A scene featuring blues legend Bobby “Blue” Bland, who died in 2013, and young rapper Lil’ P-Nut, now 12, aims to help close the musical generation gap. (Photo courtesy of Take Me To The River Education Initiative)
There are educational pages and resources available through a special section of the film’s web site.
“It was always part of my overall mission and vision for the project for there to be a component which lived on as a way to educate people in this country and around the world—younger people especially—about where … popular music got its inspiration and influence,” says Shore.
“We gave the world a cultural jewel,” he adds. “It’s something that needs to be recognized in terms of the importance of it on the landscape today.”
The film took over three years to make, and Shore shot more than 3,000 hours of footage. The story centers on the musical scene in Memphis in the 1960s, where Black and White musicians worked side-by-side at a time when the South was still largely segregated. Through current-day interviews and historical footage that chronicle music history and the Civil Rights Movement, Shore depicts that sense of musical community and intergenerational connections, which he thinks has a larger message given recent racially charged events in the news.
“The idea is that we have to get back to communicating and cooperating,” Shore says. “That’s the way it was in the 60s when this foundation for popular music was being built.
“Actually sharing true art and learning about how history inspired and influenced that art.”
