0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains strong language.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13"The car went straight as an arrow, not for once deviating from the white line in the middle of the road
0:00:13 > 0:00:17"that unwound, kissing our left front tyre."
0:00:18 > 0:00:2250 years ago, Jack Kerouac wrote a book called On The Road.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27The book is all about this bloke Jack Kerouac
0:00:27 > 0:00:31and his crazy car-jacking conman mate Neal Cassady,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34driving across America and getting into adventures
0:00:34 > 0:00:38and doing stuff that I know a bit about like drugs and sex and living in the moment -
0:00:38 > 0:00:40good stuff like that.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43I read it when I was 19.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49I was dead excited by the sort of the sense of magic in it and the sense of possibility.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56So in homage to a book about two slacker friends cruising around,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I'm doing the same with my best pal and comedy soul mate, Matt Morgan.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02There he is - look at his little face.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05You know, we've had a few married-couple style arguments.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12- Matt was driving along, all confident with his arm out of the bloody window.- You fool!
0:01:12 > 0:01:15- Driving along with the handbrake on! - You don't understand the road.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I AM the road! I live the road!
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Me and Matt are going to drive coast to coast from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31So we've got the book, a pickup truck,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and three weeks for as many Kerouacian encounters as we can pack in.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Do you want a lift?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41See you, mate.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46If Jack Kerouac was alive right, and we had to interview him,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48would he go, "You're missing the point of the book!"
0:01:48 > 0:01:53- You completely missed the point of the book, you bastards! - You long-haired assholes!
0:02:11 > 0:02:14I'm going to start my Kerouac journey here
0:02:14 > 0:02:18in Lowell, Massachusetts, Jack's childhood home.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25This feels like, and indeed is, small town America.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I can imagine why you'd have a wanderlust if you lived here.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It's very sort of quiet, isn't it?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35- Quaint and dull.- Yeah, that's right, I think it's small, and like the mentality of it...
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I think people round here in the conservative '50s
0:02:41 > 0:02:47would have been right browned off with some of Kerouac's explosive sex and drug-fuelled scribblings.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58'But these days, the people of Lowell are quite proud of their most famous son.'
0:02:58 > 0:03:03"A few cars zipped by, a hot rod kid came by with his scarf flying..."
0:03:03 > 0:03:09Down at a local caf, as part of On The Road's 50th birthday party celebration,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14fans are taking turns to read the whole book cover to cover in a 12-hour marathon session.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17"..That's right man, now you're talking."
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Matt and I have been asked to do a reading. And we arrived just in time
0:03:21 > 0:03:23for a really nice saucy bit...
0:03:23 > 0:03:28"Sex was the one and only important and holy thing in life.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33"She sat there on the edge of the couch with her hands hanging in her lap
0:03:33 > 0:03:38"and her smokey blue country eyes fixed in a wide stare."
0:03:38 > 0:03:44Even though it was just a little caf, Matt got all stage frightened and wore make-up.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I don't want to do this.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50"Finally, a car stopped at the empty filling station.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54"The man and the two women in it wanted to study a map.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57"I stepped right up and gestured in the rain. They consulted.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01"I looked like a maniac, of course with my hair all wet, my shoes sopping..."
0:04:01 > 0:04:07"So, folding back my comfortable home sheets for the last time one morning,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11"I left with my canvas bag in which a few fundamental things were packed,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14"and took off for the Pacific Ocean with fifty dollars in my pocket."
0:04:19 > 0:04:21As well as being a spiritual quest,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Kerouac's book is full of sex and drugs -
0:04:23 > 0:04:27stuff that would've made his neighbours feel all nervous and bilious.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32So what made Jack Kerouac such a maverick thinker?
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I'm here to chat to his brother-in-law, John Sampas -
0:04:35 > 0:04:39NOT Pete Sampras the tennis player, which is what my silly brain kept making me think.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45What do you know about him - you thought he was a tennis player?!
0:04:45 > 0:04:51He won Wimbledon, he has a lot of body hair, he has tight, curly hair.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Right, this is what I want to get out of old John Sampas.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58One - signed racket, two...
0:05:00 > 0:05:02And if I imply that he is a tennis player...
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- I'll butt in.- Butt right in.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09John, I'm Russell.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Oh, nice to meet you, Russell.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21The situation was exacerbated by an unnecessarily large giant tennis ball just lying about in his house!
0:05:21 > 0:05:24To have balls this big, what a game they must have played.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Exactly.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30John, he were a bit obsessed with his freedom
0:05:30 > 0:05:34weren't he, and his celebration of life and living in the moment - what do you think about all that?
0:05:34 > 0:05:38I can understand it. I can relate to it, I grew up in a small town.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42There's something a little bit frightening about embracing the unknown.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- I don't think the young people feel that way.- I'm fucking young!
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- You think so?- I hope so, mate, cos what else have I got?
0:05:48 > 0:05:53John, I'm interested in how he related to women, you know...
0:05:53 > 0:05:56What the hell's this?! What do you mean, love list?
0:05:56 > 0:06:02Love list - Edie, 100, New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Ontario!
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Jeanie, 25, Washington! Is this his list of scores?
0:06:06 > 0:06:07Yes!
0:06:07 > 0:06:09What's the score out of?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Because like look she gets 20, she gets 100!
0:06:12 > 0:06:14What the hell is she doing?
0:06:14 > 0:06:18That's his first wife Edie, Edie Parker.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21- She's getting 100 points, Edie Parker?- 100 points, a hundred lays.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Ah, so you think this is times?
0:06:23 > 0:06:25This is approximate, I would imagine.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30100 lays - ah, so this is points not times, it's not, she did bumming - full marks.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33- No.- This says Spanish Communism?
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Spanish Communism,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38he's having sex with abstract concepts!
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Democracy!
0:06:40 > 0:06:43God, that was a hell of a night! It was very fair, we decided.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47John Sampas. What a night that was!
0:06:47 > 0:06:49300!
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Give us a cuddle. Thanks very much.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57I wanna come back at the end of it with a lovely list of women's names, all scored in.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Imagine trying to compile your list!
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Cos you wouldn't know the names of some of the girls.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11You'd have to just put - "that bird at the bus stop."
0:07:11 > 0:07:14"That woman with no toe and hairy shins."
0:07:14 > 0:07:16THEY LAUGH
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Kerouac's youthful wanderlust took him away from here.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30For years, he roamed the country like an hobo, often penniless and starving.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36But in the end, he never escaped Lowell.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43We're hitching a lift in a classic Hudson car, like the one featured in On The Road.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49What the hell is that?
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Kerouac's grave is littered with bottles of ketchup and crackers.
0:07:56 > 0:08:03Ritz Crackers, Rice Krispie treats,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05peanut butter and milk chug.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08A fat man's picnic.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Is there anything Catholic that you want to do?
0:08:10 > 0:08:13While I do something secular? You might want to cross yourself?
0:08:13 > 0:08:15I'll cross myself then.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19And I might want to do my world famous moon walk!
0:08:19 > 0:08:21What way's his body lying?
0:08:21 > 0:08:24This way? Well, you've just danced on his grave.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Oh, no!
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- You can't be serious. - No, I can't be serious.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34I am the living embodiment of John McEnroe's perpetual courtside lament. I cannot be serious.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39- Actually, I want that. - You could have that, well no, that's stealing from a grave.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42It is grave-robbing in a way. I think Kerouac would have nicked it.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44That is stealing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47You haven't bought it, and that's clearly not a shop.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Yeah, but the thing about the book, right, they liked nicking things.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54- Not from graves.- We'll read a passage of this as our tribute,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58even though the tribute of being in the moment is very much...
0:08:58 > 0:09:01In the spirit, what he would have wanted, yeah, I've heard it.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Hold on, let's let destiny decide...
0:09:04 > 0:09:07"Finally, I took a walk alone to the levy.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10"I wanted to sit on the muddy bank and dig the Mississippi river.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14"And a Montana log rolls by in the big black river of the night.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19"Take nothing but bureaucracy and unions, ESPECIALLY unions.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22"The dark laughter would come again."
0:09:22 > 0:09:27Dark laughter would come again. And here we bloody well are!
0:09:28 > 0:09:31It's time for us to hit the road like an angry pope.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36Lowell, you couldn't hold Kerouac and you certainly can't hold me.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41MUSIC: "Steady As She Goes" by The Raconteurs
0:09:42 > 0:09:45- # Steady as she goes - # Steady as she goes
0:09:45 > 0:09:49- # Steady as she goes - # Steady as she goes... #
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Just like Jack, we're feeling the magnetic pull of New York City.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00Now, somewhere out here, Kerouac reckoned he'd uncover a kind of spiritual enlightenment,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02or as he called it...
0:10:02 > 0:10:04"it".
0:10:04 > 0:10:07It could be boiled down to finding the truth within yourself.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Cos it is about being in the moment.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13You can't go, I went on this journey once and I found inner peace, which was hilarious,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17once that bloke calls goes, "OK, mate, I've got the secrets of inner peace, actually."
0:10:17 > 0:10:22He goes, "Have ya?" He goes, "Yeah, I've got them written down somewhere on a bit of paper. Hold on.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26I can hear him looking around... I go, "Fuck, I've lost it."
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Kerouac's favourite companion on the road was his best mate,
0:10:37 > 0:10:44the rebellious self-confessed fastest man alive, Neal Cassady, who was like a brother to him.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49I believe it was Plato that said there is no friendship more beautiful than that between two men.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Me and Matt's relationship is a bit more complicated.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59It's not a love-hate relationship It's a like-hate relationship.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02When I first met him I didn't really like him!
0:11:03 > 0:11:06I thought he was a bit of a show-off.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09My relationship with Matt is kind of like, I have this sort of...
0:11:09 > 0:11:14It's like a coupling, but it's unconsummated.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18- I know what you mean.- Quite rightly unconsummated.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23Kerouac was the shyer of the two men and he was bewitched by the mercurial Cassady.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27When Kerouac wrote On The Road, he thinly disguised Cassady
0:11:27 > 0:11:31by calling him Dean Moriarty - the hero of the book.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36In the book, Jack Kerouac talks about women a lot, but his main focus of his love is Neal Cassady.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37What are you saying?
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Matt is...
0:11:40 > 0:11:42- I mean, he adores me! - It's very sweet.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45He's basically come on this trip just to ogle me
0:11:45 > 0:11:49and watch my behind wiggle across the States.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54He's funny, and sensing the humour in everything I think is powerful,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57because I think ultimately it's about death
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and the acknowledgement that nothing matters. That it's stupid.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11New York, New York -
0:12:11 > 0:12:18a city that had a defining effect on Jack Kerouac, where he became hooked on the soundtrack of his era.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Kerouac said he wanted to write like jazz musicians played -
0:12:21 > 0:12:25with a sense of spontaneous and free-flowing expression.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And here in New York, Matt and I have to perform
0:12:30 > 0:12:37our own unhinged, unrehearsed babbling stream of consciousness, our weekly Radio 2 show.
0:12:38 > 0:12:44- RADIO ADVERT:- 'Online, on digital - BBC Radio 2.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47'Russell Brand.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:51You're listening to Russell Brand live on Radio 2 from New York.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00One day, ages ago, a man wrote this novel about searching for spiritual freedom
0:13:00 > 0:13:02in the great wide open landscapes of America.
0:13:02 > 0:13:0650 years later I have to share a room with Matt Morgan!
0:13:06 > 0:13:11So, if you are a writer, please think about the consequences of your work.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14After watching him sleeping in his little tiny white toddler pants.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17They're not toddler pants, they're MY pants.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21I've not got them off a toddler. I don't know how that exchange would ever take place.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I'll give you this ice-cream... There's no way you could do that today.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Even it was, "I simply want the pants,"
0:13:27 > 0:13:32there's not court in the land that would go, "Clearly, he just wanted the pants." It would look bad.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Me and Matt are staying at the famous Chelsea Hotel.
0:13:42 > 0:13:49We have been sleeping together in the same bedroom like a later day sort of punk Steptoe and Son, yeah,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52it's not like Morecambe and Wise, cos Morecambe and Wise get on.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Quite frankly, it's a dump!
0:13:59 > 0:14:04We went to see Jack Kerouac's grave, right, and on Jack Kerouac's grave, peanut butter, a Rice Krispie square
0:14:04 > 0:14:08and some Ritz Crackers, other crackers are available.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Peanut butter - you don't need that in the afterlife.
0:14:11 > 0:14:18I mean, you can't turn up at the gates of heaven to St Peter and say you know, "This might help sway you.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23"Crunchy or smooth, lemme in, crunchy or smooth?!"
0:14:25 > 0:14:29I'm here looking for the spirit of Kerouac's America.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Jack loved the excitement and madness of '50s New York.
0:14:35 > 0:14:41The closest I can get to that vibe these days is here in Greenwich Village, where the Howl festival
0:14:41 > 0:14:45is celebrating the writers and poets of Kerouac's beat generation.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49I'm going right
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Straight
0:14:50 > 0:14:52The black tar roads
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The curves among the mournful rivers
0:14:55 > 0:14:59like Sasquhana More mambo jambo...
0:14:59 > 0:15:05I'm meant to be reading one of Kerouac's poems to this lot of crazy lovable beatniks chaps.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08But they take their poetry dead seriously in these parts
0:15:08 > 0:15:12and I'm a bit worried that I'm gonna have to play it straight.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16This is a small gig, you've got a clear thing to do - read that poem.
0:15:16 > 0:15:23I've got to read this fucking poem, Bowery Blues, and when I do the fuckin' poem, I'll laugh.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25And I see shadows dancing into doom in love,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28holding tight the lovely arses of the little girls...
0:15:28 > 0:15:30How am I gonna get through that on stage?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I reckon what should happen is, you'll get to "arses",
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and you'll think, " I'm doing the rude bit and I'm not laughing."
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Also, to make matters worse, I'll be backed by one-man jazz band David Amram.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49HE SCATS
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Amram was a good mate of Kerouac's, and in a moment of '50s madness,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01he and Jack invented the barmy hybrid, jazz poetry.
0:16:04 > 0:16:11In the interests of good taste, and brevity at Bowery Poetry club,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13improvisatory good times, don't you see...
0:16:13 > 0:16:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Jazz is about setting the crooked path straight, as they say in the Bible.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- Do you reckon he done that with his writing, Kerouac? - Every second.- Do you reckon?
0:16:25 > 0:16:32He was spontaneous but he came from a disciplined background so he combined formality AND spontaneity.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45I'm reading a poem tonight, how am I going to capture the spirit of things, I'm scared?
0:16:45 > 0:16:48You just do whatever's in your heart and I'll be listening like a hawk
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and I'll follow you and it'll be perfect.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52Amram, hawks are deaf!
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Oh, I'm as angry as a fox, I'm as stubborn as a bucket.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58..always be together, I guess.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59Across the night...
0:17:04 > 0:17:06APPLAUSE
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Thank you.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13I ain't never been on stage before with all you musicians.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18What, I'll read a poem while you'll do some racket in the background?
0:17:18 > 0:17:24Alas, I'm not a drug addict any more, so this is strikingly real.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26- Were I still able... - AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:17:28 > 0:17:33I'm not observing this through a veil of opiates.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36So, five years, one at a time etc.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Christ!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42I'll just be shorter.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Bowery Blues, by Jack Kerouac.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51For no church told me,
0:17:51 > 0:17:52no guru holds me,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57no advice, just stone of New York,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02and on the cafeteria, we hear...the saxophone...
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And I see shadows, dancing into doom
0:18:07 > 0:18:13In love, holding tight the lovely arses
0:18:13 > 0:18:17of the little girls, in love with sex,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Showing themselves in white undergarments,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24at elevated windows
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Hoping for the worst.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Stop.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Kerouac, Jack.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:18:39 > 0:18:47On The Road made Kerouac famous, but it was seven agonizing years after he wrote it before it was published.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49- BUZZER SOUNDS - # Jingle all the way... #
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Sorry.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54'I know how I felt when I finally achieved notoriety.'
0:18:54 > 0:18:56Hello, Joyce Johnson.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00'But unlike me, Kerouac was a shy sort of a bloke and I wonder how he coped with it.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06'Joyce Johnson was his girlfriend at the time and was with him'
0:19:06 > 0:19:09at that very moment he read the first review.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11We've got that newspaper.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13- Oh, fantastic!- Yes, so where is it?
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Ah-ha!
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Ah-ha! Books of the times.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24"On The Road is the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet
0:19:24 > 0:19:28"made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as "beat".
0:19:28 > 0:19:33- On The Road is a major novel. - Good review, innit? - Yes, very good review.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38As well as being glowing, it's accurate, so you sat with him when the first time that he saw that?
0:19:38 > 0:19:43- His response was peculiarly flat - it was, "It's good, isn't it?" - Right.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48After that review, he was suddenly, overnight, everyone wanted to know about him
0:19:48 > 0:19:54and the idea of the beat generation got spread far and wide.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Everybody responded to this sort of, er, you know, "youth quake"
0:19:59 > 0:20:01"everything for kicks" idea.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07So they got that bit. What didn't they get?
0:20:07 > 0:20:13They didn't get the bit that the book had a whole sort of spiritual dimension.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17You know Jacks real intention behind the novel got lost.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Rather beautiful and respectful idea was lost cos,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23- "Oh, my God everyone is smoking joints and having it off!"- Exactly.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28You know, the Jack figure in On The Road, he was actually on a quest for God.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32"Everything is fine.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36"God exists. We know time. God exists without qualms.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40"As we roll alone this way I'm positive beyond doubt
0:20:40 > 0:20:42"that everything will be taken care of for us.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45"That even you as you drive fearful of the wheel,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48"the thing will go along of itself and you won't go off the road.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50"And I can sleep."
0:20:50 > 0:20:54I wonder if the spirit of On The Road can ever be recaptured in a movement,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58a rebellious, revolutionary movement that will return people to those kind of values.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Do you think it's possible? Do you think it's gone too far?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Younger people ask me that and I would like to think that can happen
0:21:04 > 0:21:07but people will have to do that on their own terms.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Do you know what? It's making me feel un-cynical,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17that I'm fucking going to do something.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19It makes me even more cynical, cos I just think...
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Don't be cynical. That's another part of our relationship.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- I'm the optimist. I believe in revolution.- I think you're deluded.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30I believe that we could found a new society,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32founded upon spiritual principles.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37- Look at all this, you'd have to change all this!- But this happened,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40and this was nothing, so it's happened once already.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41If you'd lived in 1940,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45you would have said it's impossible for black people ever to have emancipation.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47It was impossible, but it happened.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50If everyone realised there was a possibility for oneness,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52then you wouldn't need anything.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54They're gonna feel, what?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So, I lose my telly, I lose my safety, I lose my health insurance,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01I lose the fact that I've got my kids at school round the corner.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05All these things, you're asking to risk all the safety
0:22:05 > 0:22:09for a spiritual change that they don't even know that they need.
0:22:09 > 0:22:10I'd love you to do this,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I'd love to see you risk all that stuff that you've carved out...
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Yeah, cos none of them means anything,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- and none of it is making me happy. I'm stood here, unhappy.- I know.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Say someone that is brilliantly successful, like Paul Newman,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27- has his own mayonnaise... - Paul Newman has his own vinaigrette.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29It's a delicious vinaigrette.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31No-one's attacking the vinaigrette,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34but I'm just saying we can do something better, even,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38than that vinaigrette. I don't know, just a relish or something.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Joyce Johnson, Kerouac's ex, believes that a lot of people got her fella wrong,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and I'm with her on that.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Kerouac's book is about much more than people getting bombed on drugs
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and sleeping with whoever they want, although they ARE good bits.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Really it was a book about questing after spirituality,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and it was quite a traditional book,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and it was condemned as being a modern, anti-establishment piece of literature.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13After that, it became viewed as like,
0:23:13 > 0:23:19"Oh, wow, it's like a manual for the beat generation, a counter-cultural guide."
0:23:23 > 0:23:26So we've left the eastern seaboard behind,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29and we're heading into the vast body of America.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32There's 3,000 miles of road in front of us,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37and God knows what sort of extraordinary, life-changing revelations we'll find.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42"Jesus is real!" At the same time, it says, "Buy McDonald's."
0:23:42 > 0:23:46"Jesus is Real!" The commodification of everything.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50"If you die today, where would you spend eternity?"
0:23:50 > 0:23:54I don't fucking know, it's a pretty powerful question to ask...
0:23:54 > 0:23:57That's the sort of thing that's going to make someone crash.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58"If you die today... "
0:24:02 > 0:24:07Time now to pay respects to our beloved sacred parchment.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11The original manuscript of Kerouac's novel has been on the road itself,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13touring the country.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Kerouac spent seven years mulling over this book,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20but he bashed it out in a three-week non-stop splurge of creativity,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22fuelled by caffeine,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24on this single enormous roll of paper.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28It's like a road. It's a big long road.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32The scroll is 120 feet long. We have 36 feet on exhibit.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34It's very, very thin tracing paper.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39And what we wanted to show was at the very end, where the dog ate the scroll.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42He was showing the scroll to his friends, left it on the table,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and the dog started chewing the back of the scroll.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Do you think a dog really ate it, or he was meant to have finished it,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and he said, "Aw, a dog ate the scroll," as an excuse?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Wouldn't it be bad if I had really convinced you to let me touch it,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58I begged you and you went, "All right, I will let you",
0:24:58 > 0:25:00and then it got all tangled up on us,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and we ended up all wrapped up like mummies in it.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- And if I was crying...- There would be a lot of unhappy people.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Whilst the scroll is on display to the public,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21it's actually the private property of Jim Irsay,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25the multi-millionaire eccentric owner of the Indianapolis Colts,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27the reigning Superbowl champions.
0:25:27 > 0:25:34- It cost tycoon Jim a ludicrous 2.4 million dollarinos.- 65, 66!
0:25:34 > 0:25:38I don't like to do anything that makes you sweat if you don't come at the end of it.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- Where is Jim? Shall I wait for him? - Yeah, I would say just wait here.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46- Just wait here?- He'll be here...
0:25:46 > 0:25:51We've been asked to wait in the office of Superbowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53I dare you to pick up the phone.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59- Yeah?- Find the number for tactics, and give them some new tactics.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Walston.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03I'll put it on loudspeaker.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05- Hello, Walston.- 'Are you there?'
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- Yes, I'm here. This is Tony Dungy. - 'I'm with ya.'
0:26:08 > 0:26:09We gotta make some changes.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Now, from now on, all line backers are going to be wearing ballet shoes,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18it's gonna make 'em nimble on their feet, they're gonna be super-fast.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- Are you with me? If you're not with me, you're against me! - 'I'm with you!'
0:26:22 > 0:26:24- Where's John Cleese?- Uh-oh!
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Where is John Cleese? I heard he might be here!
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Jim, what a joy to meet you.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33You are rich and successful, an example of the American dream.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Do you not think that it's bizarre that that scroll is owned by you,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39a dead rich powerful man, when a lot of it is about...
0:26:39 > 0:26:43the term "beat" itself is about people that are down and out?
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Not really, because, you know, I'm a peasant by nature.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49I believe no-one has it made,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53and I believe that we're all on a spiritual ground equally,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55you know, no more, no less.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58But you're a man with considerable power, owner of a football team,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02incredible wealth and influence, and also, you have that awareness,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I wouldn't expect, through my own prejudicial views,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09to meet a man in your position and for you to talk about spirituality.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12When you're put in a position where you have everything,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16it's awfully hard to be happy if you're not spiritual,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19because you realise everything is really nothing.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23We live these mundane lives, and life kind of churns along,
0:27:23 > 0:27:24but we're looking for the magic.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26You know, to me, On The Road,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31it's just that tale that will always be there, of youth,
0:27:31 > 0:27:36and pursuing, you know, the passions of your life.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38So, OK, how come you bought that scroll, then?
0:27:38 > 0:27:43Basically, I always say the scroll found me.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46It's just like when I got the scroll - who is this guy?
0:27:46 > 0:27:48What's he gonna do? Is he gonna lock it away?
0:27:48 > 0:27:52But instead, I've spent a lot of money putting it on the road,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55building a case for it, having people care for it,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57and getting it all round the world,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00but eventually it will be buried somewhere,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02and then there will be clues sent around.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05You're gonna do an Easter Egg hunt with it.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Possibly so. We would have to have some rules tied to it,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11where the person could only keep it for a year.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14You're really thinking about doing that Easter Egg hunt!
0:28:14 > 0:28:15Definitely, I mean definitely.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19You're an amazing man, it's very interesting to talk to you.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20- Thanks, man.- Cheers!
0:28:20 > 0:28:25- Off the walls! I'm having that, for a kick-off!- All right, man.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31They won't need that. It's making the place look untidy.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Put it back, mate.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Myra, Jim said I was allowed to have this, so, er...
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Where are the cheerleaders kept?
0:28:40 > 0:28:42They're probably hungry.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54He's gonna get that scroll and bury it somewhere
0:28:54 > 0:28:56and then have a big Easter Egg hunt,
0:28:56 > 0:28:58and whoever finds it can have it?
0:28:58 > 0:29:00What if no-one finds it? That's irresponsible!
0:29:08 > 0:29:10God bless you, Jack Kerouac!
0:29:10 > 0:29:13It's no use to them, they're dead and gone,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16it's what Kerouac would have wanted.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Our next stop is Kansas City,
0:29:24 > 0:29:31but first, our route takes us over America's legendary Mississippi River. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I!
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Here we are, in Huckleberry Finn country.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38- Will you do your wee? - I will, I'll try.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43Nervously and tentatively, before micturition begins.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48There's loads of grasshopper things, big grasshoppers like this.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53It's actually quite remarkable to see him in his natural environment like this.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58- Did you do a wee?- No, cos there are grasshoppers in there.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59Cos of grasshoppers!
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Oh, Jesus!
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Look at him, he's like Goldilocks!
0:30:14 > 0:30:16We're nearly halfway through our journey,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20so there's a little bit of time for skylarking and high jinks
0:30:20 > 0:30:21in Kansas City.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27# I'm crazy 'bout my baby...#
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Turning to our road trip bible for inspiration,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34words from Dean Moriarty show us the way.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36"We bounced in our seats,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40"and "Dig her!" yelled Dean, pointing at another woman.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44"Oh, I love, love, love, women. I think woman are wonderful."
0:30:44 > 0:30:49"Great beads of sweat fell from his forehead from pure excitement and exhaustion."
0:30:49 > 0:30:53SHE SCATS
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Russell's desire for women,
0:30:55 > 0:31:01and the way Dean goes, "Women, women, I love women!"
0:31:01 > 0:31:06Russell says that. Yeah, he's similar to Dean in that way.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10You won't, I don't think, one day, Kat,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13when you're no longer young and beautiful...
0:31:13 > 0:31:15I will always be young and beautiful!
0:31:15 > 0:31:19My mom is a plastic surgeon, so I'll always be young and beautiful.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21I'm consumed by desire,
0:31:21 > 0:31:25in such a furious passion that I think it will destroy me.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Are you going to do some comedy now?
0:31:29 > 0:31:31- Yeah.- OK, tell me a joke.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Yeah, I'm sort of busy now, doing this.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38The male libido is like being chained to a madman.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43- Look around at the world. It seems tedious.- What do you mean, tedious?
0:31:43 > 0:31:47I'm the host. Look, I've been left alone.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Just texting England.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54# I like the simple life...#
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Thank you very much.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02I do worry about him.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06I've suggested some sort of chemical castration.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19Kerouac and Neal,
0:32:19 > 0:32:23they thought they had to have a wife, kids and a family home,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25cos that's what the social pressure on them was,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28but they knew that they couldn't do that.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30I think you struggle to stay with the woman,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32do you know what I mean, in a family set-up,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34if you don't mind me saying that.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37I think that I'm not gonna be happy
0:32:37 > 0:32:40until I stop trying to be really famous.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44I sort of feel like I need to get to a point where I dedicate my life
0:32:44 > 0:32:46to something that I know is truthful.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57# When rooster crows at the break of dawn
0:32:57 > 0:33:01# Look out your window and I'll be gone
0:33:01 > 0:33:06# You're the reason I'm a-travelling on
0:33:06 > 0:33:09# But don't think twice, it's all right. #
0:33:09 > 0:33:13We're clearing right off out of Kansas and heading for Denver,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16entering the infamous west of America.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Kerouac didn't just hang around with New York beat poets.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22He set out to see the whole of the country,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and got a kick out of meeting the old cowboy characters of the West.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28"By God, the first cowboy I saw,
0:33:28 > 0:33:32"walking along the bleak walls of the wholesale meat warehouses
0:33:32 > 0:33:35"with a great big ten gallon hat on and Texas boots,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39"looking like any beat character of the brick wall dawn of the East,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41"except for the get-up."
0:33:42 > 0:33:46"I heard a great laugh, the greatest laugh in the world,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49"and here came the rawhide old-timer Nebraska farmer.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54"I said to myself, "Wham! Listen to that man laugh. That's the West!"
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Its time to cowboy up.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03- Jim, lovely to meet you, this is Matt Morgan.- Hello, Jim, I'm Matt.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07In the book On The Road,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09they're always looking for the real America,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11and trying to find God in that landscape.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15There is a sense of heaven, there is a sense of "This is it."
0:34:15 > 0:34:20Do you think that's why people that live out east are compelled to come west?
0:34:20 > 0:34:22When you get out here and the horizons,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26you almost feel like you are going to fall off, out into that nothingness,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29it just goes on and on, and that can be frightening to some people.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38- Hello.- Hey, how's it going? - Really well.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40Great Johnny Bingo.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42- Johnny Bingo?- Yeah.- I'm Russell.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45How can I put that on my fucking head? It's all wet!
0:34:45 > 0:34:48- It's not wet in the inside. - It is, it's disgusting.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54- Smell my head.- Oh, Christ, what's wrong with you?
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Here don't try to get the price up now, I know what you're doing.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03You just dragged it out of your attic, sprayed it down with water, and then tried to flog it.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06We're not tourists, we're genuine cowboys!
0:35:06 > 0:35:09I can tell by your outfit you're real cowboys.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16Have you ever heard of a book by Jack Kerouac called On The Road?
0:35:16 > 0:35:20Yeah, he was way ahead of his time.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25Where do a couple of guys like us pick up women in this crazy two horse town?
0:35:25 > 0:35:28I've been here ten years, and I still can't tell you!
0:35:37 > 0:35:38That's pretty amazing.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41That's the most amazing vista we've come across.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44The rooftop of America, that's what they call that bit.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46I think I need another wee.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49- I could try and do one... - ..out the window.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Oh, Jesus Christ, that ain't gonna work.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55- I think I can do it. - That's gonna go down the car.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- Russell, don't fall out.- Arghhh! - What?
0:35:58 > 0:35:59What if I did it out of that?
0:35:59 > 0:36:01No, don't go out there, honestly.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Russell. No. Fucking idiot.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08I'm out here, Matt. It's a world of wonder.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10Right, hold on to the car inside,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12and do a piss on the truck, you bloody idiot.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Disgusting looking stuff.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29This is Denver. Part of On The Road was set here,
0:36:29 > 0:36:33and it's the home town of that mischievous sex-mad lunatic
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Neal Cassady aka Dean Moriarty.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41There's a famous quote in this book, perhaps the most famous quote,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45I love it, where Kerouac describes people like Cassady.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50" mad to talk, mad to be saved,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52"desirous of everything at the same time,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55"the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing,
0:36:55 > 0:36:58"but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00"exploding like spiders across the stars,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04"and in the middle, you see the blue centrelight pop, and everybody goes "Ah!"
0:37:07 > 0:37:09In fact, it was Neal Cassady, not Kerouac,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11who became one of my early heroes,
0:37:11 > 0:37:15along with the likes of Oscar Wilde, Morrissey and, oddly, Alan Bennett.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20Kerouac recorded an artefact of beauty,
0:37:20 > 0:37:25and Neal Cassady, momentarily, unselfconsciously, was it.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Lived it.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30It were thrilling to me, people that live like that,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33that jitter and twitch their way through an excitable life.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45We're over halfway now,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48and it strikes me that we've not yet met the right sort of people.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52When Kerouac was on the road, he was often impoverished, brassic,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56not hanging around with millionaires and tennis players like we've been.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Kerouac thought hoboes, hustlers and the homeless
0:37:59 > 0:38:01had a great insight into life,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03and I relate to that idea a bit.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07I remember when preachers get on the tube,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09and start ranting and raving from the Bible,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13I was quite into them, and I was listening to this person preaching,
0:38:13 > 0:38:18and the woman opposite me looked at me and rolled her eyes.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23I thought, "I've got more in common with him than I have you".
0:38:23 > 0:38:26I think they're all right, I'm into them coming on a train preaching.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Hello! He's Matt, I'm Russell, hello.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37- I'm Debbie.- Hi, Debbie.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39This is my husband, Jack.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42You're married, that's good, that must make it a bit easier.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46- The sex is good!- Yeah, I guess there's a certain romance to that.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Fucking hell!
0:38:48 > 0:38:52- See, I was born like that.- Really?
0:38:52 > 0:38:54There's this book, it's called On the Road.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59In this book, Jack Kerouac often romanticises homeless people that he meets,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02i.e. if you ain't got nothing, you're closer to God,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05- cos you're not living in a material world.- Right.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09That is probably easier to say if, like me, you have got a house.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13If you're a cripple, you have nothing. We're richer than the rich.
0:39:13 > 0:39:14That's what it means.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18We're richer than anybody on Earth. We have God on our side.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21We have people that love us out here, we stick together!
0:39:21 > 0:39:23We all stick together out here.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27We stick together, we fight together, we get drunk together.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29We're people, not animals.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30I appreciate that.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35I love his hair, he's a fine fox.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37- Do you think I'm a fine fox? - Yes, I do.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39- What is your name? - My name is Sandra.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Lovely to meet you, Sandra.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Hey, you've got a very beautiful face.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- Let's get you more money. - I'm 60.- You're 60?
0:39:49 > 0:39:51- Delicious money.- Money!
0:39:51 > 0:39:53Thank you. God be with all of you.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57DON'T WASTE IT ON DRUGS!
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Does anyone want this book?
0:40:00 > 0:40:03- Yeah.- Read it.- Thanks.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Careful of that.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09See you, mate!
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Sandra, stop being passionate!
0:40:15 > 0:40:20- I'm the guy that handles this corner for the city of Denver.- Oh, yeah?
0:40:20 > 0:40:25And I'm really happy but she does crack and you're supporting the crack addicts, OK?
0:40:25 > 0:40:29- Yeah, but people are crack addicts, they're crack addicts!- I'm the man, OK?
0:40:29 > 0:40:31- Well, you're A man.- No, I'm THE man!
0:40:31 > 0:40:35- Stay out of my corner, just go back to England, OK? - Don't be so aggressive.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39You don't know nothing about us? What do you think...?
0:40:39 > 0:40:41I ain't just appeared. I've lived a life.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44No shit? You're not making it easier for them.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47If they get through today, it makes it easier.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52Take it easy, peace, good luck. See youse.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54It makes me angry, his righteousness.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56He goes, "This is my corner, I run this corner."
0:40:56 > 0:40:59It's going well, everyone's fucking homeless!
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Get some flowers in, mate.
0:41:03 > 0:41:09That big oaf social worker from the council spoke to me like I had no idea about drugs and alcohol.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13But I do have an idea because I used to be on them all day long, every day.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Thankfully, I got my addictions under control
0:41:15 > 0:41:19and have never endured anything as extreme as being poor and homeless
0:41:19 > 0:41:22and having a big oaf social worker who can't run his corner properly.
0:41:22 > 0:41:28Well, the reason I stopped taking drugs was lack of alternative, really.
0:41:28 > 0:41:35I got sacked from all of my work cos I was unable to function and sustain my life.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39I just thought he was going to die because on heroin...
0:41:39 > 0:41:43And his eyes would just roll up to white and he'd, like, stop talking,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46fall asleep in the middle of a sentence.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49I didn't think there were options up until then,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53I thought, "How else are you gonna get through life? Why wouldn't you take drugs?"
0:41:53 > 0:41:58It just seemed like it wasn't like a decision to take drugs, it was just an absence of an alternative.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03Now, I'm as sharp as a thistle and clean as a whistle but I have to observe certain rituals.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05How was AA?
0:42:05 > 0:42:07AA, you say?
0:42:07 > 0:42:11As we've gone across America he's been to AA in different cities
0:42:11 > 0:42:14and I think it brings him back down to earth.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19He's sat in that room, he's not a celebrity, he's no better than anyone else there.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24Yeah, you do get to see beneath the surface, I suppose.
0:42:24 > 0:42:30It's absurd that I'm listening to this bloke from Salt Lake City telling...
0:42:30 > 0:42:34You must get to know the place you're in so much better than you would or on a different level.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39He finds it massively useful. I take the piss out of him and call it Moaners' Club,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42and when he shares, I can imagine he sort of stands up
0:42:42 > 0:42:47and performs and does a sort of bit of stand-up and everyone claps.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51I've been stuck in a car with that sarcastic nit for days now
0:42:51 > 0:42:55so it feels good to get out of the motor and into the radio station.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
0:43:00 > 0:43:02'Online on digital.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04'Russell Brand.'
0:43:04 > 0:43:08We just met a whole load of homeless chums hanging out in Denver, right.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Them homeless, they was nice blokes and birds
0:43:11 > 0:43:15but what I like most was that old black lady, I liked the way that she got all passionate.
0:43:15 > 0:43:22She'd go, "Oh, my God, we got each other, we got each other but man, what is wrong with people today?!"
0:43:22 > 0:43:25See, we're all sitting together out here.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30And we dished out a load of money like Willy Wonkas, it was really good fun actually, that bit.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34Patronising, but what you gonna do, give them money or not give them money?
0:43:34 > 0:43:36I'm sure they'd rather have the money.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41Then this bloke leaned in the window, sort of craned in, and goes, "This is my corner!
0:43:41 > 0:43:44"You've given them money, they'll buy crack".
0:43:44 > 0:43:48- She does crack.- Who does?- And you're supporting the crack addicts, OK?
0:43:48 > 0:43:50"You haven't helped them, you've made them take drugs".
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Well, they needed drugs anyway, they're living in the bloody streets.
0:43:58 > 0:44:05We've been driving for ages now and it's a miracle we're still alive with Matt's treacherous driving.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07My driving's got us across America.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11Once I drove for about seven hours straight, then eight hours straight.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14- How long have you driven? - I can't drive!
0:44:14 > 0:44:20So you just sit there. Right, Russell is in charge of air conditioning and iPod.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Yep, always nice and cool in that car!
0:44:26 > 0:44:31It's like I'm driving a tit around, that's what I am, a tit delivery man!
0:44:31 > 0:44:34God bless you, Caddyshack!
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Hello, what town are we in today? Here's your tit.
0:44:47 > 0:44:511,600 miles have been traversed.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55The rest of our journey will take us across the vast salt flats of Utah,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58through the deserts of Nevada and into California.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Ultimately, though, we're heading to San Francisco.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07"We sat tight and bent our minds to the goal.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09"As we crossed the Colorado-Utah border,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12"I saw God in the sky in the form of huge sunburning clouds
0:45:12 > 0:45:18"above the desert that seemed to say to me the day of wrath will come."
0:45:26 > 0:45:28I feel a bit cocooned in the old jalopy.
0:45:28 > 0:45:34Kerouac in his time used to hitchhike a lot, we're not allowed to because of the law.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39But we can sure as hell pick up hitchhikers from the side of the road.
0:45:39 > 0:45:40'A pair of lovable twits.'
0:45:40 > 0:45:42Hi, do you want a lift?
0:45:42 > 0:45:45- I'm Derek.- All right, mate, I'm Russell from London.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46Are you aware of Jack Kerouac?
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- He wrote a book called On The Road.- Yeah.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53It's about people travelling across America and discovering America.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55- Cool!- Why are you hitchhiking?
0:45:55 > 0:46:00- You see things hitchhiking that you won't ever see any other way.- Really?
0:46:00 > 0:46:04A couple of Vietnam vets picked us up last night and took us out partying.
0:46:04 > 0:46:05Hey, Corey!
0:46:05 > 0:46:08# One sunny morning
0:46:09 > 0:46:12# We'll rise, I know... #
0:46:12 > 0:46:14- Where are you from?- Raised in Texas.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19# And I'll meet you further on Up the road. #
0:46:19 > 0:46:23- I left home when I was 14 and started travelling with the carnival. - Really?
0:46:23 > 0:46:25On the road ever since.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29To be honest, if I knew what I was looking for I'd be headed right for it but...
0:46:29 > 0:46:33- Why do you keep travelling?- I just can't seem to settle down yet.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Have you never wanted to get married, settle down, have a family?
0:46:36 > 0:46:41- Actually I've been married twice. I have six kids.- Jesus Christ!
0:46:41 > 0:46:47'Ah, to be young, free and single. The carefree life of a man with two wives and six kids there.'
0:46:47 > 0:46:49That's where we're getting off at.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53- Take care. Ta-ta now.- We will.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58Off they go, look, travelling the road and irresponsibly siring children.
0:46:58 > 0:47:05# Now I've been out in the desert Just doing my time
0:47:05 > 0:47:09# Searching through the dust
0:47:09 > 0:47:13# Looking for a sign
0:47:13 > 0:47:15# If there's a light up ahead
0:47:19 > 0:47:20# Well, brother, I don't know
0:47:22 > 0:47:28# But I got this fever burning in my soul... #
0:47:28 > 0:47:31- Looks like the Holy Land.- It does. This is fucking berserk landscape.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34Yeah, this is salt, isn't it?
0:47:34 > 0:47:36- Fucking hell.- It is pretty biblical.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40No wonder they started up getting all Mormon about everything.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47I think somehow inherent within travelling large geographical distances
0:47:47 > 0:47:51is the idea of spiritual progression.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55If you travel a long way, it is kind of conducive to reflection.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00I suppose because of the obvious metaphor of, "We're born, we die."
0:48:00 > 0:48:03And it's difficult not to reflect on that journey.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07There have been times on this incredible journey
0:48:07 > 0:48:10where the beauty of the landscape and the joy of new people
0:48:10 > 0:48:12has been transcendental in its potency.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15I've never been anywhere like this.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17- No, me neither. - It's like driving on the sea.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23And here, fleetingly, in this bizarre scenery,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26I think I can feel a bit of the sense of spiritual bliss
0:48:26 > 0:48:28that Kerouac was always harping on about.
0:48:28 > 0:48:35This is about the amount of salt that I take with everything you say.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37RUSSELL LAUGHS
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Listen, your voice echoes.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Woo! I struggle with intimacy!
0:48:42 > 0:48:43I'm addicted to fame!
0:48:51 > 0:48:53This is the perfect place to learn to drive.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56You should have a go at driving cos it's easy.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00What possibly could go wrong in this lovely salt space-scape?
0:49:00 > 0:49:03Beep beep! To Toad Hall!
0:49:03 > 0:49:08Don't do any hard braking. Don't do that, Jesus Christ!
0:49:08 > 0:49:12You're turning too tight, mate, you're turning too tight! Fucking hell.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Fucking hell, Russell.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16No, don't accelerate.
0:49:20 > 0:49:21I'm thinking on me feet.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25Fucking hell, why did I let you have a go? Slow down.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29I'm going to put the brake on now!
0:49:31 > 0:49:34You've been a very naughty girl!
0:49:35 > 0:49:38- What's your name, mate? - Greg Anderson.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- Greg Anderson?- Yeah. - We're on a road trip.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44- So am I.- What are YOU looking for?
0:49:44 > 0:49:47I just want to see this country. On this motorcycle.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49It's amazing, isn't it?
0:49:49 > 0:49:51There's no lines, you can just go.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56No parameters. No boundaries. That's scary for a lot of people, but not for me and you.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01Now get out there, Greg, and experience that white void, get out there. Live, man!
0:50:02 > 0:50:08When you see two guys on a motorcycle, the guy in the back is riding bitch.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12- I am riding bitch?!- That's been pretty much how it's been.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15You're riding bitch on an American motorcycle.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Can you stop saying that, Greg Anderson?!
0:50:23 > 0:50:28# Greg Anderson He likes to ride his Harley
0:50:28 > 0:50:32# He says I ride bitch back
0:50:32 > 0:50:39# He said that I'm a sort of wife to my friend Matt! #
0:50:39 > 0:50:40THEY LAUGH
0:50:53 > 0:50:56"The car was swaying as Dean and I both swayed to the rhythm
0:50:56 > 0:51:01"and the it of our final excited joy in talking and living to the blank tranced end
0:51:01 > 0:51:07"of all innumerable riotous, angelic particulars that had been lurking in our souls all our lives...
0:51:11 > 0:51:17"The point being that we know what IT is and we know TIME and we know that everything is really FINE."
0:51:20 > 0:51:23This whole experience has made me want to live more truthfully.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26It's made me want to put aside...
0:51:28 > 0:51:33living that sort of spiritual hand-to-mouth impoverished existence,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37and to focus on the things that are absolute and constant.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54Bloody hell, mate, it's a bit mad having all them stuffed animals in here after Psycho.
0:51:54 > 0:52:00- You run a motel and you've got stuffed animals... - There's a lot of hunting around here.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06Let's go. Oh, no! Joe, is this a trick? Is this the bit where you dress up as your mum and kill us?
0:52:10 > 0:52:13- Oh, my God.- We're staying Winnemucca.
0:52:13 > 0:52:19I would call it a one horse town but if there was a horse here, Joe would probably stuff it.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21# I think we're gonna to like it here! #
0:52:23 > 0:52:24Joe...
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Joe.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30My mum made mistakes with me!
0:52:32 > 0:52:34Go over there in just my pants and boots?
0:52:34 > 0:52:39- And salute. I'll give you a hundred dollars if you do that!- You're on!
0:52:50 > 0:52:56Today we've entered California, and San Francisco's tantalisingly close.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00# Jacky Kerouac's peanut butter... #
0:53:00 > 0:53:03It's full of grim-death goodness!
0:53:05 > 0:53:08'I don't know how Kerouac managed seven years on the road.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12'I've done three weeks and, look, I'm going all insane in the membrane.'
0:53:13 > 0:53:18Now I think we can use this door to clatter right into these little orange guys. It's idea of the day.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Russell, don't do that!
0:53:20 > 0:53:22Damn you!
0:53:22 > 0:53:25The wind cannot stop us now!
0:53:25 > 0:53:28You berk. You fucking opened your door like a knob
0:53:28 > 0:53:32to knock over a traffic cone which I said we wouldn't get anyway
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and then the book fell out with all your notes!
0:53:37 > 0:53:39'Thank God our journey was almost done!'
0:53:39 > 0:53:42I've scoffed all the Kerouacky butter.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49My copy of On The Road lies behind us on a Californian roadside unnoticed and unmourned...
0:53:49 > 0:53:53the unknown soldier of the literary world.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56This isn't the Golden Gate Bridge.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00It is golden! It is! Look! Look!
0:54:00 > 0:54:02It's a shit bridge, just coming in.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05What do you mean, it's just a shit bridge?
0:54:09 > 0:54:13We've driven more than 3,000 miles in our truck all the way across America
0:54:13 > 0:54:16and here we bloody well are at the Pacific Ocean.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20We've reached the sea at last.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23After all our trials and endeavours!
0:54:26 > 0:54:31Well now, this is a little bit more like it on the Golden Gate Bridge front, isn't it?
0:54:31 > 0:54:32Wow!
0:54:37 > 0:54:42"We saw, stretched out ahead of us, the fabulous white city of San Francisco
0:54:42 > 0:54:48"on her 11 mystic hills with the blue Pacific and its advancing wall of potato-patch fog beyond,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51"and smoke and goldenness in the late afternoon of time...
0:54:51 > 0:54:54"We can't go any further cos there ain't no more land!"
0:55:04 > 0:55:10I'm finishing in San Francisco, where a whole generation took Kerouac's book to heart.
0:55:10 > 0:55:15But as bombed-out beatniks and hippies mimicked Cassady's hedonism,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Kerouac worried that his spiritual message had been lost.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24In the end, Kerouac retreated from life and succumbed to the booze,
0:55:24 > 0:55:29dying, tragically, of alcoholism aged just 47.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40As a last tribute, I've arranged a night to talk about my life on the road.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Kerouac and his mates held "blabbermouth nights"
0:55:43 > 0:55:47where they'd get up and rap about their work and that, man, be bop de bop bop.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51I'd like to welcome you to the Beat Museum. Thanks for coming tonight.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54So this is my version of a blabbermouth night,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57here at San Francisco's fittingly-shabby Beat Museum.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Hello. Thanks for coming. You're a drifter.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03I've seen characters like you in the movies.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08We started off here... Lowell, Massachusetts. I'll tell you one thing.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12A lot of my prejudices about America were undermined and dismantled
0:56:12 > 0:56:17because I see now that you're not the ignorant people
0:56:17 > 0:56:20that you're portrayed as by European media.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23The people that I actually met, gracious sort of people,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27people you'd think, yes, they would make an apple pie for Huckleberry Finn.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30There weren't much warmongering going on where I saw people.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32No-one once mongered for the war.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34I didn't see no mongering.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37No-one looked like they were suppressing a monger, either.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41It didn't look like, hold on, there's people from Europe here... don't monger!
0:56:41 > 0:56:44The minute we go... Monger, monger!
0:56:44 > 0:56:47So I've learned loads of things like a lot of us here,
0:56:47 > 0:56:48probably you, the drifter,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52me, for example, you'll be able to tell from my ridiculous haircut.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57What we have idealised about him and idolised is
0:56:57 > 0:57:02what he represents counter culturally, a sort of an icon for change.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07There is a way of living where we ain't all shackled by fear. They're always on about "it".
0:57:07 > 0:57:08Well, we're trying to find IT.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11Well, what the bloody hell is it?
0:57:11 > 0:57:16And here's my two penn'orth. That's about not being oppressed by time,
0:57:16 > 0:57:20not being oppressed by the idea of the journey that life begins here and ends here,
0:57:20 > 0:57:24so you grant yourself a little bit of freedom in the moment,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27that you allow yourself the privilege of spontaneity.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33The main thing I've got from this journey
0:57:33 > 0:57:38is that if you aren't governed by fear,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42you can live truthfully and you can find a kind of beauty.
0:57:42 > 0:57:50But if you're inhibited and fearful, you will live a prescriptive existence.
0:57:50 > 0:57:55But, like, once you sort of get beyond the hedonistic first impulse of that philosophy,
0:57:55 > 0:58:00you find that you need to focus on something wider,
0:58:00 > 0:58:05more permanent and beautiful and valuable. That's what I'VE learned.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09And I kinda think I want to do something worthwhile.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17# Steady as she goes
0:58:17 > 0:58:20# Steady as she goes
0:58:20 > 0:58:22# Steady as she goes
0:58:22 > 0:58:23# Steady as she goes
0:58:23 > 0:58:26# So steady as she goes
0:58:26 > 0:58:27# Steady as she goes
0:58:27 > 0:58:29# Steady as she goes
0:58:29 > 0:58:31# Are you steady now?
0:58:31 > 0:58:33# Steady as she goes
0:58:33 > 0:58:35# Are you steady now?
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# Steady as she goes
0:58:37 > 0:58:39# Are you steady now?
0:58:39 > 0:58:41# Steady as she goes
0:58:41 > 0:58:42# Are you steady now?
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# Steady as she goes. #
0:58:44 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.