The film captures real, raw footage of people who live and love the blues despite being passed over by fame and fortune. It's an important live recording of a quickly disappearing link between modern blues musicians and veterans who still remember the originators of the art form from early in the last century. It's important to remember those roots and what these people went through to ensure the art form endured. As an added bonus it provides footage of some very talented people who may have otherwise been forgotten. Each of the musicians profiled had fleeting success and fame at some point but to a person, they seem to take everything in stride and maintain a love of the blues that doesn't need outside approval or adoration.

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest documentaries ever produced; and certainly the greatest regarding the lives of musicians. It's a film that stays with you long after you've watched it. Relatively devoid of any simple narrative structure, it consists of a series of interviews and observations of social gatherings of some of history's (wrongly) forgotten blues musicians. Almost equal to the music is the protagonists' capacity to talk endlessly about any issue under the sun. More than recording the thought and process of writing songs, the film ultimately becomes a meditation on the value of life as death approaches. It is inspiring to see how a group of tough old guys and girls have succeeded in transcending their material circumstances to create something truly beautiful.

This is not so much a documentary as an invitation to a party with Bobby Rush as a casual guide. There's no discernible structure to the film, and the various players come and go - some not properly introduced until the final reel -but it is nonetheless a tremendous joy simply to be allowed to spend a little time with each and every person. Though many in this group are 80 years old and older, all but one appear to still have both their talent and their wit.