Last night we saw a terrific documentary on Jug Band music, “Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost” by Todd Kwait. Anyone who is interested in the Grateful Dead will want to see this film, because the Grateful Dead began as a jug band and retained a lot of material from that era throughout their career – “Viola Lee Blues,” “New Minglewood Blues,” “Big Railroad Blues,” “She’s on The Road Again,” “KC Moan,” “Stealin,” “Overseas Stomp.”
Some info from the web site:
The movie is written and directed by independent filmmaker Todd Kwait, and includes interviews and live performances by John Sebastian from the Lovin’ Spoonful, Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, Bill Keith, Maria Muldaur, and the late Fritz Richmond from the influential Jim Kweskin Jug Band, Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, plus many more artists who were influenced by the great jug band musicians from our past.
This movie is a historical retrospective that spans the globe and honors many great talents from yesterday and today. Filming for Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost took the crew to Japan, Sweden, and Kingston, Ontario. Closer to home, filming took place in Northern California; Woodstock, New York; Portland, Oregon; Memphis and western Tennessee; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Louisville, Kentucky; and Cleveland, Ohio.
The film is not in wide release. There’s a schedule of events on the web site – be on the lookout for a showing in your area.
Bob Weir is one of the musicians interviewed in the film. “Jug band music is the mud that my toes are planted in, quote simply. It means that much to me.” Bobby goes on to tell how he met Jerry Garcia on New Year’s Eve of 1964 and how that led to the creation of Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions. Grateful Dead Records released a live performance of Mother McCree’s a few years ago, but it appears to be unavailable at the moment.
John Sebastian is a central figure in the film and in the jug band revival of the ’60s. Ever hear of the Even Dozen Jug Band? According to Wikipedia:
The Even Dozen Jug Band was founded in 1963 by Stefan Grossman (solo country blues and ragtime guitarist) and Peter Siegel (old-timey guitarist and producer) in New York. Other members were David Grisman (noted bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist), Steve Katz (later with Blood, Sweat and Tears and Blues Project), Maria Muldaur (then Maria d’Amato), Joshua Rifkin (arranger of Scott Joplin Ragtimes), and John Sebastian (later with the Lovin’ Spoonful and now a solo artist).
Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost takes us back to the 1920s, to the dawn of “Race music” records. Gus Cannon is the eponym of the film, and Cannon’s Jug Stompers was one of the most important recording acts of the era. You’ll also learn about Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band.
I am awaiting clearance to play some audio from the movie on the GD Hour, and I’m hoping we can do a program with the director, Todd Kwait, on Sirius soon.
UPDATE: By coincidence, I read this definition of jug band music in a Vanity Fair article on Michelle Phillips:
jug-band music (pre-Depression-era blues, hokeyed up for vaudeville)
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