Reeling and Rocking Sound of Song


Reeling and Rocking

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APPLAUSE

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MUSIC: A Day In The Life by The Beatles

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A Day In The Life - a song with two distinct and different parts -

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by the greatest songwriting partnership of the 20th century.

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First of all, John Lennon.

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# I read the news today, oh boy. #

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Then Paul McCartney.

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# I woke up, fell out of bed

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# Dragged a comb across my head. #

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Yet these wonderful chords and inventive lyrics are only

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part of the story of the sound of this extraordinary song.

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A Day In The Life was the culmination

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of a technological revolution,

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which rocked the world of recorded music.

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Rock and roll, popular music of the '50s and '60s,

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peaking with The Beatles,

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simply wouldn't have been possible without...

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..the emergence of the music studio as a compositional tool...

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..the rise of the producer as a creative force...

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..and, most of all, the miraculous story of magnetic tape.

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You can cut, you can edit.

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Obviously you can slow down or speed up your tape,

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you can put in backwards stuff, you can put in electronic sounds

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which you couldn't possibly reproduce live.

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MUSIC: That's All Right

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In this episode, I'm going to visit the studios that

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produced these sounds and test out the original recording techniques.

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From primitive, raw rock and roll...

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# That's all right... #

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..to multi-layered symphonies, in highly produced pop...

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# I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still

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# Da-do ron-ron-ron, da-do ron-ron. #

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One minute I was in the studio and I'm looking at all these

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musicians, so many people that were playing so many instruments.

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I'm sitting there and I'm saying, "What the heck is going on?"

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And the intricate editing

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which gave us the first psychedelic record.

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# I'm picking up good vibrations

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# She's giving me the excitations... #

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I didn't really have a vision. I took it one bar at a time, you know?

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# I'm picking up... #

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And then...

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# Good vibrations. #

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It was all done in pieces. It wasn't envisioned as one whole piece.

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# Good, good, good, good vibrations

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# Close my eyes She's somehow closer now... #

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RADIO CRACKLES

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CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

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In 1944, US Major Jack T Mullin was part of the Allied Forces

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preparing for the liberation of Europe.

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Mullin was an amateur film-maker

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and electronics enthusiast from California.

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And he liked to listen to the radio late at night.

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RADIO CRACKLES

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After the BBC shut down at midnight,

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Mullin found he could tune into German radio, where,

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night after night, he listened to the cool, crisp,

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clear tones of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

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The sound was so good, he was convinced they must be playing live.

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RADIO SIGNAL TUNES IN

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Mullin knew that broadcasts on American and British radio were

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interrupted by pops and crackles,

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the unmistakable sound of a recorded production at this time.

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CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

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Was Hitler really commanding the orchestra to play

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graveyard-shift renditions of Beethoven and Bach

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far into the night?

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Mullin promised himself that when he got to Germany,

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he'd find out what was going on.

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When his unit arrived at an abandoned radio station

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at Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt, Mullin was convinced

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he had discovered the answer.

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There he was handed more than 50 reels of magnetic tape

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and two large tape recorders.

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These machines, the size of suitcases,

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were called magnetophones.

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And it was they that had broadcast the crystal-clear recordings

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Mullin had been listening to.

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After the war ended, Mullin took these machines and tapes, originally

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manufactured by German firms AEG and BASF, back to California.

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Post-war Hollywood was enjoying a golden era, producing classic hits

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like Hitchcock's Notorious and Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.

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# On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe... #

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And Mullin's aim was to persuade the studios to use magnetic tape

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for recording movie soundtracks.

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Mullin gave demonstrations to all the Hollywood studios and producers.

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And in 1947 he was introduced to the legendary Bing Crosby.

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Crosby had been at the top of the business for 20 years.

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He presented a hugely successful radio show

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but hated having to present it live -

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he'd much rather be on the golf course, with chums like Bob Hope.

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# Like my mother sang to me... #

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He'd been lobbying the radio stations for years to let him

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prerecord his shows and they had always refused

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because the recording quality simply wasn't good enough.

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So when he heard what Mullin had to offer with magnetic tape,

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he jumped at it.

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But if Crosby was serious,

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he would have to back Mullin with some hard cash.

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Mullin had been working with Californian electronics company,

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Ampex, to develop his ideas.

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But they were running low on funds and needed an investor.

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# ..Tune that is choppy You'll get all my applause... #

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Crosby put his money where his mouth was.

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He handed over a 50,000 personal cheque

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so that Ampex could begin production on a magnetic tape machine

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to be sold to film, TV and radio companies.

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And Crosby was one of the first to get an Ampex tape machine.

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He also signed up Jack Mullin as his studio engineer.

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BING CROSBY: 'Everybody knows and loves The Andrews Sisters...'

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Crosby began recording his radio show onto magnetic tape in 1948.

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'I was just thinking, Ken.

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'It seems like only yesterday I was playing with a little

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'band like that. We were called the Spokane Musical Dogs.'

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Crosby could now record three shows in a day,

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which left the old crooner plenty of time to go to the golf course.

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Word quickly spread and pretty soon Ampex tape recorders were being

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ordered up by all the main studios and broadcasters in Hollywood.

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# ..And gentle people... #

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MUSIC: Dust My Blues by Elmore James

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Although the Ampex tape machine had at first arrived in Hollywood,

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its impact would be felt strongest in the emerging pop music scene.

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A restless industry,

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which was always looking for the latest innovation.

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Born in Germany and refined in California, this piece of kit would,

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in the right hands, revolutionise the sound of song.

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# I'm gonna get up in the morning

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# I believe I'll dust... #

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It was in 1951 that one of these machines

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found its way into the hands of a young producer in Tennessee.

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Sam Phillips was the owner of Sun Studio,

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a small recording station in downtown Memphis.

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# I don't want no woman... #

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Phillips had been producing local R&B,

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gospel and country performers on old transcription discs,

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but he was frustrated at the poor quality of the recordings.

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The work done by Sam Phillips in this studio would mark

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a turning point in the sound of the popular song.

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Indeed, this would turn out to be one of the first temples of sound.

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A small studio in downtown Memphis,

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a visionary producer armed with a magnetic tape recorder.

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This combination would help to create the first bona fide sounds

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of rock and roll.

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ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC

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Phillips began assembling an impressive array of local talent.

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He recorded Chester Arthur Burnett,

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better known as bluesman Howlin' Wolf.

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# Ah-oh, smokestack lightnin'... #

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Phillips also scored a minor hit with Rocket 88,

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an up-tempo R&B song featuring a young Ike Turner.

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MUSIC: Rocket 88

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Sam Phillips' producing ethos was very simple.

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He wanted to capture that authentic, raw sound that he heard

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performers playing in and around the bars and clubs in Memphis.

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So he told his artists to play live and loud,

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stuck them all in one small recording room

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and said not to worry too much about making mistakes.

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Which is just as well, as I'm going to play here.

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THEY PLAY A MELODY

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Yeah.

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'Sun Studio still uses magnetic tape and engineer Matt Ross Spang

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'has agreed to record me playing with legendary session musicians.

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'Bassist Dave Roe...'

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HE PLAYS TUNE

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'..and drummer JM Van Eaton.'

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-OK.

-Are you ready?

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'And Matt will produce this session in the same way Phillips did.'

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'The song we're going to play is a number by a young singer

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'who walked into this studio one day

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'and persuaded Sam Phillips to record him.'

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THEY CHAT AND LAUGH

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Let's try it.

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'On 5th July, 1954, Phillips oversaw one Elvis Presley perform

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'That's All Right, Mama.'

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All right, we are rolling.

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MUSIC: That's All Right, Mama

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# Well, that's all right, Mama

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# That's all right for you

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# That's all right, Mama

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# Any way you do

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# Well, that's all right That's all right

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# That's all right now, Mama

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# Any way you do

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# Well, Mama she done told me... #

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'And while we are playing, Matt is replicating a technique

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'Philips pioneered - adding a fuller, fatter sound to the vocals -

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'a device he dubbed slapback echo.'

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# That's all right now, Mama

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# Any way you do... #

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Matt, first of all, can you take us through the desk here?

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What were you doing while we were playing in there?

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Trying not to screw it up.

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Yeah, right(!)

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I tried to recreate what Sam had.

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While you guys were cutting an album,

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I'm in here dialling the faders as you are doing it live.

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It goes to an Ampex 350 tape machine over here. It's all mono.

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It's all cut live, right as you did it.

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And then the lead vocal.

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And there, you were doing something pretty special with that.

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That was Sam's kind of thing. Slapback echo. I love it, personally.

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You can't work here if you don't like slapback echo.

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You can't record here either if you don't want me to do it.

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Phillips found that he could

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produce an echo effect by manipulating the tape recorder.

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# Well, that's all right, Mama

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# That's all right for you

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# That's all right, Mama... #

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First he recorded the lead vocal, and then he looped a duplicate

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of this vocal back onto the machine, just a split second behind.

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By doing this, he produced an echo effect on the voice.

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# Mama she done told me

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# My daddy done told me too

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# "Son, that gal you're foolin' with

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# "She ain't no good for you"

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# Well, that's all right

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# That's all right

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# That's all right now, Mama

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# Any way you do... #

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What do you think it was that Sam found with that echo,

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with the fast echo, with fast music?

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When you go listen to a band live, you don't hear them

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right in front of an acoustic guitar.

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You hear them either blasting really loud, right, or you hear them

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echoing, like if you are outside or whatever,

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you always hear it a little bit, there's a little bit of fantasy.

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I say fantasy but there's a little bit of an otherworldly

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kind of thing to it.

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He wanted to get that unique sound with this new rock and roll thing.

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And that really gave it this thing that no-one else had.

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It goes to show you how much of a genius Sam was.

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I think a lot of people think he was this lucky hillbilly that

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just stumbled on a little space and got lucky with all these guys.

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But he really was a genius with electronics, in sound

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and pulling a performance out of somebody.

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# I need your love, baby

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# That's all right

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# That's all right now, Mama

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# Any way you do... #

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Whoo!

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# That's all right now, Mama

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# Any way you do. #

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THEY LAUGH

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This song would sell 20,000 copies, reach number four in the local

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Memphis charts and provide Sam Phillips with a blueprint

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for future success.

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# That's all right... #

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# Well, it's one for the money

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# Two for the show

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# Three to get ready

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# Now go, cat, go

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# But don't you

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# Step on my blue suede shoes... #

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The mid-1950s were an exciting time for Phillips.

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Through his innovative work with the Ampex tape machine, Sun Studio

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would become a stable for the first wave of rock and roll stars.

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# Do anything that you wanna do

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# But uh-uh, honey, lay off of my shoes... #

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Elvis was soon joined by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins

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and Johnny Cash, who recorded Walk The Line at Sun.

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MUSIC: Walk The Line by Johnny Cash

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Songs like Walk The Line and Blue Suede Shoes

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were released on seven-inch vinyl,

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the 45, a reasonably new development.

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It had been designed a few years earlier by the now-defunct RCA -

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Radio Corporation of America -

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as an alternative to the rather archaic sounding 78.

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It was smaller, more durable, and crucially,

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had much better sound quality to it.

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This would come to be the dominant medium on which everybody

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heard their pop songs.

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# I walk the line... #

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'And this new format, so popular with teenagers,

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'would shape pop music for years to come.'

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The seven-inch single was played at 45 revolutions per minute -

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with an A and a B side.

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But crucially, the vinyl size limited each side

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to three and a half minutes.

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# For the tie that binds

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# Because you're mine

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# I walk the line... #

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The 45 format dictated the length of the pop song.

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Studios, artists and producers all realised

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they had to make their music fit within that very short time.

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So, even as rock and roll was kicking off, this sexy,

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raucous sound had to be confined.

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This is the era of the three-minute pop song.

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# Come on over, baby

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# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

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# Yes, I say, come on over, baby

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# Baby, you can't go wrong... #

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And many teenagers didn't even need to buy a record player.

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In the 1950s, three-quarters of all pop singles were sold to jukeboxes.

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# We got chicken in the barn... #

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And these music machines offered their own acoustics.

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A large bass speaker was located at the bottom of the jukebox.

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And this made the floor vibrate,

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so those gathered around it could really feel the music.

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Studios powered up the bass-ends on their songs,

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knowing it would really cut through with immense power.

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# Shake, make it shake

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# Come on over

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# Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

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# Oh, let's go... #

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And while the Memphis music scene was the creative heartbeat

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of rock and roll...

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ROMANTIC ROCK AND ROLL

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..New York in the '50s was establishing itself as the epicentre

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of the music business - the cosmopolitan hub of an impatient,

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fast-moving industry.

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And much of this industry was housed in two buildings

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in Midtown Manhattan -

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the Brill Building and Aldon Music -

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located just a few blocks from the historic Tin Pan Alley,

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the traditional heart of music publishing.

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But songwriting was changing and a new generation were being

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influenced by the magnetic tape revolution.

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Chief among them were songwriters Mike Stoller

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and Jerry Leiber, who were not content to just write the songs,

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they wanted to direct the recording of them,

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which they began doing with singer Big Mama Thornton.

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She didn't seem too excited about meeting two white teenagers.

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NEIL LAUGHS

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But we heard her sing and she knocked us out.

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Went back to my house and wrote Hound Dog in about 12, 15 minutes.

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We recorded it, as I recall, the following day.

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Jerry and I both wanted her to growl.

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And we were reluctant...

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HE LAUGHS

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It was like, "You tell her." THEY LAUGH

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Because she was rather formidable, you know?

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It was like, "Don't be telling me how to sing the song, white boy."

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But right away, on the first take, she was growling.

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# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

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# Been snooping round my door

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# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

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# Been snooping round my door... #

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Conceived as a raw blues track, there was

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some debate before they settled on the final, now famous, lyrics.

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Jerry wasn't fully happy with "hound dog".

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He wanted something much stronger.

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He wanted mother...

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And I said, "I don't think they'll play that,

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"but I think hound dog is cool."

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He said, "Do you think so?" I said, "Yeah."

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# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

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# Been snooping round my door... #

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Hound Dog was a hit for Big Mama and the boys.

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# You're just an old hound dog... #

0:20:370:20:40

But it was the version recorded by Elvis four years later

0:20:400:20:44

that brought them to the attention of recording giant Atlantic.

0:20:440:20:47

# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

0:20:490:20:51

# Cryin' all the time... #

0:20:510:20:54

They offered Leiber and Stoller a unique deal

0:20:540:20:57

to write and produce their own records.

0:20:570:21:00

# You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no... #

0:21:000:21:03

Why did you want to be producers as well as songwriters?

0:21:030:21:07

To protect the way we imagined the songs should sound,

0:21:070:21:11

which were frequently more than just a melody line

0:21:110:21:19

and a lyric line.

0:21:190:21:21

We had given songs to other people and they would then produce them.

0:21:210:21:27

It wasn't what we had in mind at all.

0:21:270:21:30

So we wanted to make sure it was done the way we wanted them done.

0:21:300:21:36

MUSIC: Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley

0:21:360:21:38

They were also able to take advantage of the latest

0:21:380:21:41

development in magnetic tape technology.

0:21:410:21:43

# The warden threw a party in the county jail... #

0:21:430:21:46

Atlantic were one of the first studios to start working

0:21:460:21:49

with multi-track tape recorders.

0:21:490:21:52

This meant numerous separate recordings could be

0:21:520:21:56

laid down onto the same song.

0:21:560:21:58

Now, for the first time, extra instrumentation, vocals and

0:21:590:22:04

even an orchestra could be recorded separately and added to songs.

0:22:040:22:08

# Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone... #

0:22:080:22:11

MUSIC: There Goes My Baby by The Drifters

0:22:110:22:13

Leiber and Stoller tested out this approach on a record

0:22:130:22:16

they made with The Drifters, a doo-wop group,

0:22:160:22:19

led by Ben E King.

0:22:190:22:22

-# Bo-bo

-Doo-doot-doo-doo

0:22:220:22:24

-# Bo-bo

-Doo-doot-doo-doo

0:22:240:22:26

# There goes my baby

0:22:260:22:30

# Movin' on down the line... #

0:22:300:22:33

There Goes My Baby begins like your average doo-wop number.

0:22:330:22:37

In fact, it actually does begin with...

0:22:370:22:39

# Do-do-do-do-do. #

0:22:390:22:42

And that... # Bum-bum-bum-ba-do-ba-do. #

0:22:420:22:46

So far, so what we already know.

0:22:460:22:49

But just before the main vocal comes in, the great Ben E King,

0:22:490:22:53

we hear, of all things, strings.

0:22:530:22:55

HE PLAYS There Goes My Baby

0:22:550:22:58

We haven't heard that before with this sort of number.

0:23:010:23:04

And it adds such a dramatic extra to it.

0:23:040:23:07

But also, there is something else going on down the bottom end.

0:23:070:23:10

-That rhythm...

-HE PLAYS RHYTHM

0:23:100:23:13

It's quite insistent.

0:23:130:23:14

And that's because there is more than just a drum kit there.

0:23:140:23:17

There is a timpani playing that beat. Bum-ba-dum. Bum-ba-dum.

0:23:170:23:22

# I wonder why she left me

0:23:220:23:25

# Why did she leave me? #

0:23:250:23:28

It's a massive production for its time.

0:23:280:23:31

And here we can hear Stoller the songwriter

0:23:310:23:34

becoming Stoller the producer.

0:23:340:23:36

What's wonderful about it is that it points the way to the future.

0:23:360:23:40

This is where the sound of song is going to go.

0:23:400:23:44

There Goes My Baby was the first R&B track to feature strings

0:23:440:23:48

and it became a smash hit in the summer of 1959.

0:23:480:23:52

# Where is my... #

0:23:520:23:54

We conceived the records not just as a song but as an overall sound.

0:23:540:23:59

An overall production, if you will.

0:23:590:24:03

Emboldened by this, Leiber and Stoller returned to the

0:24:030:24:06

studio with the orchestra in an attempt to reproduce their success.

0:24:060:24:12

We went an hour over and Atlantic was furious. This big orchestra.

0:24:130:24:20

A lot of money.

0:24:200:24:22

But ultimately, I guess they figured it worked out

0:24:220:24:26

because two of the sides...

0:24:260:24:28

One of the sides was Spanish Harlem.

0:24:280:24:31

And one of the sides was Stand By Me.

0:24:310:24:33

LAUGHTER

0:24:330:24:36

# When the night has come

0:24:370:24:40

# And the land is dark

0:24:420:24:45

# And the moon is the only light we'll see

0:24:450:24:50

# No, I won't be afraid... #

0:24:530:24:54

Leiber and Stoller had created a template for pop songs

0:24:540:24:58

which exploited the possibilities of multi-track recording

0:24:580:25:01

to produce richer, more complex-sounding records.

0:25:010:25:05

# Stand by me

0:25:050:25:07

# So, darlin', darlin'

0:25:070:25:10

# Stand by me... #

0:25:100:25:11

And into the 1960s, a young protege of theirs

0:25:110:25:14

would build on this approach and produce a new,

0:25:140:25:17

distinctive sound, which created some of the biggest hits of the era.

0:25:170:25:22

# Stand by me. #

0:25:220:25:24

MUSIC: Then He Kissed Me

0:25:240:25:26

# Well, he walked up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance

0:25:340:25:39

# He looked kinda nice and so I said I might take a chance

0:25:410:25:46

# When he danced he held me tight

0:25:480:25:52

# And when he walked me home that night

0:25:520:25:55

# All the stars were shining bright

0:25:550:25:58

# And then he kissed me... #

0:25:580:26:00

Today, Phil Spector is a controversial figure,

0:26:020:26:05

to say the least.

0:26:050:26:07

But back then, he was hailed as a genius.

0:26:070:26:10

He had begun experimenting with his signature sound production when he

0:26:100:26:14

recorded The Crystals, an all-girl group, fronted by La La Brooks.

0:26:140:26:19

# So I whispered, "I love you"... #

0:26:190:26:22

He was hard on us. Especially me, as an artist, doing the vocals.

0:26:220:26:27

But he knew exactly what he was doing.

0:26:270:26:30

Sometimes when I couldn't feel it,

0:26:300:26:32

I didn't understand what he wanted and he would turn out all the lights.

0:26:320:26:36

It would be crazy.

0:26:360:26:37

And he just would have the stand with the music or lyrics

0:26:370:26:41

and he would put a little light over the stand,

0:26:410:26:44

so I could read the lyrics, but he wanted me to think.

0:26:440:26:47

# I knew that he was mine so I give him all the love that I had... #

0:26:470:26:53

La La's powerful voice was only one element of Spector's production.

0:26:530:26:59

He surrounded the young singer with the Wrecking Crew.

0:27:000:27:03

Hand-picked by Spector himself,

0:27:030:27:06

they were the most talented session musicians in the business.

0:27:060:27:09

# I almost cried

0:27:090:27:11

# And then he kissed me... #

0:27:110:27:12

Phil Spector is an entity all by himself.

0:27:120:27:16

Everyone wanted to know what the magic fairy dust was

0:27:160:27:21

that he sprinkled

0:27:210:27:23

because everything we did with Phil became number one almost overnight.

0:27:230:27:29

Spector was the first to record multiple instruments simultaneously,

0:27:300:27:35

sculpting what would become known as his Wall of Sound.

0:27:350:27:39

He did things that were unheard of.

0:27:420:27:44

Rhythm section - piano, bass, drums, guitar.

0:27:440:27:48

Phil Spector had three, four basses sometimes.

0:27:490:27:54

Three, four pianos.

0:27:550:27:58

Sometimes as many as seven guitars.

0:27:580:28:01

-All playing at the same time?

-All together.

0:28:010:28:04

-Wow.

-That's what he called his Wall of Sound.

0:28:040:28:08

Through this approach, Spector was able to take a song

0:28:080:28:11

with a nonsensical lyric...

0:28:110:28:13

# I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still

0:28:130:28:17

# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

0:28:170:28:20

# Somebody told me... #

0:28:200:28:21

He then transformed it into a barrage of melodic power -

0:28:210:28:25

a huge, soulful teenage symphony.

0:28:250:28:29

# I knew what he was doing when he caught my eye

0:28:290:28:32

# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

0:28:320:28:35

# He looked so quiet but my, oh, my

0:28:350:28:38

# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

0:28:380:28:41

# Yeah, he caught my eye

0:28:410:28:45

# Yes, oh my, oh my

0:28:450:28:48

# And when he walked me home

0:28:480:28:51

# Da-do ron-ron-ron, da-do ron-ron... #

0:28:510:28:56

One minute I was in the studio and I'm looking at all these musicians.

0:28:560:29:01

And I'm sitting there saying, "What the heck is going on?" You know?

0:29:010:29:05

This is what was going on...

0:29:060:29:09

HE PLAYS Da Doo Ron Ron

0:29:090:29:11

To build his Wall of Sound,

0:29:110:29:13

Spector didn't just turn up the volume, he recorded multiple

0:29:130:29:17

instruments playing slight variations of the same song.

0:29:170:29:21

Just like this...

0:29:210:29:23

HE PLAYS Da Doo Ron Ron

0:29:230:29:26

And Spector knew that in the 1960s, many people

0:29:310:29:34

listened to music on transistor radios, which emitted a tinny sound.

0:29:340:29:40

So he would test out his songs on small speakers in the studio,

0:29:400:29:44

to check they would really punch through.

0:29:440:29:46

When you first heard the Wall of Sound, did you have

0:29:490:29:51

a kind of emotional reaction to hearing that for the first time?

0:29:510:29:55

I think I did.

0:29:550:29:57

If you really look at Phil's sound on some of the songs,

0:29:570:30:00

it may sound crazy, but you can cry

0:30:000:30:03

because there is something inside of you that hears

0:30:030:30:06

those strings on Then He Kissed Me and Be My Baby, you know?

0:30:060:30:12

It's a feeling that those instruments make you sensitive

0:30:120:30:17

because they are so beautiful.

0:30:170:30:19

# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

0:30:190:30:22

-# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

-Yeah, yeah

0:30:220:30:25

-# Da-doo ron-ron-ron, da-doo ron-ron

-Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

0:30:250:30:30

This precocious young pop producer even gave us

0:30:300:30:33

a new soundtrack for Christmas.

0:30:330:30:36

MUSIC: Winter Wonderland by Darlene Love

0:30:360:30:39

He recorded traditional festive songs, spliced with sound effects

0:30:390:30:44

of sleigh bells, and produced in his Wall of Sound.

0:30:440:30:48

# Sleigh bells ring Are you listenin'?

0:30:480:30:51

# In the lane, snow is glistenin'

0:30:510:30:55

# A beautiful sight We're happy tonight

0:30:550:30:59

# Walkin' in a winter wonderland... #

0:30:590:31:01

Doing the Christmas album with Phil Spector was probably

0:31:010:31:04

some of the greatest time I had with Phil.

0:31:040:31:07

Because of him saying that he was getting ready to do

0:31:070:31:10

a rock and roll Christmas album.

0:31:100:31:13

"That's sacred! You can't do a rock and roll Christmas album."

0:31:130:31:16

He was the first.

0:31:160:31:18

That was the one time he asked me what Christmas songs I liked.

0:31:180:31:23

And I got to choose the songs that I wanted to sing.

0:31:230:31:27

And that whole Christmas thing is still so much part of Christmas now.

0:31:290:31:33

It is. It really is.

0:31:330:31:34

It's amazing because you'll be going down the street to the grocery

0:31:340:31:37

store and you will hear it. You will be in the bank and you'll hear it.

0:31:370:31:40

And you want to say, "Hey, hold on a minute! That's me! Stop!"

0:31:400:31:45

But singers like Darlene Love always played second fiddle

0:31:460:31:50

to the overall sound of the production itself.

0:31:500:31:54

They could be replaced - Spector was ruthless.

0:31:540:31:57

I went in and I did He's A Rebel for the group The Crystals.

0:31:590:32:03

I knew it was going to be theirs because he paid me and The Blossoms

0:32:030:32:07

as backup singers. This time I just did the lead on the song.

0:32:070:32:12

I didn't know it was going to be a number one record, number one.

0:32:120:32:16

LAUGHING: Because I probably wouldn't have done it!

0:32:160:32:19

Unless it would have been my record.

0:32:190:32:21

# He's a rebel and he'll never be any good

0:32:210:32:26

# He's a rebel cos he never ever does what he should

0:32:260:32:29

# Just because he... #

0:32:290:32:31

And then I did He's Sure The Boy I Love,

0:32:310:32:33

which was supposed to be MY record, a Darlene Love record,

0:32:330:32:37

and that's when he switched on me and put it out under their name.

0:32:370:32:41

-That's when we started fighting.

-Yeah.

0:32:410:32:43

Guess what? He did everybody.

0:32:430:32:46

All the way to the lawyers, managers, everybody.

0:32:460:32:50

With a series of number one hits, Spector's multi-layered

0:32:560:33:00

Wall of Sound dominated the charts and he was on a creative roll.

0:33:000:33:05

In the summer of 1964, he began working with songwriters

0:33:080:33:12

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil on a new number that I think is

0:33:120:33:16

the very pinnacle of his producing powers

0:33:160:33:19

and encapsulates what made him such an inspired force in the studio.

0:33:190:33:24

Tell me about writing You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

0:33:280:33:31

because there is a big story there, isn't there?

0:33:310:33:34

Yes, he said he had signed a new group of two guys from Orange County

0:33:340:33:39

who sounded like Sam and Dave,

0:33:390:33:42

and that he wanted to write with us for them.

0:33:420:33:45

The next day, we went into play it for Bobby and Bill.

0:33:450:33:50

-It never dawned on us that they might not like it.

-Right.

0:33:500:33:54

They were used to singing everything together. And on this song

0:33:540:33:58

-Bill sang the verses and then Bobby came in...

-On the chorus.

0:33:580:34:01

And he was not happy about not being in from the beginning.

0:34:010:34:07

He said to Phil, "What should I do while the big guy is singing?"

0:34:070:34:10

You know, sarcastically.

0:34:100:34:11

And Phil said, "You can go to the bank."

0:34:110:34:14

# You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips

0:34:140:34:21

# And there's no tenderness, like before, in your fingertips... #

0:34:240:34:32

Phil played it over the phone...

0:34:320:34:34

He played you the final master over the phone?

0:34:340:34:36

-Yes.

-Over the phone.

0:34:360:34:37

But he lowered the key because, again, it's very rangy.

0:34:370:34:40

Bill Medley has a very low voice.

0:34:400:34:42

-DEEP VOICE:

-# You never close your eyes. #

0:34:420:34:45

So when he played it over the phone, I started screaming, "Phil,

0:34:450:34:48

"you've got it on the wrong speed!" And it really sounded that way.

0:34:480:34:53

# Baby, I know it

0:34:540:34:57

# You've lost that lovin' feelin'

0:34:570:35:03

# Whoa, that lovin' feelin'

0:35:030:35:06

# You've lost that lovin' feelin'

0:35:070:35:11

# Now it's gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh-oh... #

0:35:110:35:18

Spector obviously had a very good idea of the sound world

0:35:180:35:22

that he wanted You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' to live in.

0:35:220:35:26

It's obviously big. It's the Wall of Sound. Lots of reverb and echo.

0:35:260:35:31

But there is more to it than that.

0:35:310:35:33

For a start, he didn't have any kind of introduction.

0:35:330:35:36

It comes straight in with the lead vocal.

0:35:360:35:38

HE PLAYS INTRO TO You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

0:35:380:35:41

From then on through, it goes up to that fantastic chorus.

0:35:410:35:44

HE PLAYS CHORUS

0:35:440:35:48

Spector wants the song to go somewhere else.

0:35:510:35:55

And again, Spector added something here. Not just...

0:36:010:36:04

# Gone, gone, gone, whoa-whoa-whoa. #

0:36:040:36:08

That then goes into a downwards walking motif.

0:36:080:36:11

And into this little sort of shuffle step.

0:36:160:36:20

It's a little bit like... Hang On Sloopy.

0:36:210:36:24

# Hang on, Sloopy

0:36:240:36:26

# Sloopy, hang on. #

0:36:260:36:28

But what it does,

0:36:280:36:29

it takes that whole Wall of Sound down to one single idea.

0:36:290:36:34

That little motif is really hooky, we are in there.

0:36:340:36:38

And over the top of it,

0:36:380:36:39

the vocalist can do all that lovely semi-improvised stuff,

0:36:390:36:43

which turns into a kind of jam session with the other voices.

0:36:430:36:46

And it means that there is somewhere for the chorus to erupt back

0:36:460:36:50

out of again. Kaboom, here we are!

0:36:500:36:52

HE PLAYS You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

0:36:520:36:55

This song really needed Spector.

0:36:590:37:02

Because what he did was turn it into the quintessential

0:37:020:37:06

experience of the man mourning for the woman he has lost.

0:37:060:37:10

We are right inside his mind. We know exactly how he feels.

0:37:100:37:14

And that huge Wall of Sound is like echoes

0:37:140:37:17

coming off the inside of his brain.

0:37:170:37:20

Gone, gone, gone.

0:37:200:37:22

It's a terrific collaboration between two very fine songwriters

0:37:220:37:28

and a truly extraordinary producer.

0:37:280:37:31

# Bring back that lovin' feelin', cos it's gone, gone, gone

0:37:310:37:39

# And I can't go on... #

0:37:390:37:41

I never dreamed the record would be as spectacular as it was.

0:37:410:37:44

It became the most played record of the last century.

0:37:440:37:47

# Bring back that lovin' feelin'

0:37:500:37:55

# Oh, that lovin' feelin'... #

0:37:550:37:57

Spector was now the most prominent of a new breed of auteur producers,

0:37:570:38:01

who, along with others like Mitch Miller and Joe Meek,

0:38:010:38:05

had established creative control over the artists they directed.

0:38:050:38:09

# Let's go surfin' now

0:38:120:38:14

# Everybody's learnin' how

0:38:140:38:15

# Come on and safari with me

0:38:150:38:17

# Come on and safari with me... #

0:38:170:38:20

On the West Coast, one artist had observed the producer at work

0:38:200:38:24

and wanted to take control of production himself.

0:38:240:38:27

# And headin' out singing our song... #

0:38:270:38:30

This musician was Brian Wilson,

0:38:300:38:32

the creative force behind the Beach Boys, the most successful

0:38:320:38:36

American pop band of the time, with a string of top ten hits.

0:38:360:38:40

Wilson had been in awe of Phil Spector

0:38:420:38:45

and had spent time shadowing him in the studio.

0:38:450:38:48

Brian Wilson had scored a string of successes with his band,

0:38:500:38:54

the Beach Boys.

0:38:540:38:55

They combined classic Chuck Berry guitar licks with vocal harmonies

0:38:550:38:59

and epitomised that sunny surfer sound of '60s California.

0:38:590:39:04

All summed up in one two-and-a-half-minute pop song.

0:39:040:39:08

It was the perfect formula.

0:39:080:39:10

MUSIC: Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys

0:39:100:39:13

# If everybody had an ocean

0:39:130:39:16

# Across the USA

0:39:160:39:18

# Then everybody'd be surfin'

0:39:180:39:21

# Like Californi-a

0:39:210:39:24

# You'd see 'em wearing their baggies... #

0:39:240:39:27

But in 1965, Wilson decided to quit touring

0:39:270:39:30

and announced he was retreating into the studio to create a new

0:39:300:39:34

and very different kind of record.

0:39:340:39:36

One that he promised would be his masterpiece.

0:39:360:39:39

He set himself a grand ambition - to reinvent the pop song,

0:39:390:39:44

to explore new methods of composing

0:39:440:39:46

and to experiment with the very art of production itself.

0:39:460:39:50

'Let me hear the organ.'

0:39:500:39:52

ORGAN PLAYS

0:39:520:39:55

'Stop, please.'

0:39:580:39:59

What was in your head when you went into Good Vibrations?

0:40:010:40:05

What were you after with Good Vibrations?

0:40:050:40:07

My mother told me when I was a kid that dogs bark at people

0:40:070:40:10

because they pick up vibrations.

0:40:100:40:13

In 1966, Mike Love was over at my house and I said, "Let's write

0:40:130:40:18

"a song called Good Vibrations." He goes, "Hey, I like that."

0:40:180:40:23

I started playing the piano. Bum-ba-bum-bum. And he goes...

0:40:230:40:28

# I'm picking up good vibrations. #

0:40:280:40:31

You had a real change of musical direction with Good Vibrations.

0:40:310:40:35

Well, we wanted to grow musically,

0:40:350:40:36

so we thought we would try something different.

0:40:360:40:39

'Let's hear the guitars, please, in D and B.'

0:40:390:40:42

While the Beach Boys went on tour, Brian Wilson recruited

0:40:420:40:46

Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew,

0:40:460:40:48

including drummer Hal Blaine, and they began recording

0:40:480:40:51

the instrumental tracks for Good Vibrations.

0:40:510:40:55

OK, that's fine. Let's make it.

0:40:550:40:57

Hal, let's go, man. Here we go.

0:40:570:40:59

Play hard and strong all the way.

0:40:590:41:02

Brian used to come to Phil Spector's studio.

0:41:030:41:06

And he loved what we were doing.

0:41:060:41:09

He wanted to get...

0:41:090:41:11

..I guess, sort of, a Phil Spector-type sound.

0:41:120:41:16

He wanted to get that big sound that we had.

0:41:160:41:20

-You used the Wrecking Crew that Spector used.

-Yeah.

0:41:200:41:23

Why did you use them rather than the Beach Boys to play?

0:41:230:41:27

Because I trusted their ability a little better than the group,

0:41:270:41:30

you know? I trusted that they could play it pretty good.

0:41:300:41:35

Play hard and strong all the way...

0:41:350:41:37

Wilson's approach to Good Vibrations was unprecedented.

0:41:370:41:41

Beginning in February 1966,

0:41:420:41:45

he recorded short instrumental parts of the song over and over again,

0:41:450:41:50

holding the sessions in four separate studios.

0:41:500:41:53

Brian knew what he wanted.

0:41:550:41:57

Sometimes we would go in and play four bars of music.

0:41:580:42:01

And he would say, "Change the saxophone part.

0:42:020:42:06

"Take it down an octave."

0:42:060:42:07

"And let's hear the guitar up just a little bit more."

0:42:090:42:12

"And let me hear it."

0:42:130:42:15

And we'd play it. He'd say, "That's great. That's exactly what I want."

0:42:150:42:19

He would talk to his engineer and say, "Thank you, gentlemen."

0:42:190:42:23

And we were out of there.

0:42:230:42:24

15 minutes sometimes.

0:42:240:42:26

I didn't really have a vision. I took it one bar at a time.

0:42:280:42:32

You know?

0:42:320:42:33

# I'm picking up... #

0:42:330:42:35

And then... # Good vibrations... #

0:42:350:42:36

It was all done in pieces.

0:42:360:42:38

Because he experimented every note.

0:42:400:42:45

Now, sometimes he'd want a different group of people, just to see

0:42:450:42:50

what would happen, because he heard something.

0:42:500:42:53

While Wilson sculpted the sound of the instruments,

0:42:560:42:58

he had spent little time on the words.

0:42:580:43:01

On the 24th August 1966, he arranged to meet

0:43:020:43:06

the rest of the band to record their vocals.

0:43:060:43:09

Despite months of recording,

0:43:090:43:11

he still hadn't quite settled on the final lyrics yet.

0:43:110:43:15

So Beach Boy Mike Love hastily came up with the words

0:43:160:43:20

on the freeway, driving over to Sunset Sound studio.

0:43:200:43:24

I was working on the arrangement for a long time

0:43:270:43:29

and when I finally got it done, I called the guys and said,

0:43:290:43:32

"I got the arrangement done!" They go, "Good! Let's go to the studio."

0:43:320:43:35

So we met up at the studio and Mike was on one microphone going,

0:43:350:43:38

# I'm picking up... #

0:43:380:43:39

And the other guys were going...

0:43:390:43:41

# Good, good, good... #

0:43:410:43:42

You know...

0:43:420:43:43

# ..vibrations. #

0:43:430:43:44

# I'm picking up good vibrations

0:43:460:43:49

# She's giving me excitations

0:43:490:43:52

-# I'm picking up good vibrations

-Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations

0:43:520:43:56

-# She's giving me excitations

-Oom, bop, bop, excitations

0:43:560:43:59

-# Good, good, good, good vibrations

-Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations... #

0:43:590:44:03

Armed with Mike Love's lyrics,

0:44:030:44:06

Brian begins directing the vocal sessions here at Sunset Sound.

0:44:060:44:11

But even this isn't straightforward.

0:44:110:44:13

He insists that the band record over 25 overdubs

0:44:130:44:18

of the same vocal lines, some no more than two or three seconds long.

0:44:180:44:24

-# Good, good, good, good vibrations

-Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations

0:44:240:44:27

-# She's giving me excitations

-Oom, bop, bop, excitations... #

0:44:270:44:31

Six months after he had started working on the song,

0:44:310:44:33

Wilson oversaw the final mix for Good Vibrations in September 1966.

0:44:330:44:40

# Na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na... #

0:44:400:44:42

Now, Good Vibrations is basically an edit record.

0:44:420:44:46

It is a song that could only be made possible by...magnetic tape.

0:44:460:44:50

And if you listen really closely,

0:44:500:44:52

you can hear those edits going through.

0:44:520:44:55

# I hear the sound of a gentle word

0:44:570:45:02

# On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air... #

0:45:020:45:07

INSTRUMENTATION CHANGES

0:45:070:45:09

# I'm picking up good vibrations... #

0:45:090:45:12

And at 1 minute 42 seconds, there is another edit

0:45:120:45:14

to get us into this extraordinary middle eight section,

0:45:140:45:17

where you are hearing tack piano, jaws harp -

0:45:170:45:21

boing-boing-boing sound -

0:45:210:45:23

flute and very low-register Electro-Theremin.

0:45:230:45:27

I mean, it is growling away down the bottom.

0:45:270:45:30

I love this section.

0:45:300:45:31

This feels like the beginnings of psychedelia.

0:45:310:45:34

# Excit...ations... #

0:45:340:45:39

SONG CONTINUES

0:45:390:45:42

Tell me about the theremin.

0:45:450:45:46

Carl said, "Why don't we put a theremin on this?"

0:45:460:45:49

And I went, "Theremin?! Why a theremin?"

0:45:490:45:51

He goes, "Maybe it'll sound eerie."

0:45:510:45:53

And so I came up with the "whoo-ooh!" And I did it for the theremin player.

0:45:530:45:58

# ..elation... #

0:45:580:46:01

You used a cello in Good Vibrations to give that...

0:46:050:46:07

NEIL MAKES A CHUGGING RHYTHM Yeah.

0:46:070:46:10

Did you know in your head that was that sound that you wanted?

0:46:100:46:13

Not until he played. As soon as he played, I said,

0:46:130:46:16

"Try doodle-ooh-doodle-ooh-do."

0:46:160:46:18

And he goes, "What?"

0:46:180:46:20

I said... He goes, "I usually play symphonies, you know."

0:46:200:46:24

I said, "No, this is rock and roll.

0:46:240:46:26

"We're going to try to make a symphonic rock and roll record."

0:46:260:46:30

# ..good vibrations... #

0:46:300:46:31

And now at 2 minutes 56, another edit, another new section.

0:46:330:46:37

Stripped down chorus with the cello overdubbed,

0:46:370:46:39

but now the cello has come up an octave.

0:46:390:46:41

It is cutting through much, much more.

0:46:410:46:43

-THE CELLO PLUCKS

-# Ahhh

0:46:430:46:46

-# Good, good, good, good vibrations

-Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations

0:46:470:46:51

-# She's giving me excitations

-Oom, bop, bop, excitations

0:46:510:46:54

-# Good, good, good, good vibrations

-Oom, bop, bop, good vibrations... #

0:46:540:46:58

CELLO PLAYS IN STACCATO

0:46:580:47:01

# Na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na... #

0:47:020:47:05

And then quite a short but very elaborate fade-out,

0:47:050:47:08

where we've got the cello again and that ethereal sound

0:47:080:47:11

of the Electro-Theremin taking us out of the number.

0:47:110:47:14

# Do, do, do, do, do Do, do, do... #

0:47:140:47:17

STACCATO CELLO, THEREMIN WARBLES

0:47:170:47:20

SONG FADES

0:47:220:47:25

I knew that we'd probably never top Good Vibrations, you know.

0:47:260:47:29

We all agreed that probably that's the best we could do.

0:47:290:47:33

Good vibrations is a watershed in the history of the popular song.

0:47:350:47:40

It cost 50,000 to make - a fortune then.

0:47:400:47:44

It took 90 hours to record in four different studios.

0:47:440:47:47

It was easily the most expensive pop single at the time.

0:47:470:47:51

But it's not about the money Brian Wilson spent

0:47:510:47:54

or even the time that he took.

0:47:540:47:57

It is his method that is ground-breaking.

0:47:570:48:00

Wilson showed that a song could be made of tiny fragments

0:48:000:48:05

of tunes or vocals,

0:48:050:48:06

that he could re-record sections,

0:48:060:48:08

that he could add bridges where he wanted to,

0:48:080:48:10

but that the whole thing would pull together in that final mix.

0:48:100:48:15

-# Excitations

-Excitations... #

0:48:150:48:18

Wilson was in the vanguard of a new experimental epoch,

0:48:180:48:21

which would peak in the late '60s.

0:48:210:48:23

And enabling this was magnetic tape...

0:48:250:48:28

..pulled from the ruins of a radio station near Frankfurt

0:48:290:48:32

decades earlier.

0:48:320:48:33

# Do, do, do, do, do Do, do, do

0:48:330:48:36

# Do, do, do, do, do... #

0:48:360:48:37

Now, across the Atlantic, a band, who themselves

0:48:370:48:40

had first learnt their rock and roll while in Germany,

0:48:400:48:43

heard what Wilson was doing - and wanted to take things further.

0:48:430:48:48

MUSIC: Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles

0:48:480:48:51

By the end of 1966, The Beatles were the most famous band in the world.

0:48:530:48:59

They had conquered America and had been influenced by Brian Wilson.

0:48:590:49:03

# It is not dying... #

0:49:030:49:05

But unlike the mercurial Beach Boy,

0:49:050:49:07

The Beatles were rooted to just one recording base -

0:49:070:49:11

the historic EMI Studios, better known simply as Abbey Road.

0:49:110:49:16

And I've come to test out some of the techniques

0:49:190:49:22

that the band pioneered here.

0:49:220:49:25

The Beatles really started experimenting with tape machines

0:49:280:49:31

around the time they were recording their 1966 album, Revolver.

0:49:310:49:36

They recorded strange sounds and ambient noises

0:49:360:49:39

and dubbed these tape loops onto the psychedelic Tomorrow Never Knows.

0:49:390:49:45

This song, more than any other Beatles number,

0:49:460:49:49

was a signpost to the direction the band was heading in.

0:49:490:49:53

PSYCHEDELIC LOOPING

0:49:530:49:56

And The Beatles were among the first bands really to exploit

0:50:030:50:06

the possibilities of a relatively new medium -

0:50:060:50:10

the long-player, or 33rpm album, which would be the perfect vehicle

0:50:100:50:15

to demonstrate the full range of their talents.

0:50:150:50:17

After Revolver, The Beatles would begin testing out

0:50:210:50:23

songs in the studio that they could never reproduce live.

0:50:230:50:28

Which was convenient,

0:50:280:50:30

because they had decided to quit touring altogether.

0:50:300:50:33

# It is believing... #

0:50:360:50:38

And it was their long-time producer, George Martin,

0:50:380:50:41

who had recorded all their songs so far,

0:50:410:50:44

who would oversee their experiments with magnetic tape.

0:50:440:50:47

# ..colour of your dreams... #

0:50:470:50:50

You can cut, you can edit.

0:50:510:50:53

Obviously you can slow down or speed up your tape.

0:50:530:50:56

You can put in backwards stuff, you can put in electronic sounds

0:50:560:50:59

which you couldn't possibly reproduce live.

0:50:590:51:01

You can use combinations of instruments

0:51:010:51:03

which are completely unbalanced,

0:51:030:51:05

but you can make them balanced.

0:51:050:51:06

You can put a...

0:51:060:51:07

Well, you can put a very soft flute against a huge brass chord

0:51:070:51:10

and still make it sound loud.

0:51:100:51:11

Then cut up the tape, pretty well threw it up in the air

0:51:110:51:13

until it settled down on the ground

0:51:130:51:15

and join them all up together.

0:51:150:51:17

So it just became like... Like a...

0:51:170:51:19

A patchwork quilt.

0:51:190:51:21

This is the kind of thing you can do on recording,

0:51:210:51:23

which you obviously couldn't possibly do live,

0:51:230:51:25

because it is, in fact, making up music as you go along.

0:51:250:51:27

In December 1966, Martin and The Beatles met at Abbey Road

0:51:290:51:34

to begin working on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,

0:51:340:51:38

a record which would become celebrated

0:51:380:51:41

as the first concept album.

0:51:410:51:43

MUSIC: A Day In The Life by The Beatles

0:51:430:51:46

George Martin was The Beatles' creative partner in crime

0:51:460:51:49

and he introduced them to this idea that he called the wind-up piano.

0:51:490:51:53

That's nothing to do with this instrument

0:51:530:51:55

and everything to do with magnetic tape

0:51:550:51:58

and the speed it records and the speed it plays back.

0:51:580:52:01

Take, for instance, George Martin's solo on Lovely Rita

0:52:010:52:03

on the Sgt. Pepper album.

0:52:030:52:06

What he did was actually set the tape slower,

0:52:060:52:09

record it slower and then played it back at a slightly higher speed

0:52:090:52:12

that he knew would make the piano fit with the track.

0:52:120:52:16

So here's, roughly, what he originally recorded.

0:52:160:52:20

HE PLAYS Lovely Rita

0:52:200:52:23

And while I was reproducing this solo, originally played

0:52:340:52:37

by George Martin himself, engineer John Barrett was recording me.

0:52:370:52:42

PIANO SOLO REPLAYS ON TAPE

0:52:420:52:45

And now, if we play it back

0:52:470:52:48

-at the normal speed for this tape machine...

-Right.

0:52:480:52:52

-..but then that's faster than we recorded it.

-Mm-hm, right.

0:52:520:52:56

PIANO SOLO REPLAYS AT FASTER TEMPO

0:52:580:53:00

-Wow. I'm good.

-NEIL SNIGGERS

0:53:090:53:12

Why do that? I mean, it is a great sound and all the rest of it.

0:53:120:53:15

Why did Martin do that?

0:53:150:53:17

It is far easier to play stuff slower more accurately and so,

0:53:170:53:23

the sort of ornamentation and the articulation of the notes,

0:53:230:53:26

-you can be more precise.

-Mm-hm.

0:53:260:53:28

But it is more that the tonal quality becomes brighter and edgier.

0:53:280:53:31

There's something almost music-boxy about it, isn't there?

0:53:310:53:34

-Yeah, definitely.

-I mean, across that track.

0:53:340:53:36

Can we hear that laid across what they did?

0:53:360:53:40

PIANO LOOP PLAYS OVER Lovely Rita

0:53:400:53:43

# Took her out and tried to win her... #

0:53:540:53:56

This was just one example of how The Beatles played with tape speeds,

0:53:560:54:00

slowing instruments down, speeding them up

0:54:000:54:02

and even recording guitar solos backwards!

0:54:020:54:05

# Took her home, I nearly made it

0:54:050:54:07

# Sitting on a sofa with a sister or two... #

0:54:070:54:10

Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have been possible without this

0:54:100:54:12

manipulation of magnetic tape,

0:54:120:54:15

and the overall sound was a wonderful, unpredictable collage

0:54:150:54:19

of voices and instruments, lyrics and music.

0:54:190:54:22

# Lovely Rita, meter maid... #

0:54:220:54:25

And for one track, which was recorded on these sessions

0:54:250:54:29

but released later,

0:54:290:54:30

they didn't simply adjust individual instruments,

0:54:300:54:33

but the entire song.

0:54:330:54:35

# Lovely Rita, meter maid... #

0:54:350:54:37

There's a famous edit in Strawberry Fields,

0:54:370:54:42

where there are two different takes of Strawberry Fields

0:54:420:54:47

and they're sort of put together.

0:54:470:54:49

-Yeah.

-Is that unusual?

0:54:490:54:50

Oh...

0:54:500:54:52

There was something looking over that particular song

0:54:520:54:56

because it was different tempos, different keys.

0:54:560:55:00

The likelihood of being able to change the speeds to bring them...

0:55:000:55:05

To put them both in the same tempo and in the same key,

0:55:050:55:09

almost impossible to set up in advance.

0:55:090:55:12

So there were two different versions of the same song?

0:55:120:55:15

Completely different, yeah.

0:55:150:55:16

What did they have to do to bring those together?

0:55:160:55:18

My understanding is that they sped one up, slowed one down

0:55:180:55:22

and they just all happened to work.

0:55:220:55:26

# It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out

0:55:260:55:29

# It doesn't matter much... #

0:55:290:55:32

We can just about hear the edit between the two versions here.

0:55:320:55:35

# Let me take you down cos I'm going... #

0:55:350:55:39

-SUBTLE TEMPO/KEY CHANGE

-# To Strawberry Fields... #

0:55:390:55:43

I love this song for its dreamlike quality.

0:55:460:55:49

Everybody who heard that track knew what it felt like to be stoned.

0:55:490:55:53

# Strawberry Fields forever

0:55:530:55:57

# No-one I think is in my tree

0:56:000:56:06

# I mean, it must be high or low... #

0:56:060:56:10

After dabbling with this psychedelic sound,

0:56:100:56:12

the band wanted to get back to their rock and roll roots.

0:56:120:56:17

# That is, I think it's not too... #

0:56:170:56:19

MUSIC: Revolution by The Beatles

0:56:190:56:22

What was different was on Revolution, the single version.

0:56:320:56:37

It was all recorded straight into the board. They didn't use any amps.

0:56:370:56:40

When they were recording, I walked into the control room

0:56:400:56:43

and it was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.

0:56:430:56:46

There was Ringo out in the studio, but all three of them

0:56:460:56:49

were sitting around the board with their guitars, playing.

0:56:490:56:53

And it sounded amazing.

0:56:530:56:55

It was plugging straight in,

0:56:550:56:57

just completely overloading the mic amps on the board.

0:56:570:57:01

MUSIC: Revolution by The Beatles

0:57:020:57:05

Paul wanted to make the loudest recording ever

0:57:070:57:10

and that was just crank every amp.

0:57:100:57:12

It would have been perfect for the amp in Spinal Tap, where,

0:57:120:57:15

"Oh, it goes up to 11." NEIL LAUGHS

0:57:150:57:18

He would have loved that for that session.

0:57:180:57:20

# You tell me that it's evolution

0:57:230:57:27

# Well, you know... #

0:57:270:57:29

The recordings made by The Beatles at Abbey Road

0:57:290:57:31

are the culmination of two decades of technological revolution.

0:57:310:57:36

One which sparked the emergence of the music studio

0:57:360:57:39

as a compositional tool,

0:57:390:57:41

the producer as a creative force

0:57:410:57:44

and the musician as a new kind of artist,

0:57:440:57:47

sculpting and reimagining the sound of their songs.

0:57:470:57:51

And all this was kick-started by the discovery of magnetic tape

0:57:510:57:55

in the dying days of World War II.

0:57:550:57:58

Next time, songs enter a new electronic era...

0:58:000:58:04

..using synthesisers...

0:58:050:58:07

..disco beats...

0:58:090:58:10

# I never can say goodbye... #

0:58:100:58:12

..and even digital voices...

0:58:120:58:15

# ..Believe in life after love? #

0:58:150:58:17

But again, rootsy rock and roll fights back.

0:58:170:58:20

MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

0:58:200:58:23

# A denial!

0:58:390:58:40

# A denial!

0:58:400:58:42

# A denial! #

0:58:420:58:48

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