Original subtitles

There's no place like home.

Live your family around you, you're never alone.

When you know that you're loved, you don't need to roam. Cause there's no

like home.

Times are changing every day.

We won't get by with no flame or wave.

Pulled together, we'll make it round.

With help from our friends, I know we...

I mean, no place.

It started out like a real nice day.

My grandfather had just come to visit, and like always, brought gifts for

everyone.

I don't know what made me look up, but suddenly I saw moving slowly across the

sky, that cloud.

That cloud was like no cloud I'd ever seen.

Didn't have any of the grays in it.

Didn't have any of the whites.

Just the blues.

I love it when you come to visit, Grandpa.

You should love it whether Grandpa brings presents or not.

Right. Where's mine?

You got married. Now, what more do you need?

Don't answer that.

Now, you be careful with that, honey. That's my most valuable possession

Must be a picture of me as a baby.

It's a record.

Oh, it must be sounds of me as a baby.

It's nice, Grandpa.

Hey, that's a 78 record. I haven't seen one of those in years.

Well, if it's old, it can't be thousands of minutes.

Now, just wait until you hear who's on it. The greatest blues singer of all

is on this record.

Waylon Eddie Tompkins.

We used to call him Eddie T.

Eddie T. was always your granddaddy's favorite.

And I believe that this is the only recording of him singing down by the

And I was right there 45 years ago when he recorded it in an old garage down in

Macon, Georgia. And he's been playing it ever since.

I mean, it's a ritual with him and his friends. I mean, every year, just before

the Blues Festival, they have to play it. Yep, and it's about that time, and I

think we should put it on.

Well, thanks, Grandpa, but I don't think our stereo will play this.

Oh, that's not... That's quite all right, honey. Just don't worry about a

Hey, the man comes equipped.

What are the gloves for?

Now, sweetheart, when you handle a classic, you handle it carefully.

Remember that.

Oh,

that's real nice, yeah.

Oh, yeah, that sure brings back memories.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, shoot. Sit right there and listen, I'll get it.

Hello?

Oh, hi, Carolyn.

Yeah, yeah, it was a nice trip.

Yeah, Brenda's listening to it now.

Yes, she loves it.

What's that?

I can't hear you.

Come on, speak up, woman.

I'll take it off so he can hear.

That was my introduction to the blues.

Dad, do you think that'll work?

All right, who wants to do the honors?

Mm -mm. You put on the record, and I'll do the praying.

I went down to the river.

River.

River.

River.

Well, I guess that's it. Well, I'll pay for it. I'll get him another one. You

can take it out of my allowance.

Brenda, it's not the money. It's what the record meant to him.

Grammy one. It's got to be better than that old blues record.

This is your daughter.

That's your child.

You don't feel anything when you hear the blues that doesn't move you at all?

No, it's corny, Dad. It's old and it doesn't even have a beat.

Well, if it wasn't for that old corny music, where do you think rock and roll,

rhythm and blues and even jazz would be today? It all started with the blues.

That's right.

And not only that, the blues is the history of black people and their

through the time.

Only they weren't calling us black people back then.

I know. They called us colors.

Among other things.

I mean, do you know that even the great blues singers for years weren't allowed

to perform in public?

Do you know what singers like Lead Belly, Lightning Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and

Bethany Smith had to go through to perform their work? How they couldn't

stay in the same hotels as the white musicians?

Even Lady Day had to use the back door.

Lady Day?

Yeah, she was really something.

Always wore a white gardenia in her hair.

Oh, I know Diana Ross. She was in that great movie with Billy Dee Williams.

Diana Ross?

Lord, you hear your child.

Diana Ross was acting out Lady Day's life story. Lady Day was Billy Holiday.

I was just testing you.

Oh, sure.

You know, I remember when I was your age.

My daddy took me to see her once.

Boy, did I feel like an idiot.

Mom kept talking about Billie Holiday, and then she got kind of emotional.

Had this faraway look in her eye.

And I tell you, when Billie Holiday sang, you knew what the blues was all

Living for you is easy living.

It's easy to live when you're in

love. I'm so in love that...

never be another lady day.

Oh, yeah, man.

We didn't have no luck. We went down to that oldie but goodie record store.

They only went as far back as Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Yeah, the owner of the store, he called all over town, but nobody seemed to have

that record.

But Mary, he was just as nice as he could be.

You should have seen her, Mary.

She was seductively batting her eyes at him, parading back and forth, talking

her sexy little girl voice. It was shameless.

You'll never know how proud I was of her.

You were fabulous, Rose!

Well, he was very nice and very cute, and he asked me for my phone number. He

didn't.

Besides,

I think it was the last that got him.

You little hussy.

Wait a minute.

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Hopkins.

Oh, this is great. You're just in time. Come on in.

Hiya, sweet Brenda.

Hello, Brenda.

Hey, look who's here. Hey, Lester.

Hi, Lester.

Oh, these are my friends. This is Sondra Clark and Rose Holloway. These are my

dad's best friends. Mr.

Anderson and Mr. Hopkins. They go to the Blues Festival with him every year. Oh,

yeah.

And this is 1952.

Oh, he must be chomping at the bit.

I felt terrible.

Even his friends couldn't get him to go to the blues festival.

Oh, hi, honey.

Hi, babe.

Guess what I got.

What?

First, tell me who's the sexiest man in the whole wide world.

Oh, Lord.

This better be good. Come on, come on.

Okay. You are.

And the best looking.

Hey, no contest.

And the most brilliant.

And the most aggravated.

What have you got?

You know Kim who works for me? Yes.

Well, his nephew runs a flea market, and he told me they got thousands and

thousands of records over there, so I got in the truck and drove over. You

You did? The last bad boy in existence.

Oh, honey, you are the most brilliant, the most handsome, and the sexiest man

the world.

How was your visit with your sister?

Oh, boring.

All that woman wanted to do was sit in the wind and gossip about people.

Well, things haven't been going too great around here. I broke one of my

grandfather's records.

That don't sound like such a big deal.

Yeah, well, that's what I thought, but it was a Wailing Eddie T record.

A Wailing Eddie T?

What else spilled your grandpa in?

about the blues all they do is keep repeating the same line over and over

i went down to the river to wash my tears away i went down to the river to

my tears away well i can see you've never been to that river it goes

like this i went down to the river to wash

my tears away i went down to the river to wash

my tears away.

How do you imagine you could sing like that, Miss Shea?

Honey, when you've lived through what I've lived through, it comes easy.

You know, long ago, I had a cousin who used to play harmonica in Wheeling

Eddie's band.

Hi.

Hey, Alan. Hello, Miss Sandra.

How do you do?

I want to look my best. I'm going out with a man of impeccable taste.

I know that because both of us think I'm gorgeous.

Oh, your mascara's running, Miss Clark. Oh, really?

Can't have a butt now, can we?

Brenda, you still worried about your grandpa, huh?

Yeah, I don't know what to do.

Well, one thing's for sure. You can't let these things give you the blues.

She's right there, honey.

Don't you ever get the blues, Miss Clark? Get them? Oh, no, honey.

I never get the blues.

I give them.

There. Well, I'm off.

Now, sugar, you keep your chin up, okay? And don't you let these blues get you.

See you later.

She was right.

Why should I feel bad?

All I did was break my grandfather's heart, got his friends mad at him, upset

mother, disappointed my father.

Life is beautiful.

I haven't heard a word from that cute guy down at the record store.

We'll give him time. He'll call.

I don't know, Mary. Seems like every time I meet a guy I think I could like,

something goes wrong.

It's been a week.

Well, why don't you pick up that fancy phone and call the record store on

business?

Mary, that's against my principles. I can't do nothing like that.

Well, excuse me, honey. That was my contribution.

Wait a minute.

You dial. I'll talk. Oh, Rose, I can't do anything like this. It's against my

principles. Get to the phone.

555 -6530.

This is crazy.

I mean, he could have been busy, but... He'll probably be so surprised to hear

my voice.

Uh, hello.

May I speak to Mark, please?

Oh, he's with a customer.

Okay, well, I'll... Who?

His wife.

Uh, no, no, no, it's not important. Uh, thanks.

Bye.

Oh, Rose.

Listen, forget him. There's a lot of losers in the world, you know.

Yeah, I know.

And I'm one of them.

Oh, now, Rose Holloway, you listen to me. You are not a loser.

You're wonderful. You hear?

Are you okay, Aunt Rose?

Oh, honey, yeah, she's okay. She's just got the blues.

Oh, here.

Give this to Aunt Rose to put in the machine for me.

Let me tell you why now.

People in a cemetery, they're not all alone.

Some turn to dust, some still have bones.

Looks like everyone has the blues.

She always makes the tea too hot.

Why does she make the tea too hot?

She knows I don't like the tea too hot.

You want me to blow on it for you?

I'd like the tea in my cup and not in my lap, thank you.

Grandpa, are you ever going to forgive me?

Sure.

Let me know when you're getting married and I'm going to send you a nice gift.

Something unbreakable.

Don't worry about it, Grandpa. I won't even send you an invitation to my

wedding.

Hey, don't do that.

Grandpa, I see now that that ought to recommend a whole lot more to you than I

do. You're just a selfish old man.

Oh, I'm sorry, Grandpa. I didn't mean to say that. Will you forgive me?

Come here.

Sit down.

You know, I think we should turn this around.

The question is, will you forgive me?

And you're right.

I am a selfish old man.

But I ruined your record.

Hey, that record meant a lot to me, Brenda.

It was an important part of my life.

But it wasn't half as important as you are.

Grandpa.

Grandpa, I've been so unhappy.

Me too.

I finally knew what the blues really meant.

It's a feeling like, well, it's, you know, something. Now I know why

people sing the blues.

Because you just can't explain it.

Now all I can tell you is if you get it, you'll know it.

I went down to the river.

I told your mother not to play that record. She knows it breaks my heart.

I went down to the river.

Then he found the record.

Then he skipped home.

Then my baby's gone and left me.

I can't face nothing.

Am I dreaming?

No, it's no dream. That's well in attitude.

I thought you were dead.

So did half the world.

That's the way I wanted it. Pearl did it. She got him to come.

My cousin said he was living in a rooming house in East Baltimore.

So I just turned on the old charm.

And Lester went down and got him. Mr. Whaling, Eddie, I have never been so

to see anyone in my entire life.

You want me to sing something for you, sweetheart?

Yeah, can you sing the entire song of Down by the River?

I'd like to hear it all the way through.

I think we all would.

All right. All right.

Go ahead.

Y 'all got it. Yeah.

I went down to the river. Yeah.

Just to wash my blues away.

I went down to the river.

Just to wash my blues away.

This my baby's gone and left me. I can't face another day.

Here's that river.

then come and...