0:00:58 > 0:01:01In the Roaring '20s, two worlds collided.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04One southern, rural and traditional.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The other northern, urban and industrial.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15America was in motion.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Record companies sent scouts across the United States,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25searching for new artists and sounds.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33They travelled to remote regions,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36auditioned thousands of everyday Americans and issued
0:01:36 > 0:01:38their music on phonograph records.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45It was the first time America heard itself.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52The artists they discovered shaped our world.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Here are some of their stories.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19The Appalachian mountain range was the western frontier
0:02:19 > 0:02:21of America's first British colonies.
0:02:25 > 0:02:26Over the centuries,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29its isolated rural communities preserved and evolved
0:02:29 > 0:02:32their own dialects, customs and music.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34MUSIC: Wildwood Flower by Maybelle Carter
0:02:34 > 0:02:39# Oh, I'll twine with my mingles and waving black hair
0:02:39 > 0:02:44# With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
0:02:44 > 0:02:49# And the myrtle so bright with the emerald dew
0:02:49 > 0:02:53# The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue... #
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Though poor in material goods,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58the mountain folk are rich with tradition.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02And none more so than the founders of modern country music,
0:03:02 > 0:03:03the Carter Family.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09My name's Dale Jett and I'm the grandson of AP and Sara Carter,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14and I'm sitting on my great aunt Maybelle Carter's porch as we speak.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18This area has been Poor Valley as long as I've known it
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and I grew up half a mile from here.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24It may not look like it, but, as the name implies, it's a poor area.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27There's not a lot of work here and it's pretty rugged terrain.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Hillside farming is about all that you can do around here so,
0:03:30 > 0:03:31you know, whether we like it or not,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35we're in what a lot of people refer to as poverty-stricken Appalachia,
0:03:35 > 0:03:40and we are indeed, but in this area, these big porches lend theirselves
0:03:40 > 0:03:43to people just hanging out and picking music.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45And to me, music,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49that's probably the most important thing to come out of Poor Valley.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54The mountain folk had always sung and played together,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58but those familiar sounds were transformed by AP Carter
0:03:58 > 0:04:02into a popular style and a national career.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07And like every great country song, it all started with a love story.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Clinch Mountain's about 3,000 feet and my grandfather AP was over in
0:04:12 > 0:04:15that area selling fruit trees and went up a holler one evening
0:04:15 > 0:04:19and said he heard the prettiest singing that he'd ever heard,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23a just angelic voice.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26# Bring back my boy, my wandering boy... #
0:04:26 > 0:04:28You know, it just pulled him up the holler and it was Sara.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33She was sitting out on the porch and AP stopped over there.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36He wanted her name and everything, cos aunt Sara was beautiful.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40She was one beautiful woman and she had that gorgeous voice,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and he just fell deeply in love with her.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45# ..with faded cheeks and hair
0:04:45 > 0:04:51# At their old home is waiting him there... #
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Sara was actually selling china.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59You know, mail-order dishes, and AP bought all the dishes that he could
0:04:59 > 0:05:02afford to try to put himself in good graces.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Oh, her voice was out of this world.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07Everybody noticed it.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I mean, all she had to do to get a crowd in was to get out and sing
0:05:11 > 0:05:12on anybody's porch.
0:05:12 > 0:05:19# Bring back my boy My wandering boy
0:05:19 > 0:05:26# Far, far away Wherever he may be... #
0:05:26 > 0:05:29He worshipped her, I really believe, from the time that he first heard
0:05:29 > 0:05:32her singing in that holler across the mountain.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35I don't think that he ever lost that love.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40# At their old home is waiting him there. #
0:05:43 > 0:05:48AP and Sara married, started a family and began singing together
0:05:48 > 0:05:51with Sara's teenage cousin, Maybelle.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Aunt Maybelle, she was the kindest, sweetest person you ever saw,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57and one of the most talented.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00She was a musician and wonderful car driver.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02She could do anything.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05She taught herself the guitar when she was six years old, I think.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Not much to do except to pick up an instrument and start playing.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13She did it with such ease, it was like it was no struggle with her.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14It was just there.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30# Sweet fern
0:06:30 > 0:06:31# Sweet fern
0:06:31 > 0:06:33# Sweet fern
0:06:33 > 0:06:34# Sweet fern
0:06:34 > 0:06:38# Oh, tell me, is my darling still true?
0:06:38 > 0:06:39# Sweet fern
0:06:39 > 0:06:40# Sweet fern
0:06:40 > 0:06:41# Sweet fern
0:06:41 > 0:06:42# Sweet fern
0:06:42 > 0:06:46# I'll be just as happy as you... #
0:07:04 > 0:07:06You know, they didn't really have any influences,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10because in Poor Valley there were no record players, there wasn't radio,
0:07:10 > 0:07:11there wasn't television.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15I mean, the only influences they had were family and friends,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20was the people immediately around them that you heard live and first-hand.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24The Carter Family played only at home and for small local gatherings,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28but the world outside Poor Valley was about to come calling.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36For 30 years, record companies had marketed their music primarily to
0:07:36 > 0:07:38the urban middle class.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48But, by the mid-1920s,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52that audience was switching to the new technology - radio.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Faced with plummeting sales,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59the record-makers turned to rural and ethnic consumers,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02who were being ignored by the national broadcasters.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07They sent recording teams south and advertised for musicians
0:08:07 > 0:08:10to come and audition.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Well, this was in about 1927 and the first time that we'd ever gone out
0:08:14 > 0:08:15on the road.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17So, we would decide that we would record, for instance,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19in Johnson City, Tennessee.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22And then it would be mentioned in the paper and the word would get
0:08:22 > 0:08:26around in churches and schoolhouses that somebody was going to come
0:08:26 > 0:08:27down there for a recording to do.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33And these people would show up from sometimes 800-900 miles away.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35How they got there, I'll never know.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37And how they got back, I'll never know.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39They never asked me for money.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41They didn't question anything at all.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44They just were happy to sing and play.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50They had made a phonograph record, and that was the next thing to being
0:08:50 > 0:08:52President of the United States in their mind.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Field recording sessions, organised by producers like Frank Walker,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02immortalised Americans from every walk of life.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08The Victor Talking Machine Company hired Ralph Peer,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11a man with a proven track record, to find and develop new talent.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Peer's landmark recordings already included the first hit record
0:09:16 > 0:09:18marketed to an African-American audience,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21the first hit by a white country musician,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and the most important artist in the history of jazz.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27He was the man who caught lightning in a bottle.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33If I have a favourite saying,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37it's the art of being where the lightning is going to strike.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41And how in God's name you can detect that, I wouldn't know,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44but I have always been able to do it.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Ralph Peer must have been a visionary, because he saw potential
0:09:49 > 0:09:54in music and acts that I don't think anybody else really did.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59He was very much in favour of ethnic music and also promoted, you know,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02acts, some of which became legendary later on,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06that would never have been recorded without his support.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Ralph Peer recorded the music of everyday working people.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14He was using the revolutionary new Western Electric recording system
0:10:14 > 0:10:19which, for the first time, could capture the true sound of voices and instruments.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23It was the beginning of modern sound recording.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28I'm Craig Raguse, my grandfather Eimer Raguse was
0:10:28 > 0:10:29a Western Electric engineer.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34And he helped develop the electrical recording system at Western Electric
0:10:34 > 0:10:37that Ralph Peer and others took on the road with them.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39And when they went to these makeshift studios,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41they couldn't just plug it into the electricity,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43it was not a stable source.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45So they had to take West cell batteries, similar to these,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47to run the system.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50The artists basically had a single take to record.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53If they made a mistake, they had to scrap what they were doing
0:10:53 > 0:10:54and do it over again.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56So, there were no overdubs or anything like that,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59because there was no mix, it was all one take, one microphone,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01recorded onto a wax disc.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06What's great about America is someone will work hard
0:11:06 > 0:11:10in some garage or basement somewhere and invent something incredibly
0:11:10 > 0:11:14cultured and life-altering for everybody to experience.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20And the next step is to figure out how we can monetise
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and make money off of this, and that's the part that starts to get
0:11:23 > 0:11:26really interesting, because once you are aiming to try to make money off
0:11:26 > 0:11:31of a format of some kind, then happy accidents start happening.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And that's how we accidentally got all these amazing artists to record,
0:11:35 > 0:11:36who never would have been recorded.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45In the summer of 1927, Peer travelled to Bristol, Tennessee,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and set up his recording equipment in the empty warehouse
0:11:48 > 0:11:50of the Taylor-Christian Hat Company.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57He placed an article in the local newspaper, tempting musicians
0:11:57 > 0:11:59to come and audition.
0:11:59 > 0:12:05So, here's a copy of the Bristol News bulletin from July 27, 1927,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07which was just at the start of the Bristol sessions,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10and this was typically a way my father, Ralph S Peer,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12would look for new talent.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15And so the story reads, "Mountain songs recorded here
0:12:15 > 0:12:17"by the Victor Company.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21"This morning, Ernest Stoneman and company, from near Galax, Virginia,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24"were performers and they played and sang into the microphone.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29"Stoneman receiving 100 and each of his assistants 25.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34"He received from the company 3,600 last year as his share
0:12:34 > 0:12:36"of the proceeds from the songs."
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Now, that was a lot of money in those days and, believe me,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41a lot of people who had talent said,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43"Gee, I'd like to give that a try myself."
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- VOICE OF ERNEST STONEMAN:- After you read this,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47if you could play a C on the piano,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49you're going to become a millionaire.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The news of Peer's session attracted dozens of performers to Bristol.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02JP Nestor from Galax, Virginia.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Ernest Phipps and his Holiness Singers from Corbyn, Kentucky.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12And an aspiring singer, who drove across the Smoky Mountains
0:13:12 > 0:13:13from Asheville, North Carolina.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17His name was Jimmy Rogers.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33# Doo-doo-doo-doo
0:13:33 > 0:13:35# Doe-dee-oh-doe
0:13:35 > 0:13:38# Doe-dee-oh-doe-dee-oh-doe
0:13:40 > 0:13:43# All around the water tanks
0:13:43 > 0:13:47# Waiting for a train
0:13:47 > 0:13:50# A thousand miles away from home
0:13:50 > 0:13:52# Sleeping in the rain
0:13:54 > 0:13:57# I walked up to a brakeman
0:13:57 > 0:14:00# To give him a line of talk
0:14:00 > 0:14:03# He says if you've got money,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06# I'll see that you don't walk
0:14:08 > 0:14:11# I haven't got a nickel
0:14:11 > 0:14:14# Not a penny can I show
0:14:14 > 0:14:17# Get off, get off, you railroad bum
0:14:17 > 0:14:21# And he slammed the boxcar door... #
0:14:21 > 0:14:22HE YODELS
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Jimmy Rogers brought a new bluesy flavour to country music.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31YODELLING CONTINUES
0:14:33 > 0:14:37But country's deep, traditional roots will forever be associated
0:14:37 > 0:14:39with another group who showed up at the Bristol sessions.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44AP had been to Bristol one day and he'd heard about this guy,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Ralph Peer, looking for new talent
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and, of course, he was insistent on going.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52They were, "Oh, that's way out there, we do need to do that.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55"Nothing good'll come of it." But he persisted.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59It would have been a difficult task to sell Sara and Maybelle in that
0:14:59 > 0:15:00we're going to go record in Bristol,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05which would have been a big journey itself, so he had to coax them to go.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Maybelle was pregnant with Helen.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Uncle Eck did not want her to go
0:15:09 > 0:15:11because she was close to her ninth month.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15And Sara had Joe, who was still nursing.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Of course, AP was very persistent.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It took them all day to get from here to Bristol.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25They had the ford creeks,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28they avoided the river, and they were in a Model T,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30constantly fixing flats.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31There was muddy roads, you know.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35They didn't even have gravel roads, it was mud tracks.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38So, they'd been trying to get there any way they could.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41And you know, Aunt Maybelle was nine months pregnant,
0:15:41 > 0:15:42didn't feel very good,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45and every time she hit a bump, she didn't know,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48you know, we going to have this baby out here or what?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55When they got to the studio that day they said that they went in
0:15:55 > 0:15:57the back way because they were ashamed of
0:15:57 > 0:15:59the clothes that they wore.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01They didn't have stage clothes.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05They didn't know anything about that.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09'They came into record and brought the children dressed in rags
0:16:09 > 0:16:12'and he's dressed in overalls.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14'And the women are countrywomen from
0:16:14 > 0:16:17'way back there, calico clothes on.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20'They looked like hillbillies. That's just what they looked like.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24'But on that very first test record, why I recall distinctly,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27'as soon as I heard Sara's voice, that was it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30'I began to build around it.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'And all the first recordings were on that basis.'
0:16:40 > 0:16:45# My heart is sad and I'm in sorrow
0:16:45 > 0:16:49# For the only one I love
0:16:49 > 0:16:52# When shall I see him?
0:16:52 > 0:16:53# Oh, no, never
0:16:53 > 0:16:57# Till I meet him in heaven above
0:16:58 > 0:17:01# Oh, bury me under the weeping willow
0:17:01 > 0:17:05# Yes, under the weeping willow tree
0:17:05 > 0:17:10# So he may know where I am sleeping
0:17:10 > 0:17:14# And perhaps he will weep for me
0:17:14 > 0:17:18# They told me that he did not love me
0:17:18 > 0:17:22# I could not believe it was true
0:17:22 > 0:17:27# Until an angel softly whispered
0:17:27 > 0:17:30# He has proven untrue to you
0:17:31 > 0:17:35# Oh, bury me under the weeping willow
0:17:35 > 0:17:39# Yes, under the weeping willow tree
0:17:39 > 0:17:43# So he may know where I am sleeping
0:17:43 > 0:17:47# And perhaps he will weep for me... #
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The second day of August 1927,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53it was my first record.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Well, they just had an old building
0:17:55 > 0:17:57that we recorded in,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59that wasn't a regular studio.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01It was just an old warehouse.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04They cut it on a big wax.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07If you make a mistake, you have to shave it off, you know.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09You couldn't erase it like you do a tape.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11And a lot of times we should have done it,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13but we didn't, you know.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15I'd say, "Please, do that over."
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And when it come out, it come out with the mistake on it.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20He said, "Well, it makes people listen, you know."
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Just see what's going to happen next.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28# Tomorrow was our wedding day
0:18:28 > 0:18:32# But, oh, Lord, oh, where is he?
0:18:32 > 0:18:36# He's gone to seek him another bride
0:18:36 > 0:18:41# And he cares no more for me... #
0:18:41 > 0:18:45We were extremely lucky in the 1920s and '30s that rural artists were
0:18:45 > 0:18:48recorded that would never have been recorded had these companies
0:18:48 > 0:18:51not wanted to sell records to urban and rural people.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55And a lot of these songs have changed the world, really.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58They changed music, they changed popular music
0:18:58 > 0:19:00and they changed popular culture around the world
0:19:00 > 0:19:01for the last hundred years.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04# Oh, bury me under the weeping willow
0:19:04 > 0:19:09# Yes, under the weeping willow tree
0:19:09 > 0:19:13# So he may know where I am sleeping
0:19:13 > 0:19:16# And perhaps he will weep for me. #
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Those Carter family records are treasures
0:19:20 > 0:19:23that are passed from generation to generation to this day.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27If you're lucky enough to have good Carter Family 78s that are in good
0:19:27 > 0:19:29condition...
0:19:29 > 0:19:31When you pass them down along with, you know,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34great-grandma's Victrola...
0:19:34 > 0:19:38with extra needles that haven't been opened from back then,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41you can't even imagine what that is.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45They were really very popular.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50And the backbone of any kind of country, old-timey music.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52# Oh, listen to the train
0:19:52 > 0:19:54# Coming down the line
0:19:54 > 0:19:58# Trying to make up for all of her lost time
0:19:58 > 0:20:01# From Buffalo to Washington... #
0:20:11 > 0:20:14After that first trip to Bristol they recorded 12 places like Camden,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17New Jersey, New York City, Memphis,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Lowville, Charlotte, Atlanta.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27And after all of that they recorded 326 songs.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30# My baby's left me
0:20:30 > 0:20:32# She even took my shoes
0:20:32 > 0:20:36# Enough to give a man doggone weary blues
0:20:36 > 0:20:40# She's gone, she's solid gone. #
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I grew up hearing all their songs
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and I was a huge fan of theirs all my life.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59# Can the circle be unbroken
0:20:59 > 0:21:03# Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
0:21:03 > 0:21:06# There's a better home a-waiting
0:21:06 > 0:21:09# In the sky, Lord, in the sky. #
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15they were the founder and the starter of a lot of great artists
0:21:15 > 0:21:17across the board.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25And I think once you hear the original Carter Family
0:21:25 > 0:21:29you don't have to explain why they were special. It all was.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37# Oh, can the circle be unbroken?
0:21:37 > 0:21:41# Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
0:21:41 > 0:21:46# There's a better home a-waiting
0:21:46 > 0:21:50# In the sky, Lord, in the sky... #
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Always heard that the Carter Family,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05that they didn't charge widows and orphans...
0:22:06 > 0:22:11..at a performance. And I know that seems odd,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15but there was a gentleman walked up one day, and he said,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19"When I was a little boy," he said, "I went to a Carter Family concert."
0:22:19 > 0:22:26And he said, "I paid my 15 cents and they gave it back to me."
0:22:26 > 0:22:28So I know it's true, you know.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31That touched me, so, I mean...
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I mean, that...
0:22:38 > 0:22:40I'm sorry.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44That tells me it was about music and not about money.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46You know what I mean.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50It's the way it ought to be.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52I'm sorry.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58# Can the circle be unbroken?
0:22:58 > 0:23:03# Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
0:23:03 > 0:23:07# There's a better home a-waiting
0:23:07 > 0:23:11# In the sky, Lord, in the sky. #
0:23:14 > 0:23:18In the '30s, during the Depression era, the recording, I think,
0:23:18 > 0:23:23was kind of winding down and maybe they weren't finding as many songs.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27AP and Sara separated, ultimately divorced.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30He was gone a lot, she was home a lot
0:23:30 > 0:23:34and she didn't really care that much about going after the music.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36She liked kind of being at home.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I think he was broken-hearted because he worshipped Sara,
0:23:41 > 0:23:42and it's sad.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45I mean, I'm not sure that he ever really wanted a whole lot
0:23:45 > 0:23:47more so than to make music with her.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53He didn't just lose his wife, he lost his showmanship,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and he loved that part of his life.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58And he was a sad man, more than anything,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01the fact that they weren't working together any more.
0:24:03 > 0:24:04I mean, that was his passion,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08and I can't help but believe that he was alone,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10that you would have to think back about those times
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and the songs and the lyrics and the love.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I would think that that would be
0:24:17 > 0:24:19really foremost on your mind.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30After the original Carter Family from 1927 to 1940,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Maybelle went on to have her own successful career,
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and Elvis even toured with her for a time.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40And then in Knoxville she picked up a guitar player by
0:24:40 > 0:24:41the name of Chet Atkins.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And they took him to the Grand Ole Opry and, I mean,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Chet Atkins changed the whole way that things were done in Nashville.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And then June Carter, Maybelle's daughter, she married Johnny Cash,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and that led into yet another love story.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And then June's children,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02you've got Carlene is a successful recording artist, married Nick Lowe.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Rosanne Cash, who's a singer-songwriter,
0:25:05 > 0:25:06married Rodney Crowell.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Cindy Cash married Marty Stuart.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11It gets really complicated.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13It's hard for me to keep track,
0:25:13 > 0:25:19but of all that came from that first recording trip to Bristol in 1927.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23So, as Johnny Cash referred to it, The Big Bang of country music.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Hey, that sound that you hear there,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29that's the sound of the original Carter Family,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32who were just elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35The original Carter Family were AP, Sara and Maybelle.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39And tonight, for the first time together in 27 years,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Mother Maybelle and Sara Carter.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Mama, I've long been a Carter Family fan,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49as you well know, and I'd love to take Uncle AP's part on one of those
0:25:49 > 0:25:52- final hymns.- We'd love to have you, John.- How about that, Aunt Sara?
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- Sure.- All right.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57APPLAUSE
0:26:01 > 0:26:02# When my soul is singing
0:26:02 > 0:26:05# In that promised land above
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- # I'll be satisfied - Satisfied
0:26:09 > 0:26:11# Praising Christ the Saviour
0:26:11 > 0:26:14# For redeeming grace and love
0:26:14 > 0:26:19- # I'll be satisfied - Satisfied
0:26:19 > 0:26:23- # I'll be satisfied - Satisfied
0:26:23 > 0:26:28- # I'll be satisfied - Satisfied
0:26:28 > 0:26:32# When my soul is resting in the presence of the Lord
0:26:32 > 0:26:36- # I'll be satisfied - Satisfied... #
0:26:41 > 0:26:42APPLAUSE
0:26:42 > 0:26:46Many of the songs that the Carters developed,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49these songs have become popular throughout time since then.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And you can hear a lot of songs today that,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54if you listen just a little bit harder,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57you can understand the original Carter Family songs
0:26:57 > 0:26:59were at the root of these.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08You know, there's so much music and so many branches to that tree
0:27:08 > 0:27:12that came from three people piling in a little car
0:27:12 > 0:27:14and leaving here to go to Bristol,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and leaving pretty much right where I sit.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21# Oh, bury me under the weeping willow
0:27:21 > 0:27:25# Yes, under the weeping willow tree
0:27:25 > 0:27:29# So he may know where I am sleeping
0:27:29 > 0:27:33# And perhaps he will weep for me. #
0:27:48 > 0:27:51A world away from Poor Valley, the teeming city of Memphis,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55Tennessee, was the commercial and cultural gateway for the south.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00Set on the banks of the Mississippi River, Memphis is a rowdy port city,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03famous for its booming cotton trade.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Memphis never closed up then.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11The boats would run from Memphis to New Orleans,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Stop all down through the Mississippi Delta,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18pick up cotton bales.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20And they had me working on the boat.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23When they came in, the man from the boat would tie up
0:28:23 > 0:28:24and you'd get paid off, then you'd go uptown
0:28:24 > 0:28:29and start spending the money, get drunk. Memphis was an open town.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32It never closed up.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36A wide-open town with one of the highest crime rates in the country,
0:28:36 > 0:28:41Memphis was home to a vibrant music scene known for its witty lyrics
0:28:41 > 0:28:42and rough street rhythms.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47As the Carter Family's music reflects the hills of Appalachia,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51the songs of the Memphis jug band reflect an urban underworld
0:28:51 > 0:28:56full of drugs, gambling, prostitution and violence.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00By the 1920s, the heart of the action was Beale Street.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04The jazz addict is not likely to find on Beale Street today
0:29:04 > 0:29:06very much of what the music historian calls
0:29:06 > 0:29:09"the style of the '20s",
0:29:09 > 0:29:11but there is a kind of music that still continues
0:29:11 > 0:29:13the feeling of the past.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16It's as old as peewees and as authentic.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20And you can still hear it played by an occasional wandering minstrel
0:29:20 > 0:29:24or two, in the guise of a jug band with or without a jug.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28For example, take the work of Charlie Burse and Will Shade,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32two practising musicians of Beale Street 1958.
0:29:32 > 0:29:33How about an example, Charlie?
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Yes, we've been here a long time, we would like to give you a little
0:29:36 > 0:29:40- synopsis of what we used to hear. Would you like to hear one?- Fine.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50# I went up Main
0:29:50 > 0:29:51# I turned down Beale
0:29:51 > 0:29:54# I's trying to find the little chick that they call Lucille
0:29:54 > 0:29:57# I gotta move to Kansas City
0:29:57 > 0:29:58# Sure as you're born
0:29:58 > 0:30:00# I gotta move to Kansas City
0:30:00 > 0:30:02# Where I belong
0:30:02 > 0:30:04# I gotta move, baby
0:30:04 > 0:30:06# Honey, where they don't allow you
0:30:06 > 0:30:09# Lordy, lordy, lordy, Lord, oh, boy
0:30:09 > 0:30:13# T for Texas, T for Tennesee, ha
0:30:13 > 0:30:16# Boll weevil's got the cotton and the gal's got me
0:30:16 > 0:30:18# I'm gonna move to Kansas City
0:30:18 > 0:30:20# Sure as you're born
0:30:20 > 0:30:24# I'm gonna move to Kansas City Where I was born... #
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Well, I'll tell you, ladies and gentlemens,
0:30:27 > 0:30:29my name is William Shade Jr.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, born in 1893.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39# Them boll weevils got the cotton and the women's got me
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# I gotta a move to Kansas City
0:30:41 > 0:30:43# Oh, yeah, sure as you're born
0:30:43 > 0:30:45# We gotta move to Kansas City
0:30:45 > 0:30:46# Where I belong
0:30:46 > 0:30:49# We gotta move, baby
0:30:49 > 0:30:51# Honey, where they don't allow you
0:30:51 > 0:30:54# Lordy, lordy, lordy, Lord, oh, boy
0:30:54 > 0:30:56# If you don't like my peaches
0:30:56 > 0:30:58- # Why did you shake my tree? - All right
0:30:58 > 0:31:02# I wasn't after that chick But she was after me
0:31:02 > 0:31:04# We gotta move to Kansas City... #
0:31:04 > 0:31:09I learned to play music the hard way. I learned from the stump on up,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12so I didn't have no money to get no bass.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14So, I got a can that some people called a garbage can
0:31:14 > 0:31:17with a streamlined base.
0:31:17 > 0:31:18# If you didn't like my peaches
0:31:18 > 0:31:21# Why did you shake my tree?
0:31:21 > 0:31:24# I wasn't after that chick But she was after me
0:31:24 > 0:31:28# I gotta move to Kansas City
0:31:28 > 0:31:30# We're gonna move to Kansas City... #
0:31:30 > 0:31:33And everybody in Memphis had a jug back then, so I breezed me up a
0:31:33 > 0:31:36little band which was called the Memphis Jug Band.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38# Lordy, lordy, lordy, Lord, oh, boy
0:31:39 > 0:31:41# Lookee here, some like high yellow
0:31:41 > 0:31:43- # Some like teasin' brown - Hey!
0:31:43 > 0:31:47# It takes a teasin' woman to get me down
0:31:47 > 0:31:49# I gotta move to Kansas City
0:31:50 > 0:31:53# Well, well, move to Kansas City
0:31:53 > 0:31:54# Where I belong
0:31:54 > 0:31:57# We gotta move, baby
0:31:57 > 0:31:59# Honey, where they don't allow you
0:31:59 > 0:32:02# Lordy, lordy, lordy, Lord. #
0:32:03 > 0:32:07In the 1920s, the Memphis Jug Band and other street musicians
0:32:07 > 0:32:10too poor to afford trumpets and clarinets
0:32:10 > 0:32:15picked up home-made instruments and formed groups called jug bands.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32# Went downtown to have a little fun
0:32:32 > 0:32:34# Bought myself a razor and a shiny gun
0:32:34 > 0:32:36# Carried it home, laid it on the shelf
0:32:36 > 0:32:38# Doggone hard got to get it myself
0:32:38 > 0:32:40# Off that sheet, foldin' bed,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42# I believe I'm gonna tear it down
0:32:42 > 0:32:44# Tear it down, slats and all
0:32:44 > 0:32:46# Tore it down You make my baby squall
0:32:46 > 0:32:47# Tore it down
0:32:47 > 0:32:48# Baby, come on
0:32:48 > 0:32:49# Don't take no time at all
0:32:49 > 0:32:51# Come on out of that foldin' bed
0:32:51 > 0:32:53# I believe I'm gonna tear it down
0:33:08 > 0:33:10# I went home about four o'clock
0:33:10 > 0:33:12# Knocked on the door and found it locked
0:33:12 > 0:33:14# Round to the window and I took a peek
0:33:14 > 0:33:16# A sheik there fast asleep
0:33:16 > 0:33:18# That'll only be my foldin' bed
0:33:28 > 0:33:34# Come on out of that foldin' bed
0:33:34 > 0:33:39# I believe I'm gonna tear it down. #
0:33:41 > 0:33:47Well, a jug band is some guys making music off of cheap instruments.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51You know, they couldn't afford, like, trumpets and fancy brass instruments,
0:33:51 > 0:33:57so they have like, a washboard, a kazoo, harmonicas and guitars.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Just, affordable instruments that they could get their hands on.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06The jug band was just really infectious. It makes you smile,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08it makes you happy, it makes you want to dance.
0:34:08 > 0:34:09It's good-time music.
0:34:14 > 0:34:15My name is Charlie Musselwhite.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I came to Memphis in 1947.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20I grew up here,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23I fell in love with the sound of the Memphis Jug Band,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and Will Shade was the driving force.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28# I know they're gonna write to me
0:34:28 > 0:34:30# When they get across the sea
0:34:30 > 0:34:33# Every chance when that Washington lands in France
0:34:33 > 0:34:36# I say, whoa now, sugar baby... #
0:34:36 > 0:34:40The Memphis Jug Band, they started playing in Handy Park
0:34:40 > 0:34:43and on the corners on the streets downtown Memphis,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45up and down Beale Street.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47And they sounded good, people liked them.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49They started getting a following.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51# You went way across the sea
0:34:51 > 0:34:54# To keep from doing that Lindy Bird with me
0:34:54 > 0:34:56# Oh, babe, now I done told you... #
0:34:56 > 0:35:01At that time, Beale Street was this thriving, colourful, alive,
0:35:01 > 0:35:05just pulsing-with-energy neighbourhood.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07It was a poor neighbourhood, but, man, there was so much going on.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Out by the alley where Will Shade played at night,
0:35:11 > 0:35:12there'd be these jam sessions,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16guys playing guitars and harmonicas and passing the bottle,
0:35:16 > 0:35:17It was just...
0:35:17 > 0:35:20It was just rich with the music.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21It was saturated.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24But it was rough and wild, no doubt about it.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Will Shade made it way more colourful than
0:35:27 > 0:35:29anybody ever described it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32There's so much excitement happening down on Beale Street, it'd take me
0:35:32 > 0:35:34to the end of the day to tell you about all that excitement.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39It used to be the red-light district or something like that.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42You could walk down the street in days of the 1900s,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45you could find a man, throat cut from ear to ear.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Also you could find people getting knocked on the head with bricks
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and hatchets and hammers and pocket knives and razors,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56and sometimes you'd find them throwed out of windows and so forth.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Oh, they used to have a wonderful time here in Memphis, Tennessee.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Nothing but underworld people dealing and snatching.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10Pickpockets, dope fiends, cocaine fiends and everything.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14In February, 1927, my father had been to Memphis, Tennessee,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18which is not exactly the place you'd think as the nicest place to go to
0:36:18 > 0:36:22listen to music, but it was here that he made the first recordings
0:36:22 > 0:36:23of the Memphis Jug Band.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25They had a raw taste to them.
0:36:25 > 0:36:31They were very unusual and these recordings made history.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33When Ralph Peer and his recording crew arrived,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36they set up their studio in a warehouse just off Beale Street.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40One of the first acts to audition
0:36:40 > 0:36:42was Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47I was going down Beale Street playing the Memphis Jug Band Blues.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Charlie Wilson at the Beale Street Palace, he came over to Mr Peer,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53RS Peer and a Victor recorder,
0:36:53 > 0:36:58and, er, we made the record at McCall Building on McCall Street.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00On the fourth floor of the McCall Building,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04my father and Will Shade started on a series of recordings.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08The first one was called Newport News Blues and this became a very
0:37:08 > 0:37:11important part of the RCA Victor Race Series now.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14We were talking about R&B at this point in time,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16which was a progression along the type of black music
0:37:16 > 0:37:19which was being recorded at the time.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Negroes would sing a song in Memphis
0:37:23 > 0:37:26and you'd never hear the same song anyplace else,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30because every song was strange and new to these white man's ears.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36# I'm goin' to Newport News, mama
0:37:36 > 0:37:39# Gonna catch a battleship across the doggone sea
0:37:39 > 0:37:42# What you goin' over there for, boy?
0:37:42 > 0:37:44# I'm goin' to Newport News, mama
0:37:44 > 0:37:47# Gonna catch a battleship across the doggone sea
0:37:47 > 0:37:48# What you gonna do?
0:37:51 > 0:37:54# For, Lord, the woman that I'm lovin', great God, partner
0:37:54 > 0:37:56# Do not care for me
0:37:56 > 0:37:59# What kind of woman is that?
0:37:59 > 0:38:01# And she's got a man on her man
0:38:01 > 0:38:04# Done got a kid man on her she can't kid
0:38:08 > 0:38:10# She's got a man on her man
0:38:10 > 0:38:13# Done got a kid man on her she can't kid
0:38:13 > 0:38:16# Have mercy, have mercy
0:38:16 > 0:38:19# Kid man has got so buggish, great God, partner,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21# Just can't keep it hid
0:38:21 > 0:38:23# What are you gonna do with him?
0:38:24 > 0:38:27# Ah, don't you wish your easy roller, partner
0:38:27 > 0:38:28# Was little and cute like mine?
0:38:30 > 0:38:31# I sure do, boy
0:38:33 > 0:38:36# Ah, don't you wish your easy roller, partner
0:38:36 > 0:38:38# Was little and cute like mine?
0:38:41 > 0:38:43# For every time she walks
0:38:43 > 0:38:47# Lord, she sure brings that jack to town
0:38:47 > 0:38:48# I sure wanna see her. #
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Will Shade learned Newport News from an old Memphis musician
0:38:53 > 0:38:58named Tiwi Blackman, but his musical roots went much deeper.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03I remember Will Shade telling me that he learned harmonica
0:39:03 > 0:39:07from his mom and his mom grew up in slavery.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08I started from a kid up.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12I first remember when my mother singing On The Road Again.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15"Natural born eastman on the road again."
0:39:15 > 0:39:18- # I would not black woman Tell you the reason why- Why?
0:39:18 > 0:39:21- # Black woman's evil Do things on the sly- No!
0:39:21 > 0:39:24# You look for your supper to be good and hot
0:39:24 > 0:39:27# She never put a neckbone in the pot
0:39:27 > 0:39:29# She's on the road again
0:39:29 > 0:39:30# Just as sure as you're born
0:39:30 > 0:39:33# Lord, a natural born eastman on the road again
0:39:33 > 0:39:35# She's on the road again
0:39:35 > 0:39:36# Sure as you're born
0:39:36 > 0:39:39# Lord, a natural born eastman on the road again
0:39:39 > 0:39:42# I went to my window My window was propped
0:39:42 > 0:39:46# I went to my door My door was locked
0:39:46 > 0:39:49# I stepped right back I shook my head
0:39:49 > 0:39:52# A big black nigger in my folding bed
0:39:52 > 0:39:55# I shot through the window I broke the glass
0:39:55 > 0:39:57# I never seen a little nigger run so fast
0:39:57 > 0:39:59# She's on the road again
0:39:59 > 0:40:01# Sure as you're born
0:40:01 > 0:40:03# Lord, a natural born eastman on the road again... #
0:40:03 > 0:40:05Well, the Memphis Jug Band,
0:40:05 > 0:40:10it sounds like something today and these guys are talking about women,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13carrying guns, protecting their honour,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16chasing after some woman who's done them dirty.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20This is not high society black folks, this is the down under.
0:40:20 > 0:40:26You know, street, wild black folk that they're singing about.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30It's the same as today, it's the same as rap music today.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31# She's on the road again
0:40:31 > 0:40:34- # Sure as you're born - A natural-born eastman
0:40:34 > 0:40:35# On the road again
0:40:35 > 0:40:36# She's on the road again
0:40:36 > 0:40:39- # Sure as you're born - A natural-born eastman
0:40:39 > 0:40:40# On the road again
0:40:40 > 0:40:43# Your friend at your house just to rest his hat
0:40:43 > 0:40:45# Next thing, he wanna know where your husband's at
0:40:45 > 0:40:48# She says, "I don't know, he's on his way to the pen."
0:40:48 > 0:40:50# Come on, Mama, let's get on the road again
0:40:50 > 0:40:53- # She's on the road again - Sure as you're born... #
0:40:53 > 0:40:55This music from Memphis,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59they were rapping about street life and gangster life and hustling,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01and just a dark side of the world.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04- # I would not black woman Let me tell you why- Why?
0:41:04 > 0:41:06- # Black woman's evil Do things on the sly- No!
0:41:06 > 0:41:09- # You look for your supper to be good and hot- Hot!
0:41:09 > 0:41:12# She'll never put the neck-bone in the pot
0:41:12 > 0:41:13# She's on the road again... #
0:41:13 > 0:41:17It just goes to show me that rapping is a natural, poetic thing.
0:41:17 > 0:41:18It's always been here.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20As long as there was English and black people,
0:41:20 > 0:41:22you know what I'm saying, there was rap.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37The Memphis Jug Band, they wanted everybody to like what they were
0:41:37 > 0:41:41doing, so they wanted to have a real wide arsenal of tunes.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45And I believe black and white people bought their records because
0:41:45 > 0:41:50they played all kinds of stuff, like waltzes, blues, popular tunes,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53but in the setting of a jug band.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57They got so famous that Mayor Crump used them for his campaign.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Will Shade wrote a tune for Mayor Crump
0:42:01 > 0:42:05It was a big hit for Mayor Crump and for the Memphis Jug Band
0:42:05 > 0:42:07and got Crump elected.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Will Shade told me that he once played for the President.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13I forget which one, it might have been one of the Roosevelts.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17# That woman I'm lovin' She just my height and size
0:42:17 > 0:42:20# She's a married woman Come to see me sometimes
0:42:20 > 0:42:23# If you don't believe I love ya Look what a fool I've been
0:42:23 > 0:42:26# If you don't believe I'm sinking Look what a hole I'm in
0:42:26 > 0:42:29# I'm stealing, stealing
0:42:29 > 0:42:31# Pretty mama, don't you tell on me
0:42:31 > 0:42:37# I'm stealing back to my same old used-to-be
0:42:37 > 0:42:40# I'm stealing, stealing
0:42:40 > 0:42:43# Pretty mama, don't you tell on me
0:42:43 > 0:42:47# I'm stealing back to my same old used-to-be
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Will Shade's success established Memphis as a vibrant new
0:42:54 > 0:42:56African-American recording centre.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00And, as a talent scout for Victor Records, he helped launch the
0:43:00 > 0:43:07careers of performers like Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis and Gus Cannon.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12My father made a very close personal friendship with Will Shade and,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16in fact, employed him for a number of years to be his eyes and ears
0:43:16 > 0:43:18in the Memphis part of the world.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Will Shade was real proud to be associated with Victor and Mr Peer
0:43:21 > 0:43:28would always send him money whenever Will Shade said, I'm a little short this week, or this month,
0:43:28 > 0:43:30I need some rent money.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32So, I guess he made a lot of money for Victor and Mr Peer.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38People wanted to work with Will Shade, he was so respected.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40He was the Memphis Jug Band.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43I mean, he could have replaced anybody in the band,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46got other musicians - it would still be the Memphis Jug Band
0:43:46 > 0:43:49with his sound, his music, his ideas.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51It was his vision.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09# Cocaine habit is mighty bad
0:44:09 > 0:44:12# It's the worst old habit that I ever had
0:44:12 > 0:44:16# Hey, hey, honey, take a whiff on me
0:44:18 > 0:44:22# I love my whisky and I love my gin
0:44:22 > 0:44:25# But the way I love my coke is a dog-gone sin
0:44:25 > 0:44:30# Hey, hey, honey, take a whiff on me
0:44:32 > 0:44:35# It takes a little coke to give me ease
0:44:35 > 0:44:39# Strut my stuff long as you please
0:44:39 > 0:44:42# Hey, hey, honey, take a whiff on me
0:44:45 > 0:44:47# Let's all take a whiff on Hattie now
0:44:47 > 0:44:51# Hey, hey Hey, hey
0:44:51 > 0:44:57# Hey, hey-ey Hey-ey-ey. #
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Cocaine Habit, cracked me up.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Here's the subject.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06# Cocaine habit... # Right on top of that.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10# Cocaine habit, now, ain't so bad
0:45:10 > 0:45:13# It's the worst damn habit I ever did have
0:45:13 > 0:45:15# Hey, hey, hey
0:45:15 > 0:45:17# Baby, take a whiff on me. #
0:45:17 > 0:45:20These are the kinds of sliding in and out.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da de-da-da-da-da-di-da,
0:45:23 > 0:45:25la-da-da-di-da-da-di-da.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28# I went to Mr Beaman's in a lope
0:45:28 > 0:45:31# Sign on the window saying "No more dope"
0:45:31 > 0:45:34# Say, hey, hey
0:45:34 > 0:45:36# Honey, take a whiff on me... #
0:45:36 > 0:45:39It just tells you something about American culture,
0:45:39 > 0:45:41American music and, you know,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44when they look down on hip-hop music and look down..
0:45:45 > 0:45:48..because of the words that we use, and stuff like that,
0:45:48 > 0:45:52it didn't start with hip-hop, this started a long time ago.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54This started with America.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00As blues gave way to swing and R&B,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03the Memphis Jug Band faded from view.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08When I met Will Shade, I was 18.
0:46:08 > 0:46:09I loved his music,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13I'm hanging out at Will Shade's house every chance I can.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16There was a two-storey apartment building,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19it had one bathroom at the end of the hall for each floor
0:46:19 > 0:46:24and he had the last two rooms upstairs and a potbelly stove.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28I remember him cooking, in fact, the best hamburger
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I ever had in my life, Will Shade cooked it.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44I had the impression that Will Shade was important and famous
0:46:44 > 0:46:47just by all the people that came by all the time to talk to him
0:46:47 > 0:46:50and you could tell by the way they talked to him that
0:46:50 > 0:46:54they revered him and looked up to him and respected him greatly.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57# I ain't got no stockings I ain't got no shoes
0:46:57 > 0:47:00# All I've got is the Memphis Jug Band blues... #
0:47:00 > 0:47:05On one hand, I mean, it was really poor, I mean, like, squalor.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09On the other hand, it was this energetic, totally alive,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11wonderful place to be.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16And Will would sit by the window in a chair so he could see everybody
0:47:16 > 0:47:18coming up and down the alley.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20And if there was a musician, maybe he'd come up and play something.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22# And if you meet the devil
0:47:22 > 0:47:24# He asks you how you do
0:47:24 > 0:47:26# I'm on my way to heaven Don't you wanna go, too?
0:47:26 > 0:47:28# Know there's a place
0:47:28 > 0:47:29# I'd do just as well
0:47:29 > 0:47:32# They call White Wash Dishes ten miles from hell... #
0:47:32 > 0:47:37And Will Shade became one of my best teachers for harmonica and guitar,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40and we would just sit around and he'd play whatever
0:47:40 > 0:47:43he felt like playing. And I'd play along with him.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46He just loved it that I was interested in learning his music.
0:47:46 > 0:47:47It's hard to put into words.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50In some ways, he's like a father, in some ways he's like a brother,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52and in other ways, he's just a good friend.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04In the 1950s, a young Memphis musician fused the rhythms
0:48:04 > 0:48:08of Beale Street with a country twang of Bristol
0:48:08 > 0:48:12to ignite a new Big Bang called rock and roll.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15# Well, I've got a gal that I love so
0:48:15 > 0:48:18# I'm ready, ready, ready
0:48:18 > 0:48:20# I'm ready, ready, I'm ready
0:48:20 > 0:48:22# I'm ready, ready, ready
0:48:22 > 0:48:25# I'm ready, ready, ready to rock and roll... #
0:48:28 > 0:48:33The first recordings of the Memphis Jug Band were, in their own way,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35a Big Bang of R&B music.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39Will Shade came up with a lot of different types of music
0:48:39 > 0:48:41from a lot of different people.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46And this music remained a permanent influence on American R&B.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Will Shade had a tremendous effect on American music.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53But he would see other Memphis singers,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56you know, getting recognition, and he thought there was still
0:48:56 > 0:48:59a chance as long as he was alive and able to play
0:48:59 > 0:49:01that he might get one more break.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05I think he...that was a dream of his.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10All the times I would visit Will Shade,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12he would always play this song.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15And if it was not his favourite, it was one of his favourites.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18It was Well, I'll Get A Break Some Day.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33# Mississippi River
0:49:34 > 0:49:36# So deep and wide
0:49:37 > 0:49:39# Woman that I'm loving
0:49:40 > 0:49:42# She's on that other side
0:49:44 > 0:49:46# But I'll get a break
0:49:47 > 0:49:49# Yes, somewhere
0:49:51 > 0:49:52# My lovely one... #
0:50:01 > 0:50:07You know, when he died in 1966, he really didn't have anything.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09And most people really didn't remember his music.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12But, today, all these years later...
0:50:14 > 0:50:17..right down on Beale Street in front of Handy Park,
0:50:17 > 0:50:22there's a brass note with Will Shade's name right on.
0:50:28 > 0:50:29# When I had money
0:50:31 > 0:50:34# I had friends for miles around
0:50:35 > 0:50:37# Now I'm broke, ragged and hungry
0:50:38 > 0:50:40# None of my friends can be found
0:50:41 > 0:50:43# But I'll get a break
0:50:44 > 0:50:46# Yes, somewhere
0:50:48 > 0:50:50# My lovely one. #
0:51:11 > 0:51:14# Ever since my sin
0:51:14 > 0:51:16# Ever since my sin
0:51:16 > 0:51:18# Was taken away
0:51:18 > 0:51:20# Was taken away
0:51:20 > 0:51:22# My heart keeps singing
0:51:22 > 0:51:27# Singing, singing all night... #
0:51:29 > 0:51:33# Lord, I'll die with my hammer in my hands, I'll die
0:51:33 > 0:51:36# Lord, I'll die with my hammer in my hands... #
0:51:37 > 0:51:43# I'm goin' away to a world unknown
0:51:48 > 0:51:54# I'm goin' away to a world unknown... #
0:51:55 > 0:51:57My aunt Bessie would say that Charley Patton
0:51:57 > 0:51:59was the ultimate showman.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03I'll say it like she said it - he could pick the guitar...
0:52:03 > 0:52:08with his mouth, with his hands, behind his back, crawling,
0:52:08 > 0:52:09laying on the floor,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13simulating different acts on stage.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15He was like a one-man band.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19It's really hard to know how far-reaching the influence
0:52:19 > 0:52:21of Charley Patton is.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25I mean, he influenced the first generation of Delta guys.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30You know, guys like Muddy Waters, BB King, and John Lee Hooker.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34But his big thumbprint is on Howlin' Wolf.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39Wolf clearly states that he went over to Patton
0:52:39 > 0:52:42and sat down and Patton showed him his tunes
0:52:42 > 0:52:44and the way he played them.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46You can't get that unless you're right next to him.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48You had to be able to watch him play it every night.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51For several every nights.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53- Tell us something about it. - When we first started playing
0:52:53 > 0:52:57together, we started playing because we wanted to play rhythm and blues,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59and Howlin' Wolf was one of our greatest idols.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So I think it's about time you shut up and we had Howlin' Wolf on stage.
0:53:02 > 0:53:03I agree!
0:53:08 > 0:53:10# You couldn't believe a word I say... #
0:53:20 > 0:53:23# John Henry told his captain
0:53:24 > 0:53:27# Man ain't nothin' but a man
0:53:27 > 0:53:30# Before I be beaten by this old steam drill
0:53:30 > 0:53:34# I'm gonna die with my hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord
0:53:34 > 0:53:37# Die with my hammer in my hand... #
0:53:39 > 0:53:41They recorded six songs
0:53:41 > 0:53:44and they got paid 25 a song.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And that was all, no royalties or anything.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50They just got paid 25 a song, and that was it.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53Makes a lot of difference in getting paid 50 cents a coal car, you know.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56Dad worked in the coal mines all of his life.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58From what I heard, he started,
0:53:58 > 0:54:00like, when he was 13 years old.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05One time, Dad took me down in one, maybe two miles.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07And I didn't want no more.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09I said, "Get me back out of here."
0:54:09 > 0:54:13It's an eerie feeling, man, all that dirt overhead.
0:54:15 > 0:54:20# Old black dog when I'm gone, Lord, Lord
0:54:20 > 0:54:23# Old black dog when I'm gone
0:54:23 > 0:54:28# When I come back with a 10 bill
0:54:28 > 0:54:32# And it's, "Honey, where you been so long...?" #
0:54:32 > 0:54:35It was dangerous just to go in, let alone work in it.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37You know, there was a lot of mining accidents back then.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41My dad told me, every time you go down at that time,
0:54:41 > 0:54:43you were just taking your life in your own hands.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45# Then taken away
0:54:45 > 0:54:47# Then taken away
0:54:47 > 0:54:50# My heart keeps singing
0:54:50 > 0:54:55# Singing, singing on all night
0:54:55 > 0:54:56# Then Jesus washed
0:54:56 > 0:54:59# Then Jesus washed
0:54:59 > 0:55:00# In his blood
0:55:00 > 0:55:02# In his blood
0:55:02 > 0:55:04# My heart keeps singing
0:55:04 > 0:55:09# Singing, singing all night
0:55:09 > 0:55:11# I thank, thee, Father... #
0:55:11 > 0:55:16In the 1920s, Triumph Church, church in general, period...
0:55:17 > 0:55:21..was everything. Because everything was segregated,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24and the blacks went to their churches,
0:55:24 > 0:55:26whites went to their churches,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29and the black people back in that day didn't have much.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33The only thing that they had was - by the church -
0:55:33 > 0:55:36was hope for the future.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40Hoping that there would be a better day coming than what they were
0:55:40 > 0:55:42experiencing at that very present time.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44# I'm singing
0:55:44 > 0:55:46- # I'm singing - I'm singing
0:55:46 > 0:55:48# I'm singing
0:55:48 > 0:55:51# Singing
0:55:51 > 0:55:54# Singing for the Lord
0:55:54 > 0:55:56# I'm singing
0:55:56 > 0:56:00- # I'm singing - I'm gonna sing my song!
0:56:00 > 0:56:02- # I'm singing - I'm gonna sing my song!
0:56:02 > 0:56:05# I'm gonna sing, I'm gonna sing, I'm gonna sing,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- # I'm singing - Oh, yes, I'm singing
0:56:08 > 0:56:10- # I'm singing - Help me, please
0:56:10 > 0:56:12# I'm singing... #
0:56:12 > 0:56:15In that era, music was a break from reality.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17Reality was you're a sharecropper,
0:56:17 > 0:56:19you're working hard every day of your life.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23And it gives you an opportunity to get a break from that
0:56:23 > 0:56:27- hard day-to-day work.- That's why it's so impactful, even to this day.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32And we've always found a way to scream through the music.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34# I'm told, baby
0:56:36 > 0:56:39# That you ain't never loved me right. #