The Soul Music Inside The Civil Rights Movement
April 4, 2011
Down to Earth, dir. by David Moreu
THE SOUL MUSIC SCENE OF THE 1960s is intimately linked with the civil rights movement.
Today, on the 43rd anniverary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, we can look to the city where he died, Memphis, as a focal point for the link between the singers and musicians of the time and MLK’s movement.
“Music was such a tremendous part of the civil rights movement, even from the days of slavery“—Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles
“Down to Earth” is a short documentary by independent journalist David Moreu. His film revisits the musicians and activists who were part of the scene, including the Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles, Stax Records composers Deanie Parker and David Porter, and Zelma Redding (Otis Redding’s wife).
The film begins with recollections of the day of Dr. King’s assassination and is set along Beale St. and inside the barbershops and beauty salons of Memphis.
Watch the complete film below:
