The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins

This is a great documentary which captures the life of legendary Blues singer/guitarist Sam "Lightnin" Hopkins. It starts out depicting Hopkins as a young boy when he first decides to become a musician and then goes on to show Lightnin' as an adult performing the blues. Hopkins is followed back to his home town of Centerville, Texas where he performs at a large outdoor Barbeque. It gives you a very personal and true feeling of who Lightnin' Hopkins really was and what his music stood for.

This film is truly a valuable piece of blues history and was captured brilliantly by the director/producer. A true classic!

Good film. Les Blank always present his subject as much as they should be. Lightnin' Hopkins was presented while doing what he does best, playing the blues and telling stories.

This documentary presents a good perspective into the life of a bluesman as well as rural black America.

American documentary filmmaker Les Blank with Skip Gerson follows Blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins in rural Texas. I can listen to this music all day. I don't know if I really get to the heart of the man but one does get a sense of this place. It has a rodeo. It has some fishing, a little fish. It has plenty of local colors. Maybe they could have done a cook out with his family and friends. That's usually good times and good filming. Let the liquor flow and let's party it up. It's not necessarily the blues but let's blow it up for the finish.

Enormously entertaining half-hour documentary that not only showcases late Texas bluesman Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins's famous talent for improvisation (the only recognizable compositions here are snatches of 'Meet Me in the Bottom', a version of Buddy Moss's 'Oh Lordy Mama', and Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl') but--maybe just as importantly--gives the viewer a glimpse of black life in the rural American South. The musical performances, stories, and incidental footage of Centerville, Texas are fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the scenes of Hopkins playing with songster Mance Lipscomb; a few years later, in Bruce Cook's indispensable tome "Listen to the Blues", Lipscomb declared simply that "I can't play with Lightnin' no more" because Hopkins was such a difficult personality. Obviously a must for country blues aficionados (to see how the form survived, authentic and virtually unchanged, well into the 1960s), "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins" will be of interest to more general audiences as well.

A day in the life of one of America's premier poets and artists of the 20th century. A small glimpse that widens the eye, touches the soul, and speaks universally while whispering about a moment.