US. AND TIE THEM TOGETHER.
♪ I MAKE EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT
♪
♪ >> I HAVE TO GO BACK AND
DOWNLOAD THAT.
DOWNLOAD THAT. THAT SONG IS TIMELESS!
KEN BURNS, VINCE GILL, GOOD TO
SEE BOTH OF YOU.
>> THANKS.
>> THANKS. >> YOU HAVE DONE DOCUMENTARIES
ON WARS AND NATIONAL PARKS AND
BASEBALL, COUNTRY MUSIC, EIGHT
PARTS, 16 1/2 HOURS, HOW DID YOU
GET HERE?
GET HERE? >> WITH MY HEART.
THIS IS AMERICAN HISTORY FIRING
ON ALL CYLINDERS.
IT’S WHO WE ARE.
IT’S ANOTHER WAY TO SEE THE
COMPLICATED 20th CENTURY AND
IT’S ALSO FOR TODAY A TIME WHERE
WE CAN BRING OURSELVES TOGETHER.
COUNTRY MUSIC REMINDS US WE’RE
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT TOGETHER.
THE THEMES OF A COUNTRY SONG ARE
THE THEMES OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE,
OF LOVE AND LOSS, TWO FOUR
LETTER WORDS THAT MOST OF US ARE
UNCOMFORTABLE WITH.
UNCOMFORTABLE WITH. WE DISGUISE IT, IT’S ABOUT
PICKUP TRUCKS THAT’S SMALL WHEN
YOU HEAR GO REST HIGH ON THAT
MOUNTAIN BY VINCE.
HE SAYS AT THE END OF THE DAY,
ALL I EVER WANTED FROM MUSIC IS
TO BE MOVED.
COUNTRY MUSIC IS TELLING US
ABOUT BASIC HUMAN EXPERIENCES
AND THAT WE’RE ALL TOGETHER IN
THIS.
THIS. THAT IT’S ONLY US, THERE’S NO
THEM.
THEM. AND THAT’S GOOD MEDICINE RIGHT
NOW.
NOW. >> WHERE DO YOU START WITH
SOMETHING LIKE THIS, KEN, YOU
WANT TO GO THIS FAR BACK.
>> OUR WRITER DAYTON DUNCAN
DISCOVERED A MOMENT IN 1923 WHEN
RADIO, THIS BRAND NEW MEDIUM
HITS PHONOGRAPH RECORDS THAT ARE
PRODUCING THE FIRST COUNTRY
STUFF AND WE GO BACK AND COLLECT
THE ANTISEE DANT
, THE BANJO IS FROM AFRICA AND
THE FIDDLE IS FROM EUROPE AND
THE BRITISH ISLES, WE START
THERE, COLLECT THE HISTORY OF
IT, AND MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE
20th CENTURY.
20th CENTURY. COUNTRY MUSIC, WHICH WE TEND TO
LABEL, AND IN SILO AS ONE THING,
HAS ALWAYS BEEN MANY MANY
DIFFERENT THINGS, AND HAS ALWAYS
BEEN CURIOUS AND COME STRIVING F
THE SAME THINGS.
YOU DON’T NEED A PASSPORT TO
CHANGE FROM POP OR FOLK OR CLASS
CALL OR ROCK, AND COUNTRY IS ONE
OF THE PARENTS OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL.
>> VINCE, WHAT HAS COUNTRY MUSIC
BECOME, BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN
I WAS LITTLE, YOU KNOW, YOU HAD
SORT OF TRADITIONAL COUNTRY
MUSIC OR AT LEAST I THOUGHT IT
WAS TRADITIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC,
BUT NOW IT SEEMS AS IF THERE’S
BEEN THIS EVOLUTION, YOU KNOW,
WHETHER IT’S LITTLE NAZX OR
TAYLOR SWIFT FOR A WHILE WHO WAS
CONSIDERED COUNTRY.
CONSIDERED COUNTRY. TALK ABOUT WHAT IT WAS AND WHAT
IT IS NOW.
>> IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO A
COMPARISON, YOU HAVE TO DO ALL
MUSIC.
MUSIC. IT’S NOT FAIR TO TAKE COUNTRY
MUSIC, AND SAY ONLY COUNTRY
MUSIC HAS CHANGED BECAUSE JAZZ
HAS CHANGED, ROCK ’N’ ROLL HAS
CHANGED, RHYTHM AND BLUES HAS
CHANGED.
CHANGED. THERE’S HIP HOP, RAP, EVERY FORM
OF MUSIC HAS FOUND A NEW WAY TO
COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE.
AND WE’RE NO DIFFERENT.
WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO KEN AND
DAYTON AND JULIE FOR TAKING THIS
ON AND FROM MY VIEWPOINT,
FINALLY GIVING US SOME DIGNITY
AND SOME RESPECT THAT WE HAVE
LONGED FOR EVER SINCE WE STARTED
MAKING THIS MUSIC.
>> THAT WAS A GREAT QUOTE IN THE
DOCUMENTARY WHERE GARTH BROOKS
SAYS EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO
DEFINE COUNTRY MUSIC, WHAT DOES
IT SOUND LIKE, HILL BILLY, JAZZ,
IT’S RIGHT HERE.
COUNTRY MUSIC IS WHAT’S INSIDE
YOUR HEART IN THOSE STORIES THAT
ARE TOLD.
ARE TOLD. >> THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT.
THE SONG WRITER HAR LEN HOWARD
SAID IT’S THREE CHORDS OF THE
TRUTH THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT
THOSE THREE CHORDS MIGHT SUGGEST
A SIM
A SIM A SIM
A SIM A SIMPLE, HANK WILLIAMS, HE SAYS
THE SILENCE OF A FALLING
STARLIGHTS UP A PURPLE SKY AND
AS I WONDER WHERE YOU ARE I’M SO
LONESOME I COULD DIE.
>> PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PROTECT
SOMETHING ABOUT COUNTRY MUSIC,
THEY DON’T WANT IT TO EVOLVE.
IS THAT WHAT IT IS?
WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?
>> ALL MUSICAL FORMS ARE TRYING
TO EXPAND AND LEARN NEW THINGS,
AND ARTISTS ARE TRYING TO CROSS
THE BOUNDARIES AND PEOPLE WITHIN
THAT GENERA ARE EQUALLY SAYING
WE CAN’T GO THAT FAR WITHOUT
REMEMBERING WHERE WE CAME FROM
AND IT’S TRUE IN EVERY MUSICAL
FORM, AND IT’S REALLY TRUE IN
COUNTRY, PERIODS OF VAST
EXPERIMENTATION, AND PEOPLE
COMING BACKING AND SAYING I NEED
TO GET BACK TO MY ROOTS.
>> VINCE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE
COUNTRY SONG.
COUNTRY SONG. >> MIGHT BE MAMA TRACK, OR
WILDWOOD FLOWER, THE FIRST THING
I EVER LEARNED TO PLAY ON THE
GUITAR, AND THE FIRST LEAD
GUITAR PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF
COUNTRY MUSIC WAS A WOMAN,
MOTHER MAYBELL CARTER.
>> THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN
INFLUENCE OF COUNTRY MUSIC,
NOBODY TALKS ABOUT, THEY THINK
IT DOESN’T EXIST, IT DOESN’T
EXIST, AND I LOVE THE FEMALE
REFERENCE AS WELL.
>> THERE WERE STRONG WOMEN FROM
THE VERY BEGINNING, AND HANK
WILLIAMS SAID HE LEARNED
EVERYTHING HE NEEDED TO KNOW
ABOUT MUSIC FROM RUFUS T. PAYNE.
>> WHY IS IT HARD FOR COUNTRY
MUSIC ARTISTS WHO ARE WOMEN TO
GET ON THE RADIO?
>> THAT’S A PROBLEM RIGHT NOW,
BUT THEY’RE USUALLY POPULAR
EVERYWHERE ELSE BUT RADIO PLAY,
BUT THERE’S A GOOD OLD BOY
NETWORK WITH REGARD TO THAT.
>> THAT’S YOUR NEXT DOCUMENTARY.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU?
>> ERNEST HEMMINGWAY AND THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION, AND
MOHAMMED
MOHAMMED MOHAMMED ALI.
MOHAMMED ALI. >> I WANT TO BE IN YOUR BRAIN
FOR TEN MINUTES.