‘We made money. We had ups and downs. Twists and turns and joys and sorrows, but we never had a rehearsal’
Specially filmed in 1992 at Brownie’s home in Oakland, California, this wonderful encounter between Bert Jansch and his guitar hero Brownie McGhee was captured as part of filming for the music documentary “Acoustic Routes”, and only ever released in its entirety as part of the limited edition 20th anniversary version of the film.
In the late 1950’s, Brownie visited Britain for the first time to join the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band as a replacement for Big Bill Broonzy. Those early performances left an indelible mark on the emerging guitarists of the day. In Edinburgh, as a teenager, Bert sat at Brownie’s feet at The Howff Folk Club transfixed by what he saw and heard.
From fighting segregation with Woody Guthrie to joining with blind harmonica player Sonny Terry on the road, from being chosen as the successor to Blind Boy Fuller to sharing a New York cold water flat with Leadbelly, Brownie tells and plays the story of his life to Bert as the two of them collaborate on a range of stand out tracks:
Don’t Pity Me
Memories of My Trip
I Got Fooled
Key to the Highway
Come on if You’re Coming
Me and my Dog
The Death of Blind Boy Fuller
Parcel Post Blues
Stranger Blues
CC Rider
Walk On
Parcel Post Blues
“Two wrongs make a right!”
Duration 52 minutes.16mm Eastmancolour. Stereo. English.
US Production : Jules Levy, Christina McKinlay
Director of Photography: Mark Littlewood
Assistant cameraman : Alan Stewart
Sound : Phil Croal
UK Production Manager : Jo Greenwood
Producer : Maureen White
Director : Jan Leman
Executive Producer for BBC Scotland : John Archer
20th Anniversary Co-Producers : Johnny Fewings, Peter Rommel
Viewers might like to know that Brownie’s papers and archive are preserved at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland, California : www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:...
And here is a rundown of some of the feature films in which Brownie appeared: www.imdb.com/name/nm0569185/
All tracks available on Vol 1 and Vol2 the Acoustic Routes Soundtrack, released by Kudos Records:
acousticroutes.kudosrecords.c...
acousticroutes.kudosrecords.c...
Copyright Leman Productions Ltd 2012