Excellent Tribute to a Tortured, Talented and Neglected Musical Icon – James Booker
“Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker” is a fascinating feature length documentary that chronicles the life and times of influential African American piano player and songwriter, James Booker. Born and raised in New Orleans, Booker was an extraordinary musical talent who specialized in a seminal version of jazz, rhythm and blues, ragtime and even classical. Booker who only had sight in one eye, was known for his flamboyant personality, showmanship and collaborations with Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino and B. B. King, Ringo Starr and The Doobie Brothers to name a few. On the dark side, he was drug addled, an alcoholic and mentally ill thus personifying a tortured genius who failed to reach his peak and died way too young from renal failure at 43.
New Orleans transplant Lily Keber helmed this ambitious, well-organized project that contains rare archival footage from Booker’s concerts in Europe and New Orleans. Fitting anecdotal stories from notables like Harry Connick Jr. (who was fortunate enough to be Booker’s student), Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Hugh Laurie, Charles Neville, Douglas Brinkley, Cosimo Matassam and Bunny Matthews further educates audiences on Booker’s persona, achievements and unparalleled talent.
On the heels of The New York premiere at the Film Society at Lincoln Center on July 28th, IFQ enjoyed catching up with Keber to learn more about this special and culturally significant doc that deserves a wide audience and a healthy distribution deal.
INDEPENDENT FILM QUARTERLY (IFQ): CONGRATS ON YOUR MARVELOUS DOC. APART FROM HIS OBVIOUS MUSICAL TALENT, WHAT WAS YOUR CATALYST FOR GETTING INVOLVED WITH THE BOOKER PROJECT?
Lily Keber (LK): When I moved to New Orleans, I had never heard of James Booker. My first exposure to him was not actually through the music, but through the stories. Everyone in New Orleans has a Booker story. Even in a city known for its outrageous characters, Booker stands out. So when I heard things like- “Oh, I remember that time Booker spilled honey all over the felts of the Steinway at Rosy’s” or “You remember the time Booker threw up in the ice maker at the Maple Leaf,” I just had to ask myself who this guy was that they were talking about. I was bar tending at Vaughan’s Lounge at the time and would play his music on the jukebox. And rather elucidating who this Booker character was, the music just confused me more! I had no context for the kind of music coming out of the jukebox. At the time, there was very little available about him online or in print.
IFQ: HOW LONG DID THE PROJECT TAKE FROM START TO FINISH?
LK: From the first interview to the premiere at SXSW was just over three years.
IFQ: TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AS A FILMMAKER AND WHAT KEY SKILLS YOU NEED TO PULL OFF THIS TYPE OF FILM?
LK: Before this, I had freelanced as a videographer for a couple years. Mostly arts and culture videos for local non-profits and artists. I co-founded a group called New Orleans Video Voices, which is dedicated to increasing media literacy and self-representation in marginalized communities across the Gulf Coast. In 2007, I co-produced a short film called Hutto: America’s Family Prison about a family detention center north of Austin, TX. The Bush years were dark years, so there was plenty of video activism that needed to be made.
IFQ: APART FROM KICKSTARTER, HOW DID YOU RAISE FUNDS FOR PRODUCTION AND COMPLETION OF YOUR FILM?
LK: We raised the funds mostly through donations. James Booker means a great deal to people who knew him or who listen to his music. And I’ve found that people who know Booker’s work know that he has been overlooked. His memory is on the brink of extinction, really. So the majority of funds we got were from fans who wanted to help Booker get the attention that alluded him in his lifetime.
IFQ: RISK TAKER, A SELF-SABOTAGER AND MAGNIFICENTLY TALENTED! – DID ANYONE SHED LIGHT AS TO WHAT BOOKER WAS MASKING, WHAT SPECIFIC TYPE OF MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND WHY SO DRUG ADDLED?
LK: Yes, I think that the film makes the case that his drug use was really a way for him to navigate his daily reality. It sounds like a cope out– lots of junkies say that they use drugs because they have a hard life– but James Booker’s path really was uniquely difficult. He was Black in a time of Jim Crow segregation in the South. Gay in an era when it was really quite dangerous to be homosexual. Bipolar in a time before mental health was a defined concept like it is today. By the time he was 26, all of Booker’s immediate family was dead, so he had lost his greatest support network. Not to mention the fact that as a man with only one eye, he’d stand out in any crowd in the world! There is a telling anecdote in the film that I think speaks this. In the early 1970s, Booker was on a state-funded methadone program to help him get off heroin. He went in one day to receive his methadone and the doctors happily told him that he had completed the program and could leave. Instead of being relieved by the news, Booker flipped out. He tried to insist that he stay on. The doctors told him that he’d been drinking Kool-Aid for weeks, no methadone supplement. Booker walked out of there and immediately went back to heroin.
To me, this story suggests that what he suffered from was a mental addition. He believed that he needed substances as a stabilizing force. If the doctors had just kept him drinking the Kool-Aid, he would have been fine. He knew that something was wrong with him and needed something to believe in. Unfortunately, in the absence of mental health resources (which, by the way, are STILL lacking in this country), Booker turned to drugs.
IFQ: WAS IT A CHALLENGE TO ENLIST THE MANY CAST MEMBERS TO TELL THEIR ANECDOTAL “BOOKER” STORIES, THEY REALLY ADDED TO THE DOC.
LK: Not at all! New Orleanians are great storytellers. It’s a city where people still sit and chat with each other all day every day. And James Booker is such a loved figure in New Orleans, so people were eager to share their stories.
IFQ: THE RARE CONCERT ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE WAS AMAZING BUT I’M SURE COSTLY AND TIME CONSUMING. HOW AND WHERE DID YOU MANAGE TO PROCURE IT?
LK: Yeah, the concert footage is definitely the most expensive element of the film. But I felt strongly that Booker needed to have the chance to speak. Nothing that I, as a filmmaker, can say or that any of my interviewees can say is as powerful as just letting James Booker be himself. There’s just nothing like seeing him in his element, holding court at the piano.
Almost all of the video footage of him comes from Europe. I managed to find a little footage of him from Louisiana from the end of his life, but it really was the Europeans who grasped what Booker was doing and took the time to record him. I think we, as Americans, need to do a better job of encouraging and preserving our native artists and musicians.
IFQ: BOOKER’S SIGNATURE STYLE HAS CLEARLY INFLUENCED A GENERATION OF MUSICIANS. HOWEVER MAINSTREAM AMERICA PROBABLY HAS NOT HEARD OF HIM. WHO IS YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC AND HAVE YOU BEEN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED AT THE INTEREST SO FAR?
LK: Who is my demographic? People with soul. No, really! Booker’s music is very distinct. It can’t be contained or defined in any one genre. It’s not jazz, it’s not R&B, it’s not funk, it’s not gospel. It’s a fusion and a synthesis of ALL those styles. And the depth of emotional truth that James Booker pours into his playing and singing is endless. It’s not easy listening, but it’s music that will give back a great deal to a dedicated listener.
IFQ: ALTHOUGH I HAD ONLY HEARD OF HIM, I FELT THE LOSS AT HIS UNTIMELY DEATH FROM KIDNEY FAILURE AFTER WATCHING YOUR FILM. I WISH I COULD HAVE HEARD A SET AT THE DEW DROP INN OR THE MAPLE LEAF BAR.
LK: Yeah, me too. I’d give anything to be able to have seen him live. I’m always jealous of people who tell me stories about seeing him play. What a treat that would have been.
IFQ: HOW HAS THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT BEEN? ARE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT PRESS REVIEWS AND AUDIENCE REACTION?
LK: No, I’m not really nervous about press reviews. But maybe that’s just because we haven’t gotten a bad one yet! But no, seriously- all press has been good and audience reaction has been great. Most people have never heard of James Booker, so it’s often a hard sell at first. But once people sit down and the take in the whole film, most walk away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for both the man and the music.
IFQ: INDEED! ANY DEALS BEING INKED FOR DISTRIBUTION?
LK: We’re in talks with a few people, but nothing firm yet. I’ll keep you posted!
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