MetaFilter posts tagged with blues and documentary

High Sheriff on my heels. I better get on my way, yes!

1f2frfbf — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:37:49 -0800

The full length of Tom Davenport's "Born for Hard Luck" featuring Peg Leg Sam, the last of the great medicine show singers/dancers/musicians. Too busy to watch? Read the transcript with footnotes. Other films in Davenport's American Traditional Culture series available here. Tip o' the hat to hortense for the pointer. Previous Folkstreams post.

Rockabilly Rundown

Miko — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:24:09 -0800

Whole Lotta Shakin' - a PRI documentary series on the history of rockabilly, hosted by Rosie Flores.

folkstreams.net - A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures

y2karl — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 06:19:56 -0800

Folkstreams.net has two goals. One is to build a national preserve of hard-to-find documentary films about American folk or roots cultures. The other is to give them renewed life by streaming them on the internet. The films were produced by independent filmmakers in a golden age that began in the 1960s and was made possible by the development first of portable cameras and then capacity for synch sound. Their films focus on the culture, struggles, and arts of unnoticed Americans from many different regions and communities. The filmmakers were driven more by sheer engagement with the people and their traditions than by commercial hopes. Their films have unusual subjects, odd lengths, and talkers who do not speak "broadcast English." Although they won prizes at film festivals, were used in college classes, and occasionally were shown on PBS, they found few outlets in venues like theaters, video shops or commercial television. But they have permanent value...

folkstreams.net Currently streaming are the films The Land Where the Blues Began , Cajun Country , Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now , Talking Feet: Solo Southern Dance: Buck, Flatfoot and Tap , Ray Lum: Mule Trader and Pizza Pizza Daddy-O , among many others.

the sky is crying

madamjujujive — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 11:35:48 -0800

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Part 1 - a great little video documentary made by two Norwegian students as an English project. Part 2, Part 3. (YouTube alert)