Cadillac Records

Muddy Waters has always figured prominently in my personal relationship with really good blues music. I first discovered the blues at the movies, watching Better off Dead (1985). John Cusack drove his ’69 Camaro RS around while listening to Mannish Boy from Hard Again, and that was pretty much it for me. That recording was from 1977 and marked the beginning of a comeback for this guitar god. But it took me no time at all to get hold of his earlier recordings – a prodigious and inspired collection of music that really featured his innovative and forceful instrumental style. He rewrote the rulebook on what a blues structure could consist of. And like John Lee Hooker (who never ‘played it strait’ ), Muddy had the personality, the charisma and the style to become a star at the fabled Chess Records in Chicago.

When I was first learning about the blues, listening to Johnnie Meister on WXPN Saturdays from 8-12 PM, Chess was synonymous with fundamental blues music. The music recorded there became the foundation for literally all rock that has followed since. Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Little Walter. Cadillac Records presumes to dramatize the life of some of these people as it tells the story of Chess Records.

As a fan of the music, it was extremely hard not to love this movie. There is such affection in the care and attention to detail with which the music is rendered. All the actors are singing their own parts, so the illusion - the world of the movie - is made that much more real. Also, the biopic is not of one person, but of the music itself, and the role of the label in influencing the music. No one character or actor has the entire responsibility of making this thing work. The risk is dispersed around the ensemble. That being said, Jeffrey Wright goes into another world as Muddy Waters. So much of the role involves singing that I’m sure it helped Wright tighten up his persona and characterization of Waters, because that shit is tight. Cigarette holder, silk ties and shirts, insane hair products and the do-rag - It’s a tremendous performance that doesn't waiver for a moment.

Wright had me in a trance, but he was very generous with the rest of the cast. There were scene stealing moments by Eamonn Walker, Beyonce and Mos Def. Adrian Brody never really got off the ground for me, but he does a nice job facilitating for the rest of the cast.

The plot is little more than the rags to riches, back to different rags sort. But the music is really the story. And the script provides several satisfying moments, as the characters encounter myriad joys and struggles away from and inside the recording studio. But we keep coming back to these stunning musical interludes and they are more than worth the price of admission on their own. The instruments are period-appropriate, and it seemed to me that all the pictures in history books and on album sleeves had magically come to life.