Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life In The Blues

Bluesky

Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life In The Blues sets out to document the life and music of the legendary harmonica player. James Cotton (1935 – 2017) was one of the few blues musicians that were able to have a carrier within the rock music scene of the Sixties and Seventies. Cotton played the harmonica in a way that could compete with the distorted electric guitar.

By changing the way that air flows through the harmonica, the musician can force the metal reeds inside it to change pitch. This follows the natural harmonics of the reed. When playing chords the mismatch between this and the equal temperament tuning of the instrument means that the harmonica can be quite unharmonic. Cotton's mastery of this meant that his harp could stand up against the overdriven crunch of electric amplification.

Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life In The Blues follows the standard format for this sort of documentary. It is a mix of archival material, sections of interviews with people who knew the man and a few talking heads to give their opinion on things. His life is charted in a fairly linear way, starting with him becoming an orphan in Texas. It goes through his early career and the artists he worked with, notably Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters, and into the Sixties, rock music, his battle with throat cancer, his final album, and then to his death at the age of 81. The most notable insight into his life and personality come from a long term girlfriend from the Sixties, Deo Phillips, and from Jacklyn Cotton, with whom he spent the latter part of his life.

The documentary is competently made, but it is a little light on placing Cotton in context. If you don't know a lot about American culture and civil right in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties then you'll miss out on the importance of some of the things that are said. Some parts of the film can be a little repetitious and some of the talking heads don't have much to say that is insightful or interesting. However the use of Cotton's music alone makes it an enjoyable watch.