0:00:02 > 0:00:05# Oh, I wish I was
0:00:06 > 0:00:09# In the land of cotton
0:00:10 > 0:00:14# Old times there are not forgotten
0:00:14 > 0:00:17# Look away
0:00:17 > 0:00:19# Look away
0:00:20 > 0:00:22# Look away
0:00:22 > 0:00:25# Dixieland... #
0:00:25 > 0:00:27When you think of American music,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30what you're really thinking about is the South.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42# LA... #
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Blues, soul, jazz and rock and roll, they all emerged from the swamps,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51mountains, cities and racial ferment of the southern states of America.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53# He's leavin'
0:00:53 > 0:00:54# Leavin'
0:00:54 > 0:00:58# On that midnight train to Georgia
0:00:58 > 0:01:00# Leavin' on the midnight train
0:01:00 > 0:01:02# Mm, yes
0:01:02 > 0:01:04# Said he's goin' back... #
0:01:06 > 0:01:08I was born in Albany, Georgia.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And I grew up in the post-civil rights era.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13And even though segregation was officially over,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17there were racial barriers that still had to be contended with.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21# I'm goin' down south I'm goin' down south
0:01:21 > 0:01:23# I'm goin' down south
0:01:23 > 0:01:25# I'm goin' down south
0:01:25 > 0:01:28# The chilly wind... #
0:01:28 > 0:01:32By the time I swapped Georgia for Britain, when I left America,
0:01:32 > 0:01:33I hated the South.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Now I've returned to rediscover my homeland
0:01:39 > 0:01:41through its most famous export.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Via the songs of the South,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45I will take a look at where the South has been
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and try to get a sense, a little bit, probably, maybe,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50of where the South is going.
0:01:50 > 0:01:51Come with me.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35# I am a man
0:02:35 > 0:02:38# Of constant sorrow
0:02:38 > 0:02:44# I've seen trouble all my days... #
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Appalachia - beautiful.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51This is the South of the moonshining hillbilly,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55the poor white mountain folk whose ancient banjo and fiddle tunes
0:02:55 > 0:02:58are at the root of American music.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01I'm taking a trip into the high lonesome sound of the mid South,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03through Tennessee and Kentucky,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07on the trail of music that came over with America's first settlers.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I'm here to figure out how and why
0:03:09 > 0:03:11it has trickled down from the mountain
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and become part of the cultural melting pot
0:03:14 > 0:03:16of American popular music.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Hell, I may even discover I've got some hillbilly in me.
0:03:19 > 0:03:20Come on, let's go.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23# Tennessee
0:03:23 > 0:03:25- # Tennessee - Tennessee
0:03:25 > 0:03:26# Tennessee
0:03:26 > 0:03:29# Lord, I've really been real stressed
0:03:29 > 0:03:31# Down and out, losing ground
0:03:31 > 0:03:33# Although I am black and proud
0:03:33 > 0:03:36# Problems got me pessimistic
0:03:36 > 0:03:38# Brothers and sisters keep messin' up... #
0:03:38 > 0:03:40I haven't spent much time in Tennessee,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44but when I hear the name, the things that pop in my head
0:03:44 > 0:03:46are lots of letters...
0:03:48 > 0:03:49..college football,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51world-class barbecue,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Elvis Presley,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56the end of the road for Martin Luther King,
0:03:56 > 0:03:57Smoky Mountains.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Beautiful mountain range here.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Oh...and...and hillbillies.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07The deadly kind.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- What's happening, brother? - Welcome to Tennessee.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16Thank you, we just got here.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19- Have a good time.- You're the first Tennessee people we spoke to.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Now, those were nice people and I hate my own sense of prejudice
0:04:27 > 0:04:29but I have to say, I'm glad I was talking to them
0:04:29 > 0:04:31while there was a camera on me.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33CHUCKLES
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Clan feuding, moonshining, and inbred.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44For some, hillbilly has become a put-down.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48But I want to go beyond the stereotype
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and explore the rich and ancient culture of Southern mountain folk.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54First stop is the Smoky Mountains
0:04:54 > 0:04:58to pay my respects to the queen of the hillbillies herself.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Now it's time for the beautiful little lady
0:05:03 > 0:05:05to do a great song of hers, I think,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09that she wrote about her home back in the eastern part of Tennessee,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11over in the Tennessee mountains.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14It's called My Tennessee Mountain Home. Miss Dolly Parton.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15APPLAUSE
0:05:15 > 0:05:18# Sittin' on the front porch
0:05:18 > 0:05:23# On a summer afternoon
0:05:23 > 0:05:26# In a straightback chair on two legs
0:05:26 > 0:05:30# Leaned against the wall
0:05:30 > 0:05:33# As I watch the kids a-playin'
0:05:33 > 0:05:36# With June bugs on a string
0:05:36 > 0:05:39# And chase the glowin' fireflies
0:05:39 > 0:05:42# When evenin' shadows fall
0:05:44 > 0:05:49# In my Tennessee mountain home
0:05:49 > 0:05:56# Life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh
0:05:56 > 0:06:01# In my Tennessee mountain home
0:06:01 > 0:06:07# Crickets sing in the fields nearby... #
0:06:07 > 0:06:10My Tennessee Mountain Home is very personal to me.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12It's one of the first songs I wrote
0:06:12 > 0:06:13after I moved to Nashville
0:06:13 > 0:06:16thinking about being back home because I was homesick.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But I have all those memories of my growing-up days there
0:06:19 > 0:06:23in the Smoky Mountains in that one particular little place
0:06:23 > 0:06:25where we lived that I called the Tennessee mountain home.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30# In my Tennessee mountain home
0:06:30 > 0:06:33# Life is as peaceful as... #
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Of course, there were a lot of hard times there as well,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39but I do remember all those precious days and you have a tendency
0:06:39 > 0:06:41to only pick out the very good stuff
0:06:41 > 0:06:43and the days you remember as children,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46like chasing fireflies and June bugs on the string,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49chasing butterflies, all the things I've mentioned,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51but most people back there in those mountains
0:06:51 > 0:06:53lived basically the same way.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56We were just part of nature, and that's the kind of stuff
0:06:56 > 0:06:59that gets embedded in your DNA and in your psyche.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04# In my Tennessee mountain home
0:07:04 > 0:07:09# Life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh... #
0:07:11 > 0:07:15My, my, my, this is Dolly Parton's Tennessee mountain childhood home.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Spam, a Southern staple - at least when I was growing up.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22No-one's really sure what it's made of.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Well, some people are, but they don't like to think about it.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29If you grew up in this, how do you be anything but down to earth?
0:07:31 > 0:07:35In a place this small, with one bedroom,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39how did two people get together and make 12 kids?
0:07:39 > 0:07:41HE CHUCKLES
0:07:41 > 0:07:43I'm guessing the kids slept on the floor.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50In actuality, this is not Dolly Parton's home,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53it is a recreation of, because we are here, in Dollywood.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Hello! Hey!
0:07:56 > 0:07:58CHEERING
0:08:04 > 0:08:06# Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
0:08:06 > 0:08:08# Pour myself a cup of ambition... #
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Dollywood embodies what the new South has done with its heritage.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Bottled it up and served it back to a paying public.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19# ..the traffic starts jumpin' with folks like me... #
0:08:19 > 0:08:21But it also looks fun.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24# Workin' 9 to 5
0:08:24 > 0:08:27# What a way to make a livin'... #
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Dollywood is the embodiment of several American narratives.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34The ones that we like. Local girl done good.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Local girl brings her family along to enjoy the fruits of her success.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43But the most popular American narrative is local girl makes money.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Dolly done good!
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Maybe Dolly wouldn't... and maybe Dolly would.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05These people, the people I call hillbillies,
0:09:05 > 0:09:10back in the day they were legendary for their moonshine they distilled.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Oh, yes, moonshine!
0:09:13 > 0:09:15I'm hopeful of having a sip of that soon.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19The best moonshine is as clear as water.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22It can put you on your ass.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25You don't need to drink a lot of it.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30I don't know if you could live if you drank a lot of it.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32The distillation of white whisky by the light of the moon
0:09:32 > 0:09:35goes hand in hand with hillbilly culture.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38It was mysterious, magical and illegal.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Come on, girl. Swing around for me. Yep.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46We have just arrived in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51And I have to say, it's warm and friendly so far.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53- What's happening, cool breeze?- Whoo!
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Goddamn, this is more lively than I could have ever gave Tennessee credit for.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59I'm glad I came.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02All the way from Britain. Say hello to Britain.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04CHEERING
0:10:05 > 0:10:07LAUGHS
0:10:07 > 0:10:09What the hell...?
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Why the hell not?
0:10:11 > 0:10:12HE LAUGHS
0:10:14 > 0:10:17We're from England, all the way from England.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20- You're from England?- England. - So are we.- Oh, are you?
0:10:20 > 0:10:24- BBC right here, baby. - Oh, God! Well, we're from England.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- Nice to see you.- The cavalry is here, you're safe.- Whoo!
0:10:28 > 0:10:31It's been a long trip. Looks like some lovely people.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34I think I'm going to stop and have me a tasty beverage.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Things have come a long way from the days of a still in a mountain shack.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Shine is now a taxable commodity and everyone's invited to the party.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Is that there John?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- Yes, sir, how you doin'? - Pleased to make your acquaintance.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54- Let me give you a bit of... - Wait a minute now,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56moonshine's supposed to be clear and white, ain't it?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59This is our 105 proof charred moonshine.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Did you say 5%?
0:11:01 > 0:11:04- No, 105 proof.- 105 proof?
0:11:04 > 0:11:07- 105 proof.- Man, you could start a car with this!
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- Yes, sir, you can. - I'm going to knock this back now.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Go on, you do it to it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I feel like it's going to give my chest hairs a perm.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19Give me some of old faithful.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20You want to give this one a shot?
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Yeah, man, I've been thinking about this all day.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28- What did you think of that? - I can tell you right now
0:11:28 > 0:11:30that that one is coming back to England with me.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32I don't blame you there one bit.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34# Ooh, white lightnin'... #
0:11:47 > 0:11:49I don't believe it's going to hurt me,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52- it's too pretty to hurt somebody. - Just wait.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56# Well, I asked my old pappy why he called his brew
0:11:56 > 0:11:58# White lightnin' 'stead of mountain dew... #
0:11:58 > 0:12:01He needs a white lightnin'.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03He needs a white lightnin'.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- You recommend a white lightnin'? - Yes.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I will be in spirit, so to speak.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Ah! That went down as smooth as white linen.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Oh!
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Oh, man, but I'm sweating like I'm in a sauna now.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19He's in a sauna!
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Oh, man!
0:12:38 > 0:12:41# Ten years ago
0:12:41 > 0:12:44# On a cold, dark night
0:12:44 > 0:12:48# There was someone killed
0:12:48 > 0:12:52# 'Neath the town hall light
0:12:52 > 0:12:56# There were few at the scene
0:12:56 > 0:12:59# But they all agreed
0:12:59 > 0:13:03# That the slayer who ran
0:13:03 > 0:13:07# Looked a lot like me... #
0:13:07 > 0:13:11It is not an uncommon thing in the history of humanity worldwide,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14the impulse to murder something beautiful.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19In Appalachia, it is called Southern Gothic.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I'm off to Knoxville, Tennessee, to learn more about this.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26# She walks these hills
0:13:26 > 0:13:30# In a long black veil
0:13:30 > 0:13:34# She visits my grave
0:13:34 > 0:13:37# When the night winds wail... #
0:13:37 > 0:13:39The term "hillbilly" possibly derives
0:13:39 > 0:13:42from Scotch-Irish followers of King William III,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46amongst the first to colonise Appalachia in the 18th century.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51Life was hard, remote and at times brutal for these Old World settlers.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59You might argue that the people that came to America were perhaps
0:13:59 > 0:14:05people who were outsiders, socially inept, sociopaths perhaps?
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Our country is founded by people who couldn't fit in, in Europe.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13When I think about what is American Gothic,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16I think it's the American tendency
0:14:16 > 0:14:19to be much more comfortable with violence than we are with sexuality.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Much more comfortable with death than with love.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27The city of Knoxville is the gateway to the southern Appalachians
0:14:27 > 0:14:31and the setting of the classic murder ballad Knoxville Girl.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36# I met a little girl in Knoxville
0:14:36 > 0:14:40# A town we all know well
0:14:40 > 0:14:44# And every Sunday evening
0:14:44 > 0:14:48# Out in her home I'd dwell
0:14:48 > 0:14:52# We went to take an evening walk
0:14:52 > 0:14:56# About a mile from town
0:14:56 > 0:15:00# I picked a stick up off the ground
0:15:00 > 0:15:04# And knocked that fair girl down... #
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Lauren, ma'am, thanks for agreeing to see me.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12What type of things done in Knoxville makes Knoxville dark?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Well, the murder rate has always been very high.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19- Really?- In fact, in 1907 we had
0:15:19 > 0:15:22a rate, a murder rate, higher than Los Angeles in the 1990s.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26- No!- It's quite true. - So y'all kill good?
0:15:27 > 0:15:29We do a lot of killing, good or bad.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31So, what's the name of this beautiful place?
0:15:31 > 0:15:33How's it relevant to what we're talking about?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35We are standing right in the mouth of First Creek.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Towards this end of First Creek, down towards the river,
0:15:38 > 0:15:39was the red light district,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42so the ladies of, shall we say, negotiable affection
0:15:42 > 0:15:44plied their trade on the banks of this creek.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49- And if they managed to anger a lover, or a friend...- Customer.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52- ..or a customer, their body might end up in this creek.- No!
0:15:52 > 0:15:55And it would float down this way towards the river.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58And so naturally that would filter into the music as well.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59Oh, yes, there is definitely
0:15:59 > 0:16:02a dark side of the music that developed here.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05We have a very rich musical heritage
0:16:05 > 0:16:10and you can almost feel the shadows of the hills in many of those songs.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16# She fell down on her bended knees
0:16:16 > 0:16:20# For mercy she did cry
0:16:20 > 0:16:24# Said, Willard, dear Don't kill me here
0:16:24 > 0:16:27# I'm unprepared to die
0:16:28 > 0:16:32# She never spoke another word
0:16:32 > 0:16:36# I only beat her more
0:16:36 > 0:16:40# Until the ground around me
0:16:40 > 0:16:43# Within her blood did flow... #
0:16:45 > 0:16:47The song itself, The Knoxville Girl,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51which is a very old song that came across the water with the settlers
0:16:51 > 0:16:54who came from England and the British Isles,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57a lot of them settled here in this area.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59They came from North Carolina, down through the mountains.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I believe, as it travelled through the mountains,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04the mountains changed the song.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Something about the dark mountain passes,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08and the forest in every direction
0:17:08 > 0:17:11gives you a claustrophobic feeling.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12Somehow, in Appalachian songs,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15you can almost see where they were written
0:17:15 > 0:17:19because they're dark, and you get that sadness, that mournful tune.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Oh, baby, I'm so sad I've got to kill you.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24- You're so beautiful, you have to die.- They regret it, you know.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Even in The Knoxville Girl,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30his last words are that he really loved that Knoxville girl.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31He regretted what he had done.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And he never makes brilliant excuses for himself.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36He killed her.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40# I took her by her golden curls
0:17:40 > 0:17:43# And I drug her round and round
0:17:44 > 0:17:48# Throwing her into the river
0:17:48 > 0:17:51# That runs through Knoxville town... #
0:17:51 > 0:17:53What's resonant about the song
0:17:53 > 0:17:56is the fact that it's removed from reality,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00- there is no cause given for why this murder happens.- Right.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02He just says I love her and then he kills her.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05# Dear Knoxville girl
0:18:05 > 0:18:09# You can never be my one... #
0:18:09 > 0:18:12It's, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die."
0:18:12 > 0:18:14You know, it's just...
0:18:14 > 0:18:18"This is what I do, I'm a force of nature, I kill."
0:18:18 > 0:18:21But there's a real sensuality to the death...
0:18:21 > 0:18:24The woman has no body until she's been killed,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27then she has golden curls and she has blood and she's got a body
0:18:27 > 0:18:30that can be dragged through the dirt. Her corpse seems gorgeous.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34# They carried me down to Knoxville
0:18:34 > 0:18:38# And put me in a cell
0:18:38 > 0:18:42# My friends all tried to get me out
0:18:42 > 0:18:46# But none could call my bail
0:18:46 > 0:18:50# I'm here to waste my life away
0:18:50 > 0:18:54# Down here in this dirty old jail
0:18:54 > 0:18:58# Because I murdered that Knoxville girl
0:18:58 > 0:19:03# The girl I loved so well. #
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I couldn't visit Tennessee without a quick stop
0:19:18 > 0:19:20at the home of country music.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29I have a place in my heart for people like Conway Twitty
0:19:29 > 0:19:31or Johnny Cash.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Or, um...Mac Davis.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39I think, before the last 10-15 years,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41I think country music was deep and rich
0:19:41 > 0:19:47and had very textured, multi-layered stories.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49I found them fascinating.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52And I feel like country, like the way of a lot of things now,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55whether it's R'n'B or sitcoms,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I feel like it's become more about spectacle and money.
0:20:04 > 0:20:05And here we are -
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Nashville, Tennessee! The home of country music.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12Oh, man!
0:20:12 > 0:20:15From a distance it looks like a mixture of crime and Christmas.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20That sounds like a Dickens novel that never got written -
0:20:20 > 0:20:21Crime And Christmas.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26My, my, my!
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I don't know why I'm surprised, but I mean...
0:20:32 > 0:20:33I am.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38Cos, like, of course it's aware it's the home of country music.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39Of course it is.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Nashville owes its position to happy coincidence.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54In the 1920s, an insurance company created a radio station.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Its flagship show played local music.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Thanks to a large transmitter, soon 28 states were able to tune in
0:21:00 > 0:21:03to the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night
0:21:03 > 0:21:05to get their dose of hillbilly.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Everyone knew the Grand Ole Opry came from Nashville,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12it's kind of all the people that want to be on Broadway,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14it's like, you want to go to New York.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17So if you're a country singer, you want to go to Nashville.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22# Back through the years I go wanderin' once again
0:21:22 > 0:21:26# Back to the seasons of my youth... #
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Thank you.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31It's the home of my music, the home of my soul, actually,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34because that's where I knew my dreams were going to come true.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37If they were to come true at all, they were gonna start there.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40# There were rags of many colours
0:21:40 > 0:21:42# But every piece was small... #
0:21:42 > 0:21:44I love Nashville now as much as ever.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46It has changed, it's growing,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49but people are moving from everywhere coming to Nashville.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52It's a wonderful, wonderful city.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54And I call it home, have since 1964.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58# ..Coat of many colours that I was so proud of... #
0:22:01 > 0:22:03The original name for country music was hillbilly.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Nashville took the music from the mountains,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10knocked the rough edges off and served it up to America as commerce.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24# I go out walkin'
0:22:24 > 0:22:27# After midnight
0:22:27 > 0:22:30# Out in the moonlight
0:22:30 > 0:22:32# Just like we used to do... #
0:22:32 > 0:22:36It turns out that the trickle off the mountain has become
0:22:36 > 0:22:39a billion dollar colossus known as country music.
0:22:39 > 0:22:45It never expected to be involved with record sales or tours...
0:22:46 > 0:22:49..or stars, all that it's become.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It was intended to pass on history, to entertain, to have fellowship
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and to cause community cohesiveness.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01- Did you grow up in London?- No, I'm from Georgia, actually.- Really?
0:23:01 > 0:23:05I grew up in Georgia and I went there to study drama...
0:23:05 > 0:23:09- You're an actor?- I went as an actor and now I'm a stand-up comedian.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13- Really?- Yeah.- Tell us a joke.- No.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- We've put you on the spot, I know. - No.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18HE LAUGHS
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The values that this music contains -
0:23:21 > 0:23:24of inclusiveness, of resilience,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28of hospitality...are human values.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32And it's yet another part of America
0:23:32 > 0:23:35that keeps threatening to live up to its creed.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37# Somewhere a-walkin'
0:23:37 > 0:23:39# After midnight
0:23:39 > 0:23:45# Searchin' for me. #
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Kentucky, full of bourbon, derby and bluegrass.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33I don't know what bluegrass is, never seen it be blue.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35But we're 'bout to find out. Come on.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Here's Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Let her go, boys.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43APPLAUSE
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Bluegrass is the modern offspring of the Old World folk traditions
0:24:49 > 0:24:53that English and Scotch-Irish settlers brought to Appalachia.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Its invention can be pinpointed to one man, Bill Monroe.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01# Oh, the people would come from far away
0:25:01 > 0:25:03# The nights don't light till the break of day
0:25:03 > 0:25:05# When the caller was hollerin' doh-si-do
0:25:05 > 0:25:07# You knew Uncle Finn was ready to go... #
0:25:07 > 0:25:10It should first be said about Bill Monroe
0:25:10 > 0:25:11that he was from Western Kentucky
0:25:11 > 0:25:14where you have all these rivers coming together -
0:25:14 > 0:25:18the Cumberland, the Tennessee, the Ohio and the Mississippi -
0:25:18 > 0:25:23the most amount of navigable rivers in the entire world
0:25:23 > 0:25:26right here in western Kentucky, bringing culture in,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28flowing like veins.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33You have the Scots-Irish Celtic traditions
0:25:33 > 0:25:36trickling down the Ohio River
0:25:36 > 0:25:41and you have the blues and jazz of New Orleans and Memphis
0:25:41 > 0:25:44flowing backwards through the veins of the Mississippi delta
0:25:44 > 0:25:47and coming together right here in Western Kentucky.
0:25:47 > 0:25:53I'd say bluegrass is just as much river music as it is mountain music.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Del McCoury made his name as Bill Monroe's guitarist
0:26:07 > 0:26:10before becoming a star in his own right.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13# Blue moon of Kentucky
0:26:13 > 0:26:15# Keep on shinin'
0:26:16 > 0:26:21# Shine on the one that's gone and proved untrue
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# Blue moon of Kentucky
0:26:25 > 0:26:28# Keep on shinin'
0:26:29 > 0:26:32# Shine on the one that's gone
0:26:32 > 0:26:35# And left me blue
0:26:35 > 0:26:39# It was on a moonlight night... #
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- What town are you from, Reg? - A place called Albany, Georgia.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Albany, yeah, I know where it's at. I know.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47My family's old,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and by old I mean it's like
0:26:49 > 0:26:53they ain't too impressed with a lot of new music here lately.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- Sure.- They're a bit underwhelmed.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58I know, my folks would be too.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Louis Armstrong famously said,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05when asked to explain jazz to someone who had never heard it,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08he said that some folks,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10if they don't know already, you can't tell them.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Now, I'm going to ask you to do for bluegrass
0:27:13 > 0:27:15what Louis couldn't do for jazz.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17What is bluegrass? What's it about?
0:27:17 > 0:27:22To describe to somebody that's never heard it,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26I wouldn't know how to really describe it.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29It's a really hard-driving music, you know?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Bill Monroe was the father of bluegrass.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The only way that we knew it was bluegrass was it was Bill Monroe
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and the Bluegrass Boys because he was from Kentucky.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50And he named the band that, but the music wasn't named until 1963.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Then they set the blueprint for all bands that came after -
0:27:55 > 0:27:59you know, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, bass fiddle and guitar.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03# I said, blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining
0:28:04 > 0:28:07# Shine on the one that's gone and proved untrue
0:28:07 > 0:28:11# Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shinin'
0:28:11 > 0:28:15# Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue... #
0:28:15 > 0:28:18I never realised that I would ever work for Bill Monroe
0:28:18 > 0:28:21because he was a big star then, you know?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24In my mind, he was like one in a million, you know?
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Blue Moon Of Kentucky, tell me, what does that song mean to you?
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Well, I got sick of it, I'll tell you the truth.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Cos he sung it every night, you know?
0:28:35 > 0:28:40But, you know, he had a lot of love affairs, Bill Monroe did.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44And this one went wrong.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47You see, there's only three things you've got to remember in there.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49"Proved untrue."
0:28:49 > 0:28:51"Left me blue."
0:28:51 > 0:28:52"Said goodbye."
0:28:52 > 0:28:57That's at the end of every line...every chorus, you know?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01THEY LAUGH
0:29:01 > 0:29:04# Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shinin'
0:29:05 > 0:29:09# Shine on the one that's gone and said goodbye. #
0:29:15 > 0:29:19# Oh, Southern man where he gonna run to?
0:29:19 > 0:29:22# Southern man where you gonna run to...? #
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Well...
0:29:25 > 0:29:27..I thoroughly liked Del McCoury.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31I mean, some people just make other people feel all right
0:29:31 > 0:29:36when they're around, you know, like an ice cube in a drink.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42I couldn't tell if it was him or me or us,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45but I got a strong suspicion that it was him.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48CHUCKLES
0:30:00 > 0:30:02When I was younger, I attended a Catholic school
0:30:02 > 0:30:05that also happened to be 98% white.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07It opened up a whole new world for me,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10but there was one particular activity that I loathed.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14Somehow, I have been persuaded to revisit my youth, here, in Paducah.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20- Hi!- Hello there.- How are you doing? Welcome.- How are you doing?
0:30:20 > 0:30:22- Hi, I'm Jessica.- Hello, Jessica. I'm Reginald.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25- I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.- Nice to meet you.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28- Are you ready for this?- If you are. - All right, let's go.- All right.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35# Promenade in one big set Promenade around the set
0:30:35 > 0:30:38# Promenade in one big set
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# Promenade in one big circle
0:30:42 > 0:30:44# You promenade two by two... #
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- I don't think we're doing this right!- When in doubt!
0:30:52 > 0:30:54# Promenade four by four
0:30:55 > 0:31:00# Circle left a little bit more Circle left in one big ring
0:31:00 > 0:31:02# Stretch it out and fill the room... #
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Square Dancing is another ancient musical tradition that the
0:31:05 > 0:31:09first American settlers brought with them from the old country.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16Square dances are kind of an offshoot of the English or Irish ceilidh.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19It was like the old barn dances y'all have over there,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22or even the German polkas. A lot of folks, you know,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25in a barn, holding hands, swinging their partners round and round,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29you know. I'm sure there's a lot of whisky involved, and there's some
0:31:29 > 0:31:31loose morals at the old square dances,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34but, over the years, square dances kind of became a dance snob's
0:31:34 > 0:31:38preoccupation, but its original intent
0:31:38 > 0:31:42was to be a friendly, uh, moment
0:31:42 > 0:31:46of fellowship between, you know, the sexes - let's be honest.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55It's not about the dancing as it is getting to, like, touch girls, so...
0:32:01 > 0:32:06'My dance partner sure is fine, but I still feel the same.'
0:32:06 > 0:32:08MUSIC ENDS THEY CHEER
0:32:10 > 0:32:11Oh...
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Yes, uh...
0:32:15 > 0:32:18That was...I'm glad I did it,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21I'm glad it's done. It was hot.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24It was...it wasn't...
0:32:24 > 0:32:27It reminded me of the third, fourth and fifth grade when it was
0:32:27 > 0:32:28a PE elective.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33I think square dancing is good for people who are unaccustomed
0:32:33 > 0:32:36to the opposite sex, or maybe just got to town.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39I think it's old time speed dating.
0:32:39 > 0:32:40But...
0:32:42 > 0:32:44..I don't have any desire to ever do that again.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10I'm going deeper into the white South than I've ever been.
0:33:10 > 0:33:11When I lived here, I think, I see
0:33:11 > 0:33:14now that I lived primarily in the black South,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16and those were two different Souths.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20I have a feeling that at the end of this trip,
0:33:20 > 0:33:25I will be able to truly call myself a southerner, through and through.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28# I wish I was in Dixie-land Hooray hooray
0:33:47 > 0:33:52While I'm in Kentucky, I'm going to explore a completely different early
0:33:52 > 0:33:54American music, that originated mainly in the north,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58but was based upon visions of the South.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02# Oh, the Camptown ladies sing this song
0:34:02 > 0:34:04# Doo-dah doo-dah...#
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Minstrelsy was a long moment in American musical history,
0:34:07 > 0:34:08that many would like to forget.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11# I went down there with my hat caved in
0:34:11 > 0:34:12# Doo-dah doo-dah...#
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Minstrel songs are regarded by many
0:34:14 > 0:34:17as America's earliest form of pop music.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19They emerged around the mid-19th century,
0:34:19 > 0:34:23and they were performed by white people in blackface.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Minstrelsy took great delight in depicting black people as lazy,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29happy-go-lucky and stupid, and, as such,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31they were immensely popular.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Despite their overt racism, or perhaps even because of it,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38minstrelsy lasted well into the 20th century,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41with many of its old tunes surviving as melodies we remember to this day.
0:34:45 > 0:34:51# Way down upon the Swannee River
0:34:51 > 0:34:55# Far, far away
0:34:57 > 0:35:03# Is where my heart is turning ever
0:35:03 > 0:35:07# That's where the old folks stay
0:35:09 > 0:35:15# All up and down the whole creation
0:35:15 > 0:35:20# Sadly I roam
0:35:20 > 0:35:26# Still longing for the old plantation
0:35:26 > 0:35:31# And for the old folks at home... #
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Old Folks At Home. It works on several levels.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38On one level it's about the isolation of the human condition,
0:35:38 > 0:35:42how all of us are wanderers looking for a home.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44So I think it's timeless in that sense.
0:35:44 > 0:35:50But it's also a blackface tragic song that was meant to be sung
0:35:50 > 0:35:51with a blacked up face,
0:35:51 > 0:35:57by a white man pretending to be a slave longing to be a slave again.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00An ex-slave who's been freed from the plantation who wants to
0:36:00 > 0:36:03return, which is such a strange conceit.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06So it's a horrifying song but it's also a gorgeous song
0:36:06 > 0:36:07at the same time.
0:36:07 > 0:36:13# All round the little farm I wander
0:36:13 > 0:36:17# When I was young... #
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Picking endless bales of cotton in this heat for masters must have
0:36:22 > 0:36:24been a special kind of hell.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27And the idea that some former slave pined for this life
0:36:27 > 0:36:31seems like some kind of sick joke. But it ain't inconceivable.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33# When I was... #
0:36:33 > 0:36:37In 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation
0:36:37 > 0:36:39that set the slaves free.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Free to what?
0:36:41 > 0:36:45Free to have no homes, no health care and no education.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48And under such conditions it is easy to imagine that more than
0:36:48 > 0:36:52a few slaves would have pined for the security of the old plantation.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59# All the world is sad and dreary
0:36:59 > 0:37:05# Everywhere I roam
0:37:05 > 0:37:10# Oh, darkies, how my heart grows weary
0:37:10 > 0:37:15# Far from the old folks at home... #
0:37:15 > 0:37:21I mean, "darkies", you just can't get rid of it, it has to be sung
0:37:21 > 0:37:25because if you take it out, it changes the whole tenor of the song.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28You know, you can say "Oh, brothers, how my heart is weary"
0:37:28 > 0:37:30but it's not the same thing.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34It's like, "Oh, darkies, how my heart grows weary,"
0:37:34 > 0:37:39it's like he is addressing, you know, people of his race
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and his community. But it isn't!
0:37:42 > 0:37:48It's written by Stephen Foster, it's like, it's just so weird
0:37:48 > 0:37:49on so many levels.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55# Oh, darkies, how my heart grows weary
0:37:55 > 0:38:00# Far from the old folks at home. #
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Old Folks At Home was written by Stephen Foster, a man known as
0:38:07 > 0:38:11the father of American music for the many famous melodies he wrote.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15I've come to a plantation in Bardstown that is associated with
0:38:15 > 0:38:18another of Foster's famous minstrel tunes, My Old Kentucky Home.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Oh, this Southern finery.
0:38:29 > 0:38:30Look at all of this.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Hey there, how you all doing? Looks like a good day to get married.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38- Oh, beautiful.- All right, all right.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44Nowadays, places like this, places that were thriving
0:38:44 > 0:38:50plantations of varying security and futility, they have become
0:38:50 > 0:38:52places to play golf and get married.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54HE CHUCKLES
0:38:54 > 0:38:58# The sun shines bright
0:38:58 > 0:39:01# On my old Kentucky home
0:39:01 > 0:39:07# 'Tis summer, the children are gay
0:39:07 > 0:39:14# The corn top's ripe and the meadows in their bloom
0:39:14 > 0:39:20# While the birds make music all the day... #
0:39:20 > 0:39:24Taking a stroll to the big house.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28This is supposed to be the home that inspired Stephen Foster to create
0:39:28 > 0:39:30the song My Old Kentucky Home.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Big old plantation house.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36I didn't know what to expect I'd feel when I walked up - anger,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40or the ghosts of the hurt and the dismissed,
0:39:40 > 0:39:41but I didn't feel none of that.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45I see a more or less modern looking home that would have been super
0:39:45 > 0:39:47modern in the 1840s and 1850s.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50And even 200 years later,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53it still seems worth living in.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58# All merry, all happy and bright
0:39:58 > 0:40:04# By 'n' by hard times come a-knocking at my door
0:40:04 > 0:40:09# Then my old Kentucky home good night... #
0:40:09 > 0:40:12This is the cast of The Stephen Foster Story,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15a musical that has run for over 50 years here in Bardstown.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19They've been kind enough to perform My Old Kentucky Home just for me.
0:40:22 > 0:40:28# Weep no more, my lady
0:40:28 > 0:40:34# Oh, weep no more today
0:40:34 > 0:40:40# We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home
0:40:40 > 0:40:43# For my old Kentucky home
0:40:43 > 0:40:48# For my old Kentucky home
0:40:48 > 0:40:56# Far away. #
0:41:03 > 0:41:06- Ooh!- There you go!- I got to tilt it.
0:41:06 > 0:41:07THEY LAUGH
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Three, two, one.
0:41:15 > 0:41:16CAMERA FLASH Thank you very much.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- Thank you, all, thank you, all. - Thank you.- Thank you, sir.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23It's just nice to be standing next to people dressed this way.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Sort of fun. I feel like a cupcake.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29You ARE a cupcake, darling. Don't ever lose that.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34You were a cupcake before you put that dress on!
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Minstrelsy, what did it used to mean and
0:41:36 > 0:41:38what does it mean now, can you say?
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Well, it was the first way that popular music travelled
0:41:41 > 0:41:44across the country, in minstrel shows people would be humming
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Stephen Foster songs, for instance, because they would go out
0:41:47 > 0:41:48to the theatre to see a minstrel show.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51It was the first form of popular entertainment, really.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54And vaudeville came out of that, musical theatre came out of that,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and here we are today sort of going back to the beginning
0:41:57 > 0:41:59with the songs that started it.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Both of you, can you say whether or not you believe that minstrelsy
0:42:02 > 0:42:04has been misunderstood and if so, why?
0:42:04 > 0:42:08I mean, it's offensive any way you slice it.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13It's not... It's not a thing you would sit there
0:42:13 > 0:42:14and comfortably watch.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17And it's so strange to think that that was entertainment,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19people went and that's just what you saw
0:42:19 > 0:42:23and no-one thought, "Oh, this is in very poor taste."
0:42:23 > 0:42:25It was just what you went and saw.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30Stephen Foster as a composer anyhow saw a little bit of the darkness
0:42:30 > 0:42:33in minstrelsy and the way people were being portrayed.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Him being a northerner, essentially,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39seeing all the slavery that was going on in the South,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43turned it more towards compassion, heartfelt music.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Nelly Was A Lady was one of his songs
0:42:46 > 0:42:49and no-one had really referred to a slave as a lady,
0:42:49 > 0:42:50it was different.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55Frederick Douglass even lauded Stephen Foster's music as turning
0:42:55 > 0:42:58the feeling in minstrel shows from like from laughing at people
0:42:58 > 0:43:00to feeling compassion for them.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03He felt that it evoked compassion in slave people.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07- A type of empathy. They're humans too.- Yes, definitely.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Minstrel songs were very popular in America for a very long time.
0:43:14 > 0:43:1880 years, that's longer than rock and roll.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21It's a big part of our history and it needs to be looked at.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29I think minstrel shows are who we were and who we are,
0:43:29 > 0:43:33it's part of the American legacy and it's just like the word nigger,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36where pretending that the word doesn't exist is somehow supposed
0:43:36 > 0:43:38to eradicate history we don't like.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42I don't like what the minstrel songs originally set out to do,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46and I realise that many people came since to sort of lend dignity
0:43:46 > 0:43:47to a fiction created by white men,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50but it's my heritage, their heritage, it's real.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53And if we are able to get over anything like that,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56then we have to begin by acknowledging it.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59And I don't know any better way of acknowledging something
0:43:59 > 0:44:01than by acknowledging it to music.
0:44:07 > 0:44:15# Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
0:44:15 > 0:44:19# She sounds too blue to fly
0:44:22 > 0:44:29# The midnight train is whining low
0:44:29 > 0:44:35# And I'm so lonesome I could cry
0:44:37 > 0:44:43# Have you ever seen a robin weep... #
0:44:43 > 0:44:48Wow, look at that sky. Look at those clouds. Amazing.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54I love this part of the day in the South, during the summer.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58The handover time between the day and night.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02The handover times, whether it's dawn or dusk,
0:45:02 > 0:45:05I don't know, it always felt like pleasant cooperation.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16HARMONICA ECHOES
0:45:20 > 0:45:23# Whoo-whoo!
0:45:23 > 0:45:25# Look a-yonder comin'
0:45:26 > 0:45:29# Comin' down that railroad track
0:45:30 > 0:45:32# Hey, look a-yonder comin'
0:45:33 > 0:45:37# Comin' down that railroad track. #
0:45:37 > 0:45:38Railroads.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41In the South, we have more railroads than real roads.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45And in Southern music, you can find trains anywhere,
0:45:45 > 0:45:47from Jimmie Rodgers to REM.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Trains in Southern music
0:45:50 > 0:45:53speak to migration and dislocation,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57to sadness and the mystique of going into the unknown,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00and just plain old wanting to go home.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02HARMONICA CONTINUES
0:46:07 > 0:46:10When I see old trains, I have mixed feelings.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13I think of the black labour that went into building the railroads,
0:46:13 > 0:46:15and that before the Civil Rights Movement,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18I would not have been allowed to sit in any carriage.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21But in the South, trains were also the means of escape
0:46:21 > 0:46:24for black people fleeing from segregation and poverty
0:46:24 > 0:46:26to the hope and prosperity in the north.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32- This, right here?- Just pull it back.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36HORN BLOWS
0:46:36 > 0:46:39HE LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY
0:46:39 > 0:46:40That was goddamn satisfying,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42I don't care how childish I look.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44I'd do this every day if I could.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47This here train ain't no ordinary train,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49it's the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54'Chattanooga Choo Choo, run it down again. Let's go.'
0:46:54 > 0:46:57MUSIC: Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller And His Orchestra
0:47:02 > 0:47:06This song is closely associated with big band leader Glen Miller,
0:47:06 > 0:47:07and while he wasn't from the South,
0:47:07 > 0:47:11the song speaks to the peculiarly Southern condition of missing home.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22The rhythm of the song is inspired by the rhythm of the train,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25and the rhythm of the train comes from right here.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32- # Pardon me, boys - Yes, yes
0:47:32 > 0:47:34# Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?
0:47:34 > 0:47:35# That's the Chattanooga Choo Choo
0:47:35 > 0:47:37- # On track 29 - 29?
0:47:37 > 0:47:40- # Uh-huh - That's on the Tennessee Line
0:47:40 > 0:47:42# She said the Tennessee Line
0:47:42 > 0:47:43# She means that she can afford
0:47:43 > 0:47:46# I can afford to board the Chattanooga Choo Choo
0:47:46 > 0:47:47# What have you got in there?
0:47:47 > 0:47:50- # I've got my fare - You say you have?
0:47:50 > 0:47:52# Uh-huh, but not a nickel to spare
0:47:52 > 0:47:54# Well, I do declare
0:47:54 > 0:47:58# You leave the Pennsylvania Station 'bout a quarter to four
0:47:58 > 0:48:01# Read a magazine and then you're in Baltimore
0:48:01 > 0:48:02# Dinner in the diner
0:48:02 > 0:48:04# Nothing could be finer
0:48:04 > 0:48:07# Than to have your ham an' eggs in Carolina
0:48:07 > 0:48:09# When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar
0:48:09 > 0:48:11# Then you know that Tennessee is not... #
0:48:11 > 0:48:14We're now arriving at East Chattanooga.
0:48:14 > 0:48:15# Shovel all the coal in
0:48:15 > 0:48:16# Gotta keep it rollin'
0:48:16 > 0:48:19# Whoo, whoo, Chattanooga, there you are. #
0:48:22 > 0:48:25The Tennessee Valley Railroad is just for tourists,
0:48:25 > 0:48:28but it gets me hankering for that slow Southern pace of life.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30This is the way it should be.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32This is the true speed of the South.
0:48:36 > 0:48:37# She's gonna cry
0:48:37 > 0:48:40# Until I tell her that I'll never roam. #
0:48:40 > 0:48:44We're looking at a bygone era.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47But the windows open.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49I cannot begin to tell you
0:48:49 > 0:48:51how many hotels and trains I've been in
0:48:51 > 0:48:53where you can't open a window,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56where you can't be trusted to regulate your own fresh air.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05# Train I ride
0:49:05 > 0:49:08# 16 coaches long
0:49:12 > 0:49:16# Train I ride
0:49:16 > 0:49:17# 16 coaches long. #
0:49:17 > 0:49:21So far, this trip has been a musical exploration
0:49:21 > 0:49:23of the white South,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26and I have to say that I had some apprehension going in.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30It's even fair to say that I was a bit hyper-vigilant,
0:49:30 > 0:49:31expecting...
0:49:31 > 0:49:34I don't know, something more harsh,
0:49:34 > 0:49:35less welcoming.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37And I'm pleased to say that no-one
0:49:37 > 0:49:40has come anywhere near my worst fears.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43I've never been happier to be wrong.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57# Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
0:49:57 > 0:50:02# Trying to make a livin' and doing the best I can
0:50:02 > 0:50:04# And when it's time... #
0:50:04 > 0:50:06I love driving in the South,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09not just for the wide, open roads and the space,
0:50:09 > 0:50:10but it's good thinking time.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13See in Britain, especially in London,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15driving is a purely functional activity,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17to get from point A to B.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20But here, you know,
0:50:20 > 0:50:22you're sick of your kids, you're sick of your woman,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24you're sick of hearing about Jesus,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26you get in your car and you just drive.
0:50:26 > 0:50:32# And I was born in the back-seat of a Greyhound bus
0:50:32 > 0:50:35# Rollin' down highway 41. #
0:50:35 > 0:50:38I'm driving here in Mount Airy, North Carolina,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41heading to the 43rd Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45I don't know exactly what I'm going to find here,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49but fiddling and fiddlers is what I expect.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Hey, what's happening? Good to see you.
0:50:56 > 0:50:57All right.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Now, there is a car!
0:51:00 > 0:51:03- Welcome to Mount Airy. - Thanks very much.
0:51:03 > 0:51:04BANJO MUSIC TWANGS
0:51:04 > 0:51:11# I can see the hemlock reaching for the sky
0:51:11 > 0:51:18# Prayin' against the colour of mountains up so high
0:51:20 > 0:51:26# Woodsfolk in the morning drifting across the way
0:51:26 > 0:51:29# October in the canyon... #
0:51:31 > 0:51:34This is the last stop of my journey and I'm in for a treat.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37The festival promises to offer an authentic experience,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40as close as I can get to the original old-time
0:51:40 > 0:51:42string band music of Appalachia.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48BANJO MUSIC TWANGS
0:51:48 > 0:51:52# Oh, lambie, poor black sheep ain't got no mammy
0:51:54 > 0:51:56# Sheep and the goat, they went to the pasture
0:51:56 > 0:52:00# Sheep said, "Goat, you better get a little faster"
0:52:00 > 0:52:02# Wake, snake, day's a-breaking
0:52:02 > 0:52:06# Peas in the pot and hoecakes bakin'
0:52:06 > 0:52:07# All I want from this creation
0:52:07 > 0:52:10# Three weeks' work, five vacation
0:52:10 > 0:52:12# Tell the boss, he'll do just fine
0:52:12 > 0:52:14# Daytime's his, night-time's mine. #
0:52:19 > 0:52:21Tell me about old-time string band music.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Well, you know, it's one of these types of music
0:52:24 > 0:52:26that grew out of a mixture of things.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29There was music from Europe that came over,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31England, Ireland, Scotland.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Also stuff that came from Canada, coming down.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37All these different fiddling traditions came together
0:52:37 > 0:52:39- to make kind of a conglomerate sound.- Mm-hm.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43And then, when the slaves came over from Africa,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46they brought with them early versions of the banjo.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49And then the banjo itself developed in the United States.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Fiddle and banjo mixed together
0:52:51 > 0:52:53and it became the type of music that became
0:52:53 > 0:52:55the root of all popular music in America.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04When this ancient music originally developed in Appalachia,
0:53:04 > 0:53:06it wasn't about stars or record sales.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Music was something you did together
0:53:08 > 0:53:10and it brought the best out of people.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12It was an expression of home and love,
0:53:12 > 0:53:13and it still is today.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23It's not really for the audience,
0:53:23 > 0:53:25it's a benefit if they like it.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27But it's for them, it's spiritual.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29It's connection.
0:53:29 > 0:53:30It doesn't matter who you are.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39See, I'm from this part of the world
0:53:39 > 0:53:41and we overlook stuff like this all the time,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44the way people in London never go to the tourist sights.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46But this is my home
0:53:46 > 0:53:47and I didn't know it was this rich.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49HE CHUCKLES
0:53:53 > 0:53:55- Hey, brother, pleased to meet you. - Bosco.- Bosco?
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Bosco, pleased to meet you, sir. All right.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59That is a righteous beard.
0:53:59 > 0:54:00- I like your hair.- You like my hair?
0:54:00 > 0:54:02THEY LAUGH
0:54:02 > 0:54:05We understand each other based on hair.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07You play... You and your group,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09y'all play old-time music.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11- Well, it's roots music.- Roots music.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13- Yeah.- Yeah, roots music.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Banjo is from Africa.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18- Say it one more time. - Banjo is from Africa.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Thank you very much, please, continue.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23This is the place
0:54:23 > 0:54:25that the old music's from,
0:54:25 > 0:54:26the old-time music.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30So, it's almost like a Mecca, of sorts?
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
0:54:32 > 0:54:33So, if I come here,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35I can meet all my friends.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Yeah, it's like a family reunion.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Yeah, right. REG LAUGHS
0:54:41 > 0:54:43This is unreal.
0:54:43 > 0:54:44I'm encountering music that came over
0:54:44 > 0:54:47with the first settlers of Appalachia, as they did,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49and I'm starting to become hillbilly.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56- Having a good time?- Better than I deserve, brother. How about you?
0:55:03 > 0:55:06This is no longer just a remote Southern thing.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08There are people here from all walks of life
0:55:08 > 0:55:10and they're keeping this music alive.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15How you doing? Just say hello, ma'am.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Hi, how are you?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22We just love these washtub bass players.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Of course, I've been one for 40 years.
0:55:26 > 0:55:27She's encouraging me to play.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30She's telling me that my instinct to want to play,
0:55:30 > 0:55:31she's telling me to just go do it.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34She's been playing 40 years. What else do I need?
0:55:34 > 0:55:35What else do I need?!
0:55:38 > 0:55:40THEY CHANT ALONG
0:55:44 > 0:55:46What does it mean to people playing music,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48this music, these instruments, in the South today?
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Well, I mean, you know, history all aside,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55it's great music and it was made to last.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59And it's one of these things, especially in the South...
0:55:59 > 0:56:01It's like corn bread in a cast iron skillet,
0:56:01 > 0:56:03it's one of those things that people want to make it right
0:56:03 > 0:56:05and they do it right.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07That's why they come together, so they can all play
0:56:07 > 0:56:10this wonderful music that's been made to last for hundreds of years.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16I'd like to think that in my encounters with
0:56:16 > 0:56:19string band festivals, bluegrass legends,
0:56:19 > 0:56:20folk songs and square dances,
0:56:20 > 0:56:23that I've had a glimpse of a hillbilly culture
0:56:23 > 0:56:25that values music as a part of society.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33At its purest, this music transcends issues of race, class and prejudice.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It's certainly something that America
0:56:35 > 0:56:36could still learn from today.
0:56:46 > 0:56:47Next time,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50I return home to the Deep South to explore the interplay between
0:56:50 > 0:56:55black and white music in times when black and white people didn't mix.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58Georgia and Alabama have given the world some of the greatest soul,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00gospel, rock and hip-hop.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06The South, we've been fighting for a long time.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08We're going to get our music out there one way or another,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and we demand our respect, not only from the rest of the country,
0:57:11 > 0:57:12but the rest of the world.