Memphis '69
2019
72 minutes
Overview
It’s the Summer of 1969. The temperature hovers around 105 degrees on a humid weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s only been a year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But on this particular weekend, everyone in town, all races, creeds and colors have come out for the Fourth Annual Memphis Country Blues Festival. The lineup is the most ambitious in years, welcoming blues masters like Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and the 106 year-old Nathan Beauregard, coupled with more notable headliners like Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, John Fahey and rocker Johnny Winter. One attendee that year was Gene Rosenthal, who brought along a couple of cameras, a small crew and left with 40,000 feet of color film that was left untouched for nearly 50 years….until now. ‘Memphis 69’ is a time capsule. If you’re a blues enthusiast, watching this film feels like you’ve opened up a treasure chest and discovered that you’ve hit the motherload.
Top Cast
Furry Lewis
Fred McDowell
John Fahey
Rufus Thomas
Bukka White
Yank Rachell
Sleepy John Estes
Jo Ann Kelly
Backwards Sam Firk
Piano Red
John D. Loudermilk
Nathan Beauregard
Phillip Dale Durham
Robert Palmer Jr
Bill Barth
Jim Dickinson
Lum Guffin
Son Thomas
Rev. Robert Wilkins
Sid Selvidge
Lee Baker