7/9/2023 0 Comments Cadillac recordsThese two get more musical screen time than any of the others. I have to say that the best performances of all were from Mos Def as Chuck Berry and Beyonce Knowles as Etta James. Walker has big screen presence or he’d have been lost. Howlin’ Wolf sings one song and has a scene to give Waters a tongue-lashing for not being responsible with his money. (He didn’t sound like that on ‘ER’.) His strong, controlling character is mostly used to juxtapose Water’s inability to control his world. Dakarai on ‘ER’) to play Howlin’ Wolf another big guy with the deepest voice I’ve ever heard. Little Walter had a huge temper, anger management issues, and terrible dependence on drugs and alcohol. People actually made a huge living that way back then. And you will understand quickly that the movie’s name, “Cadillac Records”, comes from Chess buying all his musicians (and himself) Cadillac cars.Ĭolumbus Short (‘Stomp The Yard’/’Quarantine’) plays Little Walter who was an amazing “harp” (harmonica) player. Emmanuelle Chriqui plays Chess’s wife, Revetta. and Chess’s generous management of his ‘family’. But the story always revolves primarily around Water’s and his long-suffering wife Geneva (Gabrielle Union – who always seems too smart to be believable as a woman who’d stay home and collect her man’s illegitimate kids). Little by little, the two find and add more and more talent to the ‘Chess Family’. When he hires Water’s to make his first demo record, the rest becomes history… literally.įrom there, the movie follows both men as they marry and become successful. He was doing OK until a guy Water’s band busts up his club one night. He opens a club (Magamba) at a time when blacks and white didn’t share breathing room. His angry retort is, “My wife will drive a Cadillac!”. So, the movie starts out introducing Leonard being verbally slapped down by the daddy of a childhood girlfriend for not being good enough. Water’s style was guitar reverberation using a metal pick. The real guy had bigger cheeks and small jaw. Waters is played by Jeffrey Wright (Felix in the last 2 Bond films) with a full lower lip that channeled ‘Bubba’ from “Forrest Gump”. His character is the anchor upon which the script hangs the successful launch of Chess Records. Singer Muddy Waters came up from working the fields of Mississippi because he ‘knew’ his music would get him somewhere. Narration of the movie is done by Willie Dixon, one of Chess’s musical finds and played by Cedric the Entertainer - done with more deep, gravelly voicing. The only thing Brody has in common with the original guy is the nose. Adrien Brody got the plum role of Leonard Chess… chains-moking, gravelly voiced, music genius. Until I researched the net for this blog, I didn’t even know there was a Phil. My rating: $8.00 (1.-10.).įirst thing you’ll need to know is Phil isn’t in this movie. This is a pretty sappy retelling of the history, but the music is worth the admission price. Leonard scouted the talent and did the footwork pushing the music with the public. Phil ran their blues club, “Macamba”, on the Southside of Chicago. They were truly genius in predicting what sounds would be successful and which might cross racial divides. As the men worked to establish themselves, they also were learning the musical leanings of 1950’s audiences. E-Pilot Evening Edition Home Page Close MenuĬhess records became a label in 1950 when Polish-immigrant brothers Phil and Leonard Chess changed their 1940’s music venture name from the original “Aristocrat”.
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