Actualités

Bb King, who has just turned 87, has returned home to Mississippi to play to family and friends. In the experience of a lifetime, Ed Vulliamy joins him and hears from the maestro about his rise from the cotton fields to international stardom

The fat red sun settles itself against the horizon, throwing a last, honey-sweet light through humid evening and over a small crowd on the lawn beside a railroad track that cuts through the cotton fields beyond. A quarter-moon rises and a chorus of cicadas serenades imminent twilight, now conjoined by the sound of the band; the drummer catches the backbeat and the compere announces: "How about an Indianola hometown welcome for the one-and-only King of the Blues: Bb King!"

And on he comes, to applause from people who know him well and claim him as their own – the last of the blues masters a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.

Welcome to the second Pajiba Real-Time Review of the Grammys. I have no idea why I volunteered to do this, other than a) I enjoy massive amounts of suffering and b) it gives me an opportunity to be the disgusting music snob that I am. Probably more a than b. For tonight's show, I'm joined by a large, ornery cat and half a bottle of Bushmill's Irish Whiskey. Let's boogie.

8:00 - I already don't know what the fuck is going on. Some dude is singing about Lady Gaga and a bunch of other guys dressed like The Zombie Super Mario Brothers Burlesque Club are gyrating around. And now Lady Gaga herself appears, dressed like Hooker Fairy Barbie.

8:02 - It's "Poker Face," which brings all kinds of terrible oral sex jokes to mind. This is one of the weirdest vignettes I've ever seen. And holy shit, Elton John (inexplicably...

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31 promises to be music's biggest night ... and also ladies night.

Beyonce Knowles, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga (left) made such an impact 2009, and they're well represented at the Grammy Awards with several nominations apiece.

Besides the usual performances and outrageous fashions (how can she sit in that?), this year's telecast also features a rare appearance by Michael Jackson's children, Prince Michael and Paris, who will accept a lifetime achievement award on behalf of their late father.

If you need to steal away during the festivities, no worries, we'll be recapping all of the show's highlights.

All times are Eastern.

8:00 p.m. - We've been promised some Lady Gaga for the opening, and there she is! She's left behind the Milky Way Galaxy red carpet look and instead is wearing a sparkly turquoise poofy Judy Jetson number with glitter mask to perform "Poker Face.

Each year the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts selects individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2008. While the recipients received their honors on December 6, on Tuesday night, December 30, the show will air on CBS.

Celebrity News Service is looking forward to seeing the recipients of the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors: actor Morgan Freeman, singer George Jones, director, singer, actress, composer and producer Barbra Streisand, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Caroline Kennedy hosts the gala, which boasts a starry mix of performers and presenters: Beyoncé, Jack Black, Garth Brooks, Glenn Close, Chris Cornell, Clint Eastwood, Honeyboy Edwards, Marcelo Gomes, Dave Grohl, Nathan Gunn, Alan Jackson, B.B. King, Bettye Lavette, Shelby Lynne, Idina Menzel, Ne-Yo, Kelli O'Hara, Brad Paisley, Luciana Paris, Pinetop Perkins, Queen Latifah, Joss Stone, Koko Taylor, Rob Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Randy Travis and Denzel Washington.

Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were all honored Sunday night in Washington, D.C. at the "31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors." The show was hosted by Caroline Kennedy and will air later in the month.

Celebrity News Service is pleased for the six honorees, who were recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures and television. Keeping with tradition, the roster of performers and presenters remained secret prior to the gala.

Performers and presenters at the event included Beyonce, Jack Black, Garth Brooks, Glenn Close, Chris Cornell, Clint Eastwood, Honeyboy Edwards, Marcelo Gomes, Dave Grohl, Nathan Gunn, Alan Jackson, B.B. King, Bettye Lavette, Shelby Lynne, Idina Menzel, Ne-Yo, Kelli O'Hara, Brad Paisley, Luciana Paris, Pinetop Perkins, Queen Latifah, Joss Stone, Koko Taylor, Rob Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Randy Travis and Denzel Washington.

Seen in only two known photographs but heard in more than a dozen of his landmark recordings, blues legend Robert Johnson is investigated and his life re-created in Peter W. Meyer's strong film, which screens this afternoon at the 1997 Pan African Film Festival at the Magic Johnson Theatres after premiering locally in the fest last weekend.

"Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life & Music of Robert Johnson" is narrated and hosted on-screen by Danny Glover, while contemporary blues musician Kevin Moore (a k a Keb' Mo') portrays Mississippi Delta bluesman Johnson in atmospheric black-and-white inserts.

With few details of Johnson's life recorded and verifiable, the filmmakers are lucky to have such willing interview subjects as Johnny Shines, now deceased, who played, traveled and competed with Johnson in the 1930s, and Honeyboy Edwards, who was present at the musician's uninvestigated murder by poisoning in 1938.

From "Crossroads Blues", about a guitar player who makes a pact with the devil, to such gems as "Hell Hound on My Trail", Johnson had a unique style and sound, which he picked up from playing mostly in juke joints and on the streets. For the Vocalion label, he recorded 29 songs, and was admired by his peers for the ability to play the guitar like a "piano."

Johnson's story is sketchy, with many long trips and many girlfriends. His classic "Love in Vain" was written about one Willie Mae Powell, one of several contemporaries of Johnson interviewed for the film. There's a healthy heaping of myth, including childhood friend Wink Clark recalling Johnson's first homemade guitar.

Keith Richards and Eric Clapton get in a few quick licks on Johnson's musical legacy. And breaking from the strict documentary format, Meyer's film mixes vintage footage with new material that evokes rough, Depression-era America, but serves mostly to canonize Johnson.

There is mention of his womanizing and heavy drinking, but a note he supposedly wrote as he lay dying in bed finds him looking forward to redemption. Johnson was only 27 when he was murdered in Mississippi, possibly by a jealous husband.

CAN'T YOU HEAR THE WIND HOWL?

THE LIFE & MUSIC OF ROBERT JOHNSON

Sweet Home Pictures

A Peter Meyer film

Producer-director-editor:Peter W. Meyer

Co-producer:Constance Meyer

Executive producers:Thom Havens, Philipp Nick

Writers:Jean Compton, Peter W. Meyer

Directors of photography:Phillip C. Pfeiffer, Ken Mandel

Color/black and white

With:Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Cray, Danny Glover, Kevin Moore, John Hammond

Running time -- 77 minutes

No MPAA rating...