I'm Willie Dixon.
And I'm making this here audio recording
so that when you visit
Chess Recording Studio,
you know the history.
Now, the first time a gal took off
her underwear and threw them on stage
it was on account of
a fella singing the blues.
Now, when the white girls started doing it,
they called that rock and roll.
Took a whole lot of people to make
the music that changed the world.
Yes, sir. This story ain't just about me.
It all started with two men.
One a white boy from Chicago.
Len, when are we getting married?
A witness for my Lord
The other a sharecropper from Mississippi.
Say, who was a witness?
The year was 1941.
Say, Daniel was a witness
When are we getting married?
I don't have the money.
I told you I'd be fine without it.
Well, I wouldn't.
You don't know what it did to my father.
I can't watch you go hungry.
Da.
Oh, how you doing, Mr. Feder?
Hi, Dad.
I want to marry her.
Mr. Feder, I don't know if I told you,
but I've been making plans to get out of
the junk business.
I'm gonna open a club here.
In the Negro neighborhood?
Yeah. It's gonna be for Negroes.
You're taking Shelly to Negro clubs?
No, of course not.
No, I'm just...
I'd like you to know that
I'm making plans for the future.
So, you are serious
about this marriage then?
Yeah.
I mean, when I can afford it.
Your father and I, we come from
the same shithole in Poland.
I didn't travel all this way
to have my daughter marry some schmuck
from the same village.
What did you say?
- What did you say?
- Get in.
Leonard.
Don't worry where I'm from.
My wife's gonna drive a Cadillac.
Now, who is this here?
Go on, get in the house now.
McKinley Morganfield?
Yes, sir?
I'm Alan Lomax,
and this is Mr. John Work
from Fisk University.
- How you doing?
- Fine. You?
I'm recording folk music
for the Library of Congress.
Folk music?
Could you move into the mike
a little bit for me? Thanks.
Play that thing, man.
That's what I sound like, huh?
Yes, sir, that's what you sound like.
Feel like I'm meeting myself
for the first time.
And he was.
And he knew it was a man he was meeting,
too big for that slave shack he was born in
and too big for that plantation.
Now, the acoustic guitar
was fine down south,
because there's nothing but miles of
empty fields out your window.
But in the city,
with all them streetcars and automobiles,
you couldn't get yourself heard.
Hey, boy, ain't nobody want to hear
that sharecropping music.
Take that shit back down there
to Mississippi.
Hey.
You're disturbing the peace!
Why you want to cut me for, girl?
You have been giving that same smile
to girls all morning.
You must have three addresses
in your pocket.
Addresses?
No.
- You're trouble. You know that?
- I know.
How about you?
You got to go, before my mama brings
the boys home. Come on.
- Maybe those boys need a daddy.
- You're not daddy material.
I'm not good enough for you?
I don't talk as good as you
or something, huh?
When I heard you start playing that music
it took me someplace so good, Muddy.
So good.
Here you go, baby.
Are you the owner of this club?
Yes, I am.
Isabella Allen. I make race records.
Len Chess. How you doing? Wow.
This is a beauty.
God, look at the lines on this thing.
It's incredible.
You can buy a car like this
making race records?
If you find the right singer.
Hey, I'd love to know
if you hear someone special.
A record producer, huh?
There'd be something in it for you.
All right.
Sweet. That's a beautiful car.
You looking for girls?
Excuse me? No, I'm opening a club.
I don't mind you getting men all liquored up
but I lost two daughters to bluesmen.
Dangerous business you in.
What are you doing?
When Muddy met Little Walter,
he was just 17 years old,
but he was the greatest harp player
that ever lived.
That's it. That's all of it.
- Yeah, man.
- Play that for me.
I'll give you $1
if you let me strum that guitar.
I can busk more than your dollar.
- I'll give you $2.
- You a headhunter?
You fixing to chop my head off
with my own guitar? Man.
Shit, you can't play better than me.
Let me see the guitar, man.
Hey, big guy,
your daddy sure can cook, huh?
You're not gonna take care of Walter?
Oh, I don't drink none of that.
Good for you, Walter.
I'll make you a nice bath.
Okay, thank you, ma'am.
Why you got a gun?
- In case in any good guys need shooting.
- You mean the bad guys?
I is the bad guy.
Hush now, scaring my boys,
and let me hear some of that harp.
Okay, okay.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.
- Where in the hell you going?
- Follow me now. Come on.
No, no, no. No, look here.
You follow this guitar, son.
"Son"?
You can play the shit out of that guitar,
so I'll follow you anywhere you want,
but don't you ever be calling me no "son. "
Okay?
- I don't need no daddy.
- No, boy, what you need is a mama.
Someone who will feed you and clothe you
and tell you to get your behind in that bath.
Well, you know what they say, now.
A man can't have too many mamas.
And you don't need this. You need soap.
He fit me, Geneva.
I heard.
He fit me.
They was a family now.
Little Walter, Muddy Waters
and Jimmy Rogers
called themselves "The All-Star Trio,"
but everybody else knew
them as "The Headhunters"
on account of how
they sliced their competition.
Will you help me out here?
- Get your own gig, motherfucker!
- Let them play!
- Get out of the way, Mud.
- Fucking son of a bitch!
This is between me and this motherfucker.
Get out the way, Mud.
- Son...
- I told you never to be calling me that.
I know you did. But we family now.
Then what the fuck you doing, Mud?
Give me that pistol.
I ain't trying to boss you.
But you're just too good to lose.
We'll burn Chicago down if you don't
get your ass locked up or killed.
- You think I never used this before?
- I know you did.
Then you know I'll shoot
this whole motherfucker up then.
But you ain't got to use it tonight.
If he foolish enough to come after you
I'll put the bullet in him my damn self.
You a crazy motherfucker, Mud.
Run, motherfucker! Run!
You can get out of here, too.
I'll talk this peckerwood
into not calling the police.
Oh, okay.
Sorry about that, chief.
Sorry about the damage, boss.
Yeah, you fucked up my place. You...
Yes, sir. It's a damn shame, boss.
Just get out.
Here. There you go.
Appreciate it.
Fucked up my shit.
Ain't never see them pitchers?
Here's how you do it.
When you get that ball,
you gonna kick that leg over.
You gonna throw that thing
way up there like that.
Been looking all over for you.
We're just here working, sir.
I thought we was all right, boss.
Stop talking to me
like I'm some damn plantation owner.
What the fuck you want then?
I want to put you on a record.
- A record?
- Yeah, that's right.
You're kidding.
No, sir, boss.
Let me get this straight now.
We shoot up half your whole joint,
and now you want to put us on a record.
Yeah, that's right.
I hear good things about you.
- When do you want to do this?
- Right now. The studio's booked.
- But I got to get my band.
- No, you don't.
Not the crazy harp-playing motherfucker,
you don't. No. Just you.
You want to do this?
- Yeah.
- Come on. Studio's booked.
Well, I'm going away to leave
Won't be back no more
Going back down south, child...
Now, Leonard Chess didn't
worry none about skin color.
It was the color of them bills that mattered.
Just get you enough green to cover yourself
and then you ain't no Jew-boy no more.
And you ain't no colored boy either.
You're just a man with a Cadillac.
It's so beautiful!
- Do we have enough?
- Hi, baby. Stop with the "enough. "
This is America. The word is "more. "
I like the way your husband thinks.
You must be Muddy.
I'm Revetta. I love your record.
Thank you. Pleasure to meet you.
I packed for a week. Will that be enough?
Yeah, that ought to be good.
I think she's asking,
how long are you gonna be gone.
Come here. Hey.
Close your eyes.
A little friend to keep you company
while I'm gone.
There you go.
- Can we afford this?
- Don't worry about it. It's classy.
Thank you.
I tell you, that's a whole lot of ocean.
Take a hell of a lot to get me to cross it.
How come you didn't stay your ass
in Poland?
How come you didn't stay your ass
in Mississippi?
Len knew the only way
to make it big was radio.
And that meant taking
Muddy back down South.
- Thank you very much.
- The man don't need no more Scotch.
I got a hell of a mortgage.
Shit.
Yeah, I got one of those.
I tell you what.
Throw this record on the table.
It pays off everybody's.
Leonard...
If people buy Muddy's record,
I got to make more.
Then I'm into you every month.
Yeah, but I got to be fair, you know.
I know you got to be fair.
The motherfuckers bring in the Glenfiddich
and the Johnnie Walker.
But you got to ask yourself,
do they really stand up
to Jackson and Grant?
I don't bribe deejays.
I do.
You realize he doesn't care
about your music.
It's just about the money with him.
Everybody, this is the newest race music
right out of Chicago.
You're on your own.
Now, in the South, whites and coloreds
didn't ride around in the same car
unless the colored man was chauffeuring.
Fuck Mississippi police.
You got to bless them.
- All right, easy. Thank you.
- Hey, you gotta bless them.
- It's very good.
- Room service.
Well, hello.
- We heard you on the radio.
- Come on in.
No, he don't bite. And I don't either.
Play it, Daddy.
Yeah.
Don't rush it.
Don't step on it now.
That's Chicago's heartbeat.
Go on, now.
You've got such hair.
Play that for me, Daddy.
I lied to you, girl.
Yeah, I like that.
- Where you going? Don't leave us alone.
- I'll swing one over your way.
I'm married.
Yeah, and they ain't redhead.
That's bullshit.
Yeah, that's right. Come on, Daddy.
Come on back.
Preacher lay his Bible down.
We're coming straight to you
from down in the Delta
with Muddy Waters and his hit record.
That's right. Sunshine, how you doing?
I want to say a big hello, if I can,
to everybody down in Coahoma County.
They got a whole mess of bluesmen
working Mississippi fields.
When I was out there I used to sing...
Time don't get no better
Up the road I'm going
So, you know,
I want to thank old Len Chess here for
giving Muddy Water a chance to shine.
Does that mean you're staying
where you are?
Because I know some labels down here
who'd love to snap you up.
Well, they can try all they want to,
but I belong to the Chess family.
We're gonna play a little something
from Muddy Waters right now.
Lay it on me.
It was kind, what you said on the radio.
You know, starting a business together,
it is like starting a family.
Appreciate that.
Yeah, well, how come, then,
you need me to sign this thing?
That's what people do in business.
You know, you got a power with that guitar.
Amazing. It even put three women
in your bed last night.
Yeah, but you married.
I like another kind of broad.
Does that bother you?
What's that gonna bother me for?
I'm just saying, it doesn't make me
like them. And that's not me.
I'm not that.
Who is you?
Sign the contract and find out.
You got a pen there?
All right.
This is the newest race music
right out of Chicago.
And I want you to remember this name.
Muddy Waters.
The last time I signed something like this,
I got married.
Well, that's what this is.
Till death do us part.
By the way, the car's yours.
- What do you mean?
- You earned it.
Muddy! Listen!
Now playing Muddy Waters'
Can't Be Satisfied, WGES Chicago.
It's you!
- Come on in here.
- No! I got to go to work!
- Come on in, Mama.
- Muddy, don't! Muddy!
On a Sunday night,
when no one happened to be in Len's club,
the Macomba mysteriously burned down.
Hi, Daddy.
He put the insurance money
into this here recording studio.
Hi.
Hi, baby. Hi, there. How you doing?
Look. It's coming along, huh?
- We're late on our mortgage again, Len.
- Yeah.
- It's gonna have to wait.
- You're gambling our home.
- Yeah. And we're gonna win big.
- And if we don't?
I won't let you down, babe.
I won't let you down.
- Dave, show her the... Spin the thing.
- Sure thing.
You see this?
Chess Records was the best studio
in Chicago.
Had a sound nobody could touch.
Tie me up. Come on.
- Did everybody see?
- You guys better watch out now.
Little Walter getting electrified!
He's amplifying a fucking harmonica.
Wait, Chess. Let him try it. Watch it now.
- All right. Go ahead.
- Take one.
Forty days and forty nights
Since my baby left this town
He's blowing all over Muddy's vocals.
I got to cut.
No, hold on.
But the rain keep coming down
She my life, I need her so
Why she left I just don't know
Let it ride.
You can't record a record
with harmonica all over the place.
Yeah, we can.
Forty days...
Okay.
And forty nights
Since I set right down and cried
Keep raining all the time
But the river running dry
Lord help me, it just ain't right
I love that girl with all of my might
It works.
Now that's a record.
- You like that?
- Yeah.
Walter got a record. Let's lay it down.
- Oh, yeah?
- You want to hear?
Why don't you and Jimmy back him up?
You caught me on a good day.
Where's Belo at?
Take one.
Boss, this your new shit?
Yeah. You like it, huh?
- Go park it, motherfucker.
- What?
Park it at your house.
Oh, Jenny, you see this shit?
Wait till these motherfuckers see me now.
- You my white daddy?
- You're getting carried away again.
Man, oh, man. Oh, boy.
Black folks riding around in Cadillacs.
Feel like I died and gone to heaven.
Walter, this is Willie Dixon.
He's gonna write some songs for us.
- How you doing?
- I like what you do with that harp, man.
- Wrote a killer song for you.
- You did?
I know how the girls love you so much.
It's called My Babe.
My Babe? This is my babe right here.
Come on, girl.
Hey, Len, I wrote a song for Muddy, too.
Oh, yeah? Muddy don't need no help.
Oh, man. I admit he's good and everything,
but, I mean,
all his songs sound the damn same.
Muddy Waters needs something
that shows him off.
Well, we'll see what you got.
Here's your riff right there.
Ain't nothing to that.
Gypsy woman told my mother
Before I was born
You got you a boy child coming...
Now Muddy was Muddy
way before I came along.
I just took his persona
and put it in words
that everybody could understand.
I mean, it was simple.
He was the cat every man wanted to be
and every woman wanted to love.
And Muddy,
well, he just kept growing into that man.
Everybody knows I'm him
Well, you know I'm the hoochie coochie man
Everybody knows I'm him
I got a black cat bone
I got a mojo, too
I got the Johnny conkeroo
I'm gonna mess with you
I'm gonna make you girls
Lead me by my hand
Then the world will know...
People started realizing
that if you can play the guitar
and sing your ass off,
you could be badder than Superman.
And that was a strong feeling
for a black man in the '50s.
How you doing, darling?
On the seventh hour
On the seventh day
On the seventh month
Seven doctors say
He was born for good luck
That you'll see
I got seven hundred dollar
Don't you mess with me
I'm about to lay this down right
now, boss. I'm ready.
You're messing up my groove, boss.
Who dead?
Your mother.
Your family called a deejay
down in New Orleans.
They've been trying to find you.
Maybe you need to take a little time off.
What am I supposed to do with that, boss?
Go home and bury your mother.
Walter.
Y'all ready?
Shit.
I was in my groove, man.
Now I can't even find my shit.
Go home. Nobody's expecting you
to go back in there.
I'm expecting it.
You know how many harp players out there
are waiting to chop my head?
Not time to be wasting on this woman.
That ain't "that woman. "
That's your mama, boy.
What the hell I know about mamas?
She let my daddy give me away
the day I was born.
Well, she did the best she could, I reckon.
That's why this here be my mama.
This here, right here.
You know, Walter.
You and me not gonna wake up
every morning and get everything we want.
Mostly we got to take what come.
And half the time,
that's gonna be a bunch of bullshit.
Yeah. I just got to get my mind back right.
Go on and have you a taste.
I don't need that. That shit'll fuck me up.
- Go on, boy.
- It's gonna fuck me up, man.
Cool you out.
Just a taste, huh?
Fuck it.
My baby don't stand no cheating, my babe
Oh, yeah, she don't stand no cheating
My babe
Oh, yeah, she don't stand no cheating
She don't stand none
of that midnight creeping
I can't record this
if he handles the mike like that.
Don't worry about it.
We're playing Little Walter's My Babe.
Number one on the charts this week.
Little Walter was making a name for himself.
Every club on the chitlin circuit
wanted that sharp,
swinging jump boy in the Cadillac.
Now, ain't that sure enough
a goddamn shame?
- What is that?
- A big-time recording artist like Little Walter
driving around in that broken-down,
no-account short.
- Let me out.
- Hold on, son.
What is he doing now?
"Little Walter and the motherfucking Jukes,"
huh? Ain't this some shit?
Say, now, which one of you motherfuckers
is Little Walter?
I am, fool.
Okay.
Bring your ass over here!
Motherfucker taking
money out of my pocket.
So what? He's stealing your gigs.
He's stealing my name.
Shit.
My baby don't stand no cheating, my babe
Oh, no, she don't stand no cheating
My babe
Oh, no, she don't stand no cheating
Everything she do she do so pleasing
My baby...
It was 1955 and we was hooked.
On the music, on the cars,
on the women, on the life, baby.
Oh, Lord, we had hot hands!
...she don't stand no fooling, my babe
Oh, yeah, she don't stand no fooling
When she's hot, there ain't no cooling
My babe, true little baby, my babe
- True little baby
- She's my baby
- True little baby
- She's my baby
- True little baby
- She's my baby
- True little baby
- She's my baby
- True little baby
- Come on
- True little baby
- All right
True little baby
True little baby
True little baby
True little baby
Hey, Mud. I want you to meet Wolf.
Yeah, I hear we're from the same place.
Is that right?
Yeah, Wolf just signed with us.
Yeah. Welcome to Cadillac Records.
You stay around long enough,
everybody get one.
Well, this old truck,
I own it.
It don't own me.
Listen, I want to offer you a $100 advance.
I don't borrow against the store.
You just pay me what you owe me.
That's fair enough.
Nice meeting y'all.
Take care of yourself, baby.
"It don't own me. "
Motherfucker thinks
he goddamn John Wayne.
He can sing, though.
He gonna have to,
because he ain't getting the women on style.
Any royalties come in
from Hoochie Coochie Man?
I already gave that to you.
How you figure?
The Cadillac ain't free, Mud.
Right.
You need money?
Well, Geneva want a house.
I'll take care of it.
All right.
All you pretty women
Stand in line
I can make love to you, baby
In an hour's time
Ain't that amazing?
Where that baby come from?
A woman came by today.
She said she's yours.
She said she couldn't take care
of her anymore.
That's my baby?
She's gonna need milk.
I'll go on and get the milk.
I'm a man
I spell M...
This here be a real nice home
you're making, Geneva.
Thank you, Walter.
That's why Muddy can go out there
and fetch the world.
He's got big dreams.
Here, let me help you.
- There, go ahead...
- What about you, though? Come on.
You ain't got no dreams, girl?
Somebody's got to have their feet
firmly planted on the ground.
That's you, huh? That's you?
Well, I say you take them off the ground.
Taking care of all these kids.
You know, you gone
and made a place for me to lay my head.
Now, come here, now. Stop for a minute.
Stop for a minute, now. Come here.
Play with me. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Have a seat. Come on.
Kick your feet up now. Here go your drink.
It's nice, right?
Who be taking care of you?
I see you running around here
taking care of everybody. You know?
Who take care of Geneva?
- Walter.
- What? What?
- I'm Muddy's woman.
- He got a lot of women.
He can spare one, huh?
I'm sorry. I know.
I know I'm a motherfucker. I know.
You got no idea. I can't help myself.
I want to...
I just want to see you happy, Geneva.
You know?
Let me make you happy, baby.
I love him.
You have no idea
how good that man has been to me.
I'm half a woman, Walter.
I can't have any more babies.
I can't give Muddy any children of his own.
- Don't cry, baby. Don't cry.
- No.
Don't ever talk to me
about any of his other women.
Ever.
Okay.
Hey, Geneva.
Hey, baby.
You must be hungry.
Let me make you something to eat.
Yeah.
What, you ain't hungry?
He ain't hungry.
You ain't hungry?
You ain't eat nothing.
What, you ain't hungry?
- Son?
- Muddy.
You ain't hungry? Son?
- Muddy, he's just a kid!
- You better know I know it.
I'll put a motherfucking lacing on you, boy.
Now, you better go on somewhere
and sleep it off. You hear me?
Oh, smokestack lightning
Shining...
Cut.
You on the guitar, what's your name?
Hubert, sir.
"Hubert"?
Walter, behave yourself.
- Motherfucker's name is Hubert.
- Shut up.
Who do you think you are,
playing that loud?
Yeah, lower the amp, not the guitar.
The amp.
Get it right, Hubert.
Don't talk to him no more.
I'm the band leader.
Reckon you ain't never
worked with one before.
You want something done, you ask me.
I'm gonna tell him what he has to be doing.
Is that right?
That's right.
Only thing you can do.
That's a mean motherfucker right there. Shit.
Get it right.
- All right, big man.
- Go and get your coat.
Okay, then.
Take two.
Hey, baby.
Why don't you stay for a while?
Better get your girl out of the ring.
Oh, smokestack lightning
No, that's all right. You can have her, baby.
But she come with this.
- He can't hear you, Mud.
- I guarantee you he hear me.
Hey, Jimmy, come here.
I want you to tell Hubert
we'll pay him twice what Wolf's paying him.
If he's such a band leader,
we'll see if he's band leader enough
to hold onto his boy.
He was the big, bad wolf.
Now, the story is he got his name
from a dead man
who came out the cemetery
and tuned his guitar.
And he been howling
at the moon ever since.
Oh, stop your train
Let a poor boy ride
Whoa, don't you hear me crying?
- You all right?
- Couldn't you get a smaller set?
- You all right?
- Hurry up, man.
- I don't want to miss this game, now.
- Oh, baby!
I love this house.
- You got it.
- Sorry, Jimmy.
Y'all can't come in here.
I'm Chuck Berry.
Chuck Berry's a country-and-western singer.
Is he?
You know who else he is? He's me.
Says he's Chuck Berry.
Let me see some ID.
All right, then.
ID.
This license says you're Indian.
That pinup make you look like a white man.
- What the hell are you?
- I'm a musician.
And my name is Chuck Berry.
And I can be whatever you need me to be
to play in your fine establishment
this evening.
You part con man, too?
No.
You may sing country.
You ain't doing it here.
- Get on, now.
- You gentlemen have a fine evening.
ID.
What happened to your doors?
It was hot, so I took them off.
It's all right. Come on, baby.
- Come on, girl.
- Thank you.
Let me see your license.
Okay. Okay.
Here, you take a look at this here.
I'm about to go wax this record, okay?
Get your ass back over here, nigger.
Now, you looking at my license, huh?
You guys know that "nigger" ain't
the name my mama gave me, now.
Oh, pardon. I'm sorry.
These motherfuckers can't read.
Okay. Let me help you out.
You got to sound that shit out.
Come on.
"Walter. "
Mud! The cops got Walter!
- Hey, take it easy!
- Nigger.
Come on. He works here.
- He works here. Take it easy.
- This here nigger?
- You feel like a nigger yet?
- Hey! Look.
- Look. Please.
- You see that?
Do you see that?
I belong to the Chess family.
- Motherfucker!
- Hey!
You're gonna need a new car, nigger.
That's what I've been
telling this motherfucker.
Shut up, shut up. Would you stop?
Are you fucking with cops now?
God damn it.
What's the matter with you?
- Are you all right, man?
- Damn it.
I had no business being that pretty anyway.
It looks like I need a new car, Len.
I gave you a new car.
You rip the fucking doors off it?
It's not my problem!
I gave you a number-one record, Len.
I gave you a chance to make
a number-one fucking record.
Oh, you gave the little nigger
a chance, huh?
Little nigger don't need no chance!
I can play, motherfucker!
I'm fucking king on this shit!
You think I'm gonna shoot you?
- Get some rest.
- No, I need a new car.
Enough! What you need to do
is get back to the Pepsi-Cola, boy.
Let me tell you, that liquor ain't for you.
What you gonna do, Mud?
You gonna hit me, Mud?
You gonna choke me now? On the street?
Get off me.
You know,
that Wolf,
the way he stood up for his sideman,
maybe he could teach you something, Mud.
Esther, come on!
Find yourself another harp player.
Well, baby, you know
I can never be satisfied
And I just can't keep from crying
Lay it on, man.
Hubert Sumlin, ladies and gentlemen.
- What you want, miss?
- Tell Pot that I ain't leaving.
Pot! Your girl said she ain't leaving.
I want your things out of my room
when I get home. I told you.
You can't hide from the eye of God.
He hunting heads tonight.
Muddy, I don't think
I want to be in your band no more.
You steal him from me again,
I'll kill you.
He tell you I quit?
He said he felt like
somebody took away his oxygen.
Walter.
You're family.
You don't have to do this.
I'm gonna miss you.
When you lose that cat that gave you
that sound that nobody else could,
it hurts.
Hurts more than losing your woman.
It's good you brought him in.
See what I was telling you, baby?
He's different.
I don't know, Len.
He sound a little country to me.
Maybe we blues him up just a little bit.
Willie.
I don't want you to blues this up.
This ain't the blues.
I don't know what the fuck it is,
but we're gonna record it.
- There you go, baby.
- Yeah.
Hey. Hey there, girl.
Tell Chess
I need a new car.
This ain't the right color.
You got something real special.
Thank you, Mr. Freed. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Do you think you'll be able to play it?
If I play it, I make you famous and him rich.
The question is, how bad do you want it?
I'm sorry.
You said, me famous and him rich? Yeah?
Well, hold on. One second. One second.
Let me switch sides with you for a moment.
Chuck's a bit of a comedian.
- Well, this is nice.
- Yeah.
- This is very nice.
- I'm sure we can work something out.
Now, some of you people
might call this race music.
I call it rock and roll,
and it's too fun for anybody to sit out on,
white or colored.
- Did he just say what I think he said?
- Yeah.
He just integrated the airwaves.
- Here we are.
- Here we are, motherfucker. Here we are.
- Oh, God.
- Mr. Waters, I am deeply grateful to you.
You got it, baby.
Riding along in my automobile
I was anxious to tell her the way I feel
So I told her softly and sincere
Chuck was playing in segregated cities.
But there was just a thin rope
to separate coloreds from whites.
And a whole lot of history.
And that's all it took to bring us all together,
one man duck-walking across stage.
Shit.
Please keep the aisles clear.
Get back over here.
Keep the aisles clear.
Why don't you play like that, Daddy?
- Ain't nothing but the blues sped up.
- It's rock and roll.
Look at that car!
Len Chess got two hot cars.
Hey, Muddy. Hey, Charles.
We're on American Bandstand.
You believe this?
- There's the man. Been a long time.
- Chuck Berry!
- Hey, is this the boy?
- Yeah, that's Charles.
That's your car outside?
The cherry-red one out there?
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Ain't it? Good taste.
- Sit down, Charles. Have a seat.
- Chuck Berry.
Charles, Charlie, Chuck.
Mortgage payment
and child support killing me.
And I ain't booking the clubs enough.
Len, I was talking to the accountant,
and he been telling me
I'm borrowing against my royalties.
Len, Mud, it's coming. You're gonna miss it.
Yeah. In a minute.
What's going on?
I thought I was just getting paid.
Records ain't selling.
Is that how come you got
a brand-new Cadillac in the driveway?
He bought me that Cadillac.
Me, you and every other motherfucker
cashes a Chess Records check
is riding that man's coattails.
And that ain't good.
Thank you.
In my book, you're still number one.
You, too, baby.
Hey, Dad, you got to see this.
They were locking up fine black women
for sitting on buses,
stringing up our little bitty boys
for whistling at white women.
Not paying any mind at all to old Chuck,
who was reaping up their firstborn
with this thing called rock and roll.
$3,000 in his pocket
and he'd be eating like a hobo.
But he'd do that before
he'd give them crackers one damn dollar.
Chuck'd rather sleep in his own car
than to give his money
to one of them segregated hotels.
The man saved $100,000 the first year.
Now, he didn't drink,
and, no, he didn't gamble.
He only had one particular vice.
- Good evening, ladies.
- You're him, aren't you?
Well, what "him" are you looking for?
You know.
How do you know I know?
I know everything.
Would you mind coming to teach me
what you know?
I'll teach you everything.
Now, Chuck wasn't the only one
looking for female talent.
Len was on a girl-hunt, too.
Here she is.
Glad you could make it.
I can get you a drink...
What, you want me to just do it
right here? Right now?
Well, I am leaving town tomorrow.
Yeah, baby,
you don't have to be shy with him.
I ain't shy, fool.
Don't be looking at me
like I ain't wearing no drawers!
It's just hard to do if you ain't in the mood.
And I ain't in the mood.
She ain't in the mood.
Come on.
I thought you said this broad was good.
I heard
Church bells ring
I heard
A choir singing
I saw my love
Walk down the aisle
On her finger
He placed the ring
He was looking for a woman
that could go head-to-head with his men.
And he found her.
Miss Etta James.
- Hey, Mud.
- You got it, baby.
When do I get you back in here?
You ain't heard? My records ain't selling.
You're always gonna sell, baby.
Cut.
What's going on with sweet baby girl there?
Sweet?
Fuck you, Leonard.
What the hell you know about the blues?
I gave you a damn good track.
You want it? You sing it.
Now she want me to sing it. Fine, go home.
Forget it. Everybody go home.
That's a wrap.
What are you smiling about?
My mistake.
You ain't woman enough for that song.
- I'm plenty woman.
- Oh, yeah?
It's about being in love.
You know what that is?
- I know about love.
- Yeah?
Motherfucker ever walk out on you?
Fucking not only did he walk out on you,
he's taking the other broad down the aisle.
You know what that feels like, baby?
Give me another one.
You heard her. She wants another one.
Take 15.
I heard
Church bells ring
I heard
A choir singing
I saw my love
Walk down the aisle
On her finger
He placed a ring
Oh, I saw them
Holding hands
She was standing there
With my man
I heard them promise
Till death do us part
Each word
Was a pain in my heart
Oh, all I could do
All I could do was cry
All I could do
Was cry
I was losing
The man that I loved
And all I could do
Was cry
And now
The wedding is over
The rice, rice has been thrown
Over their heads
For them life
Has just begun
But mine
Is ending
You play a mean game of pool.
Listen, if I brought up bad memories,
I'm sorry.
But it was good for the song.
This album comes out,
that old boyfriend will come running.
I wasn't crying over no boyfriend.
Oh, no?
Girlfriend?
How'd you learn to play pool so good?
My daddy.
- Can I get a whiskey?
- Sure thing, boss.
That's good.
Hard to find time to teach your kids things.
He ain't teach me shit. I taught myself.
I don't want to embarrass him
when we meet.
Tell you who's gonna be embarrassed
is your old man.
Because he's gonna meet
a goddamn superstar.
You know?
And what is he?
A nobody. Now,
I don't want to embarrass you,
but let me show you how it's done.
You're batting a thousand on being wrong.
You see that picture over there?
What, Minnesota Fats is your father?
That's the story.
You ought to have him come by the studio.
I ain't never even met that motherfucker.
But when I do,
I want it to be in a fancy restaurant
where everybody wants my picture
and asking me for my autograph.
- That's the dream, huh?
- That's my dream.
It's not a dream.
You're gonna cross over.
- You think?
- Promise.
You gonna promise me
that fancy restaurant, too?
Promise.
The one that's gonna serve the white man
and his colored daughter.
Hey, come on.
You sing the blues.
You don't have to live them.
What the fuck do you know, white boy?
Yeah, you play that hard act real good.
But I see you.
I see you.
Old Len thought his checkbook
can fix anything,
so he bought out the restaurant for Etta.
But there's some things money can't fix.
I can't help you, kid.
Gin. Can I have a bottle of gin?
I need a bottle of gin.
Gin, please. Can I have a bottle of gin?
Gin! Can I get a fucking bottle of gin?
- Come on. Bottle of gin.
- Right away, sir.
I guess I got to be him to get some gin?
- What'd he say to you?
- Stupid shit.
He didn't even ask if he could see me again.
That's his problem.
Why you making it yours?
Here you go, sir.
You wouldn't even begin to know
my problems, baby.
Let me.
My mother was a whore.
And that fat motherfucker just looked me
in my face, and he didn't see himself.
He didn't see his little girl.
You know what he saw?
He saw the cum stains
of all the other men my mother fucked.
These chanda-fucking-liers
and these white tablecloths don't mean shit!
I ain't gonna ever be good enough for him.
You know they're gonna break this
when I leave, right?
Fuck it! I'll do it for you!
Come on, honey. Listen to me.
You can't let that in.
You know, Muddy,
he sings that hurt. He don't live it.
He don't nurse it.
Walter, he carries it around like a baby.
Feeds it on whiskey and smack.
You got to let it go.
I can't.
Oh, no.
No, I'm not having it.
That's my song.
- No, darling.
- No, no, darling.
That's my song.
No, darling. That's the Beach Boys.
That is Sweet Sixteen, note for note.
Note for note. Not one change.
Aside, apart from the lyrics, about the new...
The new craze sweeping the nation
for young white boys and girls, surfing.
I've provided them the soundtrack,
unbeknownst to myself.
- You ready?
- Yes, I'm ready.
I'm very ready to make more songs
for the Beach Boys
and all other manner of white folks to steal.
Yes, I'm quite ready.
- You say the devil's name, he appears.
- We need to talk.
Yeah, we do need to talk. You heard this?
You know what's going on?
- Do you know what's going on?
- I'm not laying down for this.
First, Alan Freed gets
a third of Maybelline. For what?
Chuck, listen.
No. You listen to me.
Did he write one part of the song?
- One part?
- Alan Freed put us on the map.
This gives him the license...
Did you take an underage white girl
across state lines?
I'm not talking about girls.
What's going on?
- Don't say shit. Don't say anything.
- Hello, Officers. Is there a problem?
Mr. Berry, you are under arrest
for transporting a minor
across state lines
for the purpose of prostitution.
First of all, I didn't transport anyone
anywhere. I didn't solicit anything.
Gentlemen, I'll have you know that
my very dear friend Mr. Jerry Lee Lewis
- has a 13-year-old wife.
- Keep your mouth shut.
Are we stopping by his home on the way?
Emmett Till gets murdered
for whistling at a white woman.
I know you're pleased to get Chuck Berry.
Fix this, Leonard.
You guys got to be kidding me, man.
Where are you from?
You set that hair in the morning?
You ladies shouldn't be out here
without an escort.
A bunch of English boys started
playing our music.
Now, it was made in America,
but I guess nobody thought
we were Americans.
Hey, let me help you with that, fellow.
Fucking hell. It's him!
Mr. Waters.
We're big fans.
You're the reason we got together.
We named our band after one of your songs.
- Yeah?
- Rolling Stone.
All right.
Go on in there. Fuck them police.
Everybody knows the Rolling Stones,
the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac,
Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton.
Everybody know them names, right?
Skinny motherfuckers.
The Rolling Stones
are burning up the charts
with an old Muddy Waters standard.
Take 10/ of Chuck's royalties
and move them to Muddy. Go on and do it.
Chuck ain't gonna miss it.
The goose that laid the golden egg
was locked up.
So Len brought in the old standbys,
including Little Walter.
Chess was desperate for a hit.
Oh, hey, little girl, now.
Who you belong to, huh?
- You mind if I watch?
- Go ahead, baby girl.
- I grew up on y'all's music.
- Watch?
Come over here.
I'll teach you to blow, baby.
Better watch it, baby girl.
He ain't talking about that harp.
Muddy, you're a fool.
I wouldn't mind a little bit of
what you flying on.
You too pretty to be flying my way, now.
You don't need that amp.
- How they gonna hear me?
- Everybody's records are getting sent back.
You want to survive, do something different.
Play along.
Something different? What the fuck?
What?
Mud, what you think about this?
What you think about this, Mud?
I think we need to lay this record.
What, I'm just a sideman now?
Okay, I'll do it, Len. I'll do it.
I'm broke as the rest of you
motherfuckers in here, so, you know?
I'm gonna need a bottle of gin, though.
I'm gonna need a bottle of gin, baby.
Because I like a taste before getting fucked.
Somebody taking care of Walter?
That's right. Take care of me, baby.
At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah
At last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you
I found a dream
That I could speak to
A dream that I
Can call my own
I found a thrill
To press my cheek to
A thrill that I
Have never known
Oh, yeah
When you smiled
You smiled
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last
- Thanks, baby.
- You got it.
- Happy anniversary, Revetta.
- Thank you.
- Where you taking her, Peppers?
- Get out of here.
WVJN just called.
Etta missed her airtime again.
God damn, it's the third time this week.
This broad, I'm gonna...
I'm sorry, babe.
I got to go figure out what's going on here.
Don't worry about it. I'll go look in on her.
That ain't your job, Mud.
Chess.
Go on and enjoy yourself.
Now, wake up, girl. Wake up.
Look here, wake up!
What the... What... What you...
Come here. Stand up.
Get up, God damn it, come on.
- Stand up. Get up.
- Hey, baby.
- Come on, now.
- You came to see me?
- He fucked up my hair.
- I'm going to get a doctor.
No doctors.
Let me get Geneva then.
She knows what to do with this.
All right, that's good.
Wake up. Baby, come on, wake up.
Wake up, come on. It's not funny. Come on.
This the first time I ever used this fireplace.
Feel like I should be having
marshmallows or something.
Yeah, I'm sure marshmallows
and smack go real well together.
What happened to the furniture?
Where's the car?
My mama sold what didn't get repossessed.
They gonna take my house.
Oh, that's good.
Come on.
You got to put it in my name.
You hear me? You gonna trust me?
Put the house in my name.
What? What?
Trust me.
Trust in me
In all you do
Listen.
Listen to me. I'm gonna get you in a clinic
and get some help.
I'm gonna pay for it.
It's not a loan. It's a gift.
So, now you buying me gifts?
Yeah, that's right.
I must be real special.
I must make you a lot of money.
Yeah, that must be it.
I ain't stupid.
I'm your number-one bitch
since Chuck got busted.
- I'm trying to take care of you.
- You gonna take care of me?
Who the fuck you think you talking to,
your tight-ass wife?
That's off-limits.
I don't need no man to take care of me.
So tough. You look so fucking good.
With these track marks in your arm?
That's real good. Well, that's good.
Yeah, that'll fix your problems, huh?
Baby, don't worry.
Etta ain't gonna hurt you.
That feels nice. It feel real good.
Who bought you that?
Did Etta buy you that? I think she did.
Who bought you that car?
I think I got that nice car out there, too.
Don't worry.
- I'll do it for you, baby.
- Come on. Stop that.
Just say, "Trust in me,"
like all them other motherfuckers...
Come on, I ain't taking from you!
I'm offering.
God damn it, I don't know what the fuck
to say to you. I'm not your fucking pimp.
- That's not us.
- "Us"?
What the fuck is "us"?
A white man and a black girl?
I been there.
Yeah, but you ain't been here.
I'm not your father.
And you ain't your mother.
And I ain't gonna hurt you.
I got no reason to hurt you.
You don't even know what you have.
What do I have?
You got a hit record.
What?
You're on top of the charts, baby.
You crossed over.
Len, I crossed over?
I told you.
Geneva a nurse.
Hello, Etta.
Hi.
Are you sure you want Geneva to stay here
or you want her to come home with me?
It's not what you think.
Oh, this is just business?
- That's right.
- You never hold me like that.
Cross over and I'll jump into bed with you.
I bet you'd jump out
that motherfucker quick, too.
What?
What?
You know how Walter call you
his white daddy,
because every time he step in shit,
you there to get him out of trouble?
And then you bring him in the studio
and you take away his amp,
the sound that took him
his whole life to make up.
Any other motherfucker he'd have shot
for that, but he give it up for you.
What you telling that little girl
ain't got nobody in the world?
That you're gonna take care of her?
How many strung-out girls you told that to?
I ain't talking about me. I'm talking
about you and the baby girl in there.
- What if I told you I had feelings for her?
- Bullshit.
Fine.
I'm fucking her, I'm fucking Chuck,
and I'm fucking you. Huh?
That's what you think, huh?
Ain't that what you think, Mud?
Well, that's what the blues is, ain't it?
A whole lot of fucking.
Tell Geneva I'm gone.
They locked Chuck up
at the peak of his career.
He couldn't record a damn thing.
- Goodbye.
- Mr. Berry! Mr. Berry!
- Yeah?
- Somebody busted up your store.
What? Somebody broke in?
You better come and see about it.
Yeah, I'll be right down.
Who is this?
Len's world was changing.
Not only was Muddy questioning him,
but so were the folks in the neighborhood.
Colored folks who were told
they weren't colored no more, but black,
who was told they had a power.
They had the right to own
their own businesses.
And who was this white man
getting rich off of them?
You want to fuck around back here?
The south side of Chicago was getting mad.
Everybody could feel the change coming.
Get on out of our neighborhood!
Screaming fans went nuts again
for rock and roll star Elvis Presley.
Presley, handsome as ever,
tipped his hat for the cameras.
Well, there you have it,
ladies and gentlemen,
your new king.
I'm about to win this money, baby.
Tough luck, boy.
- Tough luck?
- You lose.
Back up, motherfucker.
No tough luck got this, motherfucker.
Because this shit here
says my luck is just fine.
What you gonna do, blow me to death?
Shit.
Walter.
Okay. Oh, Jesus. Walter!
Oh, God.
You ain't come and get me, Mama.
You didn't come and get me.
I've been waiting for you for a long time.
I'm here.
I found you.
Mama loves you. Come on, stay with me.
- I just got to rest my eyes.
- Stay with me.
I just got to rest my eyes.
No. No, stay with me.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Last night
I lost the best friend I ever had
Now you've gone and left me
That make me feel so bad
All right. All right.
All right.
All right.
Thank you. Thank you.
All right.
Well, we'll have to see if we can...
If we can't get him a new suit.
Get him one of them boxes
with the blue satin lining inside.
Have him look slick.
I got to use the toilet.
- Can I get you some tea?
- No, thank you.
You know, there's a whole line
of bluesmen on your lawn,
waiting to see if you're dead.
Looking to see if they owe me money.
Yeah.
Look at that.
You're the first man ever gave me flowers.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, well, don't tell nobody.
They're beautiful. I'll put them in a vase.
You okay?
I'm good. Thank you.
- Mud.
- Wolf.
Shit.
I know Walter was into you for a whole lot,
but he got anything coming his way?
- You know how he spent his money.
- Yeah, I know it.
Look here.
I got $200 to my name.
You're gonna have to help pay
for Walter's funeral.
Who said I wouldn't?
Why he got to pay for Walter's funeral?
He ain't Walter's daddy.
Is you and me talking? Walter put a lot of
goddamn money in his billfold, that's why.
- I'm the only motherfucker making money?
- Looks like it.
That's the man's job, make money
off of you. You from Mississippi.
- You ought to know that.
- How many Caddies did y'all go through?
Let's get this straight. I didn't fuck you.
I didn't say nothing about who fucked who.
You insinuated that with your bullshit!
You was out with the fucking jewelry
and the broads all the time.
And you was a motherfucking saint?
Who here is a saint?
Who here?
- Settle down.
- No, Revetta, please.
If you act like a boy, keep asking
for handouts, he gonna treat you like one.
Is you and me talking, motherfucker?
What is you looking for?
I'm looking to help bury a fellow musician.
I said I'll pay for it!
Now, it feels good not to have a daddy.
And as much as I don't like you,
I want you to feel good
like that, too.
I killed Walter.
I killed him
when I let you take away his amp.
I'm the motherfucker?
I'm the motherfucker?
It was over,
the music, Chess Records.
Everybody could feel it.
Len was getting out while he could.
So, working on something
behind my back now, huh?
What happened to "Trust In Me"?
I know what you've been doing.
- Yeah, what?
- You gonna sell the company.
You know, back when I started this,
nobody'd let a black man do
what I got done.
Doors weren't open.
Now they are.
Time to move on.
You gonna be missing out.
You don't think I know that?
So, you mean to tell me, this could be
the last time I sing a song for you?
Better make it good.
They don't get no better.
Y'all ready?
Something told me
It was over
When I saw you and her
Talking
Something deep down
In my soul said, "Cry, girl"
- Cry, girl
- Cry, girl
When I saw you and that girl
Walking around
I would rather, I would rather go blind, boy
Than to see you walk away from me
Child, no
So you see, I love you so much
That I don't want to watch you
leave me, baby
Most of all, I just don't
I just don't want to be free, no
I was just, I was just
I was just sitting here thinking
Of your kiss
And your warm embrace, yeah
When the reflection in a glass
That I held to my lips now, baby
Revealed these tears
That are on my face
And, baby
And, baby, baby, I'd rather be blind, boy
Than to see you walk away
Walk away from me, yeah
And, baby, baby, baby
I'd rather be blind, boy
Than to see you walk away
Walk away from me
And, baby, baby, baby
I'd rather be blind, boy
Than to see you walk away
Walk away from me, yeah
Chess Records had a hold on Len.
It just wouldn't let him leave.
He had a heart attack
before he could turn the corner.
Baby girl, I got some bad news for you.
Chess ain't leave no will.
That means everything that belonged to him
goes to the wife and children,
including this here house.
That's all right.
This morning,
a man came by and gave me this.
What's that?
It's the deed to my house.
He said Len wanted me to have it
in case something ever happened.
That motherfucker.
He didn't have time to leave a will,
but he had time to think of me?
He loved me.
That motherfucker.
What do you say, Willie?
What do you say, there? How you doing?
I'm here. How you doing?
Oh, I can't complain. Got some good news.
Remember some of them English boys?
They didn't forget about us.
Been telling all Europe about us.
Want us to come over there and play.
I ain't got no money to get on no plane
to no England.
You don't need no money.
They're gonna pay for everything.
You're serious?
We're going to England.
I'm a little bit...
A little bit nervous here.
Nervous? What you nervous about?
You've been performing your whole life.
Yeah, but not...
Not for these folks over here.
How am I supposed to know
what they want?
This is your captain speaking.
We are now beginning our descent
into Heathrow Airport.
Here we go.
Welcome to London.
I hope you enjoy your stay.
- You all right?
- Yeah.
- A pleasure to see you, Mr. Waters.
- Mr. Waters!
They want you, Mr. Waters. They want you.
We sued Chess Records for back royalties.
And we did all right.
Well, especially me.
Because I wrote all those songs
that Muddy, Walter and Wolf were singing.
I got paid.
And I'm still getting paid.
I made enough money
to buy this here studio.
They were going to tear it down,
but I knew it was history.
I'm a man
Don't matter if you got the upper hand
We made the kind of music
that can grow into anything,
rhythm and blues, rock and roll, hip hop.
Whatever you're playing, baby,
we're right there with you.
Just sprinkle a little blues on it
and it's gonna grow up to be big and bad.
We the hoochie coochie seed.