0:00:02 > 0:00:04APPLAUSE
0:00:04 > 0:00:07MUSIC: A Day In The Life by The Beatles
0:00:09 > 0:00:14A Day In The Life - a song with two distinct and different parts -
0:00:14 > 0:00:18by the greatest songwriting partnership of the 20th century.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19First of all, John Lennon.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25# I read the news today, oh boy. #
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Then Paul McCartney.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30# I woke up, fell out of bed
0:00:30 > 0:00:32# Dragged a comb across my head. #
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Yet these wonderful chords and inventive lyrics are only
0:00:39 > 0:00:44part of the story of the sound of this extraordinary song.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46A Day In The Life was the culmination
0:00:46 > 0:00:49of a technological revolution,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52which rocked the world of recorded music.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Rock and roll, popular music of the '50s and '60s,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02peaking with The Beatles,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04simply wouldn't have been possible without...
0:01:05 > 0:01:10..the emergence of the music studio as a compositional tool...
0:01:11 > 0:01:14..the rise of the producer as a creative force...
0:01:16 > 0:01:20..and, most of all, the miraculous story of magnetic tape.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24You can cut, you can edit.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Obviously you can slow down or speed up your tape,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29you can put in backwards stuff, you can put in electronic sounds
0:01:29 > 0:01:32which you couldn't possibly reproduce live.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35MUSIC: That's All Right
0:01:35 > 0:01:38In this episode, I'm going to visit the studios that
0:01:38 > 0:01:43produced these sounds and test out the original recording techniques.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47From primitive, raw rock and roll...
0:01:47 > 0:01:50# That's all right... #
0:01:50 > 0:01:55..to multi-layered symphonies, in highly produced pop...
0:01:56 > 0:01:59# I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
0:01:59 > 0:02:02# Da-do ron-ron-ron, da-do ron-ron. #
0:02:02 > 0:02:06One minute I was in the studio and I'm looking at all these
0:02:06 > 0:02:09musicians, so many people that were playing so many instruments.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13I'm sitting there and I'm saying, "What the heck is going on?"
0:02:13 > 0:02:15And the intricate editing
0:02:15 > 0:02:18which gave us the first psychedelic record.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22# I'm picking up good vibrations
0:02:22 > 0:02:26# She's giving me the excitations... #
0:02:26 > 0:02:30I didn't really have a vision. I took it one bar at a time, you know?
0:02:30 > 0:02:31# I'm picking up... #
0:02:31 > 0:02:32And then...
0:02:32 > 0:02:34# Good vibrations. #
0:02:34 > 0:02:38It was all done in pieces. It wasn't envisioned as one whole piece.
0:02:38 > 0:02:44# Good, good, good, good vibrations
0:02:44 > 0:02:50# Close my eyes She's somehow closer now... #
0:02:50 > 0:02:54RADIO CRACKLES
0:02:54 > 0:02:57CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:03:02 > 0:03:07In 1944, US Major Jack T Mullin was part of the Allied Forces
0:03:07 > 0:03:10preparing for the liberation of Europe.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11Mullin was an amateur film-maker
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and electronics enthusiast from California.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17And he liked to listen to the radio late at night.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20RADIO CRACKLES
0:03:20 > 0:03:22After the BBC shut down at midnight,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Mullin found he could tune into German radio, where,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30night after night, he listened to the cool, crisp,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33clear tones of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38The sound was so good, he was convinced they must be playing live.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41RADIO SIGNAL TUNES IN
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Mullin knew that broadcasts on American and British radio were
0:03:45 > 0:03:47interrupted by pops and crackles,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51the unmistakable sound of a recorded production at this time.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Was Hitler really commanding the orchestra to play
0:04:01 > 0:04:04graveyard-shift renditions of Beethoven and Bach
0:04:04 > 0:04:06far into the night?
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Mullin promised himself that when he got to Germany,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12he'd find out what was going on.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17When his unit arrived at an abandoned radio station
0:04:17 > 0:04:20at Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt, Mullin was convinced
0:04:20 > 0:04:22he had discovered the answer.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26There he was handed more than 50 reels of magnetic tape
0:04:26 > 0:04:28and two large tape recorders.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31These machines, the size of suitcases,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33were called magnetophones.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36And it was they that had broadcast the crystal-clear recordings
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Mullin had been listening to.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46After the war ended, Mullin took these machines and tapes, originally
0:04:46 > 0:04:52manufactured by German firms AEG and BASF, back to California.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Post-war Hollywood was enjoying a golden era, producing classic hits
0:05:07 > 0:05:11like Hitchcock's Notorious and Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14# On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe... #
0:05:14 > 0:05:19And Mullin's aim was to persuade the studios to use magnetic tape
0:05:19 > 0:05:22for recording movie soundtracks.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Mullin gave demonstrations to all the Hollywood studios and producers.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31And in 1947 he was introduced to the legendary Bing Crosby.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Crosby had been at the top of the business for 20 years.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40He presented a hugely successful radio show
0:05:40 > 0:05:43but hated having to present it live -
0:05:43 > 0:05:47he'd much rather be on the golf course, with chums like Bob Hope.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49# Like my mother sang to me... #
0:05:49 > 0:05:52He'd been lobbying the radio stations for years to let him
0:05:52 > 0:05:55prerecord his shows and they had always refused
0:05:55 > 0:05:59because the recording quality simply wasn't good enough.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02So when he heard what Mullin had to offer with magnetic tape,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04he jumped at it.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08But if Crosby was serious,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11he would have to back Mullin with some hard cash.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Mullin had been working with Californian electronics company,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Ampex, to develop his ideas.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21But they were running low on funds and needed an investor.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23# ..Tune that is choppy You'll get all my applause... #
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Crosby put his money where his mouth was.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29He handed over a 50,000 personal cheque
0:06:29 > 0:06:33so that Ampex could begin production on a magnetic tape machine
0:06:33 > 0:06:36to be sold to film, TV and radio companies.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41And Crosby was one of the first to get an Ampex tape machine.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45He also signed up Jack Mullin as his studio engineer.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48BING CROSBY: 'Everybody knows and loves The Andrews Sisters...'
0:06:48 > 0:06:53Crosby began recording his radio show onto magnetic tape in 1948.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55'I was just thinking, Ken.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'It seems like only yesterday I was playing with a little
0:06:58 > 0:07:02'band like that. We were called the Spokane Musical Dogs.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Crosby could now record three shows in a day,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09which left the old crooner plenty of time to go to the golf course.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Word quickly spread and pretty soon Ampex tape recorders were being
0:07:18 > 0:07:21ordered up by all the main studios and broadcasters in Hollywood.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25# ..And gentle people... #
0:07:25 > 0:07:29MUSIC: Dust My Blues by Elmore James
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Although the Ampex tape machine had at first arrived in Hollywood,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38its impact would be felt strongest in the emerging pop music scene.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43A restless industry,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48which was always looking for the latest innovation.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Born in Germany and refined in California, this piece of kit would,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56in the right hands, revolutionise the sound of song.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01# I'm gonna get up in the morning
0:08:01 > 0:08:02# I believe I'll dust... #
0:08:02 > 0:08:05It was in 1951 that one of these machines
0:08:05 > 0:08:09found its way into the hands of a young producer in Tennessee.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Sam Phillips was the owner of Sun Studio,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16a small recording station in downtown Memphis.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19# I don't want no woman... #
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Phillips had been producing local R&B,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28gospel and country performers on old transcription discs,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32but he was frustrated at the poor quality of the recordings.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38The work done by Sam Phillips in this studio would mark
0:08:38 > 0:08:42a turning point in the sound of the popular song.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Indeed, this would turn out to be one of the first temples of sound.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48A small studio in downtown Memphis,
0:08:48 > 0:08:53a visionary producer armed with a magnetic tape recorder.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58This combination would help to create the first bona fide sounds
0:08:58 > 0:08:59of rock and roll.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Phillips began assembling an impressive array of local talent.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13He recorded Chester Arthur Burnett,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16better known as bluesman Howlin' Wolf.
0:09:18 > 0:09:24# Ah-oh, smokestack lightnin'... #
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Phillips also scored a minor hit with Rocket 88,
0:09:27 > 0:09:32an up-tempo R&B song featuring a young Ike Turner.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34MUSIC: Rocket 88
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Sam Phillips' producing ethos was very simple.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42He wanted to capture that authentic, raw sound that he heard
0:09:42 > 0:09:47performers playing in and around the bars and clubs in Memphis.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50So he told his artists to play live and loud,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52stuck them all in one small recording room
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and said not to worry too much about making mistakes.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Which is just as well, as I'm going to play here.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05THEY PLAY A MELODY
0:10:06 > 0:10:07Yeah.
0:10:07 > 0:10:13'Sun Studio still uses magnetic tape and engineer Matt Ross Spang
0:10:13 > 0:10:18'has agreed to record me playing with legendary session musicians.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20'Bassist Dave Roe...'
0:10:20 > 0:10:23HE PLAYS TUNE
0:10:24 > 0:10:26'..and drummer JM Van Eaton.'
0:10:26 > 0:10:28- OK.- Are you ready?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'And Matt will produce this session in the same way Phillips did.'
0:10:34 > 0:10:37'The song we're going to play is a number by a young singer
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'who walked into this studio one day
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'and persuaded Sam Phillips to record him.'
0:10:42 > 0:10:45THEY CHAT AND LAUGH
0:10:45 > 0:10:46Let's try it.
0:10:46 > 0:10:52'On 5th July, 1954, Phillips oversaw one Elvis Presley perform
0:10:52 > 0:10:54'That's All Right, Mama.'
0:10:55 > 0:10:57All right, we are rolling.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01MUSIC: That's All Right, Mama
0:11:07 > 0:11:09# Well, that's all right, Mama
0:11:09 > 0:11:11# That's all right for you
0:11:11 > 0:11:14# That's all right, Mama
0:11:14 > 0:11:16# Any way you do
0:11:16 > 0:11:21# Well, that's all right That's all right
0:11:21 > 0:11:24# That's all right now, Mama
0:11:24 > 0:11:26# Any way you do
0:11:28 > 0:11:30# Well, Mama she done told me... #
0:11:30 > 0:11:33'And while we are playing, Matt is replicating a technique
0:11:33 > 0:11:38'Philips pioneered - adding a fuller, fatter sound to the vocals -
0:11:38 > 0:11:41'a device he dubbed slapback echo.'
0:11:41 > 0:11:44# That's all right now, Mama
0:11:44 > 0:11:49# Any way you do... #
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Matt, first of all, can you take us through the desk here?
0:11:51 > 0:11:54What were you doing while we were playing in there?
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Trying not to screw it up.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57Yeah, right(!)
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I tried to recreate what Sam had.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01While you guys were cutting an album,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I'm in here dialling the faders as you are doing it live.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08It goes to an Ampex 350 tape machine over here. It's all mono.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11It's all cut live, right as you did it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12And then the lead vocal.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15And there, you were doing something pretty special with that.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18That was Sam's kind of thing. Slapback echo. I love it, personally.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20You can't work here if you don't like slapback echo.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24You can't record here either if you don't want me to do it.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26Phillips found that he could
0:12:26 > 0:12:30produce an echo effect by manipulating the tape recorder.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33# Well, that's all right, Mama
0:12:33 > 0:12:35# That's all right for you
0:12:35 > 0:12:37# That's all right, Mama... #
0:12:37 > 0:12:42First he recorded the lead vocal, and then he looped a duplicate
0:12:42 > 0:12:47of this vocal back onto the machine, just a split second behind.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52By doing this, he produced an echo effect on the voice.
0:12:52 > 0:12:53# Mama she done told me
0:12:53 > 0:12:56# My daddy done told me too
0:12:56 > 0:12:58# "Son, that gal you're foolin' with
0:12:58 > 0:13:00# "She ain't no good for you"
0:13:00 > 0:13:02# Well, that's all right
0:13:02 > 0:13:05# That's all right
0:13:05 > 0:13:07# That's all right now, Mama
0:13:07 > 0:13:10# Any way you do... #
0:13:10 > 0:13:14What do you think it was that Sam found with that echo,
0:13:14 > 0:13:15with the fast echo, with fast music?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18When you go listen to a band live, you don't hear them
0:13:18 > 0:13:19right in front of an acoustic guitar.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22You hear them either blasting really loud, right, or you hear them
0:13:22 > 0:13:25echoing, like if you are outside or whatever,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29you always hear it a little bit, there's a little bit of fantasy.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32I say fantasy but there's a little bit of an otherworldly
0:13:32 > 0:13:33kind of thing to it.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37He wanted to get that unique sound with this new rock and roll thing.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39And that really gave it this thing that no-one else had.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43It goes to show you how much of a genius Sam was.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46I think a lot of people think he was this lucky hillbilly that
0:13:46 > 0:13:50just stumbled on a little space and got lucky with all these guys.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55But he really was a genius with electronics, in sound
0:13:55 > 0:13:59and pulling a performance out of somebody.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03# I need your love, baby
0:14:03 > 0:14:05# That's all right
0:14:05 > 0:14:08# That's all right now, Mama
0:14:08 > 0:14:11# Any way you do... #
0:14:12 > 0:14:13Whoo!
0:14:14 > 0:14:18# That's all right now, Mama
0:14:18 > 0:14:20# Any way you do. #
0:14:27 > 0:14:29THEY LAUGH
0:14:34 > 0:14:39This song would sell 20,000 copies, reach number four in the local
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Memphis charts and provide Sam Phillips with a blueprint
0:14:43 > 0:14:45for future success.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46# That's all right... #
0:14:47 > 0:14:50# Well, it's one for the money
0:14:50 > 0:14:52# Two for the show
0:14:52 > 0:14:53# Three to get ready
0:14:53 > 0:14:55# Now go, cat, go
0:14:55 > 0:14:56# But don't you
0:14:56 > 0:14:59# Step on my blue suede shoes... #
0:14:59 > 0:15:03The mid-1950s were an exciting time for Phillips.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Through his innovative work with the Ampex tape machine, Sun Studio
0:15:08 > 0:15:13would become a stable for the first wave of rock and roll stars.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15# Do anything that you wanna do
0:15:15 > 0:15:17# But uh-uh, honey, lay off of my shoes... #
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Elvis was soon joined by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins
0:15:20 > 0:15:25and Johnny Cash, who recorded Walk The Line at Sun.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28MUSIC: Walk The Line by Johnny Cash
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Songs like Walk The Line and Blue Suede Shoes
0:15:35 > 0:15:37were released on seven-inch vinyl,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40the 45, a reasonably new development.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43It had been designed a few years earlier by the now-defunct RCA -
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Radio Corporation of America -
0:15:45 > 0:15:48as an alternative to the rather archaic sounding 78.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It was smaller, more durable, and crucially,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54had much better sound quality to it.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57This would come to be the dominant medium on which everybody
0:15:57 > 0:15:59heard their pop songs.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00# I walk the line... #
0:16:00 > 0:16:04'And this new format, so popular with teenagers,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07'would shape pop music for years to come.'
0:16:07 > 0:16:12The seven-inch single was played at 45 revolutions per minute -
0:16:12 > 0:16:15with an A and a B side.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19But crucially, the vinyl size limited each side
0:16:19 > 0:16:22to three and a half minutes.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24# For the tie that binds
0:16:24 > 0:16:26# Because you're mine
0:16:26 > 0:16:28# I walk the line... #
0:16:28 > 0:16:32The 45 format dictated the length of the pop song.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Studios, artists and producers all realised
0:16:34 > 0:16:38they had to make their music fit within that very short time.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42So, even as rock and roll was kicking off, this sexy,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44raucous sound had to be confined.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48This is the era of the three-minute pop song.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50# Come on over, baby
0:16:50 > 0:16:52# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:16:54 > 0:16:56# Yes, I say, come on over, baby
0:16:56 > 0:16:57# Baby, you can't go wrong... #
0:16:57 > 0:17:01And many teenagers didn't even need to buy a record player.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07In the 1950s, three-quarters of all pop singles were sold to jukeboxes.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10# We got chicken in the barn... #
0:17:10 > 0:17:14And these music machines offered their own acoustics.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19A large bass speaker was located at the bottom of the jukebox.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And this made the floor vibrate,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25so those gathered around it could really feel the music.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Studios powered up the bass-ends on their songs,
0:17:28 > 0:17:33knowing it would really cut through with immense power.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35# Shake, make it shake
0:17:35 > 0:17:36# Come on over
0:17:36 > 0:17:39# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
0:17:39 > 0:17:41# Oh, let's go... #
0:17:41 > 0:17:45And while the Memphis music scene was the creative heartbeat
0:17:45 > 0:17:47of rock and roll...
0:17:47 > 0:17:50ROMANTIC ROCK AND ROLL
0:17:52 > 0:17:56..New York in the '50s was establishing itself as the epicentre
0:17:56 > 0:18:00of the music business - the cosmopolitan hub of an impatient,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03fast-moving industry.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13And much of this industry was housed in two buildings
0:18:13 > 0:18:16in Midtown Manhattan -
0:18:16 > 0:18:21the Brill Building and Aldon Music -
0:18:21 > 0:18:25located just a few blocks from the historic Tin Pan Alley,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28the traditional heart of music publishing.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32But songwriting was changing and a new generation were being
0:18:32 > 0:18:35influenced by the magnetic tape revolution.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Chief among them were songwriters Mike Stoller
0:18:41 > 0:18:45and Jerry Leiber, who were not content to just write the songs,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47they wanted to direct the recording of them,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52which they began doing with singer Big Mama Thornton.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01She didn't seem too excited about meeting two white teenagers.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03NEIL LAUGHS
0:19:03 > 0:19:07But we heard her sing and she knocked us out.
0:19:07 > 0:19:14Went back to my house and wrote Hound Dog in about 12, 15 minutes.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18We recorded it, as I recall, the following day.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23Jerry and I both wanted her to growl.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27And we were reluctant...
0:19:27 > 0:19:29HE LAUGHS
0:19:29 > 0:19:32It was like, "You tell her." THEY LAUGH
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Because she was rather formidable, you know?
0:19:36 > 0:19:39It was like, "Don't be telling me how to sing the song, white boy."
0:19:41 > 0:19:47But right away, on the first take, she was growling.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:19:51 > 0:19:55# Been snooping round my door
0:19:55 > 0:19:58# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:19:58 > 0:20:00# Been snooping round my door... #
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Conceived as a raw blues track, there was
0:20:02 > 0:20:07some debate before they settled on the final, now famous, lyrics.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Jerry wasn't fully happy with "hound dog".
0:20:13 > 0:20:18He wanted something much stronger.
0:20:18 > 0:20:19He wanted mother...
0:20:20 > 0:20:24And I said, "I don't think they'll play that,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26"but I think hound dog is cool."
0:20:26 > 0:20:28He said, "Do you think so?" I said, "Yeah."
0:20:28 > 0:20:33# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:20:33 > 0:20:35# Been snooping round my door... #
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Hound Dog was a hit for Big Mama and the boys.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40# You're just an old hound dog... #
0:20:40 > 0:20:44But it was the version recorded by Elvis four years later
0:20:44 > 0:20:47that brought them to the attention of recording giant Atlantic.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51# You ain't nothing but a hound dog
0:20:51 > 0:20:54# Cryin' all the time... #
0:20:54 > 0:20:57They offered Leiber and Stoller a unique deal
0:20:57 > 0:21:00to write and produce their own records.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03# You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no... #
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Why did you want to be producers as well as songwriters?
0:21:07 > 0:21:11To protect the way we imagined the songs should sound,
0:21:11 > 0:21:19which were frequently more than just a melody line
0:21:19 > 0:21:21and a lyric line.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27We had given songs to other people and they would then produce them.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It wasn't what we had in mind at all.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36So we wanted to make sure it was done the way we wanted them done.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38MUSIC: Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley
0:21:38 > 0:21:41They were also able to take advantage of the latest
0:21:41 > 0:21:43development in magnetic tape technology.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46# The warden threw a party in the county jail... #
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Atlantic were one of the first studios to start working
0:21:49 > 0:21:52with multi-track tape recorders.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56This meant numerous separate recordings could be
0:21:56 > 0:21:58laid down onto the same song.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Now, for the first time, extra instrumentation, vocals and
0:22:04 > 0:22:08even an orchestra could be recorded separately and added to songs.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11# Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone... #
0:22:11 > 0:22:13MUSIC: There Goes My Baby by The Drifters
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Leiber and Stoller tested out this approach on a record
0:22:16 > 0:22:19they made with The Drifters, a doo-wop group,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22led by Ben E King.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24- # Bo-bo - Doo-doot-doo-doo
0:22:24 > 0:22:26- # Bo-bo - Doo-doot-doo-doo
0:22:26 > 0:22:30# There goes my baby
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# Movin' on down the line... #
0:22:33 > 0:22:37There Goes My Baby begins like your average doo-wop number.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39In fact, it actually does begin with...
0:22:39 > 0:22:42# Do-do-do-do-do. #
0:22:42 > 0:22:46And that... # Bum-bum-bum-ba-do-ba-do. #
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So far, so what we already know.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53But just before the main vocal comes in, the great Ben E King,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55we hear, of all things, strings.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58HE PLAYS There Goes My Baby
0:23:01 > 0:23:04We haven't heard that before with this sort of number.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07And it adds such a dramatic extra to it.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10But also, there is something else going on down the bottom end.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- That rhythm... - HE PLAYS RHYTHM
0:23:13 > 0:23:14It's quite insistent.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17And that's because there is more than just a drum kit there.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22There is a timpani playing that beat. Bum-ba-dum. Bum-ba-dum.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25# I wonder why she left me
0:23:25 > 0:23:28# Why did she leave me? #
0:23:28 > 0:23:31It's a massive production for its time.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34And here we can hear Stoller the songwriter
0:23:34 > 0:23:36becoming Stoller the producer.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40What's wonderful about it is that it points the way to the future.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44This is where the sound of song is going to go.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48There Goes My Baby was the first R&B track to feature strings
0:23:48 > 0:23:52and it became a smash hit in the summer of 1959.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54# Where is my... #
0:23:54 > 0:23:59We conceived the records not just as a song but as an overall sound.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03An overall production, if you will.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Emboldened by this, Leiber and Stoller returned to the
0:24:06 > 0:24:12studio with the orchestra in an attempt to reproduce their success.
0:24:13 > 0:24:20We went an hour over and Atlantic was furious. This big orchestra.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22A lot of money.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26But ultimately, I guess they figured it worked out
0:24:26 > 0:24:28because two of the sides...
0:24:28 > 0:24:31One of the sides was Spanish Harlem.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33And one of the sides was Stand By Me.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36LAUGHTER
0:24:37 > 0:24:40# When the night has come
0:24:42 > 0:24:45# And the land is dark
0:24:45 > 0:24:50# And the moon is the only light we'll see
0:24:53 > 0:24:54# No, I won't be afraid... #
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Leiber and Stoller had created a template for pop songs
0:24:58 > 0:25:01which exploited the possibilities of multi-track recording
0:25:01 > 0:25:05to produce richer, more complex-sounding records.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07# Stand by me
0:25:07 > 0:25:10# So, darlin', darlin'
0:25:10 > 0:25:11# Stand by me... #
0:25:11 > 0:25:14And into the 1960s, a young protege of theirs
0:25:14 > 0:25:17would build on this approach and produce a new,
0:25:17 > 0:25:22distinctive sound, which created some of the biggest hits of the era.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24# Stand by me. #
0:25:24 > 0:25:26MUSIC: Then He Kissed Me
0:25:34 > 0:25:39# Well, he walked up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance
0:25:41 > 0:25:46# He looked kinda nice and so I said I might take a chance
0:25:48 > 0:25:52# When he danced he held me tight
0:25:52 > 0:25:55# And when he walked me home that night
0:25:55 > 0:25:58# All the stars were shining bright
0:25:58 > 0:26:00# And then he kissed me... #
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Today, Phil Spector is a controversial figure,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07to say the least.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10But back then, he was hailed as a genius.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14He had begun experimenting with his signature sound production when he
0:26:14 > 0:26:19recorded The Crystals, an all-girl group, fronted by La La Brooks.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22# So I whispered, "I love you"... #
0:26:22 > 0:26:27He was hard on us. Especially me, as an artist, doing the vocals.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30But he knew exactly what he was doing.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Sometimes when I couldn't feel it,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36I didn't understand what he wanted and he would turn out all the lights.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37It would be crazy.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41And he just would have the stand with the music or lyrics
0:26:41 > 0:26:44and he would put a little light over the stand,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47so I could read the lyrics, but he wanted me to think.
0:26:47 > 0:26:53# I knew that he was mine so I give him all the love that I had... #
0:26:53 > 0:26:59La La's powerful voice was only one element of Spector's production.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03He surrounded the young singer with the Wrecking Crew.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Hand-picked by Spector himself,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09they were the most talented session musicians in the business.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11# I almost cried
0:27:11 > 0:27:12# And then he kissed me... #
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Phil Spector is an entity all by himself.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21Everyone wanted to know what the magic fairy dust was
0:27:21 > 0:27:23that he sprinkled
0:27:23 > 0:27:29because everything we did with Phil became number one almost overnight.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35Spector was the first to record multiple instruments simultaneously,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39sculpting what would become known as his Wall of Sound.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44He did things that were unheard of.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Rhythm section - piano, bass, drums, guitar.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Phil Spector had three, four basses sometimes.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Three, four pianos.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Sometimes as many as seven guitars.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- All playing at the same time? - All together.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08- Wow.- That's what he called his Wall of Sound.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Through this approach, Spector was able to take a song
0:28:11 > 0:28:13with a nonsensical lyric...
0:28:13 > 0:28:17# I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
0:28:17 > 0:28:20# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron
0:28:20 > 0:28:21# Somebody told me... #
0:28:21 > 0:28:25He then transformed it into a barrage of melodic power -
0:28:25 > 0:28:29a huge, soulful teenage symphony.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32# I knew what he was doing when he caught my eye
0:28:32 > 0:28:35# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron
0:28:35 > 0:28:38# He looked so quiet but my, oh, my
0:28:38 > 0:28:41# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron
0:28:41 > 0:28:45# Yeah, he caught my eye
0:28:45 > 0:28:48# Yes, oh my, oh my
0:28:48 > 0:28:51# And when he walked me home
0:28:51 > 0:28:56# Da-do ron-ron-ron, da-do ron-ron... #
0:28:56 > 0:29:01One minute I was in the studio and I'm looking at all these musicians.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05And I'm sitting there saying, "What the heck is going on?" You know?
0:29:06 > 0:29:09This is what was going on...
0:29:09 > 0:29:11HE PLAYS Da Doo Ron Ron
0:29:11 > 0:29:13To build his Wall of Sound,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17Spector didn't just turn up the volume, he recorded multiple
0:29:17 > 0:29:21instruments playing slight variations of the same song.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Just like this...
0:29:23 > 0:29:26HE PLAYS Da Doo Ron Ron
0:29:31 > 0:29:34And Spector knew that in the 1960s, many people
0:29:34 > 0:29:40listened to music on transistor radios, which emitted a tinny sound.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44So he would test out his songs on small speakers in the studio,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46to check they would really punch through.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51When you first heard the Wall of Sound, did you have
0:29:51 > 0:29:55a kind of emotional reaction to hearing that for the first time?
0:29:55 > 0:29:57I think I did.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00If you really look at Phil's sound on some of the songs,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03it may sound crazy, but you can cry
0:30:03 > 0:30:06because there is something inside of you that hears
0:30:06 > 0:30:12those strings on Then He Kissed Me and Be My Baby, you know?
0:30:12 > 0:30:17It's a feeling that those instruments make you sensitive
0:30:17 > 0:30:19because they are so beautiful.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron
0:30:22 > 0:30:25- # Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron - Yeah, yeah
0:30:25 > 0:30:30- # Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron - Yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:30:30 > 0:30:33This precocious young pop producer even gave us
0:30:33 > 0:30:36a new soundtrack for Christmas.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39MUSIC: Winter Wonderland by Darlene Love
0:30:39 > 0:30:44He recorded traditional festive songs, spliced with sound effects
0:30:44 > 0:30:48of sleigh bells, and produced in his Wall of Sound.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51# Sleigh bells ring Are you listenin'?
0:30:51 > 0:30:55# In the lane, snow is glistenin'
0:30:55 > 0:30:59# A beautiful sight We're happy tonight
0:30:59 > 0:31:01# Walkin' in a winter wonderland... #
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Doing the Christmas album with Phil Spector was probably
0:31:04 > 0:31:07some of the greatest time I had with Phil.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Because of him saying that he was getting ready to do
0:31:10 > 0:31:13a rock and roll Christmas album.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16"That's sacred! You can't do a rock and roll Christmas album."
0:31:16 > 0:31:18He was the first.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23That was the one time he asked me what Christmas songs I liked.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27And I got to choose the songs that I wanted to sing.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33And that whole Christmas thing is still so much part of Christmas now.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34It is. It really is.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37It's amazing because you'll be going down the street to the grocery
0:31:37 > 0:31:40store and you will hear it. You will be in the bank and you'll hear it.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45And you want to say, "Hey, hold on a minute! That's me! Stop!"
0:31:46 > 0:31:50But singers like Darlene Love always played second fiddle
0:31:50 > 0:31:54to the overall sound of the production itself.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57They could be replaced - Spector was ruthless.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03I went in and I did He's A Rebel for the group The Crystals.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07I knew it was going to be theirs because he paid me and The Blossoms
0:32:07 > 0:32:12as backup singers. This time I just did the lead on the song.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16I didn't know it was going to be a number one record, number one.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19LAUGHING: Because I probably wouldn't have done it!
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Unless it would have been my record.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26# He's a rebel and he'll never be any good
0:32:26 > 0:32:29# He's a rebel cos he never ever does what he should
0:32:29 > 0:32:31# Just because he... #
0:32:31 > 0:32:33And then I did He's Sure The Boy I Love,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37which was supposed to be MY record, a Darlene Love record,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41and that's when he switched on me and put it out under their name.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43- That's when we started fighting. - Yeah.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Guess what? He did everybody.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50All the way to the lawyers, managers, everybody.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00With a series of number one hits, Spector's multi-layered
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Wall of Sound dominated the charts and he was on a creative roll.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12In the summer of 1964, he began working with songwriters
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil on a new number that I think is
0:33:16 > 0:33:19the very pinnacle of his producing powers
0:33:19 > 0:33:24and encapsulates what made him such an inspired force in the studio.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Tell me about writing You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
0:33:31 > 0:33:34because there is a big story there, isn't there?
0:33:34 > 0:33:39Yes, he said he had signed a new group of two guys from Orange County
0:33:39 > 0:33:42who sounded like Sam and Dave,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and that he wanted to write with us for them.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50The next day, we went into play it for Bobby and Bill.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54- It never dawned on us that they might not like it.- Right.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58They were used to singing everything together. And on this song
0:33:58 > 0:34:01- Bill sang the verses and then Bobby came in...- On the chorus.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07And he was not happy about not being in from the beginning.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10He said to Phil, "What should I do while the big guy is singing?"
0:34:10 > 0:34:11You know, sarcastically.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14And Phil said, "You can go to the bank."
0:34:14 > 0:34:21# You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips
0:34:24 > 0:34:32# And there's no tenderness, like before, in your fingertips... #
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Phil played it over the phone...
0:34:34 > 0:34:36He played you the final master over the phone?
0:34:36 > 0:34:37- Yes.- Over the phone.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40But he lowered the key because, again, it's very rangy.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Bill Medley has a very low voice.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45- DEEP VOICE:- # You never close your eyes. #
0:34:45 > 0:34:48So when he played it over the phone, I started screaming, "Phil,
0:34:48 > 0:34:53"you've got it on the wrong speed!" And it really sounded that way.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57# Baby, I know it
0:34:57 > 0:35:03# You've lost that lovin' feelin'
0:35:03 > 0:35:06# Whoa, that lovin' feelin'
0:35:07 > 0:35:11# You've lost that lovin' feelin'
0:35:11 > 0:35:18# Now it's gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh-oh... #
0:35:18 > 0:35:22Spector obviously had a very good idea of the sound world
0:35:22 > 0:35:26that he wanted You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' to live in.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31It's obviously big. It's the Wall of Sound. Lots of reverb and echo.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33But there is more to it than that.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36For a start, he didn't have any kind of introduction.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38It comes straight in with the lead vocal.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41HE PLAYS INTRO TO You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
0:35:41 > 0:35:44From then on through, it goes up to that fantastic chorus.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48HE PLAYS CHORUS
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Spector wants the song to go somewhere else.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04And again, Spector added something here. Not just...
0:36:04 > 0:36:08# Gone, gone, gone, whoa-whoa-whoa. #
0:36:08 > 0:36:11That then goes into a downwards walking motif.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20And into this little sort of shuffle step.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24It's a little bit like... Hang On Sloopy.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26# Hang on, Sloopy
0:36:26 > 0:36:28# Sloopy, hang on. #
0:36:28 > 0:36:29But what it does,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34it takes that whole Wall of Sound down to one single idea.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38That little motif is really hooky, we are in there.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39And over the top of it,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43the vocalist can do all that lovely semi-improvised stuff,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46which turns into a kind of jam session with the other voices.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50And it means that there is somewhere for the chorus to erupt back
0:36:50 > 0:36:52out of again. Kaboom, here we are!
0:36:52 > 0:36:55HE PLAYS You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
0:36:59 > 0:37:02This song really needed Spector.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Because what he did was turn it into the quintessential
0:37:06 > 0:37:10experience of the man mourning for the woman he has lost.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14We are right inside his mind. We know exactly how he feels.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17And that huge Wall of Sound is like echoes
0:37:17 > 0:37:20coming off the inside of his brain.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Gone, gone, gone.
0:37:22 > 0:37:28It's a terrific collaboration between two very fine songwriters
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and a truly extraordinary producer.
0:37:31 > 0:37:39# Bring back that lovin' feelin', cos it's gone, gone, gone
0:37:39 > 0:37:41# And I can't go on... #
0:37:41 > 0:37:44I never dreamed the record would be as spectacular as it was.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47It became the most played record of the last century.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55# Bring back that lovin' feelin'
0:37:55 > 0:37:57# Oh, that lovin' feelin'... #
0:37:57 > 0:38:01Spector was now the most prominent of a new breed of auteur producers,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05who, along with others like Mitch Miller and Joe Meek,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09had established creative control over the artists they directed.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14# Let's go surfin' now
0:38:14 > 0:38:15# Everybody's learnin' how
0:38:15 > 0:38:17# Come on and safari with me
0:38:17 > 0:38:20# Come on and safari with me... #
0:38:20 > 0:38:24On the West Coast, one artist had observed the producer at work
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and wanted to take control of production himself.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30# And headin' out singing our song... #
0:38:30 > 0:38:32This musician was Brian Wilson,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36the creative force behind the Beach Boys, the most successful
0:38:36 > 0:38:40American pop band of the time, with a string of top ten hits.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Wilson had been in awe of Phil Spector
0:38:45 > 0:38:48and had spent time shadowing him in the studio.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54Brian Wilson had scored a string of successes with his band,
0:38:54 > 0:38:55the Beach Boys.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59They combined classic Chuck Berry guitar licks with vocal harmonies
0:38:59 > 0:39:04and epitomised that sunny surfer sound of '60s California.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08All summed up in one two-and-a-half-minute pop song.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10It was the perfect formula.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13MUSIC: Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys
0:39:13 > 0:39:16# If everybody had an ocean
0:39:16 > 0:39:18# Across the USA
0:39:18 > 0:39:21# Then everybody'd be surfin'
0:39:21 > 0:39:24# Like Californi-a
0:39:24 > 0:39:27# You'd see 'em wearing their baggies... #
0:39:27 > 0:39:30But in 1965, Wilson decided to quit touring
0:39:30 > 0:39:34and announced he was retreating into the studio to create a new
0:39:34 > 0:39:36and very different kind of record.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39One that he promised would be his masterpiece.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44He set himself a grand ambition - to reinvent the pop song,
0:39:44 > 0:39:46to explore new methods of composing
0:39:46 > 0:39:50and to experiment with the very art of production itself.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52'Let me hear the organ.'
0:39:52 > 0:39:55ORGAN PLAYS
0:39:58 > 0:39:59'Stop, please.'
0:40:01 > 0:40:05What was in your head when you went into Good Vibrations?
0:40:05 > 0:40:07What were you after with Good Vibrations?
0:40:07 > 0:40:10My mother told me when I was a kid that dogs bark at people
0:40:10 > 0:40:13because they pick up vibrations.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18In 1966, Mike Love was over at my house and I said, "Let's write
0:40:18 > 0:40:23"a song called Good Vibrations." He goes, "Hey, I like that."
0:40:23 > 0:40:28I started playing the piano. Bum-ba-bum-bum. And he goes...
0:40:28 > 0:40:31# I'm picking up good vibrations. #
0:40:31 > 0:40:35You had a real change of musical direction with Good Vibrations.
0:40:35 > 0:40:36Well, we wanted to grow musically,
0:40:36 > 0:40:39so we thought we would try something different.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42'Let's hear the guitars, please, in D and B.'
0:40:42 > 0:40:46While the Beach Boys went on tour, Brian Wilson recruited
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51including drummer Hal Blaine, and they began recording
0:40:51 > 0:40:55the instrumental tracks for Good Vibrations.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57OK, that's fine. Let's make it.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Hal, let's go, man. Here we go.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Play hard and strong all the way.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Brian used to come to Phil Spector's studio.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09And he loved what we were doing.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11He wanted to get...
0:41:12 > 0:41:16..I guess, sort of, a Phil Spector-type sound.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20He wanted to get that big sound that we had.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23- You used the Wrecking Crew that Spector used.- Yeah.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Why did you use them rather than the Beach Boys to play?
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Because I trusted their ability a little better than the group,
0:41:30 > 0:41:35you know? I trusted that they could play it pretty good.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Play hard and strong all the way...
0:41:37 > 0:41:41Wilson's approach to Good Vibrations was unprecedented.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Beginning in February 1966,
0:41:45 > 0:41:50he recorded short instrumental parts of the song over and over again,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53holding the sessions in four separate studios.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Brian knew what he wanted.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Sometimes we would go in and play four bars of music.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06And he would say, "Change the saxophone part.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07"Take it down an octave."
0:42:09 > 0:42:12"And let's hear the guitar up just a little bit more."
0:42:13 > 0:42:15"And let me hear it."
0:42:15 > 0:42:19And we'd play it. He'd say, "That's great. That's exactly what I want."
0:42:19 > 0:42:23He would talk to his engineer and say, "Thank you, gentlemen."
0:42:23 > 0:42:24And we were out of there.
0:42:24 > 0:42:2615 minutes sometimes.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32I didn't really have a vision. I took it one bar at a time.
0:42:32 > 0:42:33You know?
0:42:33 > 0:42:35# I'm picking up... #
0:42:35 > 0:42:36And then... # Good vibrations... #
0:42:36 > 0:42:38It was all done in pieces.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45Because he experimented every note.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50Now, sometimes he'd want a different group of people, just to see
0:42:50 > 0:42:53what would happen, because he heard something.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58While Wilson sculpted the sound of the instruments,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01he had spent little time on the words.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06On the 24th August 1966, he arranged to meet
0:43:06 > 0:43:09the rest of the band to record their vocals.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Despite months of recording,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15he still hadn't quite settled on the final lyrics yet.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20So Beach Boy Mike Love hastily came up with the words
0:43:20 > 0:43:24on the freeway, driving over to Sunset Sound studio.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29I was working on the arrangement for a long time
0:43:29 > 0:43:32and when I finally got it done, I called the guys and said,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35"I got the arrangement done!" They go, "Good! Let's go to the studio."
0:43:35 > 0:43:38So we met up at the studio and Mike was on one microphone going,
0:43:38 > 0:43:39# I'm picking up... #
0:43:39 > 0:43:41And the other guys were going...
0:43:41 > 0:43:42# Good, good, good... #
0:43:42 > 0:43:43You know...
0:43:43 > 0:43:44# ..vibrations. #
0:43:46 > 0:43:49# I'm picking up good vibrations
0:43:49 > 0:43:52# She's giving me excitations
0:43:52 > 0:43:56- # I'm picking up good vibrations - Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations
0:43:56 > 0:43:59- # She's giving me excitations - Oom, bop, bop, excitations
0:43:59 > 0:44:03- # Good, good, good, good vibrations - Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations... #
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Armed with Mike Love's lyrics,
0:44:06 > 0:44:11Brian begins directing the vocal sessions here at Sunset Sound.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13But even this isn't straightforward.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18He insists that the band record over 25 overdubs
0:44:18 > 0:44:24of the same vocal lines, some no more than two or three seconds long.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27- # Good, good, good, good vibrations - Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations
0:44:27 > 0:44:31- # She's giving me excitations - Oom, bop, bop, excitations... #
0:44:31 > 0:44:33Six months after he had started working on the song,
0:44:33 > 0:44:40Wilson oversaw the final mix for Good Vibrations in September 1966.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42# Na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na... #
0:44:42 > 0:44:46Now, Good Vibrations is basically an edit record.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50It is a song that could only be made possible by...magnetic tape.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52And if you listen really closely,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55you can hear those edits going through.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02# I hear the sound of a gentle word
0:45:02 > 0:45:07# On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air... #
0:45:07 > 0:45:09INSTRUMENTATION CHANGES
0:45:09 > 0:45:12# I'm picking up good vibrations... #
0:45:12 > 0:45:14And at 1 minute 42 seconds, there is another edit
0:45:14 > 0:45:17to get us into this extraordinary middle eight section,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21where you are hearing tack piano, jaws harp -
0:45:21 > 0:45:23boing-boing-boing sound -
0:45:23 > 0:45:27flute and very low-register Electro-Theremin.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30I mean, it is growling away down the bottom.
0:45:30 > 0:45:31I love this section.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34This feels like the beginnings of psychedelia.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39# Excit...ations... #
0:45:39 > 0:45:42SONG CONTINUES
0:45:45 > 0:45:46Tell me about the theremin.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Carl said, "Why don't we put a theremin on this?"
0:45:49 > 0:45:51And I went, "Theremin?! Why a theremin?"
0:45:51 > 0:45:53He goes, "Maybe it'll sound eerie."
0:45:53 > 0:45:58And so I came up with the "whoo-ooh!" And I did it for the theremin player.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01# ..elation... #
0:46:05 > 0:46:07You used a cello in Good Vibrations to give that...
0:46:07 > 0:46:10NEIL MAKES A CHUGGING RHYTHM Yeah.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Did you know in your head that was that sound that you wanted?
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Not until he played. As soon as he played, I said,
0:46:16 > 0:46:18"Try doodle-ooh-doodle-ooh-do."
0:46:18 > 0:46:20And he goes, "What?"
0:46:20 > 0:46:24I said... He goes, "I usually play symphonies, you know."
0:46:24 > 0:46:26I said, "No, this is rock and roll.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30"We're going to try to make a symphonic rock and roll record."
0:46:30 > 0:46:31# ..good vibrations... #
0:46:33 > 0:46:37And now at 2 minutes 56, another edit, another new section.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Stripped down chorus with the cello overdubbed,
0:46:39 > 0:46:41but now the cello has come up an octave.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It is cutting through much, much more.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46- THE CELLO PLUCKS - # Ahhh
0:46:47 > 0:46:51- # Good, good, good, good vibrations - Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations
0:46:51 > 0:46:54- # She's giving me excitations - Oom, bop, bop, excitations
0:46:54 > 0:46:58- # Good, good, good, good vibrations - Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations... #
0:46:58 > 0:47:01CELLO PLAYS IN STACCATO
0:47:02 > 0:47:05# Na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na... #
0:47:05 > 0:47:08And then quite a short but very elaborate fade-out,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11where we've got the cello again and that ethereal sound
0:47:11 > 0:47:14of the Electro-Theremin taking us out of the number.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17# Do, do, do, do, do Do, do, do... #
0:47:17 > 0:47:20STACCATO CELLO, THEREMIN WARBLES
0:47:22 > 0:47:25SONG FADES
0:47:26 > 0:47:29I knew that we'd probably never top Good Vibrations, you know.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33We all agreed that probably that's the best we could do.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40Good vibrations is a watershed in the history of the popular song.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44It cost 50,000 to make - a fortune then.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47It took 90 hours to record in four different studios.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51It was easily the most expensive pop single at the time.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54But it's not about the money Brian Wilson spent
0:47:54 > 0:47:57or even the time that he took.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00It is his method that is ground-breaking.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05Wilson showed that a song could be made of tiny fragments
0:48:05 > 0:48:06of tunes or vocals,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08that he could re-record sections,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10that he could add bridges where he wanted to,
0:48:10 > 0:48:15but that the whole thing would pull together in that final mix.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18- # Excitations - Excitations... #
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Wilson was in the vanguard of a new experimental epoch,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23which would peak in the late '60s.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28And enabling this was magnetic tape...
0:48:29 > 0:48:32..pulled from the ruins of a radio station near Frankfurt
0:48:32 > 0:48:33decades earlier.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36# Do, do, do, do, do Do, do, do
0:48:36 > 0:48:37# Do, do, do, do, do... #
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Now, across the Atlantic, a band, who themselves
0:48:40 > 0:48:43had first learnt their rock and roll while in Germany,
0:48:43 > 0:48:48heard what Wilson was doing - and wanted to take things further.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51MUSIC: Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles
0:48:53 > 0:48:59By the end of 1966, The Beatles were the most famous band in the world.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03They had conquered America and had been influenced by Brian Wilson.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05# It is not dying... #
0:49:05 > 0:49:07But unlike the mercurial Beach Boy,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11The Beatles were rooted to just one recording base -
0:49:11 > 0:49:16the historic EMI Studios, better known simply as Abbey Road.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22And I've come to test out some of the techniques
0:49:22 > 0:49:25that the band pioneered here.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31The Beatles really started experimenting with tape machines
0:49:31 > 0:49:36around the time they were recording their 1966 album, Revolver.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39They recorded strange sounds and ambient noises
0:49:39 > 0:49:45and dubbed these tape loops onto the psychedelic Tomorrow Never Knows.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49This song, more than any other Beatles number,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53was a signpost to the direction the band was heading in.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56PSYCHEDELIC LOOPING
0:50:03 > 0:50:06And The Beatles were among the first bands really to exploit
0:50:06 > 0:50:10the possibilities of a relatively new medium -
0:50:10 > 0:50:15the long-player, or 33rpm album, which would be the perfect vehicle
0:50:15 > 0:50:17to demonstrate the full range of their talents.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23After Revolver, The Beatles would begin testing out
0:50:23 > 0:50:28songs in the studio that they could never reproduce live.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Which was convenient,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33because they had decided to quit touring altogether.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38# It is believing... #
0:50:38 > 0:50:41And it was their long-time producer, George Martin,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44who had recorded all their songs so far,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47who would oversee their experiments with magnetic tape.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50# ..colour of your dreams... #
0:50:51 > 0:50:53You can cut, you can edit.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Obviously you can slow down or speed up your tape.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59You can put in backwards stuff, you can put in electronic sounds
0:50:59 > 0:51:01which you couldn't possibly reproduce live.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03You can use combinations of instruments
0:51:03 > 0:51:05which are completely unbalanced,
0:51:05 > 0:51:06but you can make them balanced.
0:51:06 > 0:51:07You can put a...
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Well, you can put a very soft flute against a huge brass chord
0:51:10 > 0:51:11and still make it sound loud.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13Then cut up the tape, pretty well threw it up in the air
0:51:13 > 0:51:15until it settled down on the ground
0:51:15 > 0:51:17and join them all up together.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19So it just became like... Like a...
0:51:19 > 0:51:21A patchwork quilt.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23This is the kind of thing you can do on recording,
0:51:23 > 0:51:25which you obviously couldn't possibly do live,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27because it is, in fact, making up music as you go along.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34In December 1966, Martin and The Beatles met at Abbey Road
0:51:34 > 0:51:38to begin working on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
0:51:38 > 0:51:41a record which would become celebrated
0:51:41 > 0:51:43as the first concept album.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46MUSIC: A Day In The Life by The Beatles
0:51:46 > 0:51:49George Martin was The Beatles' creative partner in crime
0:51:49 > 0:51:53and he introduced them to this idea that he called the wind-up piano.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55That's nothing to do with this instrument
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and everything to do with magnetic tape
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and the speed it records and the speed it plays back.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03Take, for instance, George Martin's solo on Lovely Rita
0:52:03 > 0:52:06on the Sgt. Pepper album.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09What he did was actually set the tape slower,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12record it slower and then played it back at a slightly higher speed
0:52:12 > 0:52:16that he knew would make the piano fit with the track.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20So here's, roughly, what he originally recorded.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23HE PLAYS Lovely Rita
0:52:34 > 0:52:37And while I was reproducing this solo, originally played
0:52:37 > 0:52:42by George Martin himself, engineer John Barrett was recording me.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45PIANO SOLO REPLAYS ON TAPE
0:52:47 > 0:52:48And now, if we play it back
0:52:48 > 0:52:52- at the normal speed for this tape machine...- Right.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56- ..but then that's faster than we recorded it.- Mm-hm, right.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00PIANO SOLO REPLAYS AT FASTER TEMPO
0:53:09 > 0:53:12- Wow. I'm good. - NEIL SNIGGERS
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Why do that? I mean, it is a great sound and all the rest of it.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17Why did Martin do that?
0:53:17 > 0:53:23It is far easier to play stuff slower more accurately and so,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26the sort of ornamentation and the articulation of the notes,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28- you can be more precise.- Mm-hm.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31But it is more that the tonal quality becomes brighter and edgier.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34There's something almost music-boxy about it, isn't there?
0:53:34 > 0:53:36- Yeah, definitely. - I mean, across that track.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Can we hear that laid across what they did?
0:53:40 > 0:53:43PIANO LOOP PLAYS OVER Lovely Rita
0:53:54 > 0:53:56# Took her out and tried to win her... #
0:53:56 > 0:54:00This was just one example of how The Beatles played with tape speeds,
0:54:00 > 0:54:02slowing instruments down, speeding them up
0:54:02 > 0:54:05and even recording guitar solos backwards!
0:54:05 > 0:54:07# Took her home, I nearly made it
0:54:07 > 0:54:10# Sitting on a sofa with a sister or two... #
0:54:10 > 0:54:12Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have been possible without this
0:54:12 > 0:54:15manipulation of magnetic tape,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19and the overall sound was a wonderful, unpredictable collage
0:54:19 > 0:54:22of voices and instruments, lyrics and music.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25# Lovely Rita, meter maid... #
0:54:25 > 0:54:29And for one track, which was recorded on these sessions
0:54:29 > 0:54:30but released later,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33they didn't simply adjust individual instruments,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35but the entire song.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37# Lovely Rita, meter maid... #
0:54:37 > 0:54:42There's a famous edit in Strawberry Fields,
0:54:42 > 0:54:47where there are two different takes of Strawberry Fields
0:54:47 > 0:54:49and they're sort of put together.
0:54:49 > 0:54:50- Yeah.- Is that unusual?
0:54:50 > 0:54:52Oh...
0:54:52 > 0:54:56There was something looking over that particular song
0:54:56 > 0:55:00because it was different tempos, different keys.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05The likelihood of being able to change the speeds to bring them...
0:55:05 > 0:55:09To put them both in the same tempo and in the same key,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12almost impossible to set up in advance.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15So there were two different versions of the same song?
0:55:15 > 0:55:16Completely different, yeah.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18What did they have to do to bring those together?
0:55:18 > 0:55:22My understanding is that they sped one up, slowed one down
0:55:22 > 0:55:26and they just all happened to work.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29# It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out
0:55:29 > 0:55:32# It doesn't matter much... #
0:55:32 > 0:55:35We can just about hear the edit between the two versions here.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39# Let me take you down cos I'm going... #
0:55:39 > 0:55:43- SUBTLE TEMPO/KEY CHANGE - # To Strawberry Fields... #
0:55:46 > 0:55:49I love this song for its dreamlike quality.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Everybody who heard that track knew what it felt like to be stoned.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57# Strawberry Fields forever
0:56:00 > 0:56:06# No-one I think is in my tree
0:56:06 > 0:56:10# I mean, it must be high or low... #
0:56:10 > 0:56:12After dabbling with this psychedelic sound,
0:56:12 > 0:56:17the band wanted to get back to their rock and roll roots.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19# That is, I think it's not too... #
0:56:19 > 0:56:22MUSIC: Revolution by The Beatles
0:56:32 > 0:56:37What was different was on Revolution, the single version.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40It was all recorded straight into the board. They didn't use any amps.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43When they were recording, I walked into the control room
0:56:43 > 0:56:46and it was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49There was Ringo out in the studio, but all three of them
0:56:49 > 0:56:53were sitting around the board with their guitars, playing.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55And it sounded amazing.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57It was plugging straight in,
0:56:57 > 0:57:01just completely overloading the mic amps on the board.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05MUSIC: Revolution by The Beatles
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Paul wanted to make the loudest recording ever
0:57:10 > 0:57:12and that was just crank every amp.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15It would have been perfect for the amp in Spinal Tap, where,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18"Oh, it goes up to 11." NEIL LAUGHS
0:57:18 > 0:57:20He would have loved that for that session.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27# You tell me that it's evolution
0:57:27 > 0:57:29# Well, you know... #
0:57:29 > 0:57:31The recordings made by The Beatles at Abbey Road
0:57:31 > 0:57:36are the culmination of two decades of technological revolution.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39One which sparked the emergence of the music studio
0:57:39 > 0:57:41as a compositional tool,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44the producer as a creative force
0:57:44 > 0:57:47and the musician as a new kind of artist,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51sculpting and reimagining the sound of their songs.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55And all this was kick-started by the discovery of magnetic tape
0:57:55 > 0:57:58in the dying days of World War II.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04Next time, songs enter a new electronic era...
0:58:05 > 0:58:07..using synthesisers...
0:58:09 > 0:58:10..disco beats...
0:58:10 > 0:58:12# I never can say goodbye... #
0:58:12 > 0:58:15..and even digital voices...
0:58:15 > 0:58:17# ..Believe in life after love? #
0:58:17 > 0:58:20But again, rootsy rock and roll fights back.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
0:58:39 > 0:58:40# A denial!
0:58:40 > 0:58:42# A denial!
0:58:42 > 0:58:48# A denial! #