WEST OF MEMPHIS: Voices For Justice
aaamusic | On 20, Jan 2013
In 1993 three eight-year-old boys were murdered in Arkansas, West Memphis. Three teenagers were arrested and convicted of the murders in a controversial trial which resulted in serious questions about police work, confessions, witness accuracy and satanic rituals. The Memphis Three were imprisoned and one of them, Damien Echols, was put on death row.
West of Memphis, a documentary film written and directed by Academy Award nominated film maker Amy Berg, tells the intriguing story. Emerging evidence, including DNA, questioned the safety of the convictions and, in 2012, all three were released after 18 years of imprisonment. The rarely used Alford plea was applied. Here, defendants assert their innocence but admit that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution is likely to convince a judge or jury to find them guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The film, produced by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh , Damien Echols and Lorri Davis, tells the story of this bizarre and desperate fight to reveal the truth.
The film inspired the music soundtrack West of Memphis: Voices for Justice which was released on 15th January, 2013 on Legacy recordings. Various artists decided which songs reflected their personal feelings for the album and supporters Henry Rollins and Johnny Depp read excerpts from Damien Echols’ letters from death row over the moving Nick Cave and Warren Ellis score.
The death row letter about Echols depression and fear is extremely upsetting and throughout the compilation the listeners’ mood will probably fluctuate between anger, distress, encouragement and resignation. One foresees a continued fight for exoneration for the West Memphis Three and it’s tempting to say ‘things don’t change much’ when yet another alleged miscarriage of justice makes its slow passage through the legal system.
Track list: 1.Henry Rollins (feat. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis original score) – Damien Echols Death Row Letter Year 9 2. Natalie Maines – Mother 3. Lucinda Williams – Joy 4. Camp Freddy – The Jean Genie 5. Tonto’s Giant Nuts feat. Johnny Depp & Bruce Witkin – Little Lion Man 6. Marilyn Manson – You’re So Vain 7. Band of Horses – Dumpster World (Live) 8. Citizen Cope – DFW 9. Eddie Vedder – Satellite 10. Bill Carter – Anything Made of Paper 11. The White Buffalo – House of Pain 12. Bob Dylan – Ring Them Bells 13. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – West of Memphis Score Suite 14. Tonto’s Giant Nuts feat. Johnny Depp (feat. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis original score) – Damien Echols Death Row Letter Year 16 15. Patti Smith – Wing (Recorded Live at Voices For Justice Benefit Concert – August 28, 2010).
Anthony Weightman.
