Augusta Palmer’s The Blues Society offers a vibrant look into an oddly beautiful moment in Memphis’ ugly history of race. Blending archival footage, colorful animation, and interviews, Palmer’s film makes excellent use of footage from the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival.
Palmer’s documentary pays tribute to the Blues performers and the hippies that traveled to Memphis, Tennessee's to create a concert which took place amid the Vietnam War, the Sanitation Workers’ Strike, and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Taking place in the 1960s around the time of Woodstock, the concert fought the norms of the city’s de-facto segregation by allowing a safe space for black performers and audiences in the traditionally white space of the Overton Park Shell.
While the history of the festival and Blues music may not be well-known by everyone today, Palmer makes her film accessible by providing clear context. This documentary can be seen by anyone and packs a decent amount of vicarious joy. Even for those who are not fans of the Blues, the respect paid towards the old musicians is undeniably heartwarming.
The true delight of Palmer’s film comes from seeing the concert footage and hearing the hypnotic Blues tunes from singers like Furry Lewis and Reverend Robert Wilkins. At certain points, the film slows down from the flow of historical information to appreciate a performance from the concert. Pure bliss radiates from every shot of the festival cheerful attendees and performers, which forever remain frozen in time.
The set up for the concert is even exciting as well. In one incredible shot, a man climbs a ladder held up only from its base by a group of workers. Shots like this are not only breathtaking but also remind the viewer how wildly miraculous the whole event of an integrated Blues music festival created by hippies truly was.
Interviews with audience members and organizers of the festival offer powerful sentimental reflection on the concert or insight into its significance. Wilkins’ s0n, Reverend John Wilkins, describes how his father did not was poorly treated by The Rolling Stones. At the end of the film, he receives a touching moment of screentime as he performs in the shell for the first time since the 1968 Country Blues Festival. This serves as a beautiful way of remembering the man, as he passed away a few years ago.
Finally, n0 discussion of The Blues Society would be complete without mentioning the stunning animation. There are not many moments when it is employed, however the flashy, glittery scrapbook style is visually exciting. Not only does the style catch the eye, it also fits in nicely with the Palmer’s claim that the documentary is a “moving image mixtape.” The personal touch given to the documentary, that is inherent to a mixtape, is felt visually through the animation.
The film has a personal element to it as well that ties it all together, as Palmer’s father, Robert Palmer, was one of the festival’s organizers. Palmer’s personal touch gives her the ability to see the impact that the concert had on everyone, especially to Memphis’ black community. Interviewees are respectfully given space to deny claims that Blues music is shared equally by everybody and is not inherently connected to the African American experience.
The Blues Society will be opening the Spring 2024 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, January 26 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. The Blues Society Director Augusta Palmer will be on hand to do a Q+A after the In-Person screening!
For more info and tickets go here.
