The Road to Memphis

Episode of Series “The Blues Collection = Martin Scorsese presents The Blues a musical journey [DVD]”.
Part of Martin Scorsese’s “The Blues Collection”. On the road - how the early bluesmen made a living was touring from town to town on what became know as ‘The Chitlin Circuit’. Still living that dream is Bobby Rush who owns a bus and takes his show on the road and has “only been outta work 6 weeks in 41 years” and by his own admission he’s either crazy or just loves the music! Not strictly blues, Bobby serves to act as an illustration of some of the trials and tribulations experienced by legendary performers early in their careers, including the influence of the church. B.B. King, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon, Little Milton, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Fats Domino and Little Richard are some of the artists featured. Rosco Gordon takes a tour down Beale Street and recalls the past in a timely interview as he passes away at the end of filming, on a tour, in 2002. Memphis had one of the first radio stations on which African Americans appeared as announcers and performers - this proved to be a very lucrative business and a wider audience developed that also included white listeners. Sam Phillips, who is most well known for recording a 19 year-old Elvis, had been recording black artists for some four years before that. Jim Dickinson, musician/producer is also interviewed about the effect the music had on him. When Martin Luther King was assassinated Memphis city officials decided to tear down Beale Street causing an impact on the black history it represented. Broad appeal to white audiences came about in the 1968, culminating in an emotional 95% white audience in front of B.B. King at the Fillmore Auditorium - a new experience for B.B. and one that would mark a change in his audience for good. Ending with a live concert at the WC Handy Awards in 2002, this documentary is sure to inform and inspire.