The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #141607   Message #3266545
Posted By: GUEST,Jon Dudley
01-Dec-11 - 04:49 AM
Thread Name: 'Rick Stein tastes the Blues'
Subject: RE: 'Rick Stein tastes the Blues'
Well, for what it's worth I liked it. Of course it wasn't a searching analytical or historical documentary - it was never intended to be...just one celeb's take on his favourite music with a bit of food chucked in to justify the choice of Rick Stein. Having visited Clarksdale some years ago on a gloomy miserable day we found it deeply depressing until we discovered a sort of blues school for kids, which immediately brought out the sunshine for us. A dozen or so youngsters from the very small to early teens were jamming away under the tutelage of a teacher and were having tremendous fun. Looking for Sonny Boy Williamson's hut (which as tourists was obligatory) we were sadly disappointed to be told that that it had been uprooted by The Smithsonian which was touring it on a semi-trailer throught the USA. We found his grave though elsewhere which was a rather modest affair but very evocative, being strewn with worn out blues harps and simple messages of admiration and appreciation from visiting pilgrims. Of course Rick Stein has some home-grown folk music and traditions to investigate on his own doorstep in the shape of Padstow...