Yesterday’s film was no doubt approved by Ry Cooder in part because of this early Les Blank documentary, a 30-minute portrait of blues singer Lightnin’ Hopkins and his friends and neighbours in Centerville, Texas. The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins is dated 1968, and captures a group of aging blues musicians and a community for whom blues music was still part of the texture of everyday life. Earlier films about blues artists tended to be a lot more formal, usually based around a performance staged specially for the cameras. Blank’s snapshot has a looseness that suits its subject and is all the better for it.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let’s Have A Ball