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Post by oldnick on Jan 14, 2013 20:01:24 GMT
For those who are able to receive it, The Devil's Music Series 2 from 1979 is available on BBC I-Player.
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Post by AlanB on Jan 23, 2013 17:26:54 GMT
The BBC producer responsible for the series, Maddalena Fagandini, died at the age of 83 in 14 December 2012. Giles Oakley kindly supplied me with this insight into how the book and series came to fruition:
Maddalena was a driven perfectionist and the sheer hard work that went into her language series was phenomenal. There came a point when she was perhaps approaching ‘burn-out’ and so it was suggested that she might like to have a break and work on something completely different. And that’s how in 1975, much to my delight, she came to work with me, the ‘No, no, no’ man.I had proposed a series on the history of the blues which had been duly commissioned. As a mere researcher I was assigned to work as a trainee assistant producer under Maddalena and we ended up producing two series, both entitled The Devil’s Music, one on BBC1, the other on BBC2. We went on an extensive filming trip in the USA, taking us to the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, Tennessee, Arkansas, St Louis, Chicago and New York, filming such artists as Little Brother Montgomery, Big Joe Williams, Sonny Blake, The Aces, Good Rockin’ Charles, Billy Boy Arnold, Laura ‘Little Bit’ Dukes, ‘Queen’ Victoria Spivey, and, Edith Wilson, one of the first black singers to make a blues record, in 1920.
Mad had no previous knowledge of the blues but she had plunged into the subject with all her usual energy, reading books and listening to records. In keeping with the spirit of her language programmes all being in the foreign language, we agreed that everyone in our series would be black, with no white experts ‘explaining’ the music, a radical decision for the time. We were trying to set the music in the context of wider African American society.
By the time we got onto location in a succession of working class black communities she immediately got onto an easy, relaxed wavelength with the musicians, many of whom had experienced the most appalling racism and segregation in the Deep South. For some it may even have been the first time a white woman had treated them with such unforced friendliness and respect. I remember getting a lump in my throat when one famous singer, Booker White, told Mad, ‘You know Maddalena, you’re a real blues lady’. He could have given no higher praise.
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Post by blueshome on Jan 24, 2013 13:36:04 GMT
Thanks alan, a nice insight.
Shame the BBC didn't respect her wishes and put Alexis Korner in as a white talking head next time round. Unfortunately this is the version they have made available. More talk. less music.
I remember putting my cassette deck on top of the TV to record the 1976 programmes.
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Post by AlanB on Jan 24, 2013 15:04:33 GMT
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Post by AlanB on Feb 4, 2013 16:18:45 GMT
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Post by oldnick on Feb 4, 2013 23:33:09 GMT
I agree entirely Phil. While I admire AK's work I think he did tend to talk down to the camera in this series whether scripted or not.
Nick
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