Honeydripper: The Birth of the Blues

In addition to marking the midpoint of the 21st century, the year 1950 stood as the doorway to a paradigm shift in music, politics and technology that would significantly revolutionize American culture for decades to come. In Honeydripper, John Sayles’ cinematic homage to the Deep South and the birth of rock 'n' roll, the veteran director and fore-father of independent film digs deep into his birth year to subtly reveal a world on the brink of social and musical transition.

“I’m old enough to remember chain gangs, segregation, people in the cotton field, the colored restrooms, and all the stuff that existed before the civil-rights movement. But the music came from there, and there’s a personal quality to the South,” recounts the auteur behind Lone Star and Passion Fish, telling of his childhood trips below the Mason-Dixon line. “There are some great things about it, and [there were] some things that had to change.”

In the film, lounge owner and pianist Pinetop Purvis (Danny Glover) must learn to embrace this change as the new sensation of rock 'n' roll eclipses his blues band (its frontman played by legendary blues vocalist and Stax artist Dr. Mable John). Purvis puts aside his personal musical tastes to save his club after he meets Sonny Blake, a vagrant musical prodigy (Austin-based blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr.).

The plot revels in the rich history of the South, mirroring the exploits of real-life New Orleans artist Guitar Slim (real name: Eddie Jones). Slim periodically failed to show up for his anticipated gigs, often forcing venue managers to push a stand-in on stage, claiming the replacement was the absent rock guitarist. “A lot of the people who later became the great guitarists of rhythm and blues,” explains Sayles, “were just told by their club owner, ‘Well, look, learn this song, because tonight, you’re Guitar Slim.’ He didn’t show up for his gig and nobody knows what he looks like because there were no album covers or rock videos back then. So as long as [the stand-in] played it well, there wasn’t going to be any problem.”

To capture the rustic aesthetic of mid-century blues and early rock ’n’ roll, Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi cast a collection of top-notch players—including Keb’ Mo’, Henderson Huggins, Eddie Shaw and Arthur Lee Williams—for the live-music segments. After shooting, these jam sessions continued long into the night—in hotel lobbies and also in The Honeydripper All-Star Band, a touring incarnation of the movie’s house band slated to perform throughout the year at various blues festivals. “Folks who were working in the lobby were jamming and having a good time,” recounts Clark Jr. “We played one little rehearsal, and it just clicked.”

With a working live band and his film set for release, Sayles hopes to raise public awareness of how the all-but-forgotten blues grew into today’s cultural landscape. “Musicians don’t grow up with a certain music, and the minute they hear it, they take an aspect of that and make it a part of who [they are],” he explains. “Musicians are always borrowing from each other.”