In 1971, Bruce Iglauer founded Alligator Records, an independent record company, which went on to become the most successful blues label of the modern era. Two decades later, Alligator Records staged a 20th Anniversary Tour starring Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine, Elvin Bishop, Katie Webster, The Lonnie Brooks Blues Band (featuring Lonnie's son Ronnie Baker Brooks), and Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials.
Following the completion of DEEP BLUES, his classic 1991 film about the blues traditions of Mississippi, music documentarian Robert Mugge decided to make his next project a tribute to Alligator and its roster of top contemporary blues artists from Chicago and beyond. The resulting film presents musical highlights from the anniversary tour as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the label itself.
“A fascinating look at the pivotal Chicago blues label... uniformly dynamite.” –Billboard
DIRECTED BY ROBERT MUGGE
UNITED STATES | 1992 | ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Renowned music documentarian Robert Mugge dives into the black Creole music scene of Southwest Louisiana and documents the attempts, in the mid-1990s, to name a new “king of zydeco.” The original self-proclaimed “king” was the great Clifton Chenier who did more than anyone to develop zydeco’s mus...
Acclaimed “King of the Music Documentary” Robert Mugge takes his audience on a rollicking ride through Louisiana’s musical backwater bayous. Regional experts guide this trip from historic concert halls to po’boy joints, blues dives, zydeco clubs, gospel churches and intimate family gatherings, a ...
Renowned music documentarian Robert Mugge explores the fading traditions of juke joints where the blues was born a century ago and where regional musicians still practice their craft and entertain their fans. The film focuses, in particular, on two well-known Mississippi venues: Jimmy King’s lege...