DVD ROUNDUP by Michael Buffalo Smith
Last of the Mississippi Juke Joints: A Robert Mugge Film (MVD) is a very well done documentary. Initially released in 2003, Robert Mugge’s doc shines the spotlight on a uniquely American institution, the southern juke joints. Historic footage of the original juke joints combined with modern day per- formances help to tell the story of these “shotgun shacks” dur- ing the old days that were established as a place for plantation workers, who worked a five and a half day week, leaving only Sat-
urday night for dancing and playing music and Sunday for church. The film chronicles the finals days of Jimmy King’s legendary Subway Lounge in Jackson, Mississippi as well as the beginning of Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero blues club, located in the long empty Clarksdale Grocery & Cotton Company building in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The doc- umentary is busting at the seams with history and excellent performances from artists such as the amazing Patrice Moncell (what a voice!), Alvin Youngblood Hart, Bobby Rush, Eddie Cotton and many others. As far as Mis- sissippi music history. Last of the Mississippi Juke Joints may well be the most important blues films ever made…Scared But Smarter: The Life N Times of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ (MVD) Film maker Eric Von Haessler truly did a fine job assembling and directing this documentary about the band that never fit into any boutique category. Sometimes
they were punk, sometimes metal, sometimes alterna- tive, sometimes Americana, but al- ways very, very good. Lead by the enigmatic Kevn Kin- ney, the band should have been huge like friends R.E.M., but they never rose to
that level of success. Still, DNC fans have al- ways been a devoted lot, and the band en- joyed a huge cult following. The filmmaker uses plenty of interview footage to tell the story, including clips from Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke) Darius Rucker, (Hootie & The Blowfish) Michelle Malone, Edwin McCain, Jason Is- bell, and many more... All Things Must Pass: The Tower Records Story tells the story of Russ Soloman’s brainchild, the Cali- fornia based record store that became a chain known as Tower Records. The story goes all the way back to World War II when Soloman’s dad had Tower Drugs, a drug store that sold everything from maga- zines and cigarettes to liquor. There was a soda fountain and a juke box that folks were always playing. One day, his dad came up with the idea of selling 45 rpm
used records. That was the seed that would become Tower Records in 1960. Tower went on to become a huge company, grossing over $1 billion in 1999. But in 2006 the company
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