Robert Gordon is an Emmy and Grammy Award winning author and documentary filmmaker.
He’s interviewed Al Gore, Ozzy Osbourne, and Snoop Dogg, among many others. His work has been featured on PBS, A&E, the BBC and other global networks and his writing has appeared in many major magazines and newspapers. Music has been a big focus of Robert’s writing and filmmaking. His projects include writing about Elvis and Stax records, making films about Johnny Cash and how the Black Power movement intersected with soul music, and writing The Road to Memphis, an episode of the PBS series, The Blues.
His documentary, Best of Enemies, about the feud between William F. Buckley Jr and Gore Vidal, won an Emmy in 2017 for Outstanding Historical Documentary. He won a Grammy for an essay he wrote in the boxed set Keep An Eye On the Sky, about the band Big Star.
He also wrote Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. It’s not just the best thing I’ve ever read about Muddy Waters, it’s one of the best things I’ve read about blues, period. I was thrilled when Robert agreed to come on the podcast to talk about it. Topics included what made Muddy’s music special, Muddy’s rivalry with Howlin’ Wolf, his love of the ladies and “blowin’ his horn,” and how he helped kickstart the British Invasion. We also touched on Robert’s liberating of half a joint from Keith Richards’ ashtray (as he said, “Who wouldn’t?”).
I hope you enjoy our conversation. It was a fun one.
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Also, a quick shout-out to my old college chum Charles Sargent Cochran, over at his Substack, Backpocket Reviews. He posts a book review every week and they’re great. His tastes are wide-ranging, his perspectives insightful and beautifully expressed. He just reviewed From Russia with Love, and kindly mentioned Hangnail’s Hollers and my post about James Bond and the blues. Give him a subscribe – you won’t regret it!
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