0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Legend has it that rock 'n' roll's
0:00:06 > 0:00:09all about the electric guitar.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13All that sex, energy and aggression.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16ROCK ELECTRIC GUITAR
0:00:24 > 0:00:25# Welcome to the jungle...#
0:00:25 > 0:00:29But what happens to rock music when the amps are turned off...
0:00:29 > 0:00:31FEEDBACK
0:00:31 > 0:00:34..and our guitar hero picks up an acoustic?
0:00:34 > 0:00:36MUSIC: "Wonderwall" by Oasis
0:00:40 > 0:00:43You weren't a real guitar player unless you could play acoustic.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48In order to be the complete rock musician,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51you had to have an acoustic passage in a song somewhere.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56There's something about an acoustic
0:00:56 > 0:00:59that inspires you to do some crazy stuff.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03That's what the acoustic guitar is to a musician.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05It's a different feel.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12If it plays right and sounds right, that's all you need.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17A man with an acoustic guitar on stage is truly naked.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21But if you're an exhibitionist, you might enjoy it.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25The electric guitar is powerful,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29but it's the child, it's not the father of the music.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Acoustic guitars have a sound unto themselves.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39The guitar can sound
0:01:39 > 0:01:42so gentle and so melodic
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and then it can sound so strong and so dramatic.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The guitar is complete in itself as an instrument.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56There's nowhere to go. There's nowhere to hide with an acoustic.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08The acoustic guitar -
0:02:08 > 0:02:10six strings, a hollow body
0:02:10 > 0:02:12and a long neck.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Simple,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16beautiful and elegant.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Unfortunately, the instrument does come with some baggage,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and I'm not talking about the case.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Adopted over the years by everyone, from singing nuns
0:02:27 > 0:02:29to bearded folkies,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32the acoustic guitar's had something of an image problem.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I definitely grew more of a beard
0:02:35 > 0:02:38when I started playing acoustic guitar every day.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45There are definitely periods in our history as we suddenly realise,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49"They're not playing their Gibson, they're playing an acoustic
0:02:49 > 0:02:53"and, wow, they've grown a beard and their hair's just a wee bit messy
0:02:53 > 0:02:56"and they've been in the forest chopping wood.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58"Now they're serious. Now they have soul."
0:02:58 > 0:03:01# Mull of Kintyre
0:03:01 > 0:03:04# Oh, mist rolling in...
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Pull one out at a party
0:03:07 > 0:03:10there's a danger you'll drive your guests to distraction.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13# I gave my love a story...#
0:03:20 > 0:03:24But cliches aside, has this humble box of wood been as important
0:03:24 > 0:03:28to the development of rock music as its sexier electric brother?
0:03:28 > 0:03:30# With the lights out
0:03:30 > 0:03:32# It's less dangerous
0:03:32 > 0:03:34# Here we are now
0:03:34 > 0:03:36# Entertain us. #
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The rock scene of the early '90s
0:03:39 > 0:03:42was dominated by thunderous guitar bands like Guns N' Roses,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Pearl Jam, and the kings of grunge, Nirvana,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47whose explosive live shows
0:03:47 > 0:03:51often ended in a riot of smashed instruments and wailing feedback.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56But in November 1993, Nirvana risked blowing their punk cred
0:03:56 > 0:04:00by appearing on MTV Unplugged.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04No distortion, no crowd surfing, nowhere to hide.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08MUSIC: 'All Apologies" by Nirvana
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Just Kurt Cobain's cracked voice and the songs intimately exposed
0:04:12 > 0:04:16by the simple accompaniment of acoustic guitars.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19# All apologies
0:04:20 > 0:04:23# What else should I say?
0:04:24 > 0:04:28# Everyone is gay
0:04:29 > 0:04:32# What else should I write?
0:04:33 > 0:04:36# I don't have the right. #
0:04:37 > 0:04:39It was sort of a perfect storm.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42You had the unplugged genre building up for a few years at that point
0:04:42 > 0:04:45when Nirvana appeared, and then you had Kurt Cobain,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49who was truly able to shine in that setting.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52# All apologies
0:04:55 > 0:04:57# In the sun
0:04:57 > 0:05:01# In the sun I feel as one
0:05:01 > 0:05:04# In the sun
0:05:04 > 0:05:07# In the sun
0:05:07 > 0:05:09# Married
0:05:11 > 0:05:14# Buried...#
0:05:15 > 0:05:17It was a real personal night.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21He didn't have to be outrageous, he didn't have to come out and say,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24"Hello, London."
0:05:24 > 0:05:27You just come out and start playing.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30# I need an easy friend
0:05:30 > 0:05:34# I do with an ear to lend. #
0:05:34 > 0:05:36It was just the way
0:05:36 > 0:05:38the songs translated across from being really noisy,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42loud, scary songs,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44to being just these heartbreaking numbers.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47# I take advantage while
0:05:48 > 0:05:50# You hang me out to dry. #
0:05:50 > 0:05:53It showed you how great that band really were
0:05:53 > 0:05:56because their sound was completely the opposite,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58but yet the songs in that particular set
0:05:58 > 0:06:01put across how great their ethos was,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04their songs, the words, his singing.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12If you strip away everything else and it still stands up,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14it shows it was a great song in the first place
0:06:14 > 0:06:18and you don't get to hide behind a big wall of guitars.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20- What you saying? - HE LAUGHS
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I think it is a real pinnacle in that band's career.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30It takes them from being a noisy rock band
0:06:30 > 0:06:33into being just a timeless rock band.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36They're great songwriters and they were a great band
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and that moment on Unplugged says that.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42# I do. #
0:06:42 > 0:06:45It was a defining moment for acoustic rock,
0:06:45 > 0:06:46but it was no accident.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51Kurt Cobain and Nirvana understood just how central the instrument was,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54and always had been, to the very soul of rock 'n' roll.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:06:56 > 0:06:59# Well it's one for the money Two for the show
0:06:59 > 0:07:01# Three to get ready Now go, cat, go. #
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Much of early rock 'n' roll's popularity
0:07:04 > 0:07:06relied on Elvis' hip-swivelling antics.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09But he had another secret weapon.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Of course, acoustic was very cool, you know,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14like Elvis and the Everly Brothers.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16# Slander my name All over the place.#
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I heard Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21# Well since my baby left me...#
0:07:21 > 0:07:23I loved the sound so much, I wanted a guitar.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25It was THE symbol of rock 'n' roll.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28# Well it's down at the end of lonely street
0:07:28 > 0:07:31# At Heartbreak Hotel. #
0:07:31 > 0:07:35SCREAMING # I'll be so lonely baby
0:07:35 > 0:07:36# I'm so lonely...#
0:07:36 > 0:07:39The success of Elvis inspired teenagers
0:07:39 > 0:07:41on this side of the Atlantic.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45They picked up the acoustic guitar in their droves
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and dreamt their rock 'n' roll fantasies.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50And it was a peculiar,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52acoustic-driven style of rock 'n' roll
0:07:52 > 0:07:54that first captured the imagination of British youth -
0:07:54 > 0:07:56skiffle.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00For many an Elvis wannabe,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, seen here on the left,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07to the young Beatles, joining a skiffle band was the first step
0:08:07 > 0:08:10into the brave new world of rock 'n' roll.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Skiffle was invented
0:08:16 > 0:08:19to teach kids how to make music without much money,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22hence tea-chest bass and stuff like that
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and washboards.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30And the guitar was the only real instrument in that line-up.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32What it did is it said, "You can do this.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34"Grab a guitar," or in some cases,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37"Grab a piece of string, a broom handle,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41"tie the string onto a crate and there's your double bass."
0:08:41 > 0:08:44That's what skiffle did. It was incredibly liberating.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49- And now it's time for us to introduce the...- King.- Of.- Skiffle. - Himself.- Lonnie.- Donegan!
0:08:49 > 0:08:53# When you play the game of life You've got trouble you've got strife
0:08:53 > 0:08:56# Jack of Diamonds is a hard card to find
0:08:57 > 0:08:58# Life is like a game of cards
0:08:58 > 0:09:00# But it's very very hard
0:09:00 > 0:09:04# Jack of Diamonds is a hard card to find
0:09:04 > 0:09:07# Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds
0:09:07 > 0:09:09# Diamonds is a hard card to find...#
0:09:09 > 0:09:12This homespun music craze might have been a flash in the pan
0:09:12 > 0:09:16had it not been for the remarkable success of Lonnie Donegan.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Guys that I grew up with, like Clapton and Jimmy Page,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22we heard Lonnie Donegan first of all,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25that's what started us playing the guitar.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Everybody wanted to do that.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32SKIFFLE MUSIC
0:09:36 > 0:09:40The impact that he has on British musicians, not just the Beatles,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42but you talk to Jimmy Page,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46he'll tell you that Lonnie Donegan was a massive influence
0:09:46 > 0:09:49on that generation of guitar players.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53SCREAMING
0:09:53 > 0:09:56And it's a first-time welcome now for that top four with their top hit,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01- You Really Got Me Going, The Kinks! - SCREAMING
0:10:01 > 0:10:04# Girl you really got me going
0:10:04 > 0:10:07# You got me so I don't know what I'm doing. #
0:10:07 > 0:10:10In the early 60s, everything got louder.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14The music, the fans, the instruments.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16And the electric guitar was king.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18# You really got me now
0:10:18 > 0:10:21# You got me so I don't know what I'm doing
0:10:21 > 0:10:25# Oh yeah, you really got me now...#
0:10:25 > 0:10:27But as the decade progressed,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30bands such as The Kinks and the Rolling Stones
0:10:30 > 0:10:32looked back to the early blues for inspiration,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36adapting the acoustic playing styles of iconic guitarists
0:10:36 > 0:10:39such as Lead Belly and Robert Johnson.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41# Well poor boy Took his father's bread
0:10:41 > 0:10:44# Started down the road
0:10:44 > 0:10:46# Started down the road
0:10:46 > 0:10:49# Took all he had and started down the road. #
0:10:50 > 0:10:53You go down the line,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56all of your first and even second generation rock guys
0:10:56 > 0:10:58were all influenced by those old guys.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05We based everything we did and have done
0:11:05 > 0:11:08from our knowledge of
0:11:08 > 0:11:11starting as a blues band.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Just the great pleasure of doing something like this.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19HE PLAYS BLUES RIFF
0:11:25 > 0:11:27And then you just sit on it, you know?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30And you can say what the hell you like.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32# You can get out of here baby
0:11:32 > 0:11:34# You can stay
0:11:34 > 0:11:37# The whole damn night. #
0:11:37 > 0:11:40HE PLAYS BLUES RIFF
0:11:58 > 0:12:01But the early blues men weren't the only acoustic influence
0:12:01 > 0:12:03on the new rock royalty.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07# Hey Mr Tambourine Man Play a song for me. #
0:12:07 > 0:12:12In America, even folk musicians were considered hip and bohemian,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14thanks to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17# Hey Mr Tambourine Man... #
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Bob Dylan's influence extended from New York's coffee houses
0:12:20 > 0:12:22to the hippy west coast,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24where The Byrds recorded a chart-topping version
0:12:24 > 0:12:26of Mr Tambourine Man
0:12:26 > 0:12:28and brought Dylan's brand of American folk
0:12:28 > 0:12:30to a mainstream audience.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33When we first heard it, it was in 2/4 time.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37# Hey Mr Tambourine Man Play a song for me
0:12:37 > 0:12:41# I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to. #
0:12:41 > 0:12:44And I took it and I put a Beatle beat to it, like...
0:12:47 > 0:12:51# Hey Mr Tambourine Man
0:12:51 > 0:12:54# Play a song for me
0:12:54 > 0:13:00# I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to. #
0:13:02 > 0:13:06# Hey Mr Tambourine Man
0:13:06 > 0:13:09# Play a song for me
0:13:09 > 0:13:13# In the jingle-jangle morning... #
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19the acoustic guitar-playing folkies were still more associated
0:13:19 > 0:13:21with comfortable jumpers,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23considerable beard growth and real ale,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26rather than revolutionary protest songs.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31However, the success of Dylan inspired a new generation of British folk musicians,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34led by Donovan, to take the acoustic to the top of the charts.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36# Jennifer Juniper
0:13:36 > 0:13:40# Rides a dabbled mare
0:13:40 > 0:13:44# Jennifer Juniper
0:13:44 > 0:13:46# Lilacs in her hair
0:13:46 > 0:13:50# Is she dreaming? Yes I think so
0:13:50 > 0:13:54# And is she pretty? Yes ever so
0:13:54 > 0:13:57# What you doing Jennifer my love? #
0:13:59 > 0:14:02When I arrived in the folk scene, the spring of 1965,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06the papers were full of it. Folk music appears, arrives,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08on the pop charts.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12# And would you love her? If I could, sir
0:14:12 > 0:14:16# What you doing Jennifer my love? Jennifer Juniper. #
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Donovan's success had a big impact on other aspiring troubadours,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23including influential singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27the figurehead of today's new folk movement.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33I wanted to see somebody bring acoustic music into mainstream pop.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36When I first saw Donovan by himself,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39that was just a wonderful, magical moment for me,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41and I thought, "OK, somebody's done it."
0:14:41 > 0:14:43SCREAMING
0:14:46 > 0:14:52Donovan even influenced the biggest band in the world, the Beatles.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57In 1968, shortly after the release of their landmark album Sgt Pepper,
0:14:57 > 0:15:02he joined them on their transcendental pilgrimage to India.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07They were constantly growing and learning
0:15:07 > 0:15:09and experimenting with different things
0:15:09 > 0:15:13and acoustic guitar was one of the things they experimented with
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and Paul was taught finger-picking by Donovan.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21There we were, completely cut off from the world, in the jungle
0:15:21 > 0:15:24with these acoustic instruments.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28And one day, John saw me doing the clawhammer.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31HE PLAYS GUITAR
0:15:37 > 0:15:40It's a claw, right?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43HE PLAYS GUITAR
0:15:45 > 0:15:48And he said, "How do you do that?"
0:15:49 > 0:15:50And he picked it up very quickly.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Paul wouldn't sit down.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56He was listening or walking about doing his own thing,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59but he's so bright, Paul,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01he picked up kind of a backwards way of doing it
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and started writing Blackbird.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09# Blackbird singing in the dead of night
0:16:10 > 0:16:14# Take these broken wings and learn to fly
0:16:15 > 0:16:18# All your life
0:16:19 > 0:16:23# You were only waiting for this moment to arrive. #
0:16:23 > 0:16:26When the Beatles returned from their trip,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28they recorded a double album
0:16:28 > 0:16:31with a strong acoustic guitar presence - The White Album.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35It featured several of the most celebrated acoustic songs in rock music,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38such as Julia, Dear Prudence and Blackbird.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42By the end of the '60s, other innovative folk guitarists,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44such as Davey Graham
0:16:44 > 0:16:47and the legendary Bert Jansch, were also influencing rock music
0:16:47 > 0:16:51with their intricate finger-picking styles and unusual tunings.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54HE PLAYS BLACKWATER SIDE
0:16:54 > 0:16:57# All through the fore
0:16:57 > 0:17:01# Part of the night
0:17:01 > 0:17:03# We lay
0:17:03 > 0:17:07# In sport and play
0:17:08 > 0:17:10# This young man arose... #
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Bert, his sound and his approach and everything was intense.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17It's not too tidy, either.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19It's pretty street, as well. It's kind of unusual.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28This unassuming guitar hero
0:17:28 > 0:17:31opened up a whole new range of techniques and sounds
0:17:31 > 0:17:32for the rock musician.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But it would be a skiffle school graduate
0:17:35 > 0:17:38who would fully realise the acoustic guitar's rock potential.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44By 1970, Led Zeppelin had released two albums of heavy, hairy,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46riff-based blues.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Driven by Jimmy Page's blistering electric guitar playing,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55they were hailed as the undisputed gods of rock.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57# We come from the land of the ice and snow
0:17:57 > 0:18:00# From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
0:18:00 > 0:18:03# Hammer of the gods... #
0:18:05 > 0:18:10For their third album, the band retreated to a remote cottage in North Wales.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15Bron-Yr-Aur had no running water or electricity
0:18:15 > 0:18:20but the change of scenery sparked a period of intense creativity for the band.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24There they wrote the songs for Led Zeppelin III,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27for many, the landmark album in acoustic rock.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39Led Zeppelin III was different.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43There's a lot of sounds you don't hear on the first two records.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46They were horrified, the label. And the fans couldn't believe it.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50"What are you doing? Where's the electricity?"
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Led Zeppelin were rock gods. What were they thinking?
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Why suddenly was all this acoustic music coming out of them?
0:18:57 > 0:19:02There was no escaping the fact that with Led Zeppelin III,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05folk music had quietly gatecrashed the heavy rock party.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08# And I walk down the country lanes
0:19:08 > 0:19:10# I'll be walking along, hear me call your name... #
0:19:12 > 0:19:15They aren't dabbling with folk music. They absorb it.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18It is part of their make-up as a group
0:19:18 > 0:19:20and it is what they genuinely love
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and refer to.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29It's based on an immersion in that music and an understanding of it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33And I think it's that grounding that introduces folk music
0:19:33 > 0:19:37in a really credible way to hard rock, if you will.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46From their third album onwards,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49acoustic instruments were an essential part of Led Zep's sound.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Their songs had an authenticity
0:19:51 > 0:19:54that somehow looked back to old folk traditions
0:19:54 > 0:19:56whilst remaining cutting-edge.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03# Hangman, hangman
0:20:03 > 0:20:05# Hold it a little while
0:20:05 > 0:20:10# I think I see my brother coming, riding many a mile... #
0:20:10 > 0:20:16Jimmy Page certainly took a lot of his knowledge about alternate tunings and the like
0:20:16 > 0:20:18from guys like Roy Harper and Burt Jansch,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and all of a sudden, they gave you an entirely different sound.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24# Sister, I implore you
0:20:24 > 0:20:26# Take him by the hand
0:20:26 > 0:20:28# Take him to some shady bower
0:20:28 > 0:20:31# Save me from the wrath of this man... #
0:20:32 > 0:20:37You can hear how the possibilities of acoustic music are not narrow cast,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41they are not about just being a bit of a maudlin singer-songwriter.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44You can be symphonic in an acoustic context.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48# I'm free to ride, ride for many mile... #
0:20:48 > 0:20:52When they brought it into rock music, they made it strong.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55They didn't bring it in with a whimper.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58It came in very, very forcefully.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Even if they were playing something quite gentle,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04you still knew that you were in a rock song.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF
0:21:13 > 0:21:17If you listen to the acoustic moments on Led Zeppelin records,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21your spine tingles with some kind of, like, majesty
0:21:21 > 0:21:25and it just feels so gentle and it just feels so articulate.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41# I don't know how I'm going to tell you
0:21:42 > 0:21:46# I can't play with you no more
0:21:47 > 0:21:51They took it to a different level. They took it to a stage,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55to a live stage where you could not only play a beautiful song
0:21:55 > 0:22:01but you could rock an arena crowd with a pulse and with percussion
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and I think that changed things for everybody.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08I think that made it very cool to play acoustic
0:22:08 > 0:22:11and not just be a folk hero.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17CHEERING
0:22:31 > 0:22:35# Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw it back to you
0:22:35 > 0:22:40# And by now you should've somehow realised what you're not to do
0:22:40 > 0:22:46# I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
0:22:46 > 0:22:51# I said maybe
0:22:51 > 0:22:55# You're gonna be the one that saves me
0:22:55 > 0:23:00# And after all
0:23:00 > 0:23:03# You're my wonderwall... #
0:23:03 > 0:23:06From Zeppelin to Nirvana and Oasis,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10the greatest bands have proven that you can rock a stadium crowd
0:23:10 > 0:23:12with whatever guitar you're wielding.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15But only the bravest musicians leave the comfort of the band
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and expose themselves, alone, in front of an audience.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25Richard Thompson said that a man with an acoustic guitar on a stage is truly naked.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28But if you're an exhibitionist, you might enjoy it.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34# You have your very own number
0:23:36 > 0:23:43# They dress your cage in its nature... #
0:23:43 > 0:23:46It's a challenge and you kind of enjoy the challenge of trying to
0:23:46 > 0:23:50explore the intimacy between not having the power of the band behind you
0:23:50 > 0:23:55and having the challenge of having an audience in front of you, and you kind of feel naked.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Someone who can just hold someone's attention and make a big noise
0:23:58 > 0:24:02and get their song across on an acoustic is, er...
0:24:02 > 0:24:05There's nobility in it. It's quite heroic in a way.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09# Environment's not yours
0:24:09 > 0:24:12# You see through it all
0:24:14 > 0:24:17# Wanna get out
0:24:17 > 0:24:20# Won't miss you sensaround
0:24:21 > 0:24:25# To carry your own dead
0:24:25 > 0:24:28# To swing your tyre tricks
0:24:29 > 0:24:32# Oh, wanna get out
0:24:33 > 0:24:36# Here you're bred dead quick
0:24:38 > 0:24:41# For the outside
0:24:41 > 0:24:46# The small black flowers that grow in the sky
0:24:50 > 0:24:54# Here chewing your tail
0:24:54 > 0:24:59# Is joy. #
0:25:01 > 0:25:05An acoustic number at a rock gig can certainly be powerful,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08but sometimes, seeing the lights turned down and the amps unplugged
0:25:08 > 0:25:11fills people with dread.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14You've got... HE IMITATES DRUMS
0:25:14 > 0:25:16"We're going to slow things down a bit now..."
0:25:16 > 0:25:20"Whoa, don't do that." It could be bad news.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I remember when I did Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
0:25:23 > 0:25:28on stage the first time, I saw a lighter in the distance.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I thought, "Oh, no, no, no, this is wrong, this is definitely wrong."
0:25:32 > 0:25:36I think people are waiting to light the match or the torch
0:25:36 > 0:25:40as soon as the acoustic gets handed to the guy, before they even hear the song.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42"There's the acoustic, let's get sad!"
0:25:42 > 0:25:45# There's an insect in your ear
0:25:45 > 0:25:49# If you scratch, it won't disappear
0:25:49 > 0:25:52# It's gonna itch and burn and sting
0:25:52 > 0:25:55# You wanna see what scratching brings... #
0:25:55 > 0:25:57The acoustic part of it could be trouble.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59They should put up the acoustic flag
0:25:59 > 0:26:03and then people have the right to go out and, you know...
0:26:03 > 0:26:06talk to their friends, maybe go to the pub across the way.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10The mass experience of people standing in a stadium with their lighters aloft
0:26:10 > 0:26:13is quite satisfying when you're in that crowd.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16You do want to share that communal experience,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18against your better judgement at times.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21# Staring at the sun
0:26:21 > 0:26:25# Afraid of what you'd find
0:26:25 > 0:26:28# If you took a look inside
0:26:28 > 0:26:32# I'm not just deaf and dumb... #
0:26:32 > 0:26:35There is a great pleasure in buying into these constructs.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39There is a great pleasure in saying, "OK, this is the encore,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42"we're going to have four or five acoustic songs -
0:26:42 > 0:26:46"people no longer light lighters, people will wave their phones
0:26:46 > 0:26:51"and we will all feel soppy and fling our arms round each other."
0:26:51 > 0:26:54When the acoustic's pulled out for the acoustic number,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57it normally comes with so much sentimentality,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01it seems to be this token, "Now I'm really going to get down to it
0:27:01 > 0:27:04"and bare my soul for the quiet bit of the set
0:27:04 > 0:27:08"in front of 20,000 to 100,000 people."
0:27:08 > 0:27:12- BOTH:- # I'm not just deaf and dumb
0:27:12 > 0:27:15# Staring at the sun
0:27:15 > 0:27:17# I'm not the only one
0:27:17 > 0:27:23# Who'd rather go blind. #
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I think there's a great problem with this notion,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33if you strum your guitar really intensely with your eyes shut
0:27:33 > 0:27:40that you are conveying automatically a great depth to your songwriting
0:27:40 > 0:27:43or you are revealing the inner workings of your soul
0:27:43 > 0:27:46in a way that you weren't doing half an hour earlier
0:27:46 > 0:27:49with your foot on the monitor, hitting a power chord.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54# Do you wanna play with me? #
0:27:57 > 0:28:01The urge of every self-respecting hard rock band to bare their souls -
0:28:01 > 0:28:03as well as their chests -
0:28:03 > 0:28:05isn't restricted to the big stage.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12And if you really want to prove that you're a "serious artist,"
0:28:12 > 0:28:15then why not bring out the acoustics in your video
0:28:15 > 0:28:17as well as on the album?
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Every band had one of these songs
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and they all sort of had a lot in common,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25one of these things being, for some reason,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29these guys could only play the guitar sitting down in their videos.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33# Saying I love you
0:28:33 > 0:28:39# Is not the words I want to hear from you... #
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Bringing out the acoustic guitar meant that you had something
0:28:43 > 0:28:48if not serious to say, something emotionally serious to say.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51It gives this veneer of confessional,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54this veneer of feeling,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58this veneer of you're revealing something deep within you.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01# How you feel
0:29:01 > 0:29:04# More than words
0:29:04 > 0:29:06It's us playing it, it's us in there,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08trying to get the band involved with some lighters
0:29:08 > 0:29:12so they knew we were a band, by even having them put the sticks down.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15"Let's make sure they don't think we're the Everly Brothers."
0:29:15 > 0:29:22# Cos I'd already know
0:29:22 > 0:29:26# What would you do? #
0:29:26 > 0:29:32The acoustic is aiding you, as you're being let in
0:29:32 > 0:29:37on maybe what you're not supposed to see, because the acoustic signifies the emotional
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and stripping away all the pretence.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46The flip side to a lot of all this for the bands,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49who could make instant riches off of doing these power ballads,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51was the fact that some of them
0:29:51 > 0:29:56kind of became pigeonholed as ballad bands,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01whereas they viewed themselves as these, you know, manly, hard rockers,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05but it was going to follow them around from then on.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09# Then you couldn't make things new
0:30:09 > 0:30:14# Just by saying I love you... #
0:30:14 > 0:30:18There were people coming to the shows that heard More Than Words.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20We'd see their faces in the first three rows like...
0:30:20 > 0:30:23Looking at their tickets. "Is this the right band?"
0:30:23 > 0:30:30# Just by saying I love you. #
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Apart from pleasing, and occasionally surprising, their fans,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47slinging an old acoustic round your neck can do a lot for your image.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Countless acts would strap it on in the video
0:30:51 > 0:30:53and you'd sort of know what was coming.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56It was great to start off a song with an acoustic
0:30:56 > 0:30:59and then when the big chorus comes in,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01turn on the electrics and really bring it all home.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Former poodle rocker Jon Bon Jovi took things way out west.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12And also the odd fascination with
0:31:12 > 0:31:17pairing acoustic guitars and cowboy imagery in these ballads.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20And that was a big thing with these bands.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23The cowboy boots and the cowboy hat and your acoustic guitar
0:31:23 > 0:31:27and all of a sudden you're good old American country boy.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32It was a big money-maker for a lot of bands,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36it was big business, but it became sort of tired and cliche
0:31:36 > 0:31:38and sort of a joke at the end of the day.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Not only can an acoustic guitar make you look sexy,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46the instrument itself is an object of desire.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54And for some rockers, meeting their new partner was love at first sight.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57I had the worst hangover of my life when I bought this guitar
0:31:57 > 0:32:01and it was this pathetic moment in the shop where it just sang to me,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and I thought, "That guitar needs to be with me."
0:32:04 > 0:32:08It's one thing that is significant in my life that I really remember,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12seeing the shape of the guitar case.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16# There she goes... #
0:32:16 > 0:32:19It was so amazing. It was like seeing a superhero.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22# Racing through my brain... #
0:32:22 > 0:32:25I think definitely all the retro,
0:32:25 > 0:32:30well, vintage acoustic guitars just look like they've seen so much life.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33And I love that sort of worn-away wood look
0:32:33 > 0:32:37and they've definitely got a story. That looks pretty hot.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41# There she goes again... #
0:32:41 > 0:32:46It's not that personal. I don't compare them to women, like some guitar players do.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50The shape of a guitar is very sexy.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53It's like that.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58There was this idea that the electric guitar
0:32:58 > 0:33:00was sort of virile and potent
0:33:00 > 0:33:05and the acoustic guitar was sort of gentle and curvy and nice.
0:33:06 > 0:33:12The smell it had was just... It smelled like roses
0:33:12 > 0:33:14and it was just sort of intoxicating.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17You just smelled this thing and you'd go, "Wow!"
0:33:20 > 0:33:23I kiss guitars. I'll kiss my guitar.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27If I haven't given it enough attention, I'll just kiss the head.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32I may have gone to bed with a guitar on the bed.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35I'm sure I did at one time or another.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40I don't sleep with my guitar. That's where the relationship ends.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42I sleep with it under my bed sometimes,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44in case somebody steals it.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Sexy, fragrant and considerably lighter than a piano,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53most rock songs start life on the acoustic.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56It's the perfect companion for any songwriter.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58It's a good songwriting tool
0:33:58 > 0:34:02because it's just little and you can take it anywhere, you know?
0:34:04 > 0:34:09# When I come home, you won't be there anymore
0:34:10 > 0:34:14# When I come home, you won't be there anymore... #
0:34:14 > 0:34:17It's just very easy to sit and play
0:34:17 > 0:34:20and then it's so easy to kind of sing along to, as well.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25# When I come home, home, home, home... #
0:34:25 > 0:34:28There is an aspect to acoustic guitars which is very important
0:34:28 > 0:34:33that an electric doesn't have - you can take it with you somewhere
0:34:33 > 0:34:35and it's all you need.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Because it can be everything, bass...
0:34:38 > 0:34:40HE PLAYS BASELINE
0:34:40 > 0:34:43..and rhythm... HE STRUMS RHYTHMICALLY
0:34:43 > 0:34:46..and even counter-melody, lead guitar...
0:34:46 > 0:34:50HE PLAYS MELODY
0:34:51 > 0:34:55The guitar hero can even take the six-string beauty to bed,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59ready to be woken when the creative juices begin to flow.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04I was asleep, I woke up and without even knowing it,
0:35:04 > 0:35:09I pushed play on my little early cassette player...
0:35:10 > 0:35:13..played it, went back to sleep,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15didn't remember a thing about it
0:35:15 > 0:35:18until I saw that the tape had run to the other end.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22So I ran it all the way back to the front
0:35:22 > 0:35:25and there is 30 seconds of Satisfaction,
0:35:25 > 0:35:27a very slow version.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF
0:35:33 > 0:35:37# I can't get no
0:35:38 > 0:35:40# Satisfaction
0:35:42 > 0:35:44# I can't get me no
0:35:46 > 0:35:48# Satisfaction, babe
0:35:48 > 0:35:50# Cos I try
0:35:50 > 0:35:52# And I try
0:35:52 > 0:35:54# Girl, I try
0:35:54 > 0:35:56# Yeah, I try... #
0:35:56 > 0:36:00HE SNORES
0:36:00 > 0:36:01Just like that.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11The guitar is complete in itself as an instrument.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16It can have four or five voices musically, all going on at once.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29I do like the versatility of acoustic guitars.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34You can make them sound thumpy, gentle, it's a complete instrument.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39So it can be really soft and the thumbs and your hands give you different tones to...
0:36:39 > 0:36:42HE STRUMS GUITAR LOUDLY
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Erm... And, you know...
0:36:45 > 0:36:46HE FINGER-PICKS
0:36:46 > 0:36:49I can't help but play that pattern all the time cos I like it.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53But it just has...
0:36:53 > 0:36:56You can get real expressive dynamics in it.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Because you can play just a simple chord...
0:37:01 > 0:37:04HE PLAYS CHORD
0:37:06 > 0:37:11I mean, and put a melody over that, it's very easy to do.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12HE STRUMS
0:37:12 > 0:37:16It's like a whole orchestra on its own, really.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21- When you play... - SHE STRUMS
0:37:32 > 0:37:36A very full sound. But that's what the acoustic can do.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40So it can make you feel as if you can write a song, you don't need anybody else.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47That's the wonderful thing about the guitar, you can just be by yourself
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and you have a whole orchestra in your head
0:37:49 > 0:37:54and you can get part of it out with this six-string,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56six notes and a voice.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00SHE PLAYS AND HUMS
0:38:03 > 0:38:04That's why it's good variety,
0:38:04 > 0:38:09because you can get the feel of what you want without being
0:38:09 > 0:38:13either a virtuoso or anything like that,
0:38:13 > 0:38:17anyone can be, sit there and write a song.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22You don't need amps, you don't need electricity, you don't need leads,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24you don't need a bass player, a drummer,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27you don't need all this set-up to create music.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32You can create on your own, quite quietly, upstairs in your bedroom.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35# I met her in a club down old Soho
0:38:35 > 0:38:40# Where you drink champagne that tastes just like cherry cola
0:38:40 > 0:38:44- AUDIENCE: # C-O-L-A, cola... # - Far out.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49The guitar sound is so influential in evoking a mood.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52# Dark brown voice she said Lola
0:38:53 > 0:38:56# L-O-L-A, Lola... #
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Almost any acoustic guitar has its own sound,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02and that might give you some ideas
0:39:02 > 0:39:05as to what you're writing, just the sound of it.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08# She talked like a man, Lola
0:39:08 > 0:39:11# L-L-L-L-Lola
0:39:11 > 0:39:14# L-L-L-L-Lola... #
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Sometimes the right guitar determines the journey or the decision-making
0:39:22 > 0:39:25about where to go next with the song you're writing.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29The jang-jang-jangy sound on Lola, for example,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32came because I heard the guitar playback.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34The guitar is inspirational.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38Thank you very much!
0:39:38 > 0:39:40CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:40 > 0:39:43# When we collide we come together
0:39:46 > 0:39:49# If we don't we'll always be apart... #
0:39:49 > 0:39:53Even for some of today's heaviest bands, such as Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro,
0:39:53 > 0:39:59the song needs to be crafted properly on the acoustic first, before cranking the amp up to 11.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02# When you hit me, hit me hard... #
0:40:04 > 0:40:07You kind of figure out whether an idea is a good idea or not,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11and whether the melody is really worth working on
0:40:11 > 0:40:16cos sometimes just an open chord through a big Marshall stack sounds just amazing but anyone can do that,
0:40:16 > 0:40:22you know, you have to try and work a bit harder and make things more subtle and intricate.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29# I've got Gilligan's eyes
0:40:31 > 0:40:34# I still believe... #
0:40:34 > 0:40:37When we first play our songs together, we always play them quiet,
0:40:37 > 0:40:43we never play them full-on rock until we find out how the song flows and where it's going to go.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48# When we collide we come together
0:40:49 > 0:40:54# If we don't we'll always be apart
0:40:56 > 0:40:59# I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
0:41:01 > 0:41:05# When you hit me, hit me hard... #
0:41:06 > 0:41:08If it doesn't work acoustically, it's a shit song.
0:41:08 > 0:41:09HE LAUGHS
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- We write all our songs on acoustic guitar. - THEY LAUGH
0:41:12 > 0:41:14# Against what
0:41:16 > 0:41:19# Our future is for
0:41:22 > 0:41:24# Many of horror... #
0:41:24 > 0:41:28I mean, I certainly don't think that, as a lot of people do,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32that a song isn't good unless you can play it on an acoustic.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34I don't really...
0:41:35 > 0:41:38I think there's a lot of evidence against that, really.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41But if you can play it from start to finish on an acoustic and it's great,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44whatever you do to it it's going to be killer.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46MUSIC: "Layla" by Eric Clapton
0:41:46 > 0:41:48And it can work the other way around, too.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52A rock classic can be completely transformed by playing it acoustically.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56When Clapton re-did Layla as an acoustic version,
0:41:56 > 0:42:01there was the classic riff that everyone remembered
0:42:01 > 0:42:05from the original electric version of it, which he downplayed.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08MUSIC: "Layla" by Eric Clapton
0:42:08 > 0:42:12CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:42:17 > 0:42:21If you read the blogs, there are people who think it's horrible.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23- Because you don't have... - HE HUMS RIFF
0:42:23 > 0:42:27But, erm, you've got to understand that
0:42:27 > 0:42:31that's what the acoustic guitar is to a musician.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35It's a different feel. It's more soulful.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40# What will you do when you get lonely?
0:42:42 > 0:42:45# No-one waiting by your side
0:42:47 > 0:42:52# You've been running and hiding much too long
0:42:52 > 0:42:56# You know it's just your foolish pride
0:42:56 > 0:42:58# Layla... #
0:42:58 > 0:43:00It wasn't an angry-young-man approach
0:43:00 > 0:43:02as it was when he first recorded it.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05# Layla
0:43:05 > 0:43:08# You got me on my knees, Layla
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# I'm begging darling please, Layla... #
0:43:12 > 0:43:18It was someone who had more of a relaxed view of life.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22# Tried to give you consolation
0:43:24 > 0:43:27# When your old man had let you down... #
0:43:27 > 0:43:29It was always a love song.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32But it was a heavy-duty love song
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and then he managed to take it down to a much more personal level.
0:43:35 > 0:43:41It just gave it a whole new life, I think.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:43:49 > 0:43:51Thank you!
0:43:51 > 0:43:54# Hey, hey, my, my
0:43:58 > 0:44:02# Rock 'n' roll can never die... #
0:44:02 > 0:44:04If the great rock guitarist is defined
0:44:04 > 0:44:08by an ability to master both the raw power of the electric
0:44:08 > 0:44:12and the intimacy of the acoustic, then Neil Young is the man.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21# Old man, look at my life
0:44:21 > 0:44:25# I'm a lot like you were
0:44:26 > 0:44:29# Old man, look at my life
0:44:29 > 0:44:34# I'm a lot like you were... #
0:44:35 > 0:44:37For artists like Neil Young,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40who swaps between the electric and the acoustic guitar at will,
0:44:40 > 0:44:42the simplicity of acoustic tracks
0:44:42 > 0:44:45can shine a light on their innermost feelings.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48# Old man, look at my life
0:44:48 > 0:44:51# 24 and there's so much more
0:44:51 > 0:44:54# Live alone in a paradise
0:44:54 > 0:44:57# That makes me think of two
0:44:58 > 0:45:01# Love lost, such a cost
0:45:01 > 0:45:05# Give me things that don't get lost
0:45:05 > 0:45:08# Like a coin that won't get tossed
0:45:08 > 0:45:10# Rolling home to you... #
0:45:10 > 0:45:13I guess it lends itself to a bit of melancholy,
0:45:13 > 0:45:18especially with the dynamics and the sweetness that it has, and the humanness it has, as well.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21# Old man, take a look at my life
0:45:21 > 0:45:25# I'm a lot like you
0:45:25 > 0:45:28# I need someone to love me
0:45:28 > 0:45:31# The whole day through
0:45:32 > 0:45:34# Ah, one look in my eyes
0:45:34 > 0:45:38# And you can tell that's true... #
0:45:41 > 0:45:46There's a certain rawness of emotion and spirit to the acoustic,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49and I think that's what attracts a lot of people
0:45:49 > 0:45:54to the acoustic guitar is the more immediate emotional connection
0:45:54 > 0:45:57you can make to these artists.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02# It's a sight
0:46:02 > 0:46:04# To behold
0:46:05 > 0:46:10# When you've got some odd words to mould
0:46:10 > 0:46:13# And you can make them your own... #
0:46:13 > 0:46:18You can immediately identify with the vulnerability of somebody
0:46:18 > 0:46:23expressing themselves with just the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28# It would be much better I'm told
0:46:28 > 0:46:32I mean, it's literally sitting on your chest
0:46:32 > 0:46:35and it's just amplifying what's coming out from here.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39# Every light is on but all the rooms
0:46:39 > 0:46:42# Are empty except one... #
0:46:45 > 0:46:48With only the acoustic guitar between you and the audience,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52every expression and every word is exposed.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57People do, almost, kind of, sit up
0:46:57 > 0:47:02and...lean forward a bit
0:47:02 > 0:47:06and, erm, it's like they feel they've been invited to something.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11# Woncha come on home
0:47:11 > 0:47:15# Home... #
0:47:15 > 0:47:19When that moment is happening, I'm there with them, actually.
0:47:19 > 0:47:20I like it myself.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22# Every key is turned
0:47:22 > 0:47:27# And every window's bolted from inside
0:47:29 > 0:47:32# Oh, babe, you know I get so scared
0:47:32 > 0:47:35# You know I couldn't live alone
0:47:35 > 0:47:37# It's just been confirmed
0:47:37 > 0:47:40# Baby, woncha come on home
0:47:40 > 0:47:42# Standing on the corner
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# Is a madman looking at my window? #
0:47:45 > 0:47:49When you stand on stage on your own, you just feel how important the words are.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53When it's just the acoustic guitar, your voice and the lyrics that your trying to get across,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56you realise the lyrics are so integral.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59# Woncha come on home
0:47:59 > 0:48:03# Home... #
0:48:03 > 0:48:06You learn pretty quickly that your lyrics are crap
0:48:06 > 0:48:08if you can't sing it with an acoustic.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Because now you're singing and it's so exposed and people are going,
0:48:11 > 0:48:16"What are you talking about? That's the silliest thing I ever heard."
0:48:16 > 0:48:18When the lyrics are strong enough,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22then the acoustic guitar remains the perfect partner.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25From old-school rockers right up to today's wistful whippersnappers,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29it's all you need to tell your story.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33# I know I said I loved you but I'm thinking I was wrong
0:48:33 > 0:48:36# I'm the first to admit that I'm still pretty young
0:48:36 > 0:48:41# And I never meant to hurt you and I wrote you ten love songs
0:48:44 > 0:48:47# About a guy that I could never get, how his girlfriend was pretty fit
0:48:47 > 0:48:50# And everyone who knew her loved her so
0:48:51 > 0:48:55# And I made you leave her for me and now I'm feeling pretty mean
0:48:55 > 0:48:56# But my mind has fucked me over
0:48:56 > 0:49:00# More times than any man could ever know... #
0:49:03 > 0:49:08People love the acoustic troubadour. That's why the likes of Pete Doherty
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley are held in great esteem
0:49:12 > 0:49:16because they are people who can pick up a guitar and start playing to you
0:49:16 > 0:49:19and sing to you a song and it just immediately...
0:49:19 > 0:49:23It enthrals you, it makes you want to listen to more.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26# I'll never love a man cos love and pain go hand in hand
0:49:26 > 0:49:30# And I can't do it again
0:49:30 > 0:49:34# I will never love a man cos I can never hurt a man
0:49:34 > 0:49:40# Not in this new romantic way. #
0:49:43 > 0:49:45CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:49:45 > 0:49:47I think there's a natural expression
0:49:47 > 0:49:51for confessional songwriting with an acoustic guitar,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54because it allows your lyricism to really work.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58# And I don't know what to do
0:50:00 > 0:50:04# Cos I'll never be with you... #
0:50:06 > 0:50:09There's a healthy load of miserable singer-songwriters
0:50:09 > 0:50:11working with acoustic guitars
0:50:11 > 0:50:15and so perhaps it does the same thing for them as it does for me
0:50:15 > 0:50:20and if I'm in a quiet corner with an acoustic guitar then I find I express darker, sadder songs.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23The success of these melancholic minstrels
0:50:23 > 0:50:26might suggest the acoustic is at its most potent
0:50:26 > 0:50:29during these heart-rending moments.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33# Cos I'll never be with you. #
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Doesn't have to be like that, does it? It can be loud and proud.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42STRUMS JOLLY TUNE
0:50:42 > 0:50:44Is that melancholic?
0:50:44 > 0:50:46Maybe it's cos I'm smiling.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53# This is Ground Control to Major Tom
0:50:53 > 0:50:57# You've really made the grade
0:50:59 > 0:51:05# And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear... #
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Sometimes I think when people hear an acoustic guitar,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12it's just an acoustic guitar and it's just going to be, kind of, quite weak.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17But in the hands of the right person,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19it's going to sound absolutely incredible.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24For Johnny Marr, former member of The Smiths
0:51:24 > 0:51:28and one of the most influential guitarists of his generation,
0:51:28 > 0:51:31the acoustic is an essential part of his musical armoury.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34An instrument that not only sets the mood of the music,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36but drives the song itself.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41One of the first things that struck me about the acoustic was, being very little,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and, erm, hearing the Everly Brothers, you know,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48and one of their records starts...
0:51:48 > 0:51:50HE PLAYS GUITAR
0:51:52 > 0:51:56MUSIC: "Wake Up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers
0:51:57 > 0:52:01# Wake up little Susie, wake up... #
0:52:02 > 0:52:06And it's very deliberately an acoustic guitar intro.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09And they had that going on on a couple of their records.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12And, erm, that's a different thing to
0:52:12 > 0:52:17this sort of earnest idea of the folk singer,
0:52:17 > 0:52:21earnestly finger-picking accompaniment.
0:52:21 > 0:52:22That's a riff.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Sometimes it adds a springiness, it adds an articulate nature to violence, you know.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35Pete Townshend and stuff like Substitute, kind of like, you know,
0:52:35 > 0:52:41it doesn't have to be a soppy, foppish instrument. It actually adds vitality to the violence of music.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44STRUMS MAJOR CHORDS
0:52:48 > 0:52:52# Substitute your lies for fact
0:52:52 > 0:52:55# I see right through your plastic mac
0:52:55 > 0:52:58# I look all white but my dad was black
0:52:58 > 0:53:03# My fine-looking suit's really made out of sack... #
0:53:03 > 0:53:05A riff like...
0:53:05 > 0:53:07HE PLAYS "BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN"
0:53:11 > 0:53:16# Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said
0:53:16 > 0:53:21# I'd like to smash every tooth in your head... #
0:53:21 > 0:53:25That, to me, is always going to sound better on an acoustic,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27and it's, erm,
0:53:27 > 0:53:33it's a rock, post-punk, whatever name you want put on it, but it's not folk music.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37If there's one Smiths song I would pick which I would say that
0:53:37 > 0:53:40the acoustic playing on it is just so important,
0:53:40 > 0:53:45kind of almost drives the song along and makes everything just a wee bit more bucolic, kind of thing,
0:53:45 > 0:53:47is William It Was Really Nothing.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49It was written on an acoustic
0:53:49 > 0:53:52in a transit van going down the motorway.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55I had this acoustic and I just started going...
0:53:55 > 0:53:56HE STRUMS CHORDS
0:54:06 > 0:54:10# Rain falls hard on a humdrum town
0:54:10 > 0:54:13# This town has dragged you down... #
0:54:14 > 0:54:21And it may be because it was the noise of sitting in the back of a van, with no seats, on a mattress.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26I needed to hear myself, so I just started to play something loud and hyperactive, you know.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31But the whole band, the bass and the drums all go along with that rhythm.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36And the song is, kind of, erm, propelled by that.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48# William, William it was
0:54:48 > 0:54:50# Really nothing
0:54:50 > 0:54:55# William, William it was
0:54:55 > 0:54:58# Really nothing
0:54:58 > 0:55:01# It was your life... #
0:55:01 > 0:55:05It just feels like it's the bed for everything else.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08And sometimes when an acoustic guitar is that important,
0:55:08 > 0:55:10it almost becomes more important than drums.
0:55:10 > 0:55:15# How can you stay with a fat girl who'll say, "Oh
0:55:15 > 0:55:16# "Would you like to marry me?
0:55:16 > 0:55:18# "And if you like you can buy the ring..." #
0:55:18 > 0:55:21The combination of an acoustic and electric is a wonderful thing
0:55:21 > 0:55:24because they don't really get in the way of each other.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28They occupy different parts of the sonic range within a record.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30And you'll find that a lot of great rock acts over the years
0:55:30 > 0:55:33like REM or The Smiths, or any of those great bands,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36they often put a little bit of acoustic amongst the electrics
0:55:36 > 0:55:40and it just helps glue the rhythm section to the guitars.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45Sometimes the acoustic guitar brings the band closer together.
0:55:45 > 0:55:50And it definitely reigns the electric guitar in, makes it more gentle. Makes it more regal.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55I don't know, there's just something there
0:55:55 > 0:55:59where everything feels as if it's couched in some kind of Ready Brek glow.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Proud as a peacock, the acoustic guitar.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17# Well, I'm up on the eleventh floor
0:56:17 > 0:56:20# And I'm watching the cruisers below... #
0:56:20 > 0:56:25It's been an essential part of rock 'n' roll from the very beginning, and has never gone away.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30As crucial to a rock band as the bass, drums, and its electric brother.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34It is the basis of popular music today.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37It goes away and it comes back, goes away, comes back. It's always there.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42A little thrum in the background. There's always some acoustic music around.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45# I'll take advantage while
0:56:45 > 0:56:49# You hang me out to dry... #
0:56:49 > 0:56:53A gentle music machine that's at the heart of even the loudest of bands.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57Acoustic music is not just
0:56:57 > 0:57:02rock 'n' roll music and it's not just folk music, it is music.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05# Come on, let me tell you what you're missing
0:57:05 > 0:57:07# Messing round these brick walls... #
0:57:09 > 0:57:13The most complete artists seem to be able to switch in between,
0:57:13 > 0:57:16harnessing the power of a band
0:57:16 > 0:57:19and also just showing how gentle the acoustic guitar can be.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22MUSIC: "Wonderwall" by Oasis
0:57:23 > 0:57:28The musicians' bedfellow, collaborator and best friend.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30It's all you need.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34I don't know of anything else in my life that's like that, really.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39A humble box with six strings that can write your song,
0:57:39 > 0:57:42break your heart and set a stadium alight.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45# I don't believe that anybody
0:57:45 > 0:57:48# Feels the way I do about you now
0:57:51 > 0:57:56# And all the roads we have to walk are winding
0:57:56 > 0:58:00# And all the lights that light the way are blinding
0:58:00 > 0:58:05# There are many things that I would like to say to you
0:58:05 > 0:58:08# But I don't know how
0:58:08 > 0:58:10# I don't know how
0:58:10 > 0:58:13# Because maybe
0:58:13 > 0:58:18# You're gonna be the one that saves me
0:58:18 > 0:58:23# And after all
0:58:23 > 0:58:26# You're my wonderwall. #
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:33 > 0:58:35- Cheers. - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE