Robert Johnson went down to the crossroads and, according to legend, sold his soul to the devil for world-changing talent. Ralph Macchio went down to the crossroads and, well, shredded the blues into a speed metal and neoclassical orgy with guitarist Steve Vai in 1986’s
Crossroads.
It’s a long, long way from Johnson s raw, rootsy, seminal blues to the pompous, ridiculous, glorious bombast of ’80s hair metal, but director Walter Hill took audiences on that fun and oh-so bumpy trip on March 14, 1986.
The movie stars Macchio as 17-year-old Eugene Martone, a blues fanatic and classical guitar prodigy studying at Juilliard, the prestigious arts conservatory. Eugene’s talent is plain in class he adds a tasteful blues coda to Mozart’s “Turkish March.” But his classical curriculum leaves him cold. He remains obsessed with the idea that Johnson wrote a lost song that was left off the 1936 recording sessions that produced “Come On in My Kitchen, Kind Hearted Woman Blues
35 Years Ago: Crossroads Offers a Twisted Take on the Blues thunder987.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thunder987.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fantastic Ralph Macchio Movies That Aren t The Karate Kid
Fantastic Ralph Macchio Movies That Aren t The Karate Kid
From The Outsiders to Crossroads to Up the Academy, we take a look at the seminal films of the great Ralph Macchio.
Ralph Macchio is an anomaly as an American actor. He s a leading man but nowadays rarely plays a leading man in the movies. If he is the leading the man, the film most likely isn t a major movie. Macchio clearly doesn t have the bonafides of Keanu Reeves, yet I defy anyone to dispute the idea that Macchio is every bit a natural treasure as Keanu. Yes, there are other actors with bigger and better credits on their resumes. However, is there another actor with the type of movies and roles on their resume, films in which they didn t star, but films that would be a good deal less than what they are if Macchio wasn t in them?