A Colorfully Animated Biography of Bluesman Skip Pitts

Ear­li­er this year, the blues gui­tarist Charles ‘Skip’ Pitts passed away after a bout of lung can­cer. He had a musi­cal career that spanned many decades. But, he’s best remem­bered for his riffs on one song — Isaac Hayes’ theme song for the 1971 film Shaft. (Catch it below.) Pitts’ licks have been sam­pled by count­less younger musi­cians, every­one from Snoop Dogg and the Beast­ie Boys to Dr. Dre and Mas­sive Attack. Start­ing in the late 90s, the blues­man began play­ing with a band called The Bo-Keys, which became the sub­ject of a mini doc­u­men­tary in 2011. The short film yield­ed some insight­ful inter­views with Pitts. And, once he depart­ed from our world, the con­ver­sa­tions became the basis for the “ani­mat­ed inter­pre­ta­tion” you’re hope­ful­ly now watch­ing above. It’s the work of Loaded Pic­tures, a stu­dio based in Seat­tle, Wash­ing­ton.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

The Leg­end of Blues­man Robert John­son Ani­mat­ed