In 1950, as the blues, gospel and jazz cross-pollinated but before Detroit's Motown, before Memphis' Sun and Stax - and well before Philadelphia International Records - there was Chicago's Chess label. Those of a certain age fondly remember its logo, a silhouette of a king chess piece flanked by those of bishop and knight.
Cadillac Records, Darnell Martin's boisterous, if not always factual, account of the house that Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Chuck Berry and Etta James built, is a variety show of the personalities and music that spawned the urbanization of the blues and midwifed the birth of rock-and-roll.
Cadillac Records
the Fewture loves the blues, so Cadillac Records is a welcome look at 1950s blues culture.
According to Philly.com's Carrie Rickey:
The cast includes Columbus Short, Mos Def, Tammy Blanchard, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Adrien Brody, Gabrielle Union, Jeffrey Wright, Beyoncé Knowles, Cedric the Entertainer, and Norman Reedus.