Sweet And Lowdown

Why Emmet Ray?

Because he was interesting.

To me, Emmet Ray was

a fascinating character.

I was a huge fan of his

when I was younger.

I thought he was

an absolutely great guitar player...

and he was funny.

You know, or...

if funny's the wrong word,

then sort of pathetic in a way.

He was flamboyant

and he was, you know...

boorish and obnoxious.

Well, the problem is that there's

just so little known about him.

But we do know that

he was a great guitar player.

I'd say he was probably the second

greatest guitar player in the world.

Django Reinhardt was the best...

and believe me,

Emmet idolized Django.

He was in awe of him.

There's a story that says when he

saw him playing in France, he fainted.

He saw Django again at a restaurant

in Germany, and he fainted again.

It seems that every time...

Django would always make him faint

or he'd make him cry.

Well, his relationship with Hattie

is mostly what's known about him.

There are a few Emmet Ray

stories before that...

but I have no idea whether

they're true or not.

First time anybody seemed

to have heard of him was in Chicago.

It was at this roadside joint.

Good to see you tonight.

- Where the hell is he?

- I don't know.

You gotta get him, Dan.

He's layin' drunk somewhere.

- He's probably in a poolroom.

- Every night it's somethin' else.

He's late. He gets drunk.

He falls off the bandstand.

- I told you not to hire this guy.

- What time does Emmet Ray go on?

Look at the crowd.

Think they're here to see me?

Relax. I'll find him.

I'm gonna have to

hold the show again.

I'll kill this guy.

I don't care what kind of artist he is.

You take care of business.

I'll find him. Just relax.

Hey, good to see you again.

That's 50 more you owe me.

I'm not goin' out of town.

Another one?

I think you got some visitors.

I'll be back.

- What'd we get?

- Here's your end.

This is what you bring me, $30?

It's almost midnight. $30?

That's half, Emmet.

That's all we made.

I can't live on that.

I got car payments, I got new shirts.

I'm sorry. Business was slow.

It's a Jewish holiday.

And last night it was rainin', and

the night before you got food poisonin'.

- Because I drank that booze you made.

- Listen, Emmet.

I don't know how to tell you this,

but while I was in bed...

with one of the johns you sent me,

he got very excited, and he...

got a heart attack,

and he dropped dead.

- Which one?

- The salesman from Detroit.

- What did you do?

- I took my clothes and I left.

So there's nothin'

to trace back to us?

Then I was thinking that maybe

he had one of your business cards.

- Oh, my God.

- A pimp doesn't need business cards!

You're always tryin'

to be too fancy.

Emmet, let's go.

You're supposed to be on stage.

Every night you're either late,

drunk, or you don't show up.

What is it with you?

How are you doin'?

I'm on right now.

Thanks for comin'.

Put their tab on my bill.

I don't wanna embarrass you in front of

friends, but boss said no more advances.

Don't give me a song and dance.

Just put their tab on my bill.

Hi, guys.

It's gonna be a lot of cats there.

We always have fun at Don's.

- Donald.

- Well, Donald.

- Watch out over there.

- I got this, man.

You take care of that.

And don't forget to pass.

- They caught him a couple of times.

- Caught what?

Mind your business.

Watch the road.

What you got there, man?

Is that a.45?

.45 what?

Wait, wait.

Better put that sh*t away.

Hey, you wanna go to the dump,

shoot some rats? Huh?

- Shoot some what?

- Rats.

I do it all the time.

It's a lot of fun.

- A hepcat shootin' rats.

- I don't think you need no more of this.

There should be no other guns

in this car besides my gun.

Man, where'd you learn

to play that thing like that?

- I never heard guitar sound so good.

- Yeah, I'm the greatest in the world.

Well, you know,

in France there's Django.

Django? You know, he's comin'

to America in the summer to record.

- Yeah?

- Yeah. Ever meet him?

I could've once, in Europe.

You know, really,

our styles are just different.

Nate Drummond prefers me.

He says I'm miraculous.

You're welcome to come here anytime.

You know, we play here all the time.

- And I make great chili.

- Well, thank you.

Say, man, we're about to hit it.

Can we drop you somewhere?

- I like the air. I'll walk.

- You sure about that?

Yeah. Thank you.

Well, I heard stories

that he was a kleptomaniac.

I heard that once he stole

an alarm clock from Hoagy Carmichael...

and Hoagy overslept

and he missed a record date.

What do you think?

The only other story that I heard,

other than Hattie, was this moon idea.

He had this idea

about this crescent moon.

That he wanted to make an entrance

on this big crescent moon.

Well, the story is that

it came to him, apparently...

I guess, in a dream...

that he'd build this moon thing

with his own money.

Because he thought that

a star of his great stature...

ought to be able to make

a real big entrance with a moon.

Just try to visualize it.

Just try to visualize it.

You're lookin' up, and there it is.

Gold, beautiful moon.

I'm comin' down, and you guys

are playin'. What do you think?

It's a stupid idea. I told you.

Would you let me take this shot?

I didn't ask your opinion.

I'm just tellin' you how it's gonna go.

And then the jacket

would match the moon...

against a black

velvet background.

- What do you think?

- It sounds okay to me.

- Yeah.

- It's fancy.

I'm considered

the best guitar player...

maybe that ever lived.

Certainly in this country.

There's this...

There's a gypsy in France...

and he's the most

beautiful thing I ever heard.

Tonight's the night.

Emmet, just as long as you're happy.

That's the most important thing.

It's really beautiful.

It is really beautiful.

It's like jewelry.

Hey, I wanna just be alone with

the moon for a minute, all right?

You wanna be alone

with the moon? Okay.

Emmet, you know what you are?

You're a genius.

She's a knockout, ain't she?

Hope it's safe.

Of course it's safe.

Why wouldn't it be safe?

It's a hell of a drop.

A man can break his neck.

Really?

And it starts to build and build

in Emmet's mind.

And by show time...

he's numb with fear,

he's petrified.

And the audience is out there

waiting for him...

and he's backstage, meanwhile,

drinking and drinking.

When he's ready to go on,

he's stiff as a board.

- Snazzy!

- Did you buy that off the rack?

Look. The Big Dipper.

- Emmet, your gun is bulging.

- Do you think?

What the hell you

need it on stage for?

I don't feel right

without it.

I'll give it back to you

as soon as you're done.

Show time!

- You all right?

- Emmet, be careful.

You're on?

Need a hand?

Let's do it.

Sooner or later,

everybody's dreams go up in smoke.

What about my dreams?

I can't settle down, Ann.

- We don't have to marry.

- I can't.

I gotta be free.

I'm an artist.

I thought you liked me.

We have fun.

I took you to the dump.

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