American Roots Music [DVD]
O Brother, wherever thou art, behold what thou and thy kin hath wrought.  With the documentaryAmerican Roots Musicand its spinoffs (including abookandCD collection), producers Jim Brown                       and Sam Pollard clearly were influenced by the popularity of the 2000 filmO Brother, Where Art Thou?and  itsmusic. You won't be seeing  Eminem and Mariah Carey here, or even Duke Ellington and Ray Charles, but rather  a comprehensive, if flawed, four-part documentary examining the various cultural  and ethnic folk traditions that blended together to create the rich, multi- flavored brew that is American music.Narrated by Kris Kristofferson, each of the four parts is a little less than an  hour long. Episode One offers a brief overview before detailing topics like the  spread of music via Victrolas and radio, the early days of country music and the  Grand Ole Opry, the rise of black gospel music, and seminal blues musicians like  Son House, Mamie Smith, and Robert Johnson. Episode Two deals with western music  (Gene Autry, Bob Wills), Bill Monroe and bluegrass, Hank Williams, Woody                       Guthrie, and more blues (Leadbelly, Sonny Boy Williamson, B.B. King). Episode  Three, perhaps the best of the lot, takes on urban blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin'  Wolf), black spirituals, and the early '60s folk boom, while Episode Four  studies Cajun, zydeco and Tex-Mex styles, along with Native American music and  more.The style is standard documentary, with interviews and photos interspersed with  new and old live footage. The producers tout the presence of "rare performances"  by Guthrie, Waters, Monroe, Clifton Chenier, and many others, and they're  fascinating. But for whatever reason (lack of time or maybe lack of faith in  viewers' attention spans) none is presented in its entirety. It's a drawback  that is remedied to some extent by the addition of six bonus clips (three on  each DVD) thatarecomplete, including wonderful vintage films of Western  Swing master Bob Wills and the remarkable gospel singer/guitarist Sister Rosetta  Tharpe.--Sam Graham