0:00:07 > 0:00:10For me, it makes me happy. I don't know. It puts me in a good mood.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Oh, it's crazy music, man.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Rock 'n' roll is cool, daddy, and you know it!
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Rock 'n' roll had taken America by surprise in the mid '50s
0:00:22 > 0:00:23and almost by accident.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Elvis and Little Richard stumbling on their styles.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Can I say something? Let it all hang out!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock...
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Anybody want to hear this record, huh?
0:00:35 > 0:00:37..a discarded B side.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42But now, rock 'n' roll would stride forward with money and management.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48It would spread into main street America.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Our teenagers will never be the same after this.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51It's really marvellous.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Well, he just feels the rhythm.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Birthing even wilder artists...
0:00:55 > 0:00:59He said, "You have ruined a whole generation of kids."
0:01:05 > 0:01:06..and ringing major alarm bells.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It sent shock waves through parenthood.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11I don't feel I'm doing anything wrong.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14..as America feared its kids were running wild.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16They thought rock 'n' roll was for hoodlums.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Our young people are getting out of hand everywhere.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Breathless.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30And they're off!
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Up to the halfway mark. They're neck and neck.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39170.45mph.
0:01:42 > 0:01:441950s America,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48where teenagers enjoyed a share of a turbo charged good life.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50There's the Allison against the Chevy.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53You can't see it through the smoke, because Chevy won.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57And kids now found themselves with money to burn.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Elvis explained this to my dad and I.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07He said, "We've always aimed our songs and record sales to adults."
0:02:07 > 0:02:11But he says, "But you see the kids that are coming out to the show,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15"they have their own money, they're buying the records
0:02:15 > 0:02:18"and they're the ones that will make it happen for you.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22"So, you've got to do their type of songs."
0:02:22 > 0:02:23# It's one for the money
0:02:23 > 0:02:25# Two for the show
0:02:25 > 0:02:26# Three to get ready
0:02:26 > 0:02:28# Now, go, cat, go... #
0:02:28 > 0:02:32As rock 'n' roll grew, there was an explosion of record sales.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Tripling in the second half of the '50s
0:02:35 > 0:02:37as teens bought millions of discs.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43But as the money started to roll in, so did the money men.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48And in a South that did things its own way,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52there was one man in Memphis who loomed large.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56On a manager/artist relationship,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59very few deals are more than 20%.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01That's it.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03That's the artist/manager split.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07The Colonel, he had a 50/50 relationship with Elvis
0:03:07 > 0:03:09till the day he died.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13He was a mysterious sort of guy.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15There were things about the Colonel that
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I don't think anybody will ever know.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24He was a self-made Southern Colonel. He had jumped ship.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27He was an illegal alien.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30He was a Dutchman.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34He did something bad, cos he didn't go back.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Some people say he may have killed somebody there.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Before he signed Elvis, he was like a travelling salesman almost.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Dr May's Feels Wonderful Vita-Zone remedy.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Brings a new spring to your walk.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54He promoted all different medications and all kinds of stuff.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56A sample of the marvellous freaks you'll see.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
0:03:58 > 0:04:01He was doing these country fairs.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05He sent someone out to buy some little chickens.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And they had music, playing Turkey In The Straw,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and the electric hot plate.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12And they were pulling their feet up
0:04:12 > 0:04:15because they were burning their feet.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18And that was the Colonel's famous dancing chickens.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25# Well, I woke up this morning
0:04:25 > 0:04:27# And I looked out the door
0:04:27 > 0:04:29# I can tell that old milk cow
0:04:29 > 0:04:32# By the way she lowed... #
0:04:33 > 0:04:38In early '55, the Colonel was just an adviser to Elvis,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40not even his manager,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43with no exclusive rights over Sun Records' local star.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Tom started running around the country saying that
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Elvis Presley's contract was for sale,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54which was not true.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55And my dad got wind of it.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58He called him and said, "Man," you know, "what the hell are you doing?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00"Elvis' contract is not for sale."
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Tom says, "Would you sell him? Would you ever sell him?"
0:05:03 > 0:05:07And my dad says, "Well, if the price was right."
0:05:07 > 0:05:11And when he said, that he was thinking in his mind what the price
0:05:11 > 0:05:14I would ask, nobody would pay for Elvis Presley.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Nobody would.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And he said, "What's the price?"
0:05:17 > 0:05:21And my dad said, "35,000."
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Which at that time was the highest contract ever
0:05:23 > 0:05:25that anybody had ever been bought for.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Colonel wanted it his way, period.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32You couldn't beat him at his own game.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34He could out-talk you. He could out-think you.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36A pretty smart guy, really.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48By November, '55, the man who didn't manage Elvis sold him
0:05:48 > 0:05:50to RCA for a record fee.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54And installed himself as sole representative with a huge cut
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and songwriting credits.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04But signed to a major label, a Southern boy,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08largely unknown to the rest of America, now had a real chance
0:06:08 > 0:06:10of reaching a national audience.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Elvis is in Memphis. Sidewalks roll up at ten o'clock.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Let's go down to the Variety Club.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21And it was just me and Elvis, and Dewy, and the bartender.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23And there's a little piano in the club.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25It's about two o'clock in the morning.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28And Elvis says, "Hey, GK, you and Dewy come over.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30"I want you to hear my new song I want to record.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31"See what you all think."
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It's called Heartbreak Hotel.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36# Since my baby left me
0:06:36 > 0:06:38# I found a place to dwell... #
0:06:38 > 0:06:41I look at Dewy, and Dewy look at me, and we just say,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44"Elvis, that's a damn smash hit."
0:06:44 > 0:06:47# Well, since my baby left me
0:06:47 > 0:06:50# Well, I found a new place to dwell
0:06:50 > 0:06:53# Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street
0:06:53 > 0:06:55# At Heartbreak Hotel... #
0:06:55 > 0:07:00The first impact that I got of Elvis Presley was Heartbreak Hotel.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Which was a brand-new sound.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I realised that because of the breaks, the voice was on its own.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11I tried to analyse it afterwards.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14The vocal was like...
0:07:16 > 0:07:18# Since my baby left
0:07:18 > 0:07:20# You found a new place to dwell
0:07:20 > 0:07:22# It's down at the end of Lonely Street
0:07:22 > 0:07:25# This Heartbreak Hotel... #
0:07:25 > 0:07:26And then...
0:07:28 > 0:07:30You know what I mean? Then the music comes in.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32But the vocal was up there in front first.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35They concentrated on that.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38# Well, if your baby leaves you
0:07:38 > 0:07:41# And you got a tale to tell
0:07:41 > 0:07:43# Just take a walk down Lonely Street
0:07:43 > 0:07:45# To Heartbreak Hotel
0:07:47 > 0:07:50# I get so lonely, baby
0:07:50 > 0:07:52# I get so lonely
0:07:52 > 0:07:54# I get so lonely... #
0:07:55 > 0:07:58With the song climbing the charts...
0:07:59 > 0:08:03..America finally got to see Elvis on national TV.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Electricity beyond comprehension.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11It's the raw excitement of life that we hadn't seen yet.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14It changes you inwardly. It hit you passionately.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17It hits you emotionally.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Heartbreak Hotel was Elvis' first national number one.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28He followed it with an even bigger hit.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Not written for him, but for a 6'4" force of nature.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36# You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
0:08:36 > 0:08:38# Quit snoopin' around the door
0:08:39 > 0:08:43# You ain't nothin' but a hound dog... #
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The song was written for a black woman - Mama Mae Thornton.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53The lyrics, they were somewhat inspired by her physical presence.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Thornton was rough. Rough, like, man rough.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02She'd knock you out.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04She put the hound dog fist on you.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10It was sort of about a gigolo
0:09:10 > 0:09:14who came to this woman's house and just wanted what she had.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17# You ain't nothing but a hound dog... #
0:09:19 > 0:09:21The original lyric is...
0:09:21 > 0:09:23# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:09:23 > 0:09:26# Quit snooping around my door
0:09:26 > 0:09:27# You can wag your tail
0:09:27 > 0:09:29# But I ain't going to feed you no more... #
0:09:29 > 0:09:32# You can wag your tail
0:09:32 > 0:09:35# But I ain't going to feed you no more... #
0:09:35 > 0:09:39It was about a freeloader.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Elvis' version had converted this
0:09:42 > 0:09:46and the lyrics are a guy singing to a dog.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50# Do the twist... #
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Elvis Presley speeded it up.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57He speeded it up to the taste where it could be rock 'n' roll-ish.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Oh, he did it fast.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05He didn't want to do it like her.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08So, we didn't do it like her.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Here's what I played on Hound Dog.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:10:17 > 0:10:19# Crying all the time
0:10:19 > 0:10:21# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:10:21 > 0:10:23# Crying all the time
0:10:23 > 0:10:26# Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
0:10:26 > 0:10:28# And you ain't no friend of mine
0:10:28 > 0:10:30# Well, they said you was high classed
0:10:30 > 0:10:33# Well, that was just a lie... #
0:10:33 > 0:10:37He had more fun on stage than I'd ever seen anybody have.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40He just was out there having a ball.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42# You ain't no friend of mine
0:10:45 > 0:10:50# You ain't nothin' but a hound dog... #
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Just at the very end of the song, he cuts the time in half.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56It slows it down in a very dramatic way and he starts moving
0:10:56 > 0:10:58his hips in this really sensual way
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and all the girls start screaming.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02And it was kind of sensational.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06# Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
0:11:06 > 0:11:10# You ain't no friend of mine... #
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Why would that have been so shocking?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Nobody would have ever seen anything like this.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17That was a public display
0:11:17 > 0:11:19of sexuality that was unheard of.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21That would have been considered pornographic.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24It was like putting your finger in an electric socket,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27if you were a teenager. Holy cow!
0:11:27 > 0:11:30# Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
0:11:30 > 0:11:34# You ain't no friend of mine. #
0:11:34 > 0:11:38TV reviewers from the day, they were incensed at this vulgarism.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42This whole notion of, they'd lost control.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48There is no room in this city for the vulgar
0:11:48 > 0:11:50performances of Elvis Presley.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I watched him gyrate his legs and swivel his hips.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And our parent teachers group feels he should not be on television.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04We have set up a 20-man committee to do away with this vulgar,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08animalistic, nigger, rock 'n' roll bop.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10What Elvis was doing was what he did in church.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12That sanctified church he was raised in.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15People danced wildly. They flop about.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19He wasn't doing a vulgar striptease kind of thing.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23He was doing what he would do in front of God and his mom.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26They just didn't understand it. It wasn't sexual.
0:12:26 > 0:12:27So, that really hurt his feelings
0:12:27 > 0:12:30when somebody would say something derogatory.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Your form of gyrating while you sing has been bitterly criticised,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36even by usually mild and gentle TV critics.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Do you think you've learned anything from the criticism?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40- No, I haven't.- You haven't.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43Because I don't feel I'm doing anything wrong.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48I remember backstage one time, Elvis had a newspaper clipping.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And they were just raking him over the coals.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56He just really felt bad. He said, "They don't understand.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00"We're having fun. This is young people's music.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03"Don't try to understand it."
0:13:03 > 0:13:07But it really hurt his feelings that the adults didn't like him.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15For his next appearance on The Steve Allen Show, Elvis emerged
0:13:15 > 0:13:21dressed in a tuxedo - in a sense, sexually neutered by his outfit.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24When Steve Allen had him sing to a dog, he didn't like it.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27And he didn't like Steve till the day he died.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35And the new TV industry began to place restrictions on the way
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Elvis' body was filmed.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Ed Sullivan wouldn't shoot him from the waist down.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47That says a lot.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52It just all depends on how you look at it.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55I guess if you want to think it's nasty or sexy, you could,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57but to me it's just...
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Well, the two things are not necessarily the same.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Well, you know, it's just so limber and loose.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03It's really marvellous.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Well, he just feels the rhythm. Digs it the most.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08- You don't see anything wrong with it?- No.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11He wasn't going away. And they tried to get him to go away.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13They tried big time to get him to go away.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16They think he was the sexual revolution.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Yeah, he did a lot of things. But for many of us,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23he was the first opportunity in America for self-exploration.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26We didn't have to be what they wanted us to be,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28when they wanted us to be that.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32He gave us a chance to back up, explore ourselves.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42And this new self-exploration raised fears that kids would question
0:14:42 > 0:14:44America's way of life.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48..One nation under God...
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Rock 'n' roll was seen as a highway to rebellion
0:14:52 > 0:14:53and delinquency.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57In a lot of the papers, they say rock 'n' roll is a big influence
0:14:57 > 0:14:59on delinquency. I don't think it is.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02What about the rumour that you once shot your mother?
0:15:04 > 0:15:05I think that one takes the cake!
0:15:05 > 0:15:09I'm sure you had a lot of people that thought,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11"Man, here we go, we're going to ruin America.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15"Our teenagers will never be the same after this, you know?"
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Particularly the white audience, you know?
0:15:18 > 0:15:21They really had never seen anything like this.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27The parents called it the Devil's music.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29It's the sound.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Once the music hits, it's like smoking weed.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34It changes things.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39The obscenity and vulgarity of the rock 'n' roll music
0:15:39 > 0:15:42is obviously a means by which the white man
0:15:42 > 0:15:46and his children can be driven to the level with the niggers.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50The children were now suddenly not behaving in lockstep,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54predictable fashion, the way their parents expected them to behave.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56The way they, the parents, had behaved.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00This rock 'n' roll rhythm is filled with dynamite
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and we don't want the dynamite to go off
0:16:02 > 0:16:04in the Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06What do you think?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09I think that man must have been nowhere,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11because rock 'n' roll is cool, daddy, and you know it!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Rock 'n' roll is the most, and if they stop that,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15they'll have no more music.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18This rock 'n' roll rhythm has been the seed of trouble
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and we want to keep trouble out of Jersey City.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23They thought rock 'n' roll was for hoodlums
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and you were robbing their cars while you were singing rock 'n' roll
0:16:27 > 0:16:30on stage. They associated it with that, or something.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Rock 'n' roll has got to go, and go it does.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35That's the best way I know to get rid of it.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Folks would be on TV, smashing records,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43saying, "This is sinful and it's going to spoil our kids..."
0:16:43 > 0:16:45The rock 'n' roll records must go.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48No more rock 'n' roll on KWK after this week, which is,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50as you know, record-breaking week.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54If rock 'n' roll spoiled the kids, it spoiled them good, I think.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Frankie Wyman, a 13-year-old youngster
0:16:57 > 0:17:00with great way with a song,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02and The Teenagers!
0:17:02 > 0:17:05# I'm not a juvenile delinquent
0:17:07 > 0:17:09# No, no, no, no... #
0:17:09 > 0:17:12If America needed confirmation that there was a problem,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16in November '56, doo-wop's biggest stars provided it.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21# ..No, no, no I'm not a juvenile delinquent... #
0:17:21 > 0:17:25By the end of the year, the issue was becoming a national obsession.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28# ..It's easy to be good
0:17:28 > 0:17:30# It's hard to be bad
0:17:30 > 0:17:33# Stay out of trouble
0:17:33 > 0:17:35# And you'll be glad
0:17:35 > 0:17:37# Take this tip from me
0:17:37 > 0:17:39# And you will see
0:17:39 > 0:17:42# How happy you will be... #
0:17:42 > 0:17:45It's so interesting, we think teenagers
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and we're thinking of the delinquents.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50We're not thinking of the vast majority of American teenagers,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52who were just as conservative as their parents.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Nora, Jim started that hat-making contest you like so much. Come on!
0:17:56 > 0:17:59In the end, we're going to give the prize to the best hat.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Here are your materials.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03But for the teenagers of '50s Middle America,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07who married and settled down at the average age of 21,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09there was a wholesome alternative.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Pat Boone.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16He's a sincere, solid citizen whose interest in community
0:18:16 > 0:18:19as well as business affairs would make him welcome in any town.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:18:23 > 0:18:25# Crying all the time... #
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Elvis did an interview. They ask him, "When are you going to get married
0:18:30 > 0:18:33"and settle down and have kids, like Pat Boone?"
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Elvis, with that little kind of natural leer,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40said, "Why should I buy a cow when I can get milk through the fence?"
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And that sent shock waves through parenthood
0:18:43 > 0:18:48all over America. "See? You can't have anything to do with that guy!"
0:18:48 > 0:18:50# ..Crying all the time
0:18:50 > 0:18:52# Well, you ain't... #
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Rock 'n' roll was too edgy for Middle America,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57but Pat Boone was the answer.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59He was one of them.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02And the young trainee teacher hit on a way
0:19:02 > 0:19:04of repackaging the music for suburban folk
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and the pop charts.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Rock 'n' roll was becoming known as this new music that teenagers
0:19:10 > 0:19:13were adopting, and that's where the money was.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Of course, because of that,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18producers at the white record companies
0:19:18 > 0:19:21were saying, "Let's find these rhythm and blues songs
0:19:21 > 0:19:25"that sound like they could be pop hits, and do 'em."
0:19:25 > 0:19:27I'd heard Tutti Frutti on the radio
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and my first reaction was,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32that's just such a simplistic, nonsense song -
0:19:32 > 0:19:34a-bop-bop, a-loo-mop - what was that?
0:19:34 > 0:19:36# A-bop-bop, a-loo-mop, a-lop-bop-bop
0:19:36 > 0:19:39# I got a girl named Sue
0:19:39 > 0:19:41# She knows just what to do... #
0:19:41 > 0:19:44But we thought this could be another rhythm and blues,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48pop, rock 'n' roll hit like these others, so we recorded it.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- Who, me?- Yes, big daddy.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54I remember every time me and Little Richard hear Pat Boone,
0:19:54 > 0:19:57we're look at each other and burst out laughing and stuff like that.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59# A-bop-bop, a-loo-mop, a-lop-bop-bop
0:19:59 > 0:20:02# I got a girl, her name's Sue
0:20:02 > 0:20:04# She knows just what to do
0:20:04 > 0:20:06# I got a girl, her name's Sue
0:20:06 > 0:20:08# She knows just what to do
0:20:08 > 0:20:10# I've been to the east... #
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The little cat thinks he can sing like Little Richard.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16He didn't have the soul.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19# All rootie, whoo! Tutti frutti... #
0:20:19 > 0:20:21I did change a couple of the words
0:20:21 > 0:20:24because, coming from my background and already married,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28there were a couple of lines that sounded a little erotic to me -
0:20:28 > 0:20:30"The way you don't know what she do to me".
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Well, that's anybody's guess just what that means.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I just thought I'll change it to something innocuous -
0:20:39 > 0:20:41so pretty little Susie is the girl for me...
0:20:41 > 0:20:45# ..Pretty little Susie is the girl for me, tutti frutti... #
0:20:45 > 0:20:49..just to make it more palatable, I felt, to a white audience.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53And Pat Boone's rewriting of black rock 'n' roll
0:20:53 > 0:20:55didn't stop there.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57When it came to covering Fats Domino,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00basic slang offended him.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Since Pat Boone was majoring in English at Columbia University,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07he basically refused to sing "ain't".
0:21:07 > 0:21:09# Ain't that a shame? #
0:21:09 > 0:21:13I said, "Ain't that..." - that's not good English. Can't we sing...
0:21:13 > 0:21:14# Isn't that a shame? #
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Randy Wood at Dot Records said,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20"We'll try it." So I'm recording with this rock 'n' roll band -
0:21:20 > 0:21:22# Isn't that a shame? # -
0:21:22 > 0:21:26and Randy said, "No, it's just not the same. It's got to be 'ain't'."
0:21:26 > 0:21:29# Ain't that a shame?
0:21:29 > 0:21:33# My tears fell like rain
0:21:33 > 0:21:35# Ain't that... #
0:21:35 > 0:21:37I tried to capture that rhythm and blues flavour,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41but not being black, not being steeped in rhythm and blues music,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43mine did sound different.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48What you've got to remember,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52if Pat Boone didn't record, some of the black artists' music
0:21:52 > 0:21:54would never have been heard.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57But Pat Boone went over there and brought it to them,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and he brought it to them
0:21:59 > 0:22:02in a language that they could understand.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05# ..My tears fell like rain... #
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Just as a novelty, some of the stations started playing
0:22:08 > 0:22:10the original version by Fats Domino.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The kids loved it and they would call in and say,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16"I want to hear the new version of Ain't That A Shame,"
0:22:16 > 0:22:18not knowing it that it had been the original
0:22:18 > 0:22:22and that's how Fats Domino made the pop charts for the very first time.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Later, Fats showed me a big, piano-shaped, diamond ring
0:22:25 > 0:22:27on one of his chubby fingers. He said,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31"That song bought me this ring... with your record."
0:22:31 > 0:22:33# Ain't that a shame? #
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Pat's sanitised version of rock 'n' roll
0:22:36 > 0:22:40was due, in large part, to his religious upbringing in Nashville...
0:22:43 > 0:22:48..and, ironically, a church deep in the Louisiana Delta
0:22:48 > 0:22:51would produce the next firebrand of rock 'n' roll.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57# Amazing grace
0:22:57 > 0:23:02# How sweet the sound
0:23:02 > 0:23:10# That saved a wretch like me
0:23:10 > 0:23:14# I once was lost
0:23:14 > 0:23:16# Was lost
0:23:16 > 0:23:19# But now I'm found
0:23:19 > 0:23:22# I was blind
0:23:22 > 0:23:26# But right now, old Jerry can see... #
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Religious songs, I was raised up on religious songs,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32and I played church
0:23:32 > 0:23:37and I went to a Bible college
0:23:37 > 0:23:39in Waxahachie, Texas.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43MAN PREACHES
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Jerry grew up around passionate born-again preachers,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and it was his mother who enrolled the teenage Jerry
0:23:50 > 0:23:52in the strict Texan Bible school,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56expecting him to play exclusively evangelical songs.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00I played My God Is Real
0:24:00 > 0:24:03for this boy, this preacher boy kid,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05who wanted to sing it and he was singing it...
0:24:05 > 0:24:07HE SINGS
0:24:07 > 0:24:11..like that. I said, "You want to make a real hit with these kids?"
0:24:11 > 0:24:13He said, "Yeah. What do you think?"
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I said, "The thing about it..."
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I gave it a kind of boogie-woogie lick, you know?
0:24:19 > 0:24:21I said, "Sing it like this!"
0:24:21 > 0:24:23He said, "Yeah, that's good."
0:24:23 > 0:24:26And it brought the house down.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29# And my God is real
0:24:29 > 0:24:32# I can feel him in my soul... #
0:24:32 > 0:24:35From an early age, Jerry had been pounding out a style on this piano
0:24:35 > 0:24:38heard in the local honky-tonks.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Not that it impressed the dean of the Bible school.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48He said, "You have ruined a whole generation of kids."
0:24:48 > 0:24:50HE CHUCKLES
0:24:50 > 0:24:53I said, "I never looked at it that way."
0:24:54 > 0:24:58He said, "We're going to have to ask you to leave this school."
0:24:58 > 0:25:00I said, "I figured on leaving anyway."
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Jerry began playing local clubs in Louisiana
0:25:09 > 0:25:14and building a reputation as a hot boogie-woogie talent.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17He worked his daddy's farm and saved money
0:25:17 > 0:25:20to travel to the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride...
0:25:20 > 0:25:23but was turned down at both.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25In late '56, down on his luck,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27he headed to Memphis,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30selling the last of the family's eggs
0:25:30 > 0:25:33to buy a tank of gas to get to Sun
0:25:33 > 0:25:36to audition for Sam Phillips.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41This is the legendary Jerry Lewis piano
0:25:41 > 0:25:44that I'm not going to be able to play.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I mean, just think, Jerry Lee played this piano,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51his hands were on it
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and if you get close here, you see there's cigar burn on the piano keys,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Jerry Lee put his cigar down there, from what I understand,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and knowing Jerry Lee like I know him, that doesn't surprise me at all.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Jerry Lee Lewis, I think, was one of the only ones
0:26:05 > 0:26:08that came here full of confidence, he knew he was great.
0:26:08 > 0:26:16When I met Sam at his office at the studio in 1956,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20he said, "What are you going to do
0:26:20 > 0:26:23"when you start making all this money
0:26:23 > 0:26:26"and all these young girls are going to start screaming,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29"trying to get to you - how are you going to handle that?"
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I said, "Not very hard at all."
0:26:34 > 0:26:37# Now blue ain't the word
0:26:37 > 0:26:41# For the way that I feel
0:26:41 > 0:26:46# That old storm brewing in this heart of mine... #
0:26:46 > 0:26:50It was more or less an audition to see what Jerry had,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and I think it was the first time I'd ever played with a piano player,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57so it was kind of weird, meeting all this, coming together,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and these guys wanting to play music, you know?
0:27:00 > 0:27:02But when he started playing that piano, man,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05it was a whole different story.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11JM and Jerry had only just met
0:27:11 > 0:27:14but this first take of Jerry's audition,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18a cover of Ray Price's country hit, Crazy Arms,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20became his debut single.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25# Crazy arms
0:27:25 > 0:27:28# That reach to hold somebody new... #
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I was the first disc jockey in the world to play Crazy Arms,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and even though I was a rock 'n' roll disc jockey,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I was playing rhythm and blues, for some reason, he kind of fitted in.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42It was different. So then Sam knew that he had to get a follow-up song.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Somebody suggested, "Let's do that shakin' song we did the other day,"
0:27:46 > 0:27:49so we do Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52We'd never rehearsed it in the studio.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54One cut.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58We set it down in one cut.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00# Come over, baby
0:28:00 > 0:28:02# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:28:03 > 0:28:06# Yes, I said come on over, baby
0:28:06 > 0:28:07# Baby, you can't go wrong... #
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Radio stations, they just didn't want to play it
0:28:11 > 0:28:14because any suggestive lyrics was taboo.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15You know, it was a sexy thing.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17That's why they banned the record.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22I auditioned for Steve Allen in his office,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25and I played Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and he said, "I want him on my show,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30"Sunday night, doing that song,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32"word for word, just like he did it now."
0:28:32 > 0:28:37Here he is, jumping and joking, Jerry Lee Lewis!
0:28:37 > 0:28:39APPLAUSE
0:28:41 > 0:28:42# Come on over, baby
0:28:42 > 0:28:45# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:28:45 > 0:28:48# Well, come on, baby
0:28:48 > 0:28:50# Baby, you can't go wrong
0:28:50 > 0:28:53# We ain't fakin'
0:28:53 > 0:28:55# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:28:55 > 0:28:58# Yeah, come on over, baby
0:28:58 > 0:29:01# We got chicken in the barn
0:29:01 > 0:29:02# Whoo, honey
0:29:02 > 0:29:04# Come on over
0:29:04 > 0:29:06# We got the bull by the horn
0:29:06 > 0:29:08# Oh, we ain't fakin'
0:29:08 > 0:29:11# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:29:11 > 0:29:14# Well, shake, baby, shake
0:29:14 > 0:29:17# Shake, baby, shake... #
0:29:17 > 0:29:19It was a big thing in America.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21All you gotta do, honey, is stand in one spot,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25wiggle it around just a little bit, wiggle IT around just a little bit,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and they said, "Whoa, wait a minute. Wiggle IT around.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30"What is IT?"
0:29:30 > 0:29:32All you gotta do, honey...
0:29:32 > 0:29:35kinda stand in one spot.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37You know, I mean, it's like... HE WHISTLES
0:29:37 > 0:29:39You know, wiggle it around.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Oh, yeah, yeah - I used to stand in one spot
0:29:41 > 0:29:42and wiggle it round a little bit.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Yeah, that's when you got something.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47If you're not getting what he means when he's saying it... Hah!
0:29:47 > 0:29:51# Oh, shake, baby, shake
0:29:51 > 0:29:53# Shake, baby, shake
0:29:53 > 0:29:55# Shake, honey, shake
0:29:55 > 0:29:58# Shake, baby, shake
0:29:58 > 0:30:00# Come on over
0:30:00 > 0:30:02# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:30:02 > 0:30:05# Oh! #
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Steve Allen kind of gave his stamp of approval,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10and that kind of broke the barriers.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13From then on, people thought, "Well, hey, it's OK."
0:30:13 > 0:30:16So, the song really, from that point on, took off.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19When they lifted the ban on it, it was selling, like,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24I don't know, 380,000 records a day.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Which is pretty good, for a country boy!
0:30:27 > 0:30:29# Shake!
0:30:30 > 0:30:33# Shake, honey, shake!
0:30:33 > 0:30:36# Oh, shake, baby
0:30:36 > 0:30:38# Shake, baby, shake
0:30:38 > 0:30:40# We're makin'
0:30:40 > 0:30:45# A whole lot of shakin' goin' on. #
0:30:47 > 0:30:50That's when I knew we was...
0:30:50 > 0:30:51rolling in money.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Money has a way of changing people,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58or doing them in, you know?
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Jerry was a guy who, real quick, became very fond of himself.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10I mean, he just all of a sudden -
0:31:10 > 0:31:13he was this humble little cat from Louisiana,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15now he's Jerry Lee Lewis, you know?
0:31:15 > 0:31:17And struttin' around like a peacock.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Well, he always had - his ego was intact.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24He was like a little peacock, you know?
0:31:24 > 0:31:25Ruled the roost.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Very, very interesting guy.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32You might could ring his neck sometimes, but he's interesting!
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Of all the bands and all of the clubs that I've played in,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37the only time I feared for my life
0:31:37 > 0:31:41was when I was playing with Jerry Lee in these nightclubs.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42He could get us in more trouble,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46and you didn't know if you were going to get out alive.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49First off, he'd start flirting with the women,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51and their husbands or boyfriends, they'd get mad at Jerry,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54and then they'd start yakking back and forth,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57and the next thing you know, you've got four or five of these guys
0:31:57 > 0:32:00waiting for you at the door when you pack up.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04But it wasn't long before Jerry graduated from the club circuit
0:32:04 > 0:32:05to bigger venues,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08bringing about a new set of conflicts.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11# My name is Jerry Lee Lewis
0:32:11 > 0:32:16# And I'm gonna do you a little boogie on this here piano... #
0:32:16 > 0:32:19By mid '57, Jerry was on a national tour with Chuck Berry.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20# I'll make you do it
0:32:20 > 0:32:22# And make you do it until you break it... #
0:32:22 > 0:32:24The promoter said, "I'll flip a coin -
0:32:24 > 0:32:26"you open one night, you open the next,"
0:32:26 > 0:32:29and it seemed to be the first night that Jerry lost out.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32But Jerry wasn't real happy about it
0:32:32 > 0:32:35and, of course, they had a few differences about that.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37And Chuck, he just insisted on closing the show.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I said, "No problem. You close it."
0:32:40 > 0:32:44# Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day... #
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Well, I just had a Coke bottle, about this much gasoline in it,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52he just thought I was drinking a Coke, you know?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54And I set it on the piano.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57# Well, Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day... #
0:32:57 > 0:32:58I finished my set, and I walked off,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02and I just bumped into the Coke bottle,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05and the gasoline poured out into the piano.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07And I just struck a match to it.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10- And it BLAZED up. - HE CHUCKLES
0:33:10 > 0:33:12It was burning like crazy.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15And here come the firemen,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18they all had axes in their hands, and everything.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20They said, "How the hell did it happen?"
0:33:20 > 0:33:21I said, "You got me."
0:33:21 > 0:33:24# You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain... #
0:33:24 > 0:33:26"It's your turn to go on, Chuck."
0:33:28 > 0:33:31# You broke my will But what a thrill
0:33:31 > 0:33:34# Goodness gracious Great balls of fire... #
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Have you ever heard the saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire"?
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Cos I know how it feels when you sing it.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41The beat, the beat, the beat.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43They called him a prince of devils.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46I know the lost position you get into, in the beat.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48# Kiss me, baby
0:33:48 > 0:33:49# Mmm! #
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Listen to this talent that God has given me!
0:33:52 > 0:33:55A lot of the early rock 'n' rollers believed in
0:33:55 > 0:33:58a fire and brimstone hell,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02and feared that what they were doing
0:34:02 > 0:34:04might take them to hell.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07# I chew my nails and then I twiddle my thumbs... #
0:34:07 > 0:34:09I mean, he scared me to death on the road.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Jerry comes in the room, and jumps up on the bed that I'm sleeping in,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16and starts telling us we're all going to hell
0:34:16 > 0:34:19for playing rock 'n' roll music - scared me to death, man.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23I'm thinking, "Well, man... surely not, for that!" You know?
0:34:23 > 0:34:25"Got to be something worse than that!"
0:34:25 > 0:34:28First time I met Elvis, he was leaving,
0:34:28 > 0:34:29he was walking out the front door.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31I said, "Just a minute, Elvis,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33"there's one thing I want to ask you before you leave."
0:34:33 > 0:34:37I said, "If you died, do you think you'd go to heaven or hell?"
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Bluntly put it like that, you know?!
0:34:41 > 0:34:45And he said, "Jerry Lee, don't EVER say that to me again."
0:34:47 > 0:34:48I said, "OK."
0:34:48 > 0:34:52I think I shook him up pretty good.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58When I'm playing music, I also feel the spirit.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03And then you start wondering, where's the spirit coming from?
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Is this the Satan spirit, or is this the Lord spirit?
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And if we are sinners - and we are,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13if we need God - and we do...
0:35:13 > 0:35:15If you interview most of these folks from the South,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18I think you're going to get pretty much the same answer
0:35:18 > 0:35:19from all of them.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23You know? And that's what these guys were wrestling with, you know?
0:35:25 > 0:35:29And between takes of Great Balls of Fire, Jerry convinced himself
0:35:29 > 0:35:31he'd crossed a line.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34'H-E-L-L.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37'Great God almighty, great balls of fire.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39'It's a joy of God.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42'But when it comes to worldly music, and rock 'n' roll...'
0:35:42 > 0:35:44'Work it out!'
0:35:44 > 0:35:46'..then I have the devil in me.'
0:35:46 > 0:35:52I think my dad had to kind of wrangle that notion out of him,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55in order to feel all right about recording it.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58I'm not sure that he ever completely satisfied himself
0:35:58 > 0:36:01that he WASN'T playing the devil's music.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04'Listen, Mr Phillips, I don't care - it ain't what you believe.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06'It's what's written in the Bible.'
0:36:06 > 0:36:11- 'Well, wait a minute...' - 'It's what's there, Mr Philips.'
0:36:11 > 0:36:12'No, no.'
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Weren't no convincing Sam...
0:36:15 > 0:36:18..that there was a heaven and there was a hell.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20There was no convincing him of that.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26And I really worried myself to death about it, you know?
0:36:26 > 0:36:31I just wanted to make sure that when I descend from this earth
0:36:31 > 0:36:34and my soul leaves this body,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38I just really want to make sure that I don't go to hell.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40That I go to heaven.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43I'd hate to know that I missed out on going to heaven.
0:36:49 > 0:36:5120TH CENTURY FOX FANFARE
0:36:56 > 0:36:58From 1956 on,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01there was flourish of rock 'n' roll films,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04and the best of them, The Girl Can't Help It,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06had a few tricks up its sleeve.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11This motion picture was photographed in the grandeur of CinemaScope,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13and...
0:37:14 > 0:37:15Pardon me.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18This was the first rock 'n' roll movie with big production values,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and saw rock 'n' roll coming of age.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27That was the biggest rock 'n' roll movie of the time -
0:37:27 > 0:37:29it was in colour, for a start off.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32..gorgeous lifelike colour by DeLuxe.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40And the film introduced a whole new generation
0:37:40 > 0:37:42of young, white rock 'n' roll talent.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45# Well, she's the gal in the red blue jeans... #
0:37:45 > 0:37:47You know, Gene Vincent was in it - that's the first time
0:37:47 > 0:37:50and only time, I think, that I saw him on film.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54# She's the woman that I know
0:37:54 > 0:37:58# She's the woman that loves me so
0:37:58 > 0:38:01# Say be-bop-a-lula She's my baby
0:38:01 > 0:38:05# Be-bop-a-lula I don't mean maybe
0:38:05 > 0:38:08# Be-bop-a-lula She's my baby love
0:38:08 > 0:38:10# My baby love, my baby love
0:38:10 > 0:38:12# Let's rock! #
0:38:12 > 0:38:15If you'd only ever heard them on record, and all of a sudden,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18there they are in vibrant Technicolor...
0:38:18 > 0:38:20- Fats?- 'Yeah.'
0:38:20 > 0:38:22It's me, Miller.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Watch the television!
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Eddie Cochran - one of America's top rock 'n' rollers.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31# Well, I've got a gal with a record machine
0:38:31 > 0:38:33# When it comes to rockin' She's the queen
0:38:33 > 0:38:36# We love to dance on a Saturday night... #
0:38:36 > 0:38:41It was treated as a musical, you know, but it was our musical.
0:38:41 > 0:38:42Teenagers' musical.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45# Up on the 12th I'm ready to drag
0:38:45 > 0:38:47# Well, 15th floor I'm starting to sag
0:38:47 > 0:38:50# Get to the top I'm too tired to rock. #
0:38:53 > 0:38:56It was a Fred Astaire movie, you know?!
0:38:56 > 0:38:58# Ba-ba boo
0:38:58 > 0:39:02# Boopie doo
0:39:02 > 0:39:06# Sincerely
0:39:06 > 0:39:12# Oh, yeah, sincerely... #
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Drive-ins were developed in the 1930s
0:39:14 > 0:39:17to attract a family audience to the movies,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19but hit their peak in the '50s.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24As films were aimed at a younger audience,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27and car ownership and teen licences multiplied,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30kids in cars and drive-in culture boomed.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33# Oh, you know
0:39:33 > 0:39:37# How I love you... #
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Being able to drive a car was freedom.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45And, of course, it was sex - it was all about sex.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Suddenly, teenagers had privacy.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50When you talk about a car,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53you're really talking about the hotel.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55The guys couldn't go to the hotel, you know?
0:39:55 > 0:39:58And let's face the facts - it's the back seat of the car.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00That was his hotel.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04To court a teenager without a car -
0:40:04 > 0:40:06you're dead.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09My dad owned a drive-in in Azle, Texas.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11It was called the Eagle.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15By the 1950s, they're kind of carnivalesque spaces.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17# Wake up little Susie, wake up... #
0:40:17 > 0:40:19The film wasn't the only attraction.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24# Wake up little Susie, wake up... #
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Everybody recognised that there was ample opportunity
0:40:27 > 0:40:30for the kind of thing that you weren't supposed to do.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33# The movie's over It's four o'clock
0:40:33 > 0:40:35# And we're in trouble deep
0:40:35 > 0:40:37# Wake up little Susie... #
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Wake Up Little Susie,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41'57's risque tale of staying out late at the drive-in
0:40:41 > 0:40:44was a perfect example of the evolution of rock 'n' roll
0:40:44 > 0:40:46and teen culture.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49The music was now reaching broader America,
0:40:49 > 0:40:51and spawning new young, white singers
0:40:51 > 0:40:54speaking directly to the white teen market...
0:40:54 > 0:40:57# Wake up little Susie We gotta go home. #
0:40:57 > 0:40:59..singers who hailed from beyond the Delta,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01like Virginia's Gene Vincent
0:41:01 > 0:41:05and sometime Oklahoma boy Eddie Cochran.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08The Everly Brothers, from Brownie, Kentucky,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10were the real country deal...
0:41:10 > 0:41:13MUSIC: Precious Memories by The Everly Brothers
0:41:13 > 0:41:17..raised on the high, lonesome mountain music of Kentucky miners.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20# Precious memories
0:41:20 > 0:41:24# Unseen angels
0:41:24 > 0:41:30# Sent from somewhere to my soul... #
0:41:31 > 0:41:34The teenagers were signed to a Nashville label,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37destined for a career in country...
0:41:37 > 0:41:40until a young Don collided with the swamp guitar sound
0:41:40 > 0:41:43of legendary rocker Bo Diddley.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50I listened to Bo Diddley, and I went, "Oh...!"
0:41:50 > 0:41:54And I said, "I am never going to be happy with country music now.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56"I'll never be happy."
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Archie Bleyer, their label boss at Cadence,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03had a debut song in mind for them
0:42:03 > 0:42:06that had been rejected by 30 artists.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Archie Bleyer, he brought it to us,
0:42:08 > 0:42:09and I said, "Well, we could do it."
0:42:09 > 0:42:14I said I wanted to use that Bo Diddley sound on some of my songs.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16He said, "Why don't you take that arrangement
0:42:16 > 0:42:19"and just put it on that song?"
0:42:19 > 0:42:20And I said, "Why not?"
0:42:22 > 0:42:25I did that, and that was Bye Bye Love.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32# Bye bye love
0:42:32 > 0:42:36# Bye bye happiness
0:42:36 > 0:42:38# Hello loneliness
0:42:38 > 0:42:41# I feel like I could die
0:42:41 > 0:42:44# Bye bye, my love, goodbye
0:42:44 > 0:42:49# There goes my baby with-a someone new... #
0:42:49 > 0:42:51I think we just immediately saw them
0:42:51 > 0:42:53as big brothers that we could trust.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56They weren't show business people being forced on us.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00- What is your name? - Don Everly, age 20.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04- How about you? What's your name? - Phil Everly, and I'm 18 years old.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Will both of you please smile?
0:43:06 > 0:43:07They looked collegian,
0:43:07 > 0:43:09but they had this look saying,
0:43:09 > 0:43:10"Don't mind what this looks like,
0:43:10 > 0:43:11"that's not who we are."
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Because the glint in the Everly Brothers' eyes was,
0:43:16 > 0:43:17"We know more than we're telling."
0:43:17 > 0:43:1918, 20...
0:43:19 > 0:43:20We just loved that.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23I think Pat Boone is old enough to be their grandfather!
0:43:23 > 0:43:24LAUGHTER
0:43:24 > 0:43:26# Well, Johnny is a joker
0:43:26 > 0:43:28# He's a bird
0:43:28 > 0:43:29# A very funny joker
0:43:29 > 0:43:31# He's a bird
0:43:31 > 0:43:33# But when he jokes my honey
0:43:33 > 0:43:34# He's a dog
0:43:34 > 0:43:36# His jokin' ain't so funny
0:43:36 > 0:43:38# What a dog
0:43:38 > 0:43:41# Johnny is a joker that's a-tryin' to steal my baby
0:43:41 > 0:43:43# He's a bird dog. #
0:43:43 > 0:43:46When I saw them on television, I was astonished,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49because I assumed there were three of them.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52That's where the light went on
0:43:52 > 0:43:55that there's something about family vocal cords -
0:43:55 > 0:43:58if you have the same structure in your vocal cords...
0:43:58 > 0:44:03The overtones feed back on each other and it sounds much thicker.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07If you sounded really good, it was working, you did feel that.
0:44:07 > 0:44:08It was another voice, you know.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19And their singing style makes me squeal right along with all their fans.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22So a big welcome to the Everly Brothers!
0:44:22 > 0:44:25One of the things that you noticed
0:44:25 > 0:44:28was the sound of the guitars is equal to the sound of their vocals.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33You're talking about layer of layer of layer of mastery with the Everly Brothers.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35I think it's one of the first times I'd ever heard tremolo guitar.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Lo and behold, it's Chet Atkins,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40this Nashville guitarist who is playing a Gretsch.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Tremolo was our sound. I mean, that's what Chet gave to us.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Chet called it tremolo.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53And he was the first one to do that, as far as I know.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00I said, "Can we use it on our record?" He says, "After use it on my record."
0:45:03 > 0:45:07It was like something he had, you know. And it was different.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10# Never felt like this
0:45:10 > 0:45:12# Until I kissed you... #
0:45:12 > 0:45:15Look, we have an autograph table over there,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17and I think one of these kids would like your autograph.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20- Why don't you go on over? - We'd be glad to.- OK, thanks.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24# Never had you on my mind... #
0:45:24 > 0:45:27But if Chuck Berry had perfectly described the physical features
0:45:27 > 0:45:31of the teenage world, the Everlys took it one step further
0:45:31 > 0:45:34and got right inside the teenage mind.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38# A-ha, I kissed you Oh, yeah... #
0:45:38 > 0:45:42I first heard the Everly Brothers on my way to school, on the school bus,
0:45:42 > 0:45:47with friends who said, "So, have you heard this new song, Dream?"
0:45:47 > 0:45:48"No," I said.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Somebody played Dream to me and I thought I would DIE!
0:45:52 > 0:45:55"What a song!" I said. "Holy cow, what is THAT?"
0:45:55 > 0:45:57# Dream...
0:45:57 > 0:45:58SCREAMING AND APPLAUSE
0:45:58 > 0:46:01# ..dream, dream, dream,
0:46:01 > 0:46:06# Dream, dream, dream, dream,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10# When I want you
0:46:10 > 0:46:12# In my arms When I want you... #
0:46:12 > 0:46:15It absolutely captured just how we felt
0:46:15 > 0:46:21in terms of the yearning, yearning for the boys, for a boyfriend.
0:46:22 > 0:46:23Couldn't really say sex...
0:46:23 > 0:46:25We didn't know that we wanted sex.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28But yearning, we understood.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32# When I feel blue
0:46:32 > 0:46:33# In the night... #
0:46:33 > 0:46:37For a young mind, talking about dreaming,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41to dream of the love that I have, is so beautiful.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Because it stops so much loneliness.
0:46:44 > 0:46:52# Is dream, dream, dream, dream, dream
0:46:55 > 0:46:57# I can make you mine... #
0:46:57 > 0:47:04You loved the way those harmonies intertwined, and I think that harmony
0:47:04 > 0:47:09represented a kind of intertwining of the sexes, too.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11There was something very erotic about it.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16# I'm dreaming my life away... #
0:47:16 > 0:47:21It's just magical psychology of heartfelt beauty.
0:47:21 > 0:47:26# I love you so, and that is why... #
0:47:26 > 0:47:28It's different than Elvis giving us the advice,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30"Don't ever kiss me once, kiss me twice."
0:47:30 > 0:47:32This is when you are lonely,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and you can just dream about love from her,
0:47:35 > 0:47:36and it's as good as being there.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42It's just beautiful advice.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47# Dream, dream, dream, dream... #
0:47:47 > 0:47:50CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:47:57 > 0:48:00ROCK 'N' ROLL PLAYS
0:48:02 > 0:48:04The Everly's sweet Nashville harmonies soothed the nerves
0:48:04 > 0:48:07of an increasingly paranoid America.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11Until two days ago, that sound had never been heard on this earth.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Suddenly it has become as much a part of 20th-century life
0:48:14 > 0:48:16as the whir of your vacuum cleaner.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21With the Russian satellite Sputnik launched in late '57,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25emitting a mysterious signal picked up on American radio waves.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27You can feel that they have something out there
0:48:27 > 0:48:29that the majority of people don't know about.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31Definitely alarming.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34But not everyone was afraid of what was out there.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39'Today, visitors from space may be studying us from similar heights.'
0:48:43 > 0:48:48And just over 100 miles from the UFO epicentre, Roswell,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51in the dry flatlands of New Mexico,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53lay otherworldly Clovis...
0:48:55 > 0:49:01# You ain't been blue
0:49:01 > 0:49:04# No, no, no... #
0:49:04 > 0:49:08..where an out-of-the-way studio was gaining a reputation.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Built by easy-listening duo Norman and Vi Petty,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16who created a home-from-home for musicians including
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Texan boys Buddy Holly And The Crickets.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25# Always wear that mood indigo
0:49:25 > 0:49:30# Since my baby said goodbye... #
0:49:30 > 0:49:35This is the back of the studio, where we could come back and relax
0:49:35 > 0:49:37and rest a little bit from the recordings.
0:49:37 > 0:49:43We loved to come back here because it was so nicely furnished.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46It was more modern than what we were accustomed to where we lived.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50If we were extremely tired...
0:49:50 > 0:49:55the bottom would roll out and rise up
0:49:55 > 0:49:57and it would make a bed all the way across
0:49:57 > 0:49:59this back part of the room here.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01And I've seen it full of bodies...
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Live ones, that is.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Buddy And The Crickets were down-home, ordinary kids.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Teenage school friends playing covers
0:50:15 > 0:50:19and starting to experiment with writing their own songs.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25I think in the way that he wrote songs you could tell he was from Texas.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27They weren't something that was real flashy,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29like if he had been living in New York City
0:50:29 > 0:50:32or Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38I went and saw the John Wayne movie, The Searchers.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41John Wayne answered questions like, "That'll be the day."
0:50:41 > 0:50:46- You want to quit, Ethan? - That'll be the day.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Buddy was sitting there, playing something, and he said,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52"You ought to write a song." I'd never tried to write
0:50:52 > 0:50:55a song before and I said, "That'll be the day!"
0:50:55 > 0:50:57I hope you die!
0:50:57 > 0:50:58That'll be the day.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01He said, "Not a bad idea, that'll be the day..."
0:51:01 > 0:51:03# Well, that'll be the day
0:51:03 > 0:51:05# When you say goodbye
0:51:05 > 0:51:07# Yeah, that'll be the day... #
0:51:07 > 0:51:09It was February 1957
0:51:09 > 0:51:13I drove over to Clovis to do a demo to try to get a record deal...
0:51:13 > 0:51:17# ..cos that'll be the day when I die
0:51:17 > 0:51:20# Well, you give me all your loving... #
0:51:20 > 0:51:23This is the control room,
0:51:23 > 0:51:28where Norman controlled the sound that was coming from the production room.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33And he had a remote control where he could sit right here,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37start the tape and he's mixing the sound as we go.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40# ..that'll be the day, when you make me cry... #
0:51:40 > 0:51:43We was doing a demo to send to Roulette Records,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and we sort of set it and played it,
0:51:46 > 0:51:48and we didn't think it was perfect,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52or anything like that, cos all the rim noise was there, and we were all in one room.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55The demo ended up coming out as the record,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58which was quite amazing because we'd already done it.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02He would take the master tape
0:52:02 > 0:52:06and transcribe it to an acetate, like this.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11This the artist could purchase for a minimal fee of about three bucks,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13and it'll be a lifetime memory for him.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16So 15 to record That'll Be The Day,
0:52:16 > 0:52:21and I still have my three dollar demo here, from back in those days.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23# All of my love, all of my kissing
0:52:23 > 0:52:26# You don't know what you've been missing, oh, boy
0:52:26 > 0:52:27# Oh, boy
0:52:27 > 0:52:29# When you're with me, oh, boy
0:52:29 > 0:52:30# Oh, boy... #
0:52:30 > 0:52:32We were in Odessa, Texas, on our tour
0:52:32 > 0:52:36with Elvis and Johnny and the rest of us.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38# All of my life, I've been a-waiting
0:52:38 > 0:52:40# Tonight there'll be no hesitating... #
0:52:40 > 0:52:45They opened the show. Elvis said, "Man, he's great!"
0:52:45 > 0:52:49There and again I said, "Him?" SHE LAUGHS
0:52:51 > 0:52:53# Stars appear and the shadows are falling
0:52:53 > 0:52:55# You can hear my heart a-calling... #
0:52:55 > 0:52:58I met Buddy Holly first in junior high school,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I was in seventh grade and he was in eighth grade.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04He sort of stood out. From the first time I met him,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08he wore glasses and he needed to wear glasses.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10He was always really neat and tidy.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15He was just an intelligent, well-mannered, smart guy.
0:53:15 > 0:53:16HE CHUCKLES
0:53:16 > 0:53:19# Dum-dee-dee-dum-dum, oh, boy Dum-dee-dee-dum-dum, oh, boy... #
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I remember my best friend in junior high school saying, "Wow!
0:53:22 > 0:53:26"He's as ugly as I am. You don't have to be Elvis Presley.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30"If HE can be a rock star, so can I."
0:53:30 > 0:53:34I think we were the first ugly band!
0:53:34 > 0:53:36And then the Stones took over.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45For Buddy And The Crickets, success was almost overnight.
0:53:45 > 0:53:50Their debut hit, That'll Be The Day, a number one in the US and UK,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52and five top-ten hits in the first year.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55# Feels so good... #
0:53:55 > 0:53:58But as early as the second hit, school friends Buddy and Jerry
0:53:58 > 0:54:03found their songwriting tightly knit with their personal lives.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Buddy and I were riding round in a '55 Oldsmobile and he played me
0:54:06 > 0:54:10this song he had started called Cindy Lou,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12and it went sort of like this...
0:54:16 > 0:54:19# See, if you knew, Cindy Lou
0:54:19 > 0:54:24# Then you'd know why I feel blue about Cindy... #
0:54:24 > 0:54:32And I said, "Hey, man!" Because I had a high school...sweetheart.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Anyway, I said, "Let's change that to Peggy Sue."
0:54:36 > 0:54:41# If you knew, Peggy Sue, then you know why I feel blue
0:54:41 > 0:54:48# About Peggy, my Peggy Sue-oo-oh
0:54:48 > 0:54:50# Oh, well, I love you, gal, yeah
0:54:50 > 0:54:53# I love you, Peggy Sue. #
0:54:53 > 0:54:58Everything's going real good, until Peggy Sue came out,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and we played in California and Peggy Sue's there.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07I said I was going to get married, being 18 and really stupid.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11# Oh, well, I love you, gal Yes, I love you, Peggy Sue. #
0:55:13 > 0:55:19And in 1958, on a trip to New York, Buddy Holly had a chance meeting
0:55:19 > 0:55:22with a young receptionist that would change his life.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25It was a whirlwind romance.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29He proposed to Maria Elena on the same day he met her.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34But Jerry's memories of this time are not altogether happy.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38# Peggy Sue got married not long ago... #
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Buddy, he said, "I'm going to get married, too, if you are."
0:55:41 > 0:55:45And this is the truth, and I've never said this before, but it's true.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49And I said, "Why'd you want to get married just cos I'm getting married?"
0:55:49 > 0:55:50# This is what I heard
0:55:50 > 0:55:52# Of course, my story could be wrong... #
0:55:54 > 0:55:59When I went up to New York City and Buddy Holly called me
0:55:59 > 0:56:04on the phone and said, "I'm thinking of getting married, Jerry.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06"What do you think about that?"
0:56:06 > 0:56:14I said, well, I wouldn't go on my past experience!
0:56:14 > 0:56:18He said, "I know you,
0:56:18 > 0:56:20"should I do it or should I not?"
0:56:20 > 0:56:22I said, I'll tell you, Buddy,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24it's something you'll have to work out in your own mind.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Or work it out through God, that's all I can tell you.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30He said, "Well, thank you, I appreciate it."
0:56:30 > 0:56:32And that's last time I talked with him.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40He married Maria Elena and I married Peggy Sue.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Things weren't the same, for sure.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47I got married in July and they did it in August.
0:56:47 > 0:56:54And so we went on our honeymoons together. Not real romantic.
0:56:54 > 0:57:00He had a lot more success. So we said we'd all move to New York.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Then we got back, this is as true as I've ever told the story.
0:57:05 > 0:57:12We go back to Clovis and Elena was heavily influenced on this anyway,
0:57:12 > 0:57:16but I said, you sure you want to move to New York?
0:57:16 > 0:57:19You know, who's going to be running the show up there?
0:57:19 > 0:57:23We'd seen signs that Maria Elena was going to take charge and that
0:57:23 > 0:57:26we might get kicked out of the band or something, was how it felt.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28So we decided to stay in Clovis.
0:57:31 > 0:57:36For whatever reason, Buddy and Maria Elena stayed in New York
0:57:36 > 0:57:38and the Crickets stayed in Clovis.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43The next tour Buddy would undertake would be solo.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46And nothing would ever be the same in rock 'n' roll.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58# The night we met I knew I... #
0:57:58 > 0:58:00BAM!
0:58:00 > 0:58:02# The best things in life are free... #
0:58:02 > 0:58:04We were exploiting our sexuality
0:58:04 > 0:58:06by being fully dressed!
0:58:06 > 0:58:08Get down!
0:58:09 > 0:58:12'Welcome to American Bandstand!'
0:58:12 > 0:58:15It was like apple pie and rock 'n' roll.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17I was a fantasy boyfriend.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19"Oh, hi there."
0:58:19 > 0:58:21He said, "I hate this thing!"
0:58:21 > 0:58:23You're flushing our money down the toilet...
0:58:25 > 0:58:28It brings back a lot of old memories.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30It was all going to go Southern California.
0:58:30 > 0:58:31# That's what I want... #
0:58:31 > 0:58:34- The Beatles?- Who?
0:58:34 > 0:58:36You can't clean it up, cos it's dirty to begin with!