Clapton and Guy commit to project.
Within the last five days, two members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy agreed to do on-camera interviews for “Johnnie Be Good”. I’ll interview Guy later this month, and I’ll interview Clapton in mid-April.
I’m ecstatic about the news. If you read the September 19th blog, I described the day I met Clapton in Columbus, Ohio. Out of body experience is what that was. Clapton told me then he would make time when his tour came to an end and he’s a man of his word.Clapton performed with Johnnie during the Chuck Berry film “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll”. A few years later in 1991, Clapton invited Johnnie to be in the blues band for Clapton’s “24 Nights” project in London. It was during that concert that Johnnie had a nosebleed that turned out to be a brain hemorrhage. Clapton also performed with Johnnie on his “Johnnie B. Bad” cd.Buddy Guy was also part of the “24 Nights” blues band with Johnnie, Eric, and Robert Cray. Johnnie performed on multiple Buddy Guy projects, including “Slippin’ In” and “Buddy Guy- Live! The Real Deal”. In the next six weeks, I’m going to interview two of the best guitar players on the planet about their collaborations with Johnnie. Don’t hate me ’cause my life is good.This is my first blog of 2007. I made substantial progress on the documentary in ’06, getting interviews with Chuck Leavell of the Stones, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, movie director Taylor Hackford, New York d.j. Pat St. John, Michael McDonald, Paul Shaffer from the Letterman band, Jimmy Vivino from the Conan O’Brien band, drummer extraordinaire Steve Jordan, record producer Russ Titelman, Jay Lane and Jeff Chimenti of Ratdog, Ratdog publicist and Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally, and in early 2007, James Young of Styx. Thanks to all these amazing and generous artists for stepping up for Johnnie. I also located some fantastic BBC footage of Johnnie performing with John Lee Hooker, Johnnie’s appearance on Letterman the night after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and special concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where Johnnie was interviewed on stage about his musical career. Now all I have to do is figure out how to pay for it all. The filmmaker’s lament. The journey continues……. Art HollidayDirector, JOHNNIE BE GOOD
jjthemovie 