The Blues

Season 1

The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues. The series originally aired on PBS in the United States.

Where to Watch Season 1

7 Episodes

  • Feel Like Going Home
    E1
    Feel Like Going HomeDirector Martin Scorsese pays homage to the Delta blues. Musician Corey Harris travels through Mississippi and on to West Africa, exploring the roots of the music. The film celebrates the early Delta bluesmen through original performances (including Willie King, Taj Mahal, Otha Turner, and Ali Farka Toure) and rare archival footage (featuring Son House, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker).
  • Soul of a Man
    E2
    Soul of a ManThe film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir.
  • The Road To Memphis
    E3
    The Road To MemphisThe film follows the career of Blues musician B.B. King. It features performances by B.B. King, Bobby Rush, Rosco Gordon and Ike Turner, as well as historical footage of Howlin' Wolf and Rufus Thomas.
  • Warming by the Devil's Fire
    E4
    Warming by the Devil's FireDirector Charles Burnett presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950s, and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues.
  • Godfathers and Sons
    E5
    Godfathers and SonsExplores the legacy of Chicago Blues through the making of an album by Chuck D of Public Enemy and Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder, that brings together hip-hop artists like Common with blues legends like Howlin' Wolf.
  • Red, White and Blues
    E6
    Red, White and BluesDirector Mike Figgis joins musicians such as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Tom Jones, performing and talking about the music of the early sixties British invasion that reintroduced the blues sound to America.
  • Piano Blues
    E7
    Piano BluesThe film features interviews and live performances of piano players Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Dr. John and Marcia Ball. Eastwood interviews artists as Ray Charles, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, Dave Brubeck, Jay McShann, Henry Gray and shows archival performances of Fats Domino, Otis Spann, Art Tatum, Albert Simmons, Pete Johnson, Jay McShann, Big Joe Turner, Nat King Cole, Martha Davis, Professor Longhair, Charles Brown and Duke Ellington. Remarkable are two early performances of the Chess Records houseband with Otis Spann, Willie Dixon and, probably, Fred Below.

 

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