Barbecue & Texas Music
By Nathan Cone

Do any two things go together better than barbecue and Texas Music? Not many. So what better way to while away a late summer day than with two new DVD documentaries from Passion River distribution, "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story," and "Lubbock Lights," a musical journey to that flat Texas town that spawned a lot of great musicians, starting with Buddy Holly.

But "Lubbock Lights" is more interested in the genre-crossing acts to come out of the Panhandle in the 1960s and '70s. We hear from and about members of the legendary Flatlanders (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Joe Ely), Lloyd Maines, and even quirkier musicians like Tommy X Hancock and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, who is shown shirtless and hollerin' on the stage of Austin's Continental Club.

Most of those interviewed in the film are quite astounded at the amount of talent Lubbock produced, and a few even go as far to say the landscape itself inspired them to create music to fill the abundant nothingness of West Texas. Still others are more matter-of-fact, as when Tommy X Hancock talks about an early gig. "I got drunk and made five bucks, and thought 'Man, this is my career,'" he says.

Even though I am a native Texan, I had only general knowledge of most of the artists profiled in "Lubbock Lights," so I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the documentary is. The interview subjects speak with passion, and have great stories to tell. There are plenty of music clips, and even a complete performance of the Flatlanders' "If You Were a Bluebird." Stopping the narrative for a full song is a rare occasion in non-concert documentaries, and its inclusion was like a breath of fresh air.

My only reservation about the DVD of "Lubbock Lights" is that the movie is formatted for widescreen viewing, but the disc itself is not anamorphically encoded, which basically means the picture doesn't look as good as it could when viewed on a widescreen set. The disc is also pretty bare bones; the inclusion of artist biographies would have been a nice addition. But overall, "Lubbock Lights" tells the story of the sometimes eccentric West Texas music scene well.

Texas Music also plays a part in "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story," as San Antonio-based Two Tons of Steel's soundtrack is a near constant presence throughout this ode to smoked meat. In fact, the music is so prevalent that I kind of wanted it to go away and just let the interview subjects talk.

Like "Lubbock Lights," "Barbecue" is full of interesting characters, from the UT Student BBQ Club, to current gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, to the plain folk across the state who just like to hang out where the cooking's good.

Filmmaker Chris Elley sure did take on a controversial subject with this movie. Texans love their barbecue, and they love debating what it is and is not, and where the best joint is, almost as much as they love eating it. Writer Joe Nick Patoski, who helped Texas Monthly pick the best places for barbecue in the Lone Star State, has quite a few tales to tell about the controversy generated by the magazine's picks, and he's both in the movie and on the DVD's commentary track along with director Elley. In some ways, I like the commentary track better than the film itself. Elley and Patoski's breezy conversation about the film's subject is an enjoyable listen, whereas the film whizzes by at a breakneck speed, clocking in at 46 minutes, about the length of time of a Travel Channel documentary (not including commercials), which is what "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story" is ideally suited for.

The DVD of "Barbecue" also includes lengthy outtakes, including an extended version of Kinky Friedman's interview (it's not as funny as his campaign trail sound bites), as well as interviews with the "Cow Whisperer," and the owner of La Kiva, a mysterious barbecue joint that's set back in a hole in the desert near Big Bend. No, I'm not kidding.

Last but not least, it's important to mention that "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story" is ably narrated by former Texas Governor Ann Richards, and as you can see on the cover of the DVD, she loves ribs.

"Barbecue: A Texas Love Story" may not be "the best darn documentary about Texas culture… ever" as the DVD cover claims, but it's good enough to get your mouth watering for that next plate of brisket. Or sausage. Or ribs. Or chicken. Or turkey.

Official websites:
BBQfilm.com
"Lubbock Lights"

David Martin Davies interviews Chris Elley, director of "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story"
Watch a clip from "Lubbock Lights" featuring Butch Hancock of the Flatlanders

9/9/06

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