Album Notes

The Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival went to Forty Shades of Blue. Set in the world of Memphis music, the film stars the incomparable Rip Torn as a legendary music producer, Darren Burrows as his estranged son and Dina Korzun as the woman caught between them. The film was directed by Ira Sachs, a Memphis born filmmaker who was recently cited in Variety as one of their "10 Directors to Watch." Forty Shades of Blue will roll out nationally in October after its premiere at New York's Film Forum on September 28.

Torn's character is Alan James, a legend in Memphis, who produced a string of Memphis Soul hits. He lives with Laura, a Russian beauty played by Korzun he met on tour in Moscow, and their 3-year-old son. When Alan's adult son Michael (Darren Burrows) returns home for the first time in many years, a quasi-Oedipal triangle ensues.

A film about music mandates a special soundtrack album, one that can stand on its own merits, even if you haven't seen the film from which it was begot. Memphis International's David Less, working with Sachs and music supervisor Susan Jacobs, has come up with an album that reflects the depth and diversity of music depicted in Forty Shades of Blue. It's a collection of songs and score pieces that gives dimension to the themes so vividly brought to the screen by Sachs and his cast.

The tracks include excerpts from the original score by Dickon Hinchcliffe of the UK cult band Tindersticks, bar room blues from Elvin Bishop, a barrelhouse performance by legendary Memphis music icon Jim Dickson who was also joined by Sid Selvidge for an old timey collaboration. There's Memphis soul from J. Blackfoot, classic R&B from Reba Russell, plus an atmospheric pop song from Cajun swing band Red Stick Ramblers as well as a funky horn-laden workout from Earl Thomas. Add some ice cold blues from the late Albert Collins and a poignant and spare reading of the film's title song by Sabina Sciubba and the result is a collection that keeps the listener engaged and involved. Liner notes by acclaimed Memphis writer Robert Gordon underscore the connection between music and human emotion.

Forty Shades of Blue, the film, impressed the Sundance jury and ran away with the festival's top award; it's a given that Forty Shades of Blues/Music From The Motion Picture will, likewise, impress both music fans and cinephiles.

Forty Shades of Blues/Music From The Motion Picture

A Little Bit of Soap - performed by Reba Russell
Jelly Roll Boogie - performed by Jim Dickinson
Annie May - performed by Elvin Bishop and Smokey Smothers
Quicksand - performed by Tracy Nelson
The Dark End of The Street - performed by Jay Blackfoot
Laura - from the film score by Dickon Hinchcliffe
No Room For A Tramp - performed by Jim Dickinson and Sid Selvidge
What Do I Do - performed by the Red Stick Ramblers
The Proposal - from the film score by Dickon Hinchcliffe
Snowed In - performed by Albert Collins
I'm Broken Hearted - performed by Earl Thomas
40 Shades of Blue - performed by Sabina Sciubba