Crossroads
1986
Willie Brown: Where I come from, you don't blow no harp, you don't get no pussy.
Willie Brown: The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad, thinkin' 'bout the woman he once was with.
Willie Brown: Lots of towns... Lots of songs... Lots of women... Good times... Bad times... Only thing I wanted anyone to say is... 'He could really play... He was good'.
Eugene Martone: Where and when for this thing? Scratch: Ohh, I can get us there real quick... Jack Butler's gonna like you.
Eugene Martone: You know Willie, I came down here to learn a lost song, not to get slapped in the face by an 80-year-old man! I find out I gotta become "King of the Hobos" I can go broke... Willie Brown: (interrupting him angrily) I'm sorry your life turned out so 'HARD', Eugene! But I got my own business to tend to down here, and I don't mean for you to slow me down. Eugene Martone: Business? What business? Willie Brown: Personal business. And given your attitude, you got no reason to know what. Eugene Martone: My attitude? What the hell's the matter with MY attitude, I have a great attitude! Willie Brown: You got your mind made up about how everything works. How you gonna learn anything new when you KNOW everything already? (picks up Eugene's old, scratched acoustic guitar) Look at this old guitar here you been squeakin' on. I bet you saw this thing in a music store and bought it just because you thought it was beat up! Well you got it all wrong. Muddy Waters invented electricity.
Willie Brown: Why do you want to know about all that stuff? Eugene Martone: I'm a blues man. Willie Brown: A blues man? (starts laughing) Where you from, boy? Eugene Martone: Well, I was born in Long Island. Willie Brown: Oh, Long Island oughta' shit, this is rich! Long Island: the famous 'breeding ground' for blues men! (laughing almost hysterically)
Willie Brown: Oh, so the famous long island blues man come back for another visit, huh? Eugene Martone: I have something that I think you'll be interested in.
Willie Brown: Is somebody saying he ain't been believing when I've been speaking? Eugene Martone: That's right, Willie, I'm saying you're full of shit! You know something, everytime you mention Fulton's Point, nobody's ever even heard of the godamned place! And I'm starting to think you're just a con-man who used me just to get your ass out of a nursing home! (Willie and Eugene start to walk away from each other on opposite sides of the road) Frances: Where are you going? Willie Brown: Look, you smart-assed kids, you don't need me! I do my business on this side of the road, and you white folks do your business on that side; that's the way they get things done in Mississippi!
Willie Brown: Oh, shit. Here we go, a little soul from the golden ghetto.
Willie Brown: Meet Blind Dog Fulton. The one and only Willie Brown. You have found your man. Eugene Martone: Aw, this GREAT, this is great! Listen, I know I'm not Robert Johnson, I... Willie Brown: (interrupting) No, you AIN'T. You ain't even the beginning of a pimple on the "Late Great" Robert Johnson's ass! You might have a little bit of lightning in you, but you're missing everything else.
Willie Brown: You can't get enough mileage living at home with your Momma' wiping your butt. Willie Brown: Where do you live? Eugene Martone: It's a school dormitory. Willie Brown: (sarcastically) Ooh, school dormitory. Oh, times is hard. Times is hard!
Willie Brown: OK, Mr Janitor Man. What you want? I ain't made no mess. Eugene Martone: Willie Brown? Willie Brown: That's my name.
Eugene Martone: Look Willie, cut the shit, all right? Now, I'm serious about this song! Willie Brown: The only shit to cut around here is you. Now I had it in me that you was another 'Lightning Boy', but you just a chicken-ass. (stands up) Chicken-ass, chicken shit!
Eugene Martone: Hey Willie, look at this hat. All I need is a Mississippi string tie and I'm ready to roll! Willie Brown: Yeah, you need a lot more than THAT.
Willie Brown: They find out I can walk, they take away my Pontiac!
Scratch's Assistant: Ain't got no chance Blind Dog. You SOLD your soul. You goin' down, all the way down. Hell hounds on your trail, boy, hell hounds on your trail.
Eugene Martone: Willie, here's something from the Delta, tell me this isn't Son House. (plays a flawless blues riff in key of E) Willie Brown: Sounds like bird shit.