Sidemen: Long Road to Glory

Product Description

Narrated by Marc Maron, Sidemen: Long Road to Glory provides an intimate look into the incredible lives of three of the last Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf sidemen, piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and guitarist Hubert Sumlin. These legendary bluesmen, who performed and recorded into their 80's and 90's, played a significant role in shaping modern popular music. The film features some of the last interviews conducted with all three men as well as their final live performances together. These memorable live performances, vividly capture these blues legends with the blues and rock stars they have inspired including, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Elvin Bishop (recent rock n Roll Hall inductee with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band), and Tim Reynolds of The Dave Matthews Band. Personal insights from artists such as, Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Derek Trucks, Shemekia Copeland, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Perry, Joe Bonamassa and Johnny Winter offer heartfelt accounts of how these three legendary sidemen helped shape their careers as well as rock n roll. Sidemen takes us on the road with Pinetop, Willie and Hubert, three of our last direct links to the origins of the blues, as they share the incredible stories about each of their personal histories. From their upbringings on Delta plantations of the Jim Crow south to lives spent on the road in the shadow of two of the biggest figures in music history, their stories are not only a part of music history, but American history as well. As we ride along, we can't help but fall in love with these three endearing men as we experience all the trials and triumphs of these remarkable lives.

Review

Scott D. Rosenbaum's celebratory music documentary pays tribute to three influential bluesmen. By turns festive and elegiac, and sometimes both at the same time, Scott D. Rosenbaum s Sidemen: Long Road to Glory celebrates three blues greats pianist Pinetop Perkins, guitarist Hubert Sumlin and drummer Willie Big Eyes Smith who made their mark performing with the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and significantly influenced generations of rock and blues artists. --Variety

Numerous contemporary musicians testify to the men s importance, including Joe Bonamassa, Shemekia Copeland, Warren Haynes, Robby Krieger, Joe Perry, Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. All of them point out, to one degree or another, how rock n roll wouldn't exist without the blues and without the contributions of Sumlin, Perkins and Smith in particular. --The Hollywood Reporter

All rock n roll roads lead back to the blues. And if Sidemen: Long Road to Glory is to be believed, most of those highways converge on three bluesmen in particular: the drummer Willie Smith, the guitarist Hubert Sumlin and the pianist Joe Willie Perkins, known as Pinetop. Germinating and shape-shifting for almost a decade, Scott Rosenbaum s loving tribute (originally conceived in 2008 as a Last Waltz-style concert film) pulls back the big-name curtain to celebrate these often overlooked backing musicians whose riffs and runs are revered to this day. As proof, a slew of sunken-eyed rock legends including Johnny Winter, Gregg Allman, Keith Richards and Joe Perry is on hand to share memories of the men and attest to their lasting influence. --The New York Times