Description
In 1971, Bruce Iglauer founded Alligator Records, an independent record company which, in the decades since, has proven to be the most successful modern blues label. In early 1992, Iglauer staged the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Tour starring Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine, Elvin Bishop, Katie Webster, the Lonnie Brooks Blues Band (featuring Lonnie's son Ronnie Baker Brooks), and Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials.
Director Robert Mugge, having recently made the film DEEP BLUES (1991) about the blues traditions of Mississippi, decided to follow up with a tribute to Alligator and its roster of top contemporary blues artists from Chicago and elsewhere. The resulting film, PRIDE AND JOY: THE STORY OF ALLIGATOR RECORDS, presents musical highlights from one of the 4-plus-hour concerts (March 12th at Philadelphia's Chestnut Cabaret) that made up the tour, glimpses of Alligator's Chicago offices, and profiles of key performers and staff members.
The "pride and joy" on display are not only that of fine musical artists plying their trades, but also that of a passionate and highly principled entrepreneur succeeding in a business mostly controlled by corporate giants and littered with the wreckage of countless small, independent labels.
TRACKS:
Pride and Joy
Pussycat Moaning
El-Bo
Wife for Tonight
It's a Dirty Job
Ed's Boogie
Lord I Wonder
Beer Drinking Woman
I Want All My Money Back
I'd Rather Go Blind
Sweet Home Chicago
Killing Floor
Can't Let These Blues Go
Mean Ole Frisco
Two Fisted Mama
Stealin' Watermelons
My Dog
Those Lonely Lonely Nights
Two Headed Man
Something Strange is Going On
Wang Dang Doodle