BB King - At Sing Sing Prison

Got life if you want it

Johnny Cash struck paydirt in America’s toughest prisons in the late 60s, and others soon followed. Film-makers David Hoffmann and Harry Wiland tried to take the venture one step further in 1972, after initially trying to film and teach the inmates of upstate New York’s infamous Sing Sing prison. The idea was hatched to stage a Thanksgiving Day concert, but most names they approached refused, before BB King, Joan Baez and The Voices Of East Harlem agreed, setting the stage for an unusually unique gig and an incredibly exciting concert film drenched in atmosphere and diverse emotions, from elation to the deepest blues.

“It’s really a happening more than anything else,” says a reporter from New York’s Daily News, before The Voices Of East Harlem exalt with gospel fervour over a formidable funk band, comedian Jimmy Walker introduces Joan Baez and sister Mimi Fariña to approving howls and the inmates stage their own play before BB King ignites the room with what he has called one of his finest shows, raising the roof with a barnstorming How Blue Can You Get. The film also examines the prison with staff and inmates, presenting a picture of a hellish existence which, for one magical afternoon, enjoyed some very special visitors.

5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars

Chrome Dreams | CVIS 604

Reviewed by Kris Needs
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