Cheap The Life and Music of Robert Johnson: Can't You Hear the Wind Howl (DVD) (Peter Meyer) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Life and Music of Robert Johnson: Can't You Hear the Wind Howl

Every true Robert Johnson fan should own this film!
This film is worth it's weight in platinum just for the rare photo's of Johnson and the people in his life. The majority of the photos are the same one's you see in the liner note booklet of the "Complete recordings" box set. There is also a rare performance by legendary bluesman: Son House!The major thing that sets this documentary apart from the documentary:"The Search For Robert Johnson" is that "Wind" had a much larger budget, which obviously is why you hear many of Johnson'sactuals recordings, and see many of the photos and actual props from Johnson's era in this film. "Wind" also has interviews from a few people who knew Johnson who didn't appear in "The Search" and a few very significant facts that I didn't know. I think it's safe to say that whatever is not covered in "Wind" is covered in "The Search". Also, "The Search" is more personal than "Wind" in that it adheres more towards a traditional documentary style while "Wind" leans a little more towards the docu-drama style. I think this will probably be the last documentary we will ever seeon this subject because mostly all the info has been covered between these two documentaries and many of the people who knew Johnson may not be around for another interview. There are only two things I didn't like about "Wind". 1) I didn't particularly care for the stand up segments by Danny Glover as the Narrator, I thought the film could have stood on it's own without these. 2) I was very disappointed in the quality of the footage that was shot on film on the segments outside. All these segments were very grainy. I own the DVD and don't know if something happened in the transfer, or if the error was made by someone else. It is a sad testament to Johnson'slife because all those segments were key figures who will probably never be captured on film again to tell their story about Robert Johnson!

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Can't You Hear The Wind Howl?
This was not just a film about the life of Robert Johnson, but a look at the time and place that he lived in and what influenced him as a musician and a man. I felt a better understanding of Robert Johnson, not just the liner notes I've read in the past about the meaning of the songs, or style of guitar he played. This film put me in the Delta when RJ was growing up and in Texas when he was recording the records.

Keb Mo' was beautifully understated in the reenactments. In fact since he's lip syncing, and the lighting was so dramatic and mysterious, at moments I thought I was seeing the lost footage of Robert Johnson.

The interviews were enlightening and personal. Johnny Shines had me in tears one moment and laughing the next. What a pleasure for the world to find out the relationship Johnnny and Robert had. Any fan of the Blues or Rock N' Roll should see this film.

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I heard the wind howl!
This video is easily a 5-star two-thumbs up production -- Professionally done, excellent real footage, reasonable re-enactments, lots of photos, interviews, and music.

Like most who watch this video I bought the 2 CD Robert Johnson set and read the in-depth booklet that comes with the CDs. The booklet is good, and I'm a good reader, but my retention was not that high and I much prefer this DVD as a medium to the booklet. The DVD is fascinating from so many perspectives: a good biography, a glimpse back at early 20th century culture, and as an attempt to understand the signifigance of this musician.

For people who love documentaries, biographies, or music...highly recommended.