Hellhounds on My Trail/Can t You Hear the Wind Howl

Delta bluesman Robert Johnson died in obscurity more than 60 years ago, leaving behind a grand total of 29 recorded songs. There are more videos about him (three and counting) than there are known pictures of him (two). Yet with each passing year, Johnson s legend and legacy continue to grow and flourish. Witness this package, directed by Robert Mugge and chronicling the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame s annual American Music Makers series, a weeklong program that in 1998 was devoted to Johnson s work. Part concert, part documentary (including interviews and speeches, discussions of various Johnson-related myths, explanations of his guitar technique, and so on), Hellhounds on My Trail features very few name artists, with ex-Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green, Keb Mo , and G. Love and Special Sauce among the best known. Instead, you get authentic performances of Johnson songs by bluesmen like Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, Joe Louis Walker, David Honeyboy Edwards, and Robert Lockwood Jr. (Johnson s stepson), along with rocking interpretations by Gov t Mule, the brilliant Sonny Landreth (a smokin Walking Blues), and others. All in all, it s a feast for blues fans, and a nice accompaniment to Can t You Hear the Wind Howl, a 1998 docudrama featuring some of the same participants. --Sam Graham

Good - If you re looking to hear Robert Johnson s songs, you should probably buy one of the awesome collections availible. As this legend and musical genius has now been dead for 65 years, I m not sure what the other reviewers were looking for besides other people covering his songs, and talk about his life... that s all we have now. And of course the covers do not outdo him, that would be impossible. But there is some very thoughtful discussion on the life of Robert Johnson and the world he lived in. The discussion with a former classmate is touching, and the covers of his songs by those who knew him (Robert Lockwood Jr., Honeyboy Edwards)and by some of the new delta-blues talent such as Guy Davis, Roy Rogers and especially Alvin Youngblood Heart blew me away. Gov t Mule and Sonny Landreth do some awesome electric renditions of his work. The major let downs are the cuts into interviews and pointless displays of the rock n roll hall of fame gathering, and also Bob Weir s performance, which is just plain bad. All in all, it is a good film, and it s nice to actually be able to watch people play his music, as we will never be able to see the real thing.

HMMMMM HellhOund? - This movie was enjoyable, but not focused on the music of RJ other than as interpreted by others. I don t know where ol Sam figured that there weren t name artists - Sonny Landreth, Gov t Mule, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Peter Green, Guy Davis, and Bob Weir/Rob Wasserman, JLW, Honeyboy.....the list goes on & on. Most performances were great in my opinion - Ian and Desmond are clueless. A considerable portion of the film consists of interviews with persons acquainted with RJ and at one point discusses a mysterious home video that possibly depicts him playing in the streets (wow do they get sidetracked here....). If u like blooz check it out!

Neither Fish nor Fowl - If you are looking for a purely performance-oriented DVD, you will probably be disappointed by this disk. Having said this, however, there are some truly outstanding renditions of RJ classics on the disk that make it worth having. Among my favorites are an absolutely incendiary version of Walkin Blues by the under-appreciated slide-master Sonny Landreth (this alone is worth the price of the disk, IMHO), an excellent interpretation of If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day by Rory Block and an unfortunately edited/intercut performance of Love In Vain by Keb Mo . There are also appearances by bigger name acts such as Warren Haynes & Gov t. Mule, Bob Weir and Peter Green/Nigel Watson (a very authentic, heartfelt performance of Terraplane Blues, in keeping with PG s excellent recordings on Hot Foot Powder and the Robert Johnson Songbook). If you are really a fan of Robert Johnson, though, the real strength of this disk is the performances by RJ contemporaries such as Robert Lockwood Jr. and Honeyboy Edwards, which provide a real window on the past. While I have issues with the editing of the disk, especially the intercutting of performances with talking heads, on balance this is worthwhile addition for anyone who loves the music of Robert Johnson.

Hellhounds on my Trail: Lost Scent - Hellhounds on my Trail is a disappointment. The legendary Robert Johnson, perhaps the greatest blues musician in the history of this country, is unseen and effectively unheard in this collage of generally mediocre performances by admirers and wannabes. In fact, the two weakest performances in the film are the opening and closing sequences. The only insight which comes through clearly here is the vast gulf in talent between Robert Johnson and his imitators.

Very Poor - except for Rory Block s performance - I agree with most of the other reviewers that this is a very weak production with lots of pretentious talk and some pretty poor musical performances which are heavily cut to make more room for chatter. However the couple of minutes where Rory Block sings If I had Possession Over Judgement Day are worth the entire price of this DVD. Don t buy the tape cos you ll have to sit through so much stuff you won t make it, but on the DVD you can go straight to Rory Block and never watch the rest.

Hellhounds on My Trail/Can t You Hear the Wind Howl