

    What is your favorite movie that makes you mad? Leave a comment.

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    Osama Bin Laden is Dead: The Long Road

    Instead of celebrating the death of one person, today is a good day to remember those murdered on September 11, 2001 and those lives lost since then because of that day’s events. It makes me think of Eddie Vedder, accompanied by Neil Young and Mike McReady, performing “The Long Road,” at the benefit concert that aired on September 21, 2001. Although the song was written years earlier by Vedder and Nusrat fateh ali Khan, it fit the occasion perfectly, much like Bruce Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins,” which also was written under different circumstances but performed at the concert.

    And the wind keeps rollin’,
    And the sky keeps turning gray,
    And the sun is setting,
    The sun will rise another day.

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