Flickchart Road Trip: Leadbelly
The Flickchart Texas BBQ Road Trip returns. We’ve crossed all over central Texas, south Texas, up to the Dallas area, and over to Houston. Now we take our first trip to east Texas to tackle a duo of great BBQ spots. Join us as we head up to Tyler!
Stop #24: Tyler, Stanley’s Famous Pit BBQ
When non-Texans think of Texas, they often think of rolling desert landscapes, cowboys, and more. And certainly, that’s a part of Texas. But east Texas tosses all of those expectations out the window. Once you drive north and east enough, you encounter endless miles of piney trees. It should be no surprise, as Texas shares a border with the foliage-heavy states of Louisiana and Arkansas. East Texas is more like one’s typical vision of the Deep South, and its culture matches that.
Tyler is the biggest city in the area, with over 100k in population. The city was created in 1847 and named after President John Tyler who advocated for Texas to be annexed by the US. Initially an agriculture town, logging soon became a huge industry alongside metal working, tanning, and milling. Tyler was a Confederate stronghold at the time, home to many enslaved people, and the city’s leaders strongly supported succession.
The decades rolled onward and fruit orchards became a huge part of the economy in the late 19th century. This lasted until 1900 when disease struck the town’s crop and it switched to growing roses. This reputation for growing roses solidified Tyler’s new place as “the rose capital of the US,” and soon most of the American rose supply came from the town. Tyler is home to the annual Texas Rose Festival, which brings in thousand of tourists in normal times.
With a prospering economy, a great BBQ spot was only a matter of time. Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue has been hanging around in Tyler since 1959. While it did well for those decades, the real story of its modern success began in 2009 when Nick Pencis, a rock drummer, visited Smitty’s in Lockhart and realized his true calling of central Texas BBQ. Refurbishing Stanley’s with new pits and hiring a new pit master, Jonathan Shaw, Pencis focused on changing Stanley’s into a premier BBQ spot. After cultivating a fantastic pork rib that won a Texas Monthly BBQ Festival in 2010, they moved onto brisket and more. Years later, Stanley’s stands among the Texas elite.
This time I enjoyed just brisket and pork ribs. And it was some good BBQ. The brisket was succulent and fatty with a nice smoky flavor. It was a darker bunch, though, and more of a pulled and chopped style than sliced. The pork ribs were excellent and a stand-out among their Texas compatriots. The eleven-spice blend creates a good flavor medley, and tender meat with good crust makes it a nice rib.
I award the brisket 3.5 slices out of 5 and the pork ribs 4.5 oinks out of 5. I award Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue 4 smokers out of 5!
The Film: Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter, “Lead Belly,” is one of those old blues artists that has unfortunately slid somewhat out of popular knowledge. In the halls of blues remembrance, Lead Belly certainly has a place, but your average Joe is not likely to know the name. Likewise, the film Leadbelly is virtually unknown, but it is a perfect film for the city of Tyler. The film cuts back and forth across Lead Belly’s life as he went between Louisiana and Texas. The Texas portions of the film take place mostly in the small-town part of Texas, but a train Lead Belly rides on makes a stop in Tyler, making it more than fitting for this entry.
It’s also a great film. A biopic about the musician’s youth as he seeks out fame and music and to escape what he sees as the oppression of his life, he gets into lots of trouble along the way. Leadbelly focuses on that theme of artistic drive, even to the self-destruction it brings. Yet the man keeps trucking along no matter the hardship he faces. It certainly gives you an appreciation for the man that Lead Belly was and a more unique life story than many of the musical biopics you’ve seen. It may have the dramatic arc you see of rise and fall, but it avoids the tropes of drug abuse and focuses more on the pride of the man.
He is portrayed well in a strong performance by Roger E. Mosley. Mosley does a fantastic job of giving the man’s struggles life and making his drive to succeed, and the pitfalls it would bring, empathetic and powerful. He captures the man’s rage and sadness and joy all with equal measure of zest. Worthy of note is the predominantly Black cast for a film in the mid-70s that wasn’t a blaxploitation film. This was a serious drama focused and directed by Black Americans featuring their stories, a rare feat for the time.
It may be no surprise that it was directed by none other than Gordon Parks, known for Shaft, the film that created the blaxploitation craze. Parks proves himself a serious dramatic director here though capturing some strong shots, evocative of the Black power that underlies Shaft but without any of the undercutting satire. Lead Belly is portrayed in a gleaming masculine light.
Telling this strong story of Black American culture is important in showcasing the Texan film culture. The contributions of Black Americans and Black Texans are an important part of the Texan story, and no film better demonstrates this. A strong and unique biopic, it displays Texan culture well in all its various forms.
Does anyone eat barbecue in the film?
Back to the streak of no barbecue!
The Rankings
Texas Film Chart
- The Last Picture Show
- No Country for Old Men
- Rushmore
- A Ghost Story
- Boyhood
- The Right Stuff
- Lone Star
- Chef
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- Leadbelly
- Tender Mercies
- Dazed and Confused
- Dallas Buyer’s Club
- JFK
- The Sugarland Express
- Planet Terror
- Frank
- Whip It
- Natural Selection
- This is Where We Live
- The Alamo
- Outlaw Blues
- Selena
- Nadine
Texas BBQ Chart
- Franklin Barbecue
- Pinkerton’s Barbecue
- Terry Black’s Barbecue
- Pecan Lodge
- Stiles Switch BBQ
- Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ
- Hutchins Barbeque
- 2M Smokehouse
- Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que
- Hays Co. Bar-B-Que
- Smolik’s Smokehouse
- Lockhart Smokehouse
- Heim Barbecue
- Gatlin’s BBQ
- City Market
- Baker Boys BBQ
- Kreuz Meat Market
- Stanley’s Famous Pit BBQ
- Micklethwait Craft Meats
- Payne’s Bar-B-Q Shak
- The Pit Room
- Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que
- The Smoking Oak
- Harris Bar-B-Que
Join us again next time for more delicious smoked meats and fantastic Lone Star cinema!