The blues

I love the blues. So does Scorsese. Together with 6 other directors, he create 7 full length documentaries on different aspects of blues. Everything from Mississippi delta blues to Chicago style, over an episode exclusively dedicated to piano blues.

The first contact I had with the blues was a stray album of Blind Willie Johnson lying in my mother’s cupboard. From the first time I heard the opening to “I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole”, along the stangely uplifting “If I Had My Way I’d Tear The Building Down” (which, acoording to legend, got him arrested after beforming it in front of the New Orleans courthouse) to the absolutely great duet “Thanks God I’m Satisfisfied”.

As you might have guessed, his full name would be the Reverend Blind Willie Johnson. And no, he didn’t became blind due to an eye infection after obtaining parasites. Blind Willie’s parent had a huge fight after his father caught his mother two-timi’n. And she decided to spite him by throwing lye in his only son’s eyes.

Next up: Mississippi Delta