from Vibe.com
Critical Noir
Never See a Man Cry
by Mark Anthony Neal
Cadillac Records, the new film about the rise of the Chess record label, its co-founder Leonard Chess and the label's signature act Muddy Waters, takes a great many historical liberties. Written out of this fictional account of the birth of Chicago Blues are Leonard Chess's brother Phil and a rich musical history that also included John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson II, groundbreaking Doo-Wop acts like The Flamingoes and The Moonglows, Bo Diddley, Billy Stewart and The Dells, among others. One of film's strengths--and the reason why Cadillac Records is such a compelling story--is its documentation of the relationship between the music produced by a generation of black male artists, many of them recent transplants from the deep South, and their sense of manhood.
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