Martin Scorsese Film director

‘When I was growing up there always seemed to be music in the air. It came in from the street, ……………1………….., from restaurants and from the windows of apartments. At home my mother often sang – I have vivid memories of her singing ……………2………….. . My father played the mandolin, my brother Frank played the guitar. And at that time there was an incredible range of music on the radio, everything from Italian folk songs to country and western.

One day, ……………3………….., I heard something completely new. I’ll never forget the first time I heard the sound of that guitar. The music was saying ‘Listen to me!’ I ran to get a pencil and paper, ……………4………….. . The song was See See Rider and the name of the singer was Leadbelly. I ran up to the record store on Forty-ninth Street as fast as I could …………… 5………….. I listened to it again and again. When you listen to Leadbelly’s music you feel inspired by its energy and truth, you really understand what it means to be human. That’s the blues.

At around the same time, my friends and I went to see Bo Diddley. That was another great moment for me. He was playing at the Brooklyn Paramount ……………6………….. . He was a great performer and was always moving from side to side of the stage. But Bo Diddley also did something unusual ……………7………….. - he explained the different drumbeats and which parts of Africa they came from. It gave us a sense of history behind the music, the roots of the music. We all found this very exciting ……………8………….. .