In the 1990s Malaco Records asked Paul Christensen and the award-winning Omega Productions crew to produce a live concert video on one of their flagship artists, Bobby (Blue) Bland. Omega had been producing live concert specials for other Malaco artists and Malaco President, Tommy Couch and Couch’s partner, Producer/Engineer, Wolf Stephenson, wanted to bring the same magic to a Bobby Blue Bland project.
The project, titled Bobby Blue Bland, Live from Beale Street (The Night.. The Street.. The Man), was shot and recorded on April 11, 1996, at The New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street, just uptown from B. B. King’s club. Executive Producers for Malaco Records were Tommy Couch, Wolf Stephenson and Stewart Madison.
Paul Christensen served as Television and Live Event Producer for Omega Productions. Ron Yeager Directed the live video. Yeager and Jim Dotson, along with their One Take Productions, assisted in producing the project and provided B Roll footage and post-production of the final program. The live audio recording for the CD and video soundtrack was recorded by Omega’s former Remote Engineer, Steve Lowney, in the Mobile Audio Recording Services (MARS) remote facility. Mobile television facilities were provided by Anniston, AL-based Harvest Media.
From Bland’s Bio on AllMusic – “Bobby Bland earned his enduring blues superstar status the hard way: without a guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument to fall back upon. All Bland had to offer was his magnificent voice, a tremendously powerful instrument in his early heyday, injected with charisma and melisma to spare. Just ask his legion of female fans, who deemed him a sex symbol late into his career.
For all his promise, Bland‘s musical career ignited slowly. He was a founding member of the Beale Streeters, the fabled Memphis aggregation that also included B.B. King and Johnny Ace. Singles for Chess in 1951 (produced by Sam Phillips) and Modern the next year bombed, but that didn’t stop local DJ David Mattis from cutting Bland on a couple of 1952 singles for his fledgling Duke logo.
Bland‘s tormented crying style was still pretty rough around the edges before he entered the Army in late 1952. But his progress upon his 1955 return was remarkable; with saxist Bill Harvey‘s band (featuring guitarist Roy Gaines and trumpeter Joe Scott) providing sizzling support, Bland‘s assured vocal on the swaggering “It’s My Life Baby” sounds like the work of a new man. By now, Duke was headed by hard-boiled Houston entrepreneur Don Robey, who provided top-flight bands for his artists. Scott soon became Bland‘s mentor, patiently teaching him the intricacies of phrasing when singing sophisticated fare (by 1962, Bland was credibly crooning “Blue Moon,” a long way from Beale Street).” Read more of Bland’s Bio.
Bland died on June 23, 2013, at the age of 83 at his home in Germantown, TN, a suburb of Memphis. Read his obituary.
No doubt this project was one the Omega crew will remember for a lifetime.
Other credits:
Randy C. Ridley – Lighting Director
Editor – David Snowdy
Post Production Supervisor – Jim Dotson
Cameras – Wendel Bassinger, Jim Dotson, Clay Elder
Steadicam – Jerry Jacob
Jimmy Jib – Dave Perry
Engineer in Charge – Eric Moats
Video – Sel Warren
Technical Director – Carey Goin
Remote Recording Engineers – Steve Lowney, Julie Haldeman
Soundtrack Remix – Wolf Stephenson, Kent Bruce
Front of House Sound – Bernie Bernil
Monitor Sound – Stewart Tritt
Venue Coordinator – Michael Glenn
Venue Stage Manager – Andy Mayhall
Production Company –
Omega Productions, Dallas, TX
Take One Productions, New Orleans, LA
Remote Television Facilities – Harvest Media, Anniston, AL
Remote Audio Recording Facilities – Mobile Audio Recording Services, Dallas, TX
Sound Reinforcement Facilities – Tennessee Concert Sound, Memphis, TN
Video Post-Production Facilities – WLAE Productions, New Orleans, LA
Audio Remix Facilities – Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, AL
