track 66: Sunday kind of love • track 67: trouble in mind

Somewhere towards the end of 1997/the beginning of 1998, David and I saw Kasi Lemmons' outstanding film, Eve's Bayou. It was one of the last movies we saw at the theatre across from our house at Miller Square. At this point, it had become a dollar theatre, really crappy & rundown, with the stickiest floors known to man and yes, bugs flying through the air. Somehow it was incredible that Eve's Bayou, a critically acclaimed but little-known indie film was playing there, considering that they usually showed mostly big movies (albeit months after their initial release). The film is one of my all-time favorites, possibly my favorite American film of the late '90s. Kasi Lemmons wrote poetry and captured it so perfectly. Here's the trailer:



We both adored the film. In fact, when I got my first DVD player in the summer of 1998, Eve's Bayou was the first movie I bought. I especially loved the music: both Terence Blanchard's gorgeous score (which is still up there with Patrick Doyle's score for Great Expectations and Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks music as my all-time favorite movie score) and the songs chosen for the soundtrack. I bought the CD and I'm not lying or exaggerating when I say that this simple act changed me forever.



I was initially taken with Erkyah Badu's contribution, "Child with the blues," having been a fan of her perfect debut album, Baduizm. But what surprised me was how deeply I fell for two of the older tracks. The first being a song recorded by Etta James called "Sunday kind of love." I seem to remember that her iconic recording of "At last" had yet to be played in every single movie or commercial, so when I followed up my love for the song by purchasing the album it was taken from At Last, hearing the title track was a revelation. I didn't have a lot of experience with the blues or classic R&B, but it hooked right into my heart. Soon enough, I became addicted to The Essential Etta James, and from then on I bought as many Etta CDs as I could find. (Nothing will ever top At Last and Tell Mama for me)



The second track that had a giant effect on me was "Trouble in mind." A blues song performed by jazz god Louis Armstrong, with Velma Middleton on vocals, "Trouble in mind" connected with me immediately. I tried to find more recordings by Velma, but without much success. Instead, I picked up The Best of Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald on Verve and had another life changing experience.

But that story is for next time.