0:00:09 > 0:00:12# You know how it feels
0:00:14 > 0:00:16# You understand
0:00:18 > 0:00:21# What it is to be a stranger
0:00:21 > 0:00:25# In this unfriendly land
0:00:25 > 0:00:28# Here's my ha-a-and... #
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Bobby Bland was a voice as soft as silk.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Well, that's kind of the way his voice was to me.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38# ..I'll follow you
0:00:40 > 0:00:42# Let me wa-alk... #
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Such an individual stylist -
0:00:45 > 0:00:48you know? The phrasing...
0:00:48 > 0:00:51the way he interprets the song - I can't really describe it in words.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54It's not about virtuosity in concerts
0:00:54 > 0:00:57it's a straight-through soul.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00You just feel it - you feel everything that he says,
0:01:00 > 0:01:01and you believe it.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And you know that he's preaching it.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07# ..And just lead me on
0:01:09 > 0:01:10# Lead me on... #
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Bobby is what you call a legend now.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17He's a master of what he's doing, man.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19What is it about this man?
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Bobby Bland...sings the blues.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24He was pop to me. I didn't look at him...
0:01:24 > 0:01:27He was a blues guy, but he was...
0:01:27 > 0:01:29He was the pop blues guy.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31# .Here's my hand
0:01:31 > 0:01:33# Won't you take it?
0:01:33 > 0:01:36# And just lea-ad me on... #
0:01:36 > 0:01:38I feel that Bobby...
0:01:38 > 0:01:42has been vastly underappreciated.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50# ..And I'll follow...
0:01:52 > 0:01:55# ..You-u-u-u. #
0:01:57 > 0:01:59APPLAUSE
0:02:14 > 0:02:17# ..And you tore it apart
0:02:17 > 0:02:21# You left me sitting In the dark, crying
0:02:21 > 0:02:25# Said your love for me was dying
0:02:25 > 0:02:27# Come on, baby
0:02:27 > 0:02:29# Come on, please
0:02:29 > 0:02:31# Come on, baby
0:02:31 > 0:02:33# Come on, please
0:02:33 > 0:02:35# Turn on the light
0:02:35 > 0:02:38# Let it shine on me... #
0:02:40 > 0:02:45'I started out singing in my hometown, Rosemark, Tennessee.'
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Being straight from the country,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51all the singing I was doing was like spirituals, you know?
0:02:51 > 0:02:54And if I sang a blues, it had to be out of the house.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And I used to do it on Saturdays,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00because...that's when people would come in and bring me
0:03:00 > 0:03:04the gin and, er...
0:03:04 > 0:03:08as soon as they get a drink, they want to be entertained, you know?
0:03:08 > 0:03:11And I'd have a pocket full of change when I finished.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25You see, blues came from spirituals.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28That deep down...
0:03:30 > 0:03:33..gospel sounds spiritual.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38Those people back there, those slaves weren't singing no blues.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41They were trying to sing praises to God,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45to help them to get out of what they was doing, you know?
0:04:04 > 0:04:09We came to Memphis in...1947, I think my mum brought me.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14I was working at a garage up... across Main Street,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18by the theatre, which is the Orpheum now.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22And I used to sing all the time at the garage.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26And so Mr Cole told me one day, "Why you singing?
0:04:26 > 0:04:28"Go back there and wash that car," you know?
0:04:28 > 0:04:33# Well, I was standin' at the track waitin' for the train to go by
0:04:34 > 0:04:40# Well, I was standin' at the track waitin' for the train to go by
0:04:42 > 0:04:49# Well, I was thinkin' 'bout my baby all I could do was cry... #
0:04:49 > 0:04:51I've never been to college, but I would think
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Beale Street was like a community college.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58There was something going on in the park,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02you'd find people gambling, you'd find gospel singers -
0:05:02 > 0:05:06I guess a lot of my training, I got it right there on Beale Street.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10The best of musicians would come to Memphis,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14but it was segregated at the time and they couldn't stay at the best hotels,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18so...this one particular hotel called Mitchell's Hotel,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21they would stay there.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Mitchell was the sort of guy we called "in the know" -
0:05:24 > 0:05:27he knew nearly everybody, and everybody knew him.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30They had a ballroom there at his hotel,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35so nights when the guys wanted to just practise and sit in
0:05:35 > 0:05:37with people if they could, and...
0:05:37 > 0:05:40people like me would be there with my ears wide open,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43trying to hear everything going on.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I used to have a good friend named Mitchell,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50who had a club I'd go up and want to sit in.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54The guys doing their thing, they wanted to play jazz, you know?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57And they'd say, "Oh, ain't doing this blues thing," you know?
0:05:59 > 0:06:01I came out of the big band era,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05where they had blues singers too, so I'm not a snob about it at all,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09but back then, we were hardcore beboppers, man.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13And we would just tolerate the blues singers.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19In those days, the equivalent of the Stones and U2
0:06:19 > 0:06:25and the Beatles, were Artie Shaw, Basie, Duke, Harry James,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30Tommy Dorsey - the bandleader's musicians, they didn't want to hear singers, man.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Bobby's mother had a restaurant on Beale Street,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and he hung around with a bunch of extremely talented
0:06:41 > 0:06:44and in many ways more advanced than he was musically,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48people. Like Johnny Ace, like BB King.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51When I first met Bobby Bland,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I was a disc jockey on the radio -
0:06:54 > 0:06:58an all-black operated station,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01called WDIA. And...
0:07:01 > 0:07:05we was youngsters then, and we would go round to places
0:07:05 > 0:07:07with other bands,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and we really got to be pretty tight,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12because I had my little group and everything going,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and we'd just hang out together.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19# Do the BB boogie, baby
0:07:19 > 0:07:21# The BB boogie, darlin'
0:07:21 > 0:07:23# Do the BB boogie... #
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Bobby's exposure to show business came about for one specific reason -
0:07:27 > 0:07:28he had a car.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31The reason I got with B was because he would play...
0:07:31 > 0:07:34a place called Mason, Tennessee.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41And how could I go with them?
0:07:41 > 0:07:45And then I said, "I can drive real good."
0:07:45 > 0:07:51They had this town over from Memphis, called West Memphis...
0:07:52 > 0:07:56..was wide open. West Memphis was a little Las Vegas at that time.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00They had something called a Harlem House,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02and that was strictly for blacks.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06And we'd all meet up there - that's where you'd go get some of the best
0:08:06 > 0:08:09coffee and see some of the prettiest girls working.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12And we'd always line up in there.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17Junior Parker, Rosco Gordon, BB King, Bobby Bland,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20you would have seen Howlin' Wolf -
0:08:20 > 0:08:25everybody that...excuse the word, but everybody that was anybody
0:08:25 > 0:08:27showed up there sometime - you'd see 'em there.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37# Train I ri-ide
0:08:38 > 0:08:41# 16 coaches lo-ong
0:08:45 > 0:08:48# Train I ri-i-ide
0:08:48 > 0:08:52# 16 coaches lo-ong... #
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Sam Philips always believed one of the things that lead Elvis
0:09:08 > 0:09:11to the Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15was Little Junior Parker's Mystery Train.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20# Train, tra-i-in
0:09:20 > 0:09:23# Coming on, round the bend... #
0:09:23 > 0:09:30It's clear that that was an enormously influential record,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and Elvis was totally enraptured
0:09:33 > 0:09:35by that song.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38# Train, tra-in
0:09:40 > 0:09:42# Coming round, round the be-end
0:09:46 > 0:09:48# Train, tra-in... #
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Elvis was a huge fan of blues, of rhythm and blues,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and one of the most remarkable tributes and the ways in which
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Elvis paid tribute to the music he loved so much was going down
0:09:59 > 0:10:01to the WDIA, go to a review.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Now, for Elvis to come down to a thing that was strictly segregated,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07at a time when the delineations were so strong,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09was in itself making a statement.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12The picture ran in the paper the next day,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14With Elvis and Bobby and Junior Parker.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It was also covered in the mainstream papers,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21and in those, Elvis paid tribute, not simply to the richness of the
0:10:21 > 0:10:25music, but beyond that, it was to the richness of the culture
0:10:25 > 0:10:27from which this music sprang.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Lansky Bros was on Beale, it was...
0:10:37 > 0:10:40even Elvis started buying clothes.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43A lot of people were afraid for him to come on Beale Street -
0:10:43 > 0:10:46that was the wrong place for a white boy.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49But you didn't have to worry about him,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51because he could handle himself.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Really, Bobby's biggest exposure was not through professional engagements,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02it was through appearing at the amateur show at the Palace Theatre,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04which Rufus Thomas MC'd.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06It was really king of a vaudeville type of show -
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Rufus had gone out with the tent shows as a young man,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and he tap danced, he told jokes.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17As the host of the amateur show, I think one of his great joys
0:11:17 > 0:11:18was to give out the prizes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21I was just doing tunes from the juke box,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and I got a chance to get on the amateur show that Rufus Thomas
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and Bones had got on Wednesday night.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And you had 5 if you win.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34So I won it about three nights in a row,
0:11:34 > 0:11:40that's where one of the scouts, Dave Clark...
0:11:40 > 0:11:44who was there with another guy, and he came through and told Rufus...
0:11:47 > 0:11:48..how I was sounding.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52One day I got a cheque for 13.87, I think it was.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Bus fare - to Houston, and that's where I went.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01And that's where... I got my opportunity to record.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09# Farther on up the road
0:12:10 > 0:12:14# Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
0:12:15 > 0:12:18# Farther on up the road
0:12:19 > 0:12:23# Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me... #
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Don Robey was strictly a businessman.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Now, but if you worked for Robey...
0:12:31 > 0:12:35he was a kind-hearted guy, man, he really was - I mean, like...
0:12:35 > 0:12:42He...he was older...but then he was like friend too, you know?
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Don Robey was trying to make me a pimp,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49he gave me a stick pin with a diamond, I had some Stacy Adams on.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55He used to call me Young Huss. He had a hat on, a cigar, you know?
0:12:55 > 0:12:56Real player.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59He owned that company and he worked...I mean,
0:12:59 > 0:13:05it just wasn't something put together - it was a viable company, you know?
0:13:05 > 0:13:09He had his booking agency set up, which was Buffalo Booking Agency,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13he had Duke Records and then he had Peacock Records.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19Now...I think Peacock was more of a religious side of it,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21and the Duke was the blues side.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25He was the big man during that time. Peacock was it.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Everybody was trying to get on Peacock.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32And most of them did.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38# You ain't no real cool cat
0:13:39 > 0:13:41# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:13:41 > 0:13:43# Been snoopin' round my door... #
0:13:43 > 0:13:46I recorded with Big Mama Thornton,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49I recorded with Junior Parker,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I recorded with Joe Hinton.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57I recorded with a lot of people that was associated with that record company.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01And Bobby Bland, you know...
0:14:01 > 0:14:03# Cry, cry, cry
0:14:07 > 0:14:10# That's what I want you to do... #
0:14:11 > 0:14:17Joe Scott was here to record - he was the one who created Johnny Ace,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21myself, Buddy Ace...
0:14:21 > 0:14:24# ..I sit alone and cry over you
0:14:27 > 0:14:30# Cry, cry, cry-y... #
0:14:32 > 0:14:35But I was the only one that could tell his story.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36The way he wanted to hear it.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41And I was very pleased and honoured, you know,
0:14:41 > 0:14:42to be his favourite singer.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48And I learned about the business of singing from him.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53Joe Scott would choose the right songs for Bobby,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55because he knew Bobby's character.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59# I want you to cry, cry me a river... #
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Musically, Joe Scott was Bobby Bland,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08because Joe Scott wrote for Bobby Bland.
0:15:08 > 0:15:14When they say you write for a part - he knew Bobby inside and out.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18So he could write for Bobby, and don't get me wrong, Joe could write.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22When Joe said, "I'm gonna put it together," Joe could write it together.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26He was Bobby Bland, musically.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Joe got everything together.
0:15:28 > 0:15:34Musicians...me...and we were a family.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39And the musicians were really concerned about playing.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Joe...you could say he was a hard taskmaster.
0:15:43 > 0:15:50But Joe knew how to get what he needed to get from each member of that band.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55# ..Let your tears fall at night... #
0:16:00 > 0:16:03One session I was doing with Joe,
0:16:03 > 0:16:09and...I wasn't singing the way he wanted me...he just cut the session off.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15And I said, "Well, what happened?" He said, "We'll come back tomorrow."
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I said, "Well, what did I do?" He said, "Oh, I...
0:16:19 > 0:16:21"I want you to go over the lyrics again."
0:16:22 > 0:16:26And right then, it dawned on me that I was the problem.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30You know? And I went back to the hotel room,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34and I had my dubs and everything and I sit up half the night.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39When I got back in the studio the next night, I was ready.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Because I had something to prove.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44# Don't cry no more
0:16:44 > 0:16:47# Wipe away your tears
0:16:47 > 0:16:51# Don't cry no more, baby
0:16:51 > 0:16:53# Wipe away your tears
0:16:53 > 0:16:57# And I know that your That your love is real... #
0:17:01 > 0:17:02It was about my life.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Things that had happened to me, growing up.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Being from the country and not exposed to a lot of different things,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13you know - I thought everybody loved everybody.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15I had my heart broken a couple of times,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18so I used to sing about it - all the hurt,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21and it worked for me in the studio, very much.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Because I could think about something
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and when I'd see the lyrics - like an actor,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33when you step into a play -
0:17:33 > 0:17:38well, I could see that and then I'd say the words
0:17:38 > 0:17:40that I was supposed to have been saying all the time.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43But you had to have something to bring you to it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45And that's what Joe taught me so well.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49"You ever lost a girlfriend?"
0:17:50 > 0:17:53I said, "Yeah." He said, "Well, how did you feel?"
0:17:53 > 0:17:55He didn't have to say nothing else.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12If I can feel it, I try to make YOU feel it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16And if I can't feel it, you aren't gonna feel it.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Because someone says it in a way that you... You've been through the same thing I've been through!
0:18:31 > 0:18:35What grabbed me about Bobby was that the...
0:18:35 > 0:18:41the choice of songs, with the voice, struck a real chord with me.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45They were about loneliness, they were about...
0:18:45 > 0:18:49being let down by somebody...
0:18:50 > 0:18:54..being pained by the experience of a lost love.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59And I mean, you know, you do have that generally in blues as a genre,
0:18:59 > 0:19:06but somehow Bobby's work just has a slightly more sophisticated feel.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10It sounded like he was trying to get to the blend between jazz and blues.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13# Look at the people
0:19:15 > 0:19:18# I know you're wondering what they're doing
0:19:18 > 0:19:20# They're just standing there
0:19:22 > 0:19:24# Watching you make a fool out of me
0:19:24 > 0:19:26# Look at me, people
0:19:28 > 0:19:30# I know you're wondering what they're doing
0:19:31 > 0:19:33# They're just standing there
0:19:34 > 0:19:37# Watching you make a fool out of me
0:19:37 > 0:19:39# Oh, I pity the fool
0:19:43 > 0:19:46# I pity the fool who falls in love with you... #
0:19:47 > 0:19:50We did it live, you know, and not like you can make a tape
0:19:50 > 0:19:52and sing right now, you know?
0:19:52 > 0:19:54No, everybody was in the studio,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58and when you make a mistake...see, that's the thing that kept
0:19:58 > 0:20:02me uptight all the time. Because I didn't want to be the one
0:20:02 > 0:20:04that's standing out, you know?
0:20:04 > 0:20:07When you make a mistake, everybody looks at you -
0:20:07 > 0:20:10"Man, are you gonna get it right?" or whatever.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13In those days when they were making records,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15they didn't have the facility to...
0:20:15 > 0:20:20record a band five times and take the best verse from one tape,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22and the best chorus from another.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Simple editing things that you can do on a computer,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27that do it really quickly.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30We started almost before electricity!
0:20:31 > 0:20:34And we had to just make all that technology up.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37But you had to be dedicated to whatever you were doing,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40because...the musicians get tired,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42they're playing them same notes,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46and then you hear, "I want to go dance for a little while with the boys,"
0:20:46 > 0:20:48to get the flavour that you need.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52So you try to do it within... no more than three takes.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55That's what it was like - they couldn't keep going.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And the rule was back then,
0:20:58 > 0:21:03you were out of business as an arranger, which I always consider myself first,
0:21:03 > 0:21:09if you couldn't do four songs in three hours, you were a bum.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12If it ain't that night for that particular tune,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14you're not going to get it.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17And I used to dream about recording, when I'd go to the hotel,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20and tunes that I messed up on.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24That would be the first thing I'd try when I'd get in the next night.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Cos I'd slept on it, you know?
0:21:26 > 0:21:28And I would say, "I'll show them."
0:21:30 > 0:21:32# They call it stormy Monday
0:21:34 > 0:21:36APPLAUSE
0:21:37 > 0:21:41# Well, Tuesday's just as bad... #
0:21:42 > 0:21:45When you hear Bobby Bland do a song, whether it's that song,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49or Stormy Monday, he owns it - it becomes his song.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I think that's one of the beautiful things about Bobby Bland -
0:21:53 > 0:21:55when he does a song, it just...
0:21:55 > 0:21:57it's imprinted in your mind forever.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04# ..But Tuesday's just as bad
0:22:16 > 0:22:17# Wednesday's worse
0:22:23 > 0:22:28# Lord, and Thursday's all so sad
0:22:39 > 0:22:42# The eagle flies on Friday
0:22:46 > 0:22:49# And Saturday I go out to play
0:22:59 > 0:23:04# Lo-o-o-ord The eagle flies on Friday
0:23:09 > 0:23:12# And Saturday I go out to play, Lord
0:23:25 > 0:23:29# And Sunday I go to church whoa-a-a-a-a
0:23:31 > 0:23:33# I take my time
0:23:34 > 0:23:37# I kneel down and I pray, Lord... #
0:23:39 > 0:23:44But T-Bone was the first influence on the guitar,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47that I liked and I started liking Stormy Monday.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52And I did it for a long time on stage before I recorded it.
0:23:52 > 0:23:59We recorded some in...in Houston, at the studio there,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02but basically we started going to Nashville to record.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04We did an album,
0:24:04 > 0:24:10and they needed one tune to fill, because I think...
0:24:10 > 0:24:14the tune that they were gonna push to try to make it the number one tune,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19they had already got that, but they needed what they call a throw-away tune,
0:24:19 > 0:24:24for that last tune. I said, "Well, do we have time? Would you let me do a tune?"
0:24:24 > 0:24:26He said, "Yeah, what is it?" I said, "Stormy Monday."
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Bobby, said, "Do you know what? I have always wanted to do Stormy Monday."
0:24:31 > 0:24:32And, and I...
0:24:32 > 0:24:37He said, "Let's just put that on there as a throw-away,"
0:24:37 > 0:24:39so Robey, so Joe said, "I don't care,"
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Robey said, "You wanna do it?" "Yeah!"
0:24:42 > 0:24:47So he told the rest of Wayne, he said, "Wayne, you start up."
0:24:50 > 0:24:52# They call it Stormy Monday
0:24:56 > 0:24:59# But Tuesday's just as bad... #
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So it was Wayne Bennett on guitar,
0:25:04 > 0:25:05I was on drums.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08LA Hill was the tenor player...
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I think the piano player was Teddy Reynolds.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Wayne Bennett...Hamp Simmons on bass.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Anyway, Wayne hit that chord,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and he started playing, and...
0:25:20 > 0:25:25one take. One take and it was over with - that's all we did.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27We went in there and took one take.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33And I said, "Well, can I...?" He said, "No. You can't."
0:25:33 > 0:25:36He said, "I'm gonna release this next month."
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And it was one of my biggest things.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41# The eagle flies on Friday
0:25:44 > 0:25:46# And Saturday I go out to play... #
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Bobby Bland was a man on that Chitlin circuit,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01if you want to call it that - whatever you want to call it.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04And when he sang Stormy Monday,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07he came out to the edge of the stage - tiny little stage -
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and sang, you know, "Eagle flies on Friday, Saturday I go out to play,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14"Sunday I go to church and I fall down on my knees and pray,"
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Now, he fell down to his knees then - not like James Brown,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20but he...you know, he got down on his knees.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24The women had to be...restrained!
0:26:24 > 0:26:28I mean, they just... in this little club they came and flung themselves
0:26:28 > 0:26:33at him, and people - people working for Bobby or policemen were there too,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35they had to take the women away.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I sang to the ladies.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39That's where you get your first response.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46And all females, I find that that worked for me throughout the years.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49You don't have to worry about the men if the ladies like it.
0:26:49 > 0:26:56# Today, I started loving you again... #
0:26:56 > 0:26:57APPLAUSE
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Thank you.
0:26:59 > 0:27:05# ..Said I'm right back where I've really, Lord, always been
0:27:09 > 0:27:16# I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
0:27:18 > 0:27:24# But today, I started loving you again
0:27:27 > 0:27:32# What a fool I was to think that I could get by
0:27:36 > 0:27:42# When only these few million teardrops I've cried
0:27:45 > 0:27:50# Should have known, well, Lord, the worst was yet to come
0:27:54 > 0:28:00# And crying time for me had just begun
0:28:04 > 0:28:06# I started loving you, yeah... #
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Oh, his singing is incredibly sexy,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and like you were talking about, there was this guttural thing
0:28:13 > 0:28:16that Bobby's got. Well, that definitely comes from
0:28:16 > 0:28:18like, reaching deep down,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21and just trying to get something across to the point where
0:28:21 > 0:28:24you're just trying to, you know, explode.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27And women love that, cos, you know, he has that tension and release,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30you know? And that's something that's so beautiful in music too.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Just running around, something's about to explode
0:28:33 > 0:28:36but it just keeps getting better and better.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42# Oh, today, I started loving you again
0:28:45 > 0:28:50# Said I'm right back where I've really, Lord, always been
0:28:52 > 0:28:54# Uh-huh
0:28:54 > 0:29:02# I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
0:29:03 > 0:29:05# Long enough
0:29:05 > 0:29:07# Long enough
0:29:07 > 0:29:12# Long e...long e...long e...oh! #
0:29:13 > 0:29:18I listened to the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Soul Stirrers,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22I listened to the Spirit Of Memphis, when I wanted to flavour
0:29:22 > 0:29:26a certain lyric. And those spirituals would help me.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Bobby could sing gospel, you know?
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Cos Bobby was singing spirituals at one time.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35He can go back to it.
0:29:35 > 0:29:41A lot of us...a lot of us, including Bobby Bland or Aretha Franklin,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44James Brown - I could just name you many.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47We started out in the church.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50We started out in quartets and choirs.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57And...God, Ira Tucker was like...
0:29:59 > 0:30:03..Jesus Christ walking around on the ground here with us!
0:30:04 > 0:30:09Because the Dixie Hummingbirds, his group, was the best.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12These people could do it, man. They...
0:30:13 > 0:30:16I'd love to go and see maybe...
0:30:16 > 0:30:21Bobby Bland...James Brown, Aretha, somebody on Saturday night,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23but Sunday, I'm going to church...
0:30:23 > 0:30:26if these guys were singing. You understand what I'm saying?
0:30:27 > 0:30:29# Gonna move on
0:30:29 > 0:30:31# Up a little higher
0:30:31 > 0:30:32# Gonna move on
0:30:32 > 0:30:34# Gonna meet with
0:30:34 > 0:30:36- # Gonna move on- Hebrew children
0:30:36 > 0:30:37# Gonna move on... #
0:30:37 > 0:30:43So many...of the pop singers were coming to hear our programme,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45and they were...
0:30:45 > 0:30:48overwhelmed, you know?
0:30:48 > 0:30:52When they would find out, then see our advertisement...
0:30:53 > 0:30:55..for the Dixie Hummingbirds.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00Man, they would figure out a way they would be there.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06That is why all of us have - they use the word a lot - soul.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Soul, soul, soul.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10But BB King is a blues singer, and I love him!
0:31:10 > 0:31:12INDISTINCT LYRICS
0:31:15 > 0:31:18- # ..Gonna move on - I'm gonna talk to find him
0:31:18 > 0:31:20# Gonna move on
0:31:20 > 0:31:24# ..Talk about the world where I come from... #
0:31:24 > 0:31:28They'd turn on that fire and make me feel good about it.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32That's how good they were. Bobby does that to me today,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34he does it to me now, Bobby Bland does.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Oh, yeah, you could hear it in his voice.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41Gospel was in all of it, it was in Sam Cooke, Ray Charles...
0:31:41 > 0:31:44I mean, blatantly obvious in Ray Charles' case where he...
0:31:44 > 0:31:49actually had hit records that were based on gospel things.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53You know, of course, Sam Cooke came out of the Soulsters.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56It all came out of gospel music.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02James Brown also, not the funk stuff, the slow stuff he did.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I got... I obviously got that.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08I think Bobby is one of those artists like Ray Charles
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and Sam Cooke who really took gospel music
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and the inspiration behind it and that energy
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and mixed it with R&B and blues.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20# Yield not
0:32:20 > 0:32:23# To temptation
0:32:23 > 0:32:25# Whoa, my love
0:32:25 > 0:32:27# While I'm away
0:32:27 > 0:32:30# Don't you know you gotta be strong,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32# Leave all the other guys alone?
0:32:32 > 0:32:34# One bright and sunny day
0:32:34 > 0:32:36# I'll be back home to stay
0:32:36 > 0:32:38- # Yield not - Yield not
0:32:38 > 0:32:42# To temptation... #
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Well, Ira, he should have been a teacher, a voice teacher,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49because there are so many ways you go if you know as much as he knew
0:32:49 > 0:32:52about the different ways that you can say things.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54So I learned quite a bit from him
0:32:54 > 0:32:58and...Archie Brownlee...
0:32:58 > 0:33:02the Five Blind Boys from Alabama. That was nice singing, also.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07And, like, I have to say Sam Cooke was one of the best Soulsters.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10During that time, whichever city that I was in,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13if there was a spiritual group in the same city,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16I'd go and hear them, their programme,
0:33:16 > 0:33:21and they'd come and hear me that night. I'd say, "Are y'all allowed to come out to blues?"
0:33:21 > 0:33:23They'd say, "Yeah, I'm going out tonight to hear you."
0:33:24 > 0:33:27# You build my hopes so high
0:33:28 > 0:33:30# Then you let me down so low
0:33:32 > 0:33:34# It makes no difference, darlin'
0:33:35 > 0:33:38# I just love you more and more
0:33:40 > 0:33:42# Every time you smile
0:33:43 > 0:33:45# You know I'm smilin' with you
0:33:47 > 0:33:49# Every time you cry
0:33:50 > 0:33:53# You know I shed a few tears
0:33:54 > 0:33:58# I ain't not lovin' you
0:33:58 > 0:34:00# I ain't not lovin'
0:34:01 > 0:34:04HE SNORTS # Everything I am... #
0:34:04 > 0:34:09Man, I never heard a man snort a song as good as Bobby.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13- HE LAUGHS - He had a... He got a...
0:34:13 > 0:34:15He got a way of doing songs...
0:34:15 > 0:34:16his own thing.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18# ..I don't believe in...
0:34:18 > 0:34:20# I don't believe... #
0:34:21 > 0:34:23I got that from Reverend CL Franklin.
0:34:23 > 0:34:28It was a record of his called The Eagle, stirred his nest.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30# You lot don't know how
0:34:30 > 0:34:33# To face your problems
0:34:33 > 0:34:35# Y'all getting worried
0:34:35 > 0:34:37# Coming down through the centre
0:34:37 > 0:34:40# Saying peace be on us... # And I used to listen to it...
0:34:40 > 0:34:45The reason why I was listening, because I used to sing real high.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47They removed my tonsils...
0:34:47 > 0:34:51and they lowered my voice by about a baritone, you know?
0:34:51 > 0:34:54And I didn't have no gimmick no more, you know, up there.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56I didn't know how to handle it
0:34:56 > 0:35:00when my voice lowered. I listened to that over and over.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04I said, "Maybe this is somewhere I could use this, you know?"
0:35:04 > 0:35:07And...I started giving it a try...
0:35:07 > 0:35:11but I wanted to sound just like a Baptist preacher.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14But I had to work on it a while, you know.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Then I was trying one night in the hotel
0:35:17 > 0:35:21and I just happened to turn this way when I got ready to try this -
0:35:21 > 0:35:23I call it squal -
0:35:23 > 0:35:26and it kind of closed off the wind on one side.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30and it came out perfect, something like his would.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32So, that's how it started.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37HE SNORTS # Everything I know
0:35:38 > 0:35:40HE SNORTS # Everything I want
0:35:42 > 0:35:45# I ain't done loving you, baby... #
0:35:45 > 0:35:49If I didn't do that, they said I hadn't been on stage, you know?
0:35:49 > 0:35:54And overseas, like in London, they call it the "love throat."
0:35:54 > 0:35:57That ladies gave me that particular name, you know?
0:36:02 > 0:36:05SONG ENDS, APPLAUSE
0:36:05 > 0:36:10One of the things I find most fascinating is his...
0:36:10 > 0:36:14his beautiful range between being, you know, velvety, smooth
0:36:14 > 0:36:19and, you know, very sensual to being growly and, like...
0:36:19 > 0:36:22right up in there and just getting it to a point where...
0:36:22 > 0:36:26the music just climaxes on such an amazing level and you just feel it.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29# I said it wasn't long ago
0:36:32 > 0:36:35# I was doing real good
0:36:38 > 0:36:40# Don't you know my baby was acting? #
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Bobby responded to prompts, the kind of prompts
0:36:43 > 0:36:47that Joe Scott gave him but, after a certain point,
0:36:47 > 0:36:52he developed a greater freedom, I think, particularly in his stage act
0:36:52 > 0:36:55to where he knew he was Bobby "Blue" Bland,
0:36:55 > 0:36:56with or without Joe Scott.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00And...it was, you know, a terrible blow
0:37:00 > 0:37:06when they broke up, but then he went out and he put together
0:37:06 > 0:37:10the Bobby "Blue" Bland sound, and it was genuinely and legitimately
0:37:10 > 0:37:12the Bobby "Blue" Bland sound.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17# And I guess they're right... #
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Touch Of The Blues... that's what I did
0:37:20 > 0:37:22with the mix that he did the arrangment on.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25I just did Touch Of The Blues.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32# ..My eyes are all red... #
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Bobby Bland, you don't tell him how to sing,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37you don't, er...
0:37:37 > 0:37:40All you do is make everything available to him,
0:37:40 > 0:37:46and if he makes a mistake, then he knows it before you know it.
0:37:46 > 0:37:47He's very professional.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52# ..I said it's a touch of the blues
0:37:57 > 0:38:00# I went to see my doctor... #
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Well, I was cuttin' a whole lot of people for Don.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Me and Don, we worked out good.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13People had different things to say about Don, some good, some bad.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18Don Robey, it was a sin and a shame
0:38:18 > 0:38:20the way he did Bobby Bland,
0:38:20 > 0:38:25not only Bobby, he did me, he did everybody else.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30And...you couldn't record for him
0:38:30 > 0:38:33unless he had your publisher.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37A lot of artists didn't know anything about the publisher.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Robey would buy tunes from guys. There were so many people in Houston
0:38:41 > 0:38:42that could write.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45He would buy them, he'd pay 50...
0:38:45 > 0:38:4875, 100 for a tune.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51He would take it and put his name on it cos it's his, he bought it.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56A fair shake was... the way he would see it.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58You know? And...
0:38:59 > 0:39:02..people would be coming through there every day with lyrics.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Artists, even if you wrote a tune...
0:39:06 > 0:39:10you should not hum it or do anything until you get it published.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Don was black so it looked like everybody wanted to jump on him
0:39:15 > 0:39:17about it, but what about the other people?
0:39:17 > 0:39:22All of them, they were small labels at that time, all of them...
0:39:22 > 0:39:25it seemed like they were in the brother hood!
0:39:28 > 0:39:33Almost all of the records that were made then...
0:39:33 > 0:39:37had a partner and you didn't know until after you saw it on the label.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40All of them were like that.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44All of them, white and black, they totally exploited all the artists.
0:39:44 > 0:39:50I would come through with Lionel Hampton and he would make me write with some of the guys in the band.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53I'd write for anybody then. I just wanted to write,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55I didn't care whether I got paid or not.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I don't say that day...
0:39:57 > 0:40:00I can say this...
0:40:00 > 0:40:04I would've paid them in the beginning to record me.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06I would've paid them.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11What I can thank Don Robey for is allowing me to record...
0:40:11 > 0:40:15because everybody turned me down.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19I know he has to think back and say, you know,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22"I'm thankful for where I am because if it had not been for Robey,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25"I probably wouldn't have gotten this far."
0:40:25 > 0:40:29So you don't be angry, you just wish...
0:40:29 > 0:40:32I wish that I knew then what I know now,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34it would be a big difference, you know?
0:40:34 > 0:40:37'Ladies and gentlemen, together for the first time,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40'BB King and Bobby Bland.' CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:40:52 > 0:40:54# Money's so good... #
0:40:55 > 0:40:59What's interesting about Bobby and BB is that they remain friends to this day.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04One of the ways in which Bobby really crossed over
0:41:04 > 0:41:07to the fullest extent that I'm aware of his doing,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11was in the early '70s, he and BB started going out together.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14They made two or three albums together.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17They toured together, and they reached an audience
0:41:17 > 0:41:20that Bobby, until then, had never been able to reach.
0:41:24 > 0:41:25# Wednesday's all right
0:41:25 > 0:41:27# Wednesday's all right
0:41:27 > 0:41:29# Thursday's all wrong
0:41:29 > 0:41:31# Thursday's all wrong
0:41:31 > 0:41:34# One day you're all with it, baby
0:41:34 > 0:41:36# Mm-hm
0:41:36 > 0:41:38# The next day, it's all gone... #
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I remember once we did a recording together -
0:41:41 > 0:41:44BB and Bobby, For The First Time,
0:41:44 > 0:41:49and we got a whole lot of bad press on that. They said...
0:41:49 > 0:41:55whatever we were doing before we did that, we should go back and start doing it.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58I think they meant go back to the plough!
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Together For The First Time was one of the biggest things
0:42:01 > 0:42:03that BB and myself had.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06That album went platinum.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10I wrote the company again, I wrote them.
0:42:10 > 0:42:16I said, "We're gonna do another one. I hope you'll have the same person...
0:42:16 > 0:42:18"talk about it this time!"
0:42:19 > 0:42:22# The next day, she might leave
0:42:23 > 0:42:26# I'm sure you shake it like a... #
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Now, I saw BB and Bobby in a Battle of the Blues about 1964...
0:42:32 > 0:42:34at Louis Showcase Lounge,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37in Roxbury, which was the black section of Boston.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40And it was just one of the most phenomenal shows.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44To see Bobby "Blue" Bland with his full band and BB King
0:42:44 > 0:42:49with his audience of a couple of hundred or something...
0:42:49 > 0:42:52It was a literal Battle of the Blues. I mean, they were friends,
0:42:52 > 0:42:54but they were going at it.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58And, er, you know, I just want to say there was no question -
0:42:58 > 0:43:01I don't know how it came out 300 nights of the year -
0:43:01 > 0:43:04but that night, there was no question who came out the victor.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Bobby came out on top, totally.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:43:45 > 0:43:47# The thrill is gone
0:43:47 > 0:43:49CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:43:51 > 0:43:53# Thrill is gone away
0:43:57 > 0:43:59# Thrill is gone
0:44:03 > 0:44:05# Thrill is gone away
0:44:05 > 0:44:07# Oh, oh
0:44:08 > 0:44:10# You done me wrong, baby
0:44:10 > 0:44:12# Oh, Lord, yeah
0:44:13 > 0:44:16# And you're gonna be sorry
0:44:16 > 0:44:18# Someday
0:44:18 > 0:44:20# Say it, son
0:44:20 > 0:44:21# Thrill is gone
0:44:24 > 0:44:27# Thrill is gone away from me
0:44:30 > 0:44:34# Oh, oh, Lord
0:44:35 > 0:44:39# Thrill is gone away from me
0:44:44 > 0:44:45# You done me wrong, baby
0:44:45 > 0:44:46# You done me wrong
0:44:46 > 0:44:50# And you're gonna be sorry
0:44:50 > 0:44:52- # How do you say it?- Someday
0:44:53 > 0:44:54# Listen...
0:44:54 > 0:44:56# She'll know that
0:45:00 > 0:45:02# Loving, yeah
0:45:03 > 0:45:04# No...
0:45:05 > 0:45:07# Oh!
0:45:08 > 0:45:10# She'll know that
0:45:11 > 0:45:12# Feel it
0:45:14 > 0:45:15# Do you feel it?
0:45:16 > 0:45:19# Feel it
0:45:19 > 0:45:20# And I'm sorry
0:45:22 > 0:45:23# I'm sorry
0:45:23 > 0:45:25# Why don't you help me?
0:45:27 > 0:45:29# Everybody
0:45:30 > 0:45:32# Let's get a groove going on
0:45:32 > 0:45:33# Come on!
0:45:35 > 0:45:36# Oh!
0:45:38 > 0:45:40# Oh, Lord... #
0:45:40 > 0:45:44What Bobby was aiming for was the kind of respectability
0:45:44 > 0:45:47that someone like Frank Sinatra, whom he considered to be
0:45:47 > 0:45:51one of the foremost interpreters of song, he saw himself
0:45:51 > 0:45:53as aspiring to the same kind of thing.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59He never did achieve that Las Vegas headlining experience.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It may have been better for his art, but it was a disappointment to him.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05- Yeah! - # Do you feel it? #
0:46:05 > 0:46:08As far as reaching an audience that was altogether different
0:46:08 > 0:46:11from the audience that he reached when he started out
0:46:11 > 0:46:14as one of the artists playing the amateur show at the Palace Theatre,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16he reached audiences all around the world
0:46:16 > 0:46:20and he reached audiences in the best clubs,
0:46:20 > 0:46:24the supper clubs, the jazz clubs, all around this country.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26# Let's hear it!
0:46:27 > 0:46:29# Here I am
0:46:30 > 0:46:32# Feel it, yeah
0:46:32 > 0:46:34# You got to want
0:46:35 > 0:46:37# You got to talk about it
0:46:38 > 0:46:40# Feel it
0:46:41 > 0:46:42# Feel it... #
0:46:42 > 0:46:46Others sang this, like Charlie Rich, or Dan Penn, or even Elvis
0:46:46 > 0:46:50took more from...Bobby's soft side.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05I get a call, you know, "Hey, Bobby Bland's in town.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09"He's cutting I Hate You tonight. Do you wanna meet him?" Do I ever!
0:47:09 > 0:47:11# I hate you
0:47:13 > 0:47:16# Oh, I try-y-y-y
0:47:16 > 0:47:18# To hate you... #
0:47:20 > 0:47:23Well, when I first heard Bobby Bland...
0:47:23 > 0:47:27I guess it was WLAC Radio here in Nashville,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31we had Ray Charles, James Brown, some other people,
0:47:31 > 0:47:36and immediately after that was Bobby Bland with Two Steps From The Blues.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38He had the right mixture of...
0:47:38 > 0:47:41heart and air. He just...
0:47:41 > 0:47:44HOARSE VOICE: He had that thing! He blew it out there like that.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47As good as Ray Charles was, he never did that.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49And that became Bobby's thing, you know,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52his growl came to you...
0:47:52 > 0:47:54and got all over you.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58That's what he brought you. He brought you those words...
0:47:58 > 0:48:02He brought you the tune, but it was his unique growl
0:48:02 > 0:48:05and his singing that set him aside from everybody else, I'd say.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09I mean, there were just so many of us
0:48:09 > 0:48:13blues white guys in the South,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16but we were all influenced by Bobby Bland.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19'We're gonna play this solo from the Bland song for ya.'
0:48:24 > 0:48:26# They call it Stormy Monday
0:48:29 > 0:48:30# But...
0:48:34 > 0:48:36# Tuesdays are just as bad. #
0:48:38 > 0:48:41# ..Watching you make a fool of me
0:48:41 > 0:48:44# Look at the people, yeah
0:48:44 > 0:48:47# I know you wonder what they're doing, baby
0:48:47 > 0:48:50# They're just standing there
0:48:50 > 0:48:53# Watching you make a fool of me
0:48:53 > 0:48:56# Oh, I pity the fool... #
0:48:58 > 0:49:01You can see where Paul Butterfield turns a corner
0:49:01 > 0:49:05with a song like that, it made a tremendous impact.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09I'm sure Van Morrison would tell you how much he's been influenced by Bobby.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12# Without a warning, you broke my heart
0:49:13 > 0:49:17# You took it, darling And you tore it apart
0:49:18 > 0:49:23# You left me sitting by the fire crying... #
0:49:23 > 0:49:28I first heard them when I was in Germany about 1962, I think.
0:49:28 > 0:49:33We were playing in a band that was then called the Monarchs.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Some black GIs brought some 45s
0:49:36 > 0:49:38to the hotel we were staying at.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44One of them 45s was Stormy Monday...
0:49:44 > 0:49:47the B Side was Your Friends, and I heard, like,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51those songs, how much soul was in it.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55The whole thing started to come together for me.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Van told me that Bobby was going to be opening for him
0:50:09 > 0:50:12on some of the dates in the British tour.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14I was living in Italy at the time
0:50:14 > 0:50:19and I couldn't resist so I got on the plane and flew in Birmingham.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22I didn't meet Bobby that night, sadly,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24but I enjoyed the show very much.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27It was a great thrill to hear Bobby doing these old songs.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30A couple of years after that,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34I just came up with the idea and announced it to my management
0:50:34 > 0:50:36that I want to do this tribute album.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42# Now you're laughing, pretty baby
0:50:43 > 0:50:46# Someday you're gonna be crying
0:50:48 > 0:50:52# Now you're laughing, pretty baby
0:50:52 > 0:50:56# Some-Someday you're gonna be crying
0:50:57 > 0:51:00# Further on up the road
0:51:02 > 0:51:05# You'll find out I wasn't lying... #
0:51:06 > 0:51:10I tried to choose the songs that I thought would somehow
0:51:10 > 0:51:13lend themselves to now,
0:51:13 > 0:51:18and also trying to choose the ones that had...
0:51:18 > 0:51:21what seemed to me like the timeless quality,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25that they just...they transcend time.
0:51:25 > 0:51:30Regardless of who's singing them, the actual lyric lended to the melody
0:51:30 > 0:51:34just as something that never really goes out of fashion.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38It's a strange scenario, you're presenting an artist
0:51:38 > 0:51:43with their...with your interpretation of their work.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47All those tunes that I did, you made a twist to them
0:51:47 > 0:51:51- that you didn't lose the flavour. - I was fortunate because I had you
0:51:51 > 0:51:53- to be influenced by.- Well...
0:51:53 > 0:51:58- If I didn't have you, I wouldn't have been able to do that.- But I'm just saying, what you've done,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01what I've listened to, you are a good student, you're very good.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06- How old were you when you sang these tunes?- Well...
0:52:06 > 0:52:08about 24, I think it was.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11I don't think I'd be able to sing as well as when I was 24.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Were you always in the same studio?
0:52:14 > 0:52:15For a long time I was.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19- I'm like a...homely type.- Mm-hm.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22You know, like...
0:52:22 > 0:52:26all that extra room would take something from me.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30- Yeah, it's better in the smaller rooms.- I don't like that extra...
0:52:30 > 0:52:33The sound just goes everywhere else. It doesn't get into the mic.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36The room we record in has got a very low ceiling.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41- That's where you get to... - You get it all down the microphone instead of up in the air.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Just bouncing back at you.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46So, you know how to record too, right?
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Yeah, yeah... Well, you know, I've been doing it for a few years.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Yeah. How old are you now?
0:52:51 > 0:52:56- I'm 47.- You are? I'm 77. - Well, I'm catching you up!
0:52:56 > 0:52:58MUSIC DROWNS CONVERSATION
0:53:02 > 0:53:06# Well, I cried, "Lord, have mercy"
0:53:09 > 0:53:11- # Lord, have mercy... # - I congratulate Mick
0:53:11 > 0:53:14for doing that back and pulling the roots up
0:53:14 > 0:53:20so these young people can understand where this great music came from
0:53:20 > 0:53:25because let's get real, this music, between jazz and blues...
0:53:25 > 0:53:29has almost replaced every indigenous music on the planet
0:53:29 > 0:53:31in every country in the world.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34# I know you've been hurt
0:53:38 > 0:53:40# By someone else
0:53:43 > 0:53:46# And I can tell by-y-y-y
0:53:46 > 0:53:47# The way
0:53:51 > 0:53:53# You carry yourself
0:53:53 > 0:53:56# But if you let me
0:53:58 > 0:54:00# Darlin', here's what I'll do
0:54:04 > 0:54:06# I'll take care of you
0:54:10 > 0:54:11# And I've...
0:54:11 > 0:54:13# And I've...
0:54:14 > 0:54:17# Oh, I've loved and lost
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- # The same as you... # - I remember when Sam Cooke died,
0:54:23 > 0:54:25we were at his funeral
0:54:25 > 0:54:29and Bobby sang one of Sam Cooke's songs.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33I tell ya, when I got through listening to him,
0:54:33 > 0:54:37water was all on my shirt because I had been crying all through it.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39He's a great singer.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43# Oh, Lord, here's what I'll do... #
0:54:45 > 0:54:48What are you gonna do when a guy like that sings in front of you?
0:54:48 > 0:54:51I'm glad he don't play guitar!
0:54:52 > 0:54:55INDISTINCT LYRICS
0:54:59 > 0:55:01They had the Blues Hall of Fame,
0:55:01 > 0:55:06that's what I thought it should've been, but they called it the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10It kind of threw me for a loop when they first went in
0:55:10 > 0:55:12in 1992.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16I was a little unhappy because I think...
0:55:16 > 0:55:19I do some blues songs...
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I do some love songs...
0:55:22 > 0:55:24and I do country and western.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29Well, I think Bobby "Blue" Bland belongs in the Bobby "Blue" Bland Hall of Fame,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32just like Ray Charles belongs in the Ray Charles Hall of Fame,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35and Sam Cooke belongs in the Sam Cooke Hall of Fame.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38I think to do justice to any of these great artists,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41you have to recognise their aspirations,
0:55:41 > 0:55:46their capacities in a way that no category ever can.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50But I'm glad he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
0:55:50 > 0:55:53After so long, I said, "Well, what the hell...
0:55:53 > 0:55:56"at least I'm getting in there before I die."
0:55:59 > 0:56:02# I'm just as sure
0:56:05 > 0:56:07# Oh, my Lord, I worry
0:56:10 > 0:56:12# Then why don't you tell me right now? #
0:56:15 > 0:56:17Everybody loves a winner.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19They love to be in the bright lights,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21and you bring that light to them.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25But that's all they're looking for. And the Devil,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27he's always there...
0:56:27 > 0:56:31to show you the beauty of whatever they're telling you, you know?
0:56:31 > 0:56:34And it's easy to be persuaded...
0:56:34 > 0:56:37because he had some good things out there to bring to you.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39# ..You took it, darlin'
0:56:39 > 0:56:42# And you tore it apart
0:56:42 > 0:56:44# You left me sitting
0:56:44 > 0:56:46# In the dark crying
0:56:46 > 0:56:49# You said your love for me was dying
0:56:50 > 0:56:52# Come on, baby
0:56:52 > 0:56:54# Come on, please
0:56:54 > 0:56:56# Come on, baby
0:56:56 > 0:56:58# Come on, please
0:56:58 > 0:56:59# Turn on the light
0:57:00 > 0:57:02# Let it shine on me
0:57:02 > 0:57:04# Oh, turn it on
0:57:04 > 0:57:06# Let it shine on me
0:57:06 > 0:57:09# Let it shine, shine, yeah
0:57:09 > 0:57:11# Let it shine
0:57:11 > 0:57:13# I want it
0:57:13 > 0:57:14# My love
0:57:15 > 0:57:17# Oh!
0:57:24 > 0:57:26CHEERING # Come on, baby
0:57:27 > 0:57:28# Come on, please
0:57:29 > 0:57:33# I'm beggin' you, baby I'm on my knees
0:57:33 > 0:57:35# Turn on the light
0:57:35 > 0:57:37# Let it shine on me
0:57:37 > 0:57:39# Oh, Lord!
0:57:39 > 0:57:42# Let it shine on me, oh-h-h!
0:57:43 > 0:57:45# Turn on the light
0:57:49 > 0:57:51# I don't wanna...
0:57:52 > 0:57:53# I don't wanna...
0:57:53 > 0:57:55# I don't... Oh! #
0:58:03 > 0:58:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:06 > 0:58:09Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk