Seven directors, seven films, seven roads down the musical journey called The Blues.

The Blues: A Musical Journey
By: Martin Scorsese, [et al]
Call No.: 781.64309 BLU
Location: Music Village, library@esplanade

Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas ), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire ), Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep ), Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas ), Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven ), Richard Pearce (Homicide: Life on the Streets ), and Marc Levin (Slam ). Seven directors, seven films, seven roads down the musical journey called The Blues.

See how the music has influenced the lives and works of these seven pre-eminent directors as they pay tribute to the blues in the way they best know how.

Extracted below from Time Out Film Guide is Nick Bradshaw’s introduction to the project, as well as his thoughts on Richard Pearce’s contribution:

As the subtitle of this seven film series underlines (The Blues: A Musical Journey), the story of the blues is the story of transience, of exile. Even its documentation is a matter of hitting the road, as pioneered by John and Alan Lomax for their seminal Library of Congress recordings in the 1930s (Feel 119).

[ . . . ]

The Blues – A Musical Journey: The Road to Memphis

Lovely, subtle, low key film from Pearce, a director whose qualities are not much in demand in Hollywood. An oasis for African Americans in the cultural desert of the segregated South, Memphis — and in particular Beale Street — was central to the development of the blues.

Pearce tells the story by following Bobby Rush, still grinding out funky R&B after decades on the road, still dreaming of crossover success; BB King, moved as he recalls the first time his audience turned white; and Rosco Gordon, a ’50s star who disappeared when Elvis took the blues into rock’n'roll — there’s a brief but pointed exchange about this between Sam Phillips and Ike Turner.

You can argue about the impact white patronage had on the music, but ultimately this is Gordon’s film, a poignant figure dismayed by the face Beale Street puts on today (The Road to Memphis 120).

Works Cited

• Bradshaw, Nick. Feel Like going Home. Time Out Film Guide. Ed. John Pym. 16th ed. London, England; New York, N.Y., USA: Penguin Books, 2008.

• —. The Road to Memphis. Time Out Film Guide. Ed. John Pym. 16th ed. London, England; New York, N.Y., USA: Penguin Books, 2008.

The entire series is reviewed in the book, so make sure to come down to the library to check it out!

Don’t forget to also keep an eye out for the companion book to the films. It’s packed full of information, essays and just about everything else that’s needed to help you step on the journey with the blues. Particularly interesting, for me, were the individual reflections on the blues written by each of the directors himself.

Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey
Editor: Peter Guralnick, [et al]
Publisher: New York: HarperCollins, 2005
Call No.: RART 781.64309 MAR
For Reference Only
Location: Arts Central, library@esplanade

“Even if you’re a blues hound with hundreds of discs in your collection, this book is a learning experience, and richly enjoyable.”

— Kansas City Star