DVD Review: JJ Grey and MOFRO – Better Days: The Live Concert Film

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Images from the Internet

 

JJ Grey and MOFRO – Better Days: The Live Concert Film

Directed by Spookie Daly
Alligator Records / Thunderbolt Productions /
Madison House / Flying Pig Studio / MVD Visual
119 minutes, 2011 / 2013
www.mvdvisual.com

Up North, JJ Grey and MOFRO are not as well-known as some of their other Southern brethren that walk the path of rock, blues and country. Part of this concert documentary is musicians, including members of the band, describing MOFRO’s sound and everyone has a different slant to it. So, what the hell, here is mine.

I definitely would not call it Southern Rock. I can see them as more Skynyrd than the Allmans, with some of Jim Dandy’s growling Blues and less tight pants, but not as much rock. Swamp rock is a good descriptor, but more if it had more classic R&B and Gospel. And for good measure, as one member of the band says, add a bit of “J[immy] Reed.”

The reason why all these are accurate, is because they refuse to stay on any one highway line, but move from lane to lane, keeping it interesting. For example, “DirtFloorCracker” is solid Southern Rock, even though, as I said, I would not classify them as such. Another, the title cut “Brighter Days” sounds to me like something out of the John Mellencamp – er – camp.

This documentary is a cross between a concert and talking heads. The live music part, which is a complete concert, was taped at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA, on January 22, 2011. It’s not too far up the swamp from where JJ grew up near Jacksonville, F-L-A (same town as Tom Petty, who followed a very different musical path). You can hear it in JJ’s voice, as he says the lyrics with a deep drawl, “Ain’t but one thing dat’s foww showw / Ev’rybhudy wants sommoww.”

Before each song, there is an interview part, mostly with the tall, lanky and graying Grey, which beautifully sets up the meaning and tone for the song to come. All the music is shown completely, thankfully, though the one where he introduces the band seems to go on a bit.

The MOFRO’s behind JJ are phenomenal musicians, especially Dennis Marion’s trumpet and Andrew Trube’s lead guitar. The whole band gets more than one solo throughout, and each one shines without trying to top the rest. It isn’t a contest, it’s an expression of talent.

I wasn’t familiar with MOFRO’s output before, but I may keep my ears perked up if they come my way to play. The closest I knew was Bodeco (who I have seen live, and they killed), and the Formerly Brothers (Amos Garrett – Doug Sahm – Gene Taylor), which by coincidence was what I was listening to the day before playing this DVD, but it’s nice to add to the repertoire.

If I had any complaints about the documentary, they are small and petty. For example, I would have liked to have had the song titles come up as they started, and as with most of these kinds of films, the talking head interviews are identified once, and then you just have to remember who they are, which makes it harder if they are (a) less known and (b) there are many involved. As I said, petty.

If you are into this kind of sound, I recommend this highly. If you’re bored by Southern Rock as it stands and prefer a more raw sound that has a bit more country and R&B to it than the rock, check ‘em out. This film can easily hold you until then.

Band:

JJ Grey: vox / harmonica / rhythm guitar /tambourine

Andrew Trube: lead guitar
Anthony Cole: drums
Dennis Marion: trumpet
Art Edmaiston: sax
Anthony Farrell: keyboards
Todd Smallie: bass

DVD Review: Blues and the Alligator

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2013
Images from the Internet

 

Blues and the Alligator: The first twenty years of Alligator Records
Directed by Jim Downing
Gazell Films
52 minutes, 1991 / 2010
Gazelle.net
MVDvisual.com

This documentary is fascinating in its own way, and unsatisfying in others, leaving me more questions than answers. Filmed in 1991 on the 20th Anniversary of the label (hence the title), there are some issues that may have been accepted then that raised some eyebrows on me.

But first, let me whine for just a minute. As the talking heads parts go, this is pretty whatever. After working for a mostly jazz specialty label that sometimes released Blues called Delmark, based out of a Chicago record store, Bruce Iglauer rebelled when the label owner, Bob Koester (also interviewed), refused to sign Hound Dog Taylor (d. 1975).

We see shots of Bruce listening to music, the inside day-to-day workings of the Alligator office, brief interviews with him and some of his staff, and more importantly, with some of the musicians. The artists often comment on how the Blues, especially in Chicago, is an urban sound (I agree: Delta Blues is more rural) that African-Americans relate to strongly. We are reminded of this by b-roll footage of Chicago slums and its poorer inhabitants.

However, what really is impressive, and makes this worth a view, is the live performances, nearly all of which are shown in their entirety, rather than clips. There’s an old black and white video clip of Hound Dog Taylor doing the classic “Shake Your Money Maker” at an open-air festival to start off, and then throughout we see music played live in the studio, live in the Alligator offices, and showcased at the B.L.U.E.S. Etcetera club by musicians like Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Lucky Peterson, Kenny Neal and Billy Branch.

One of the only women signed to Alligator, the largest Blues label in the world – and, ironically, she is one of their largest sellers – Koko Taylor (d. 2009). We see her sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the opening of a White Sox game, and join in on the Etcetera stage with Lonnie Brooks. She is also the only female musician in the entire documentary, even though Katie Webster (d. 1999) had been attached to Alligator for two years at the time of the filming.

Someday, I believe, sociologists may (and should) study this film for various reasons. For example, what I said about the role of women in the Blues. Even in the flick, they mention that it’s rare for women to sing the Blues; while more men have been signed over the years, the list of Blues women through the history of the genre, especially in the last 40 years since the label founded, is actually substantial.

However, what I found the most interesting about this documentary is the racial oxymorons that run throughout. We’re shown the slums of Chicago, black musicians, and told how the Blues are the soul of the black people. And yet, all the workers at Alligator are white. All of the audiences at the live shows are not only white, but obviously middle class and above. That does not mean to me that white people have no right to be there, because the Blues can touch anyone (I give you Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bonnie Raitt and Ana Popovic, as examples). No, what I mean is it seems like perhaps the filmmakers are trying to make some kind of comment on gentrification of the music. Or perhaps they were just projecting unintentional or cultural racism for the time. I am certain that Iglauer has the truest of intentions, and even left a good job to record an unknown Black Blues musician, but it also seems odd that none of his staff (as of 1990, anyway) were of color.

I would have liked to have seen more of what motivated Iglauer, what hardships he had to go through to get the label started (other than that he left Delmark, there is nothing about the risks he took, for example), how he signed the likes of Hound Dog and Koko, what he does for promotion, the reaction of the Black audiences to the sounds, and, well, I could go on.

Certainly, I could recommend this with a clear conscious for the musical parts alone, but I do so hesitantly due to the rest. Somewhere, I hear James Brown singing…”I don’t want nobody to give me nothing / Just open up the door, I’ll get it myself…”

You can see the entire film for free here: