CINEMA SPOTLIGHT
I wanted the sound of those early guitars. If
you listen to T-Bone Walker’s stuff, it’s great,
but it’s a little thinner than what came only a
few years later when they got the other coil.
Where did you get the idea for this film?
It all started with the rock n’ roll legend of
Guitar Slim. I think his real name was Eddie
Jones, and he was known in New Orleans in
the early fifties. He was one of the guys who
put that long extension chord on his guitar
and in New Orleans where there are a lot of
clubs close together, would go into the street
and play in the doorway of the other clubs to
It was his story that I was telling, and he had
a lot of good ideas for what the visuals would
be. If you were going to choose a job that has
anything to do with the music business, those
were really good jobs.
In the past few issues of our magazine,
we’ve touched on rock music entering the
church. Discuss the presence of God and
the idea of morality, which is very strong in
this film, especially in relation to the music.
This was very controversial at the time. I tried
to track down what would have been on a
make a living as a musician, I’m going to start
singing secular stuff too.”
Where do you think music is heading in a
strong technological era?
The thing that record labels don’t like is that
it’s heading in every direction at the same
time and people aren’t listening to the same
thing. So they don’t know how to make
money on it.
For the musicians, for the fun of playing, it’s a
great time, because there are so many things
Purvis playing the piano,
which will later become
the sideman to the
electric guitar.
Sonny Blake (Gary Clark,
Jr.) on stage playing
Guitar Slim’s songs
on his self-made
electric guitar.
get everybody in his club. He was also known
to miss a gig. I think Earl King was the most
famous of them who spent years going out as
Guitar Slim. Somebody would pretend to be
somebody else, but as long as you could play,
the audience didn’t care. There were no rock
videos, no album covers, no TV; it was just a
name on the jukebox. The celebrity was a lot
less important.
Speaking of music videos, I’ve read that you
worked with Bruce Springsteen in produc-
ing some of his videos.
Yeah, we did “Born in the USA,” “Glory Days”
and “I’m on Fire” for Bruce. The jobs were
the only times I’ve ever really worked for hire.
84 PREMIERGUITAR JUNE 2008
jukebox in 1950 in the Deep South and I
came across this playlist. One of the people
featured was Sister Rosetta Tharp, who
played a hell of an electric guitar, but was a
gospel singer. Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt and
other guitarists mention her as an influence
on their playing.
We shot in Georgiana, Alabama, where Hank
Williams grew up. He was famous for playing
honky tonks at night and then passing out and
being driven to the church he would sing in
the next morning. He ended up writing some
really seminal gospel songs, and he was a wild
guy; same with the Louvin Brothers. Some of
them are able to make a living doing just that
stuff, and others finally just say, “If I’m going
to play and the access to great players is so
great. I think for professional musicians, it’s
kind of a scary time. Unless you can go out
there and tour, the idea of just selling albums
is gone. But you can put albums out there as
a sample and then you can tour. If you’re tired
of the road, it’s a really tough time.
For more information about the film,
including a plot synopsis, theater
locations, cast bios and interviews,
visit honeydripper-movie.com.
