John Mellencamp: Plain Spoken Live from The Chicago Theatre

Learn the traditional country blues guitar styles that have influenced generations of players. Rory Block, one of the most knowledgeable and talented exponents of the classic blues style, teaches the earthy, hard-driving playing of the Mississippi Delta in a way that brings it all into focus.

On October 29, 2013, blues-rock star Joe Bonamassa will release Tour De Force – Live In London (J&R Adventures), an unprecedented live concert event unfolding over four DVDs recorded earlier this year at some of the most famous and iconic London venues: Royal Albert Hall, Hammersmith Apollo, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and The Borderline.

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

The Tuaregs of Tinariwen are the kings of North African blues. All it takes are a few notes to transport the audience at the Nuits de Fourvière to the heart of the Sahara.

A proto-music video: three minutes of experimental animation set to the tune of Romeo Nelson's 'Head Rag Hop'.

The life and times of the most original American singer/ songwriter of the last 50 years.

A powerful documentary starring Morgan Freeman about the genesis of The Blues in the South and the music spreading around the world. Morgan Freeman shares his story of his experience of growing up in Clarksdale, Mississippi and his love for the Blues.

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

A 1956 Belgian film, Low Light and Blue Smoke, showcases the music of American blues guitarist Big Bill Broonzy, capturing his performance at the Chapel of Les Brigittines in Brussels during his 1956 European tour.

A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.

This film traces the road of the Blues and takes us on a journey to mythical places: From the banks of the Niger to New Orleans, going up the Mississippi through Memphis to the skyscrapers of Chicago. It tells the story of this culture which faced the worst barriers and shows that Humanity can overcome barbarity.

Recorded live at the storied Antone's in January 2006, this special package delivers a powerful set that reunites this Austin-based supergroup from the prior decade. Storyville is led by the soulful vocals of Malford Milligan, with masterful guitarwork from David Grissom and David Holt, and all driven by the Double Trouble rhythms of Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon.

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, Alabama-born Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton defied the gender norms of her time to become one of the greatest blues singers of her generation. Known for her powerful voice and uncompromising style, she rose to fame with the original recording of “Hound Dog” and later wrote “Ball & Chain,” a song that gained iconic status through Janis Joplin’s rendition.

Boogie Man is a comprehensive look at political strategist, racist, and former Republican National Convention Committee chairman, Lee Atwater, who reinvigorated the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. He mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush and played a key role in the elections of Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.

This television special is a first for the reclusive singer with the BBC documentary gaining new interviews with Young, nine months apart in New York and California. The documentary also looks back over the singer's archives, with some never-seen-before material.