Memphis 69 (2019)

Its the Summer of 1969 The temperature hovers around 105 degrees on a humid weekend in Memphis Tennessee Its 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 yearold Nathan Beauregard coupled with more notable headliners like Rufus Thomas The BarKays 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 40000 feet of color film that was left untouched for nearly 50 yearsuntil now Memphis 69 is a time capsule If youre a blues enthusiast watching this film feels like youve opened up a treasure chest and discovered that youve hit the motherload