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Ethan Hawke on THE BLUES ACCORDIN’ TO LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS

The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins • 4m 31s

Up Next in The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins

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    Filmed in 1968, while Les Blank was shooting THE BLUES ACCORDIN’ TO LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS, THE SUN’S GONNA SHINE is the director’s lyrical re-creation of a memory from Hopkins’s youth, when he decided, at age eight, to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. This ten-minute film features...

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    This seven-minute outtake from THE BLUES ACCORDIN’ TO LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS features the bluesman singing the classic song “Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill is Burnin’ Down.”

  • "Lightnin’ Les"

    Lightnin’ Hopkins initially resisted Les Blank’s attempts to film him, but he softened after a long night the two spent playing cards together. This footage shows Hopkins performing a song he wrote in honor of the filmmaker’s futile efforts at the table.