Tanya Batson-SavageFreelance Writer
THE ROAD to Memphis, the third film in the seven film series The Blues: A Musical Journey, could more aptly be called 'The Road Through Memphis'.
Showing at Redbones The Blues Café, the series is presented by the United States Embassy and the café in celebration of Black History Month.
So far, the films have proven to be informative about not only the major and often minor players of the blues but also other aspects that affected its development. The Road to Memphis is no different.
This leg of the journey through the blues uses one of the greatest living blues legends, B.B. King, as its lynchpin.
The film follows King on his way through Memphis and culminates in a live performance which also featured other blues greats, Rosco Gordon and Ike Turner among others.
The Road to Memphis follows each of these major players to varying degrees. Taking these different perspectives allows the film to capture more than a man who made it to the pinnacle.
For example, Gordon is one of those who, despite his talent, is almost forgotten on this side of the Atlantic, especially as he walked away from a career in the blues decades ago when rock 'n' roll took over dominance on the airwaves.
PERSONAL TALES
The film also takes in a piece of the touring of Bobby Rush, who remains on the 'Chitlin Circuit' going from rural town to rural town performing at small venues. Though 66 years old he still retains hope of making it big.
With the various stories that The Road to Memphis contains, it needs no narrator to hold it all together. The various players are allowed to tell their own stories from the first person.
The film takes on an organic feel as issues which affected the blues are allowed to come forward naturally without the disjointing intrusion of an interviewer.
Interviews with persons like Rufus Thomas prove particularly engaging. Thomas's wit and engaging personality came through as he spoke about various blues players or things that affected the development of the genre.
Using interviews, live performances and archival footage, Road to Memphis traversed the development of the blues. It looked at the value of Beale Street which once proved to be 'black heaven' and spawned the likes of Gordon and B.B. King and the first black radio station.
The film also looks at the music's near death experience with the birth of rock 'n' roll and even tiptoes on to the effect of whitening rock 'n' roll through artistes such as Elvis Presley.
'WHITE EMBRACE'
Through the words of B.B. King it also explores how 'The White Embrace', that is the |acceptance of the blues by young white Americans, rescued the blues from the sidelines to which rock 'n' roll had relegated it.
The series continues on Thursday, January 27 with Godfathers and Sons featuring hip hop's Chuck D's exploration of Chicago blues.
The final two films in the series are Red White and Blues and Piano Blues. The first instalment of the series, Feel Like Going Home, directed by the series executive producer, Martin Scorsese, begins on February 5.
