LSU’s William Grimes on scoring music for HBO film

Photo courtesy Alice Wack Stout / Courtesy LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts

Virtuoso jazz bassist describes working on Bessie Smith biopic

With more than 100 musical scores to his credit and colleagues like The Beach Boys and Randy Newman, LSU music professor William Grimes landed on HBO’s radar. The cable network produced Bessie, a biopic of American blues singer Bessie Smith starring Queen Latifah that came out in May, and asked Grimes to create a contemporary take on Smith’s “Long Old Road” from 1927.

How did you get involved with HBO?
I got a phone call from a friend, Larry Sieberth, a musical consultant for HBO. Hollywood’s not always sure what they want. There were two other guys who rewrote the same piece I did, but they chose mine. Those guys were big Hollywood guys, so I’m not sure why the director wanted mine.

How was this project different from what you typically work on and produce?
This project was very, very specific. Usually I have a lot of artistic freedom, but this piece was essentially already written. I just had to modernize it.

What was your favorite part about partnering with the film?
Doing more research and learning more about Bessie Smith’s career. The most interesting part was discovering her relationship with John Hammond and the myth about her death.

For you, what was the most rewarding part about this project?
Hearing the playback of my music with Queen Latifah’s voice singing along.

I’ve heard you’ve worked with the Beach Boys in the past. What was that like?
I wrote 23 scores for the Beach Boys in nine weeks. I’ll tell you—after those nine weeks, I didn’t want to hear the Beach Boys much anymore. It’s like hearing the same song on the radio over and over. And when you write the music yourself, you know all the tricks—and they’re good tricks—so it’s not as special. There’s not that wonder you get when you hear a really good song.

What do you tell your aspiring music students in regard to success?
I tell them two things: Keep pursuing your passion, and pay attention to what’s coming [in the music industry]. It’s constantly changing, and as a musician you can’t be stuck in one era or genre when the people want something else. Think of all the artists who cross over genres. I like to think we teach our students a set of fundamental, transferable skills. I tell them to use those skills, and don’t be afraid of a national job market.

See a trailer for the movie below:

Editor’s note: The online version of this story corrects an error in the print version which stated the movie was a documentary.