The Blues Under the Skin

This 1973 forgotten gem for blues fans is being re-released into theaters, including a screening at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington July 23.

Like an unreleased album of recordings from a vault, the 1973 film “The Blues Under the Skin” is a treasure for blues fans. Up close performances from some of the blues giants (and a King). Originally filmed for French television by Greek filmmaker Roviros Manthoulis, the film captures authentic Delta and New Orleans blues in performance.

Kudos for Kino Lorber for digging up and putting this film on the big screen.

Buddy Guy and Junior Wells on a tiny stage in a small nightclub. Roosevelt Sykes, taking charge of a piano in a New Orleans club. A 1970s New Orleans, where gentleman’s clubs have scantily clad women swinging on swings through open windows. B.B. King performing in a small theater with a mixed audience. Bukka White, Mance Lipscomb, Robert Pete Williams are some of the other musicians featured.

Like the 2021 documentary “Summer of Soul,” which had a treasure trove of music performances from 1969, anytime old footage is found is a reason to celebrate “The Blues Under the Skin.”

This film blurs the line between documentary and drama by incorporating a fictional near-love triangle between, Freddy (Roland Sanchez) Hattie (Onike Lee) and Jay Jay (Jimmy Huff) Freddie has spent five years in prison and is having trouble finding work because of his record. He’s married to working hair/manicurist Hattie and live at his mother’s (Amelia Cortez) apartment along with her fourth husband Booker (William L. Evans). This is all four actors’ only film credit.

There’s some domestic tension between the young couple. She doesn’t think he’s looking hard enough for work. He responds by snapping back in one sentence and apologizing to her with the second sentence. He’s tired of Hattie going to the bar after work and drinking too much. What doesn’t help matters is that pianist Jay Jay sweet talks her while she works on his nails. He then asks her out to see him perform.

Adding staged scenes in a documentary was a new concept in the early 70s. The same year as this film was the concert documentary “Wattstax,” which blended music performances with talking heads discussing their lives and the world they are living in. That film featured actual Los Angeles residents (including actor and future “Isaac” Ted Lange and bar-side riffs from already-famous comic Richard Pryor) and felt smoother going back and forth between talking heads and performance.

I guess casting actors in “The Blues Under the Skin” instead of finding actual residents, getting them to sign release wavers and setting up to film on location was easier. It took me out of this film and I wonder if there was more unused performance footage. Fingers crossed on the chance of deleted scenes on the video release.

Dramatic padding aside, “The Blues Under the Skin” is a must for blues fans if not music fans as a whole.

“The Blues Under the Skin” will be screened at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre in Bloomington on Tuesday, July 23 at 7 p.m. Matthew Socey is host/producer of the Film Soceyology podcast for wfyi.org.