Sweet, Sweet Blues

"Sweet, Sweet Blues" is an episode of the NBC drama series In the Heat of the Night, starring Carroll O'Connor as Chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as Detective Virgil Tibbs.^[1] In the Heat of the Night was based on the 1965 novel by John Ball, which was also the basis for the Academy Award winning film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, directed by Norman Jewison.^[2]

Directed by Vincent McEveety (Firecreek) and written by William James Royce, the episode guest stars musician Bobby Short as bluesman Chester "Ches" Collins and actor James Best as Nathan Bedford. The story revolves around the forty-plus-year-old, unsolved racially motivated 1948 murder of Sergeant Willson Sweet's grandfather, Louis Sweet, a story loosely based on the 1963 murder of Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers. There was a brief mention of the Sweet story in a Season Three Heat episode, "An Angry Woman".

Although the crime went unsolved and the elder Sweet's body was never found, there was a witness, a young black man named Ches Collins, but being afraid to share what he saw, he remained silent for all these years. Ches, now as an old man, is determined to see that justice is done, even if it has been delayed all these years.

On several occasions he notices young Sergeant Willson Sweet (Geoffrey Thorne) come into the night club where he plays to hear him sing "The Bad Sweet Blues", a song he wrote about the incident. Sweet becomes obsessed with the song since he knows the story, as it was a narrative that was handed down to him through his relatives over the years. The tune tells the story of what happened to Sweet's grandfather, a man who demanded respect and was not afraid to stand up to white people. He won a Packard automobile, which was a luxury vehicle not everyone could afford, in a New Orleans card game, and drove back home to Sparta, Mississippi to show it off around town. Apparently, some people didn't appreciate this "uppity" black man owning an automobile they themselves couldn't afford and he was warned not to flaunt it, but Louis Sweet wasn't one to be intimidated by racists.

Louis Sweet went missing after driving his friends around Sparta in his new car that day, November 1, 1948. Newspapers later had information that a witness reported to the sheriff that he saw three black men whom no one seemed to know follow the elder Sweet into the woods, killed him, and stole the car, but that wasn't true. The song mentions the names of people who were responsible for the crime they committed and were now either dead, or close to it — all white men and no one was ever arrested or prosecuted for the crime. The song, written by series star Carroll O'Connor and performed by Bobby Short, begins Sweet's heroic quest to see that justice is served before the aging murderer of his grandfather passes away, taking his secret with him.^[3][4]

Most notable was the name of one of the main characters in the episode, the retired sheriff, Nathan "Nate" Bedford. He was purposely given that name by Royce because a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was named Nathan Bedford Forrest. In the episode, Nathan Bedford, in the twilight of his years, was remorseful of his actions and regretted his involvement in the lynching of Sweet's grandfather. He sought peace and forgiveness for his past actions from God, even though he was not the gunman - however, he was there and took part.

At first, Sweet and Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins) do some research on their own, then visit Collins at his home to ask about the song's origins. But all that Collins reveals is that he was the songwriter and he saw everything that happened, but he wasn't the only one. After that, he doesn't volunteer any more information.

The "witness" who reported the incident to the sheriff at the time was a man named Delbert Mueller, an avowed racist, who was dying in a local hospital. Virgil asks Chief Gillespie (O'Connor) if he could talk to the man, since he knows him. He does, and Mueller admits on his deathbed that the story about Louis Sweet's disappearance that he originally told was, in fact, a lie, but wouldn't implicate himself being involved.

Next Sweet goes with fellow officer Lieutenant Lonnie Jamison (Hugh O'Connor) to visit Bedford and asks if he recalls anything about the incident, but the retired sheriff pretends to be amnesic about it. The two younger officers don't believe him, but go on their way, determined to find out more information by other means. They ask Gillespie to speak to Bedford, with the hope that he will be more forthcoming to a friend.

Gillespie goes to speak to him at a playground, where Bedford frequents to read his Bible on a daily basis. Bedford finds a strange solace in visiting the playground, but only he and Collins know the reason. Gillespie asks Bedford if he remembers if Mueller ever murdered anyone, and Bedford tells him yes, but isn't specific about who.

After investigating clues in the song's lyrics, Virgil, Gillespie, Sweet and Althea go to the night club to hear Collins perform it. Afterwards, Collins finally tells the full story of what he witnessed that day, and mentions the names of the three men who were there — two of them were Nathan Bedford and the gunman, Delbert Mueller. The audience sees it played out firsthand as Collins narrates. Mueller shoots Louis Sweet twice, killing him. They bury his body in the woods, where no one finds him, and take the car, which remained unfound.

Now knowing the location of the elder Sweet's remains, Sweet, Virgil, Gillespie and Collins visit — it's the playground. In the decades since, the area was developed into a play area where children, both black and white, enjoy themselves together. Virgil takes a photo of Sweet in the park, standing at the spot where his grandfather is buried.

In turn, Sweet goes to Bedford's home and shows him the photo. Bedford now is aware that Sweet knows the truth about his complicity in his grandfather's murder, and is left speechless. Sweet tells him that since he likes going to the playground, maybe they'll see each other there and can pray together. But it's hardly a friendly invitation, and Sweet angrily turns and walks away. The confrontation leaves Bedford visibly shaken.

That season, In the Heat of the Night won its first NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Dramatic Series and James Best won the Crystal Reel Award for Best Actor.^[5]

The inspiration for the episode is taken from the true life story of civil rights activist Medgar Evers who was murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi on June 12, 1963. Although it was widely known that Evers was shot by white supremacist and Klansman Byron De La Beckwith, in 1991, when this story was written, Beckwith had apparently gotten away with murder.

In 1994, thirty years after the two previous trials had failed to reach a verdict, De La Beckwith was again brought to trial based on new evidence, and Bobby DeLaughter took on the job as the prosecutor. An aging Klansman who had heard De La Beckwith brag about the killing felt compelled, after all these years, to come forward and give testimony in a court of law. De La Beckwith was convicted of murder on February 5, 1994, after having lived as a free man for much of the three decades following the killing. He appealed, unsuccessfully, and died in prison at the age of 80, in January 2001.^[6][7]

The Medgar Evers story has inspired numerous works of art, including literature, music, and film, helping to assure that his legacy endures.

Musician Bob Dylan wrote his 1963 song "Only a Pawn in Their Game" about the assassination of Medgar Evers.^[8] On August 28, 1963, at the historic “March on Washington,” Dylan sang “Only A Pawn in Their Game” at the Lincoln Memorial – where Dr. Martin Luther King made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.^[9]

Medgar's widow, Myrlie Evers co-wrote the book For Us, the Living with William Peters in 1967.^[10] This book is the basis for the 1983 award-winning PBS biopic.

For Heat actor Howard Rollins, this was the second project relating to the slain civil rights worker. In 1983, Rollins starred in For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story, a made-for-television biopic that aired on PBS's American Playhouse. The movie won the prestigious Writers Guild of America award for Best Adapted Drama,^[11] and netted Rollins the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special in 1983.

In 1996, director Rob Reiner's film Ghosts of Mississippi was released. The film, starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods, details the 1994 trial and subsequent conviction of Beckwith.^[12]

• "Sweet, Sweet Blues" at IMDb
• New York Times Feb. 2, 1994