Standing At the Crossroads
Don't let the title fool you. This isn't about Eric Clapton.
I'm sitting around watching television the other night with my girls and getting
totally bored. You can only watch so much of MTV, VH1, CMT and the Cartoon Network.
So I decided to put in a tape and let the up and coming music critics get a taste of
music that they normally wouldn't hear.
I found my copy of 'Crossroads' and let the movie play. Okay, it's not on the same
caliber as 'Casablanca' or 'Gone With the Wind', but it is a step above 'Road Trip'
and 'Dude, Where's My Car?'.
Briefly - 80's flick starring Joe Seneca, Jamie Gertz and, yes, The Karate Kid
himself, Ralph Macchio. Simple story really. Long Island kid attending Julliard
School of Music is hooked on blues and he's looking for the lost song of Robert
Johnson. Only connection between the song and Robert Johnson is an old bluesman
named Willie Brown, aka Blind Dog Fulton. So Macchio's character tracks him down
to a nursing home in NYC and tells him he knows who he is and what he's looking for.
After a few days the old man decides to tell Macchio that he is indeed Willie Brown
and he was there when Robert Johnson wrote that 30th song...And he'll give it to the
kid if he breaks him out of the nursing home and takes him back to Fulton's Point,
Mississippi.
The rest of the movie is when things start to pick up and everything starts to get
interesting. Like I said, it wasn't a bad movie. It told a story and kept my interest.
But the best part of the film was the music; straight ahead blues that'll keep your
feet tapping for a while. If you do find a copy of this 'not too bad little' film, pick
it up. Even if the story line doesn't grab you, wait it out. There is a great scene near
the end where Ralph Macchio has to 'cut heads' with (are you ready) Steve Vai. Anyone
who ever wanted the guitar version of 'Dueling Banjos', this is it. And you won't be
disappointed.
By the way...The next day one of my daughters wanted to know if she could watch the
movie about 'the bluesman' again. Guess she couldn't get enough of the music.
On a scale of five I give it a three and a half leaning towards a four.
- Richard Blaine
* Richard Blaine's views and opinions do not necessarily
reflect the views and opinions of the staff at Twin-Music.