A conservatory of Ldotter blogs.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Speaking of the Blues. . .

. . ."Going Back to New Orleans: The Deacon John Film" happened to be on television the other night as I was flipping through the channels. It's a film about the city's contributions to the music world, which are undeniably considerable. Without the Big Easy, rock n' roll might never have happened, at least as we think of it today.

While my fellow conservatives have no trouble finding fault with the once-great city as it struggles to rise again -- with good reason in many cases, I hasten to add -- we shouldn't lose sight of its unique contributions to American culture at large. There are things about the city that deserve preservation, and it would be a shame to see them left to languish in the obscurity of a ghost town because its present-day leaders fall far short of leadership.

The film, though I didn't see it all the way from beginning to end, painted an endearing portrait of a city in terrible need of good news and better PR. I can recommend it to anyone with an interest in music, and most particularly those who enjoy exploring the roots of rock n' roll and the blues.

One song that has worked its way into my heart is a big band style number written (if I recall correctly) by Dave Bartholomew and performed by the film's namesake, Deacon John, simply titled "Someday". If you have to time to sit and watch a full-length film on your computer for the sake of hearing a single song, click the link above.

As I said, I didn't get to see the film start-to-finish, so if it turns out that it contains some objectionable material, it was something I didn't see. What I saw was an exposition on some wonderful music that deserves to be honored, and if you don't find yourself at least a little enchanted by it, you ain't got no soul.
 

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