Rudy Ray Moore: Live at Wetlands

Rudy Ray Moore may be best remembered for his film roles such as Dolemite or Petey Wheatstraw, but he got his start in music and with his comedy albums. Well as the years passed and Moore's time in the spotlight came to a close, it appears he never forgot about his fans. LIVE AT WETLANDS is a recorded performance in a small club where Moore and long-time collaborator Jimmy "Mr. Motion" Lynch went back to their soul-filled roots. Backed up by the Raytones and the Dolemite Explosion, Moore belts out some R&B hits, including some originals from his own albums, while interjecting it with bits of his famous comedy routines between songs. Age has not slowed these men down; they've still got that smooth fire burning inside and it shows. Moore has got some talent and I really thought Jimmy Lynch, while we don't get much singing from him, definitely has a voice for soul. Some of the songs fall flat but there are some highlights, including "Hully Gully Papa/Fever", "Ready, Willing, and Able", "Do You Call That a Buddy?", and "Hip-Shakin' Papa". And fans of Moore and his material will get a kick out of seeing some live material.

While it's cool to see Moore and Lynch doing their thing in front of a live audience, this was obviously a very amateur effort at creating a concert video. The audio dips out at times and the video quality is inconsistent. At best, it looks as if it was shot on Handicam; at worst, there are times where it looks like actual videotape. Keep in mind this was recorded in 2000 and VHS was still a viable home recording option. There is no rhyme or reason to the editing, giving it a home video vibe. One thing I noticed is that the crowd in this club is probably too young to really be familiar with Moore and his work, but that doesn't stop him from winning them over in the course of the night. Moore is a great comedian and his material is timeless. For those who hadn't figured out who he was, he ditches his shirt and coat halfway through the night to reveal a Dolemite t-shirt. So he finishes out the set with his own face on his shirt. And of course, if anyone wants one of their own, the video closes with an invitation to the autograph/souvenir table, hah. In case you forgot the man is in the business of making money, he pimps out his genuine Dolemite back-scratcher and, to be honest, I could never figure out if he was serious.

Hey if the above reviewer thought this was an amateur effort, he should have seen what the other camera people were up to. The producer hired a "crew" of guys with Betacams, who I swear at one point were twirling the cameras in circles. I was recruited to shoot the main camera on Rudy, and I did it on a Sony Hi8 (not VHS but close) with no lighting. It was such a mess even Rudy didn't know I was authorized to shoot the thing, and can be seen berating me in mid-concert (which he also later did at an unreleased show I shot at Village Underground in NYC a few years later) and ordering me to stop recording which I didn't (thankfully for him since he must have made some money off the DVD).

It was a fun experience and makes a great story, but the whole thing was far from professional, sloppy, tossed together, and looks awful. Which means, if you have seen any of RRM's other cinematic and video offerings, it fits in perfectly.