All language subtitles for Women Who Rock - 01- Documentary (2022)

[amplifier feedback]

[electric guitar strum]

Growing up,
when I discovered

these incredible women
making rock music,

I mean, that's, like--
that's the dream.

People would be like, "Whoa,

look at that little gal
with that big guitar,"

like a novelty.

[Benatar] I wanted
to break the boys' club.

I wanted to break down
that bullshit.

[Khan] I said,
"Let me tell you something.

I'm going to be a star
with or without you."

[Jett] Growing up, I thought,

"There's gotta be other girls

that wanna play rock 'n' roll.

I can't be the only one."

[Twain] There's something
very liberating

about being able to take on
a rock 'n' roll attitude

and not have to abandon
your femininity

at the same time.

[Crow] There were lots of
obstacles along the way for me,

but I knew the only person
that could drive my ship

that I felt I could trust
was me.

[Staples] I'm not a diva.

I love people.
I'm a people person.

I'm just Mavis.

Just Mavis.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

What are you doing with this?

I remember climbing up
on this airplane.

People were in the plane.

And they were looking
out the window at us.

The photographers say,

"You Staple Singers,
y'all do anything."

So, you wanna hear this?

What do you want me
to do with it?

♪♪♪

♪ Oh, huh

♪ Mm

♪ I know a place

♪ Ain't nobody cryin'

♪ Ain't nobody worried

♪ No

♪ Ain't no smilin' faces

♪ Mm, no, no

♪ Lyin' to the races

That's the sound
of America right there.

You know?

Mavis Staples,
the best part of America.

There's no bigger gangsta
than Mavis Staples.

She's Mavis Staples.

♪ I'll take you there

-♪ Oh, oh
-[Jones] It's the truth

that comes through her songs

and the way she sings them,

and it's the love.

-I get nothing but love.
-♪ I'll take you there

Mavis' voice told me

about the joy of life
and the pain of life.

[Crow] When I get to sing
with Mavis Staples,

or when I get to sing
with any of these women

that paved the way for me,

there's something bigger
than my experience.

There's something more.

um, heavenly about it.

[Khan] There was a lot
of hometown pride

about the Staple Singers.

"I'll Take You There,"
when it came out,

it transcended

Chicago's petty-ass racism.

[applause]

[Staples] My father
started us singing,

and the first song
that he taught us

was "Will the Circle
Be Unbroken."

He called us children
into the living room,

set us on the floor
in a circle,

and began giving us
voices to sing

that he and his sisters
and brothers would sing

when they were in Mississippi.

One night,
my Aunt Katie said,

"Shucks, y'all sound
pretty good.

I believe I want you all
to sing in my church Sunday."

And, oh, they would have
to stand me up in a chair,

'cause I was so little,

But we ended up having to sing
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken"

three times.

Pops said, "Shucks,
these people like us."

It happened that Vivian Carter,

who was the president
of Vee-Jay Records,

she was in the audience
that day,

and she called Pops
and asked him

if we could make a record,

so we learned more songs,

and we went in the studio
and we recorded "Uncloudy Day."

"Uncloudy Day" took off,
you know,

and mostly in the South.

That was the very first
gospel record to sell a million.

But in the meantime,

people are calling us
to come and sing.

We would go to places
like Atlanta, Georgia.

New Orleans.

Memphis.

But as we started traveling
on "Uncloudy Day,"

the people
would come on the radio

and say,
"That's little Mavis Staples.

"That's this little girl.

She's singing this song."

And people
just wouldn't believe it.

My part was

♪ Well, well, well, oh

♪ Lord, they tell me now

I was singing a lady's bass.

And we'd get to these towns
and they would tell Pops,

"People are betting
that's not your daughter

singing that song."

So as the four of us
were singing,

and then, when my part came,

Pervis, my brother.

he would step up like it was
gonna be him saying that,

and you would hear
all over the audience,

"I told you that wasn't
no little girl.

I told you
that wasn't no little girl."

And while they
going through that,

I'm easing up to the mic,

and I say,
♪ Well, well, well

[laughing]

We--we--

we would have
so much fun with that.

[giggling]

So, I was having fun
singing with my family.

♪♪♪

♪ Early one morning

♪ Yes, sir

♪ I felt the pain

♪ Oh, yeah

-♪ Felt like death
-♪ Mm-hmm

-♪ Done sung my name
-♪ Oh, yeah

-♪ I started to tremble
-♪ Whoa, yeah

♪ Deep down inside, yeah

♪ And I felt the fear

♪ Of the swelling tide

♪ Yeah, yeah

♪ Wish I had answered

♪ Wish I
had answered ♪

♪ Wish I had answered
when he ♪

♪ Called

[Clayton]
The Staple Singers would come

maybe once a year in town,

and sometimes we were blessed

to have them at my dad's church
in New Orleans.

They would come
and do programs,

and during the program,

everybody
was assigned records,

albums, to sell,

and I would always have
my little five albums,

and I would walk, you know,
the aisles of the church,

and people would buy, and I--

and it would do me
the greatest deed for me

to be able to go to Pop Staples
and give him the money

for whatever
the records were I sold.

So, yes, I have very fond
memories of the Staple Singers,

and boy, could they sing.

It felt great
to sing with my family.

If one of us were off key,

the other
would help get it right.

But I'll tell you,
one of my sisters, Yvonne,

was very proper.

Now, if you notice how I talk,

I have a Southern accent
like my mother.

Where I would say,

♪ Ev'ry day, ev'ry hour
okay?

Yvonne said,
♪ Ev-e-ry day, ev-e-ry hour

and we would just die laughing.

She would even
be proper singing.

You know? [laughs]

But to sing with my family,
to travel with my family,

that's the best thing
that could happen in the world.

Kept us loving one another,
kept us together.

You know? That's home.

That's home.

One day,
Pops came in from work.

He said, "Mavis, guess what?"

I said, "What, Daddy?"

He said, "Tabernacle Church

"wants us to open up
for Mahalia Jackson

Monday night."

And, oh, my little heart
just almost came out.

Lucky for me, we were
in the same dressing room.

And I walked up to her.

I said, "Well, hello,
Miss Sister Mahalia Jackson."

And she looked at me,
and she said,

"Well, how are you, baby?"

I say, "I'm fine.
My name is Mavis,

and I sing too."

She said, "Well,
I wanna hear you sing."

I said, "Oh, you'll hear me,
because I sing loud."

[laughing]

I--I got through singing.

Sister Mahalia Jackson,

she said,
"You a good little ol' singer."

I was just the happiest
little girl on this planet.

♪ I've

♪ been 'buked and

♪ I've been scorned

[Clayton] Mahalia Jackson
would come to my dad's church

and be a guest singer,

so I wanted to be
just like Mahalia,

and so much so that everything
that she would sing,

I would emulate.

And when you sing in church

as much as Mavis and I
sung in church coming up,

that's where you
really develop your voice

is in church choirs,

singing solos,

and this was every Sunday.

♪ God said touch her

♪ In my name

♪ I rose this morning

♪ I rose
this morning ♪

♪ I rose this morning

♪ I feel like shouting

♪ I feel like
shouting ♪

♪ I feel like shouting

♪ I feel like
shouting ♪

♪ I feel like shouting

♪ I feel like
shouting ♪

[Staples]
Sister Mahalia was my idol,

my friend, and my teacher.

You know, people from
different Southern states

migrate to Chicago,

especially
the blues and gospel singers.

Mahalia came out
of New Orleans.

But all of them, Howlin' Wolf,
Buddy Guy, you know,

and a lot of the gospel people
like Sallie Martin,

and my father.
He came from Mississippi.

I'll tell ya, for gospel,
blues, R&B, you name 'em,

you can't beat Chicago
for music.

You just can't do it.

[Contreras] That was
really the beginning

of when Chicago was becoming
a mecca for the blues.

The interesting thing
about that scene

for the Staple Singers

is that there were
so many folks that presaged it.

Mavis, in so many ways,
was drawing from artists

like Clara Ward
and her amazing voice.

I'm even thinking
about Lovie Austin

and Ida Cox
back in the 1920s and '30s

with some really amazing,
beautiful blues music.

I--I think there's just such
a long lineage of wild women

that all of these artists
are drawing from.

♪ My man's got a heart

♪ Like a rock

♪ Cast in the sea

[George-Warren]
Bessie Smith was

the great,
great blues singer

of the 20th century.

You know, she kind of
made the music industry boom

with her popularity
on Columbia Records.

Without Bessie Smith,
there would be no Janis Joplin.

It's one of those great
tragedies that when she died,

she was forgotten for a while,

but same thing
with Ma Rainey, too.

She was another
great, great blues singer,

and both of these women
were also very entrepreneurial

at a time when women
were barely, you know,

allowed out of the kitchen.

But thank goodness
they left behind

this incredible music.

There were so many
other women in that era

who were sadly forgotten.

[Hendryx]
When I think of the women

who were singing
back at the time,

the first time
I heard Big Mama Thornton,

this was so powerful,

and, yes, it's the name
"Big Mama Thornton,"

but I think the voice was there,
big or not,

And--

I think the other voice would
be Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

[Weymouth] They were big stars.

They were the icons
of their day.

But Sister Rosetta,

I didn't even know who she was

until maybe
the last ten years.

I said, "Who is this?
This is--

"Why did American
network television

deprive us
of these amazing people?"

♪♪♪

♪ Didn't it rain, children?

-[audience cheering]
-♪ Rain? Oh yes

♪ Didn't it? Yes

♪ Didn't it?
You know it did ♪

♪ Didn't it?

♪ Oh, oh, yeah

I loved Sister Rosetta Tharpe

playing the guitar
in her high heels,

in her fur coat, and a dress,

rocking out on the guitar.

I mean, it's just, like,
badassery, you know?

She's just doing her thing.

♪ Oh, my Lord, how it rained

[guitar solo]

Over the years,

we've had some great,
great female singers.

Etta James, I loved her.

Oh, she's a fun person, too.

I love Sarah Vaughan.

And, of course, Aretha.

She's the greatest.

♪ Ooh, your kisses

♪ Sweeter than honey

♪ And guess what?

♪ So is my money

♪ All I need

♪ Is just a little respect
when you get back ♪

-♪ When you get home
-♪ Just a little bit

♪ No doubt about it,
yeah ♪

♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T

♪ Find out
what it means to me ♪

♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T

♪ Take care of TCB

♪ Oh

♪ A little respect
Baby ♪

-♪ Just a little bit
-♪ A little respect

-♪ I get by
-♪ Just a little bit

-♪ Keep on by
-♪ Just a little bit

-♪ Whoo
-♪ Just a little bit

-♪ I'm not lying
-♪ Just a little bit

♪ Respect

♪ That's what I want

♪ Respect

♪ Sure what I need

♪ Respect

♪ I gotta have it

♪ Just a little bit

♪♪♪

In the 1950s,
you get these incredible artists

taking different eras of music

and combining it together

and creating
a whole new genre of music.

It was the beginning
of rock 'n' roll.

One of the great
early rock 'n' rollers

was Wanda Jackson.

♪ A hard-headed woman

♪ A soft-hearted man

♪ They've been causing trouble

♪ Ever since the world began

♪ Oh yeah,
ever since the world began ♪

♪ Whoo, yeah

♪ Well, a hard-headed woman

♪ Is a thorn
in the side of a man ♪

♪ Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh

♪ A hard-headed woman

♪ Is a thorn
in the side of a man ♪

Let's go again. Yeah.

Back in the day, Doris Day
was kind of the role model,

just to stand there
and sweetly sing,

and Wanda puts all
this kind of raunch into it

with that amazing voice
and her movement.

her incredible outfits that
her mom made with the fringe,

so I love Wanda Jackson.

She really
kicked down the doors

of the boys' club of
those early rockabilly dudes.

Wanda Jackson is a pioneer,

and I think that--

you know, she was one of
the original bad girls.

She has had a massive influence

over bridging rock 'n' roll
and country music.

Wanda Jackson is
an absolutely crucial

founding figure
in rock 'n' roll,

But, of course, at the
beginning of rock 'n' roll,

rock is colliding
with society's norms.

People were afraid that
this new phenomenon of music

endangered young people.

[Staples] In our home,
I only heard gospel music.

Pops wouldn't allow any other.

So for me
to hear rock 'n' roll,

I had to get to school,

put a quarter in the jukebox,
and play James Brown.

But, um...

it was--it was--
it was not for us to hear

when we were kids.

Black people looked at it
as the Devil's music.

You know,
"I'll Take You There."

When we recorded
"I'll Take You There,"

people started saying,
"The Staple Singers

are singing the Devil's music."

You know, because of the beat.

[singing bass line]

And people
jump up on the floor

and start dancing, you know?

So they just think,

"The Staple Singers
are gone to the Devil."

[Clayton] The church members
would tell me,

"My God, we don't want you
to sing rock 'n' roll

and sing in the church."

It was rock 'n' roll.

[chuckles]
It was--

It was what they would call
"hellish music,"

and it would lead you down
a path that was not very savory.

I believe with all of my heart

that rock 'n' roll music
is a contributing factor

to our juvenile delinquency
of today.

I 100% believe.

And why I believe that

is because I know how it feels
when you sing it.

I know what it does to you.

And I know the evil that
you get into in the beat.

If you talk to the average
teenager of today,

and you ask them what it is
about rock 'n' roll music

that they like,

and the first thing
they'll say is "The beat.

The beat. The beat."

[Staples] When we recorded
"I'll Take You There,"

I remember we were
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

That was the first time we had
gone there to make a record.

And these guys,
Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins,

David Hood, and Jimmy.

they were probably
the best rhythm section

at that time in the world.

They'd had a lot of hits
come out of there.

But long before we were
singing "I'll Take You There,"

we sang strictly gospel songs

for, oh, ten, 12 years.

We started singing in 1949,

and in 1960,

we happened to be
in Montgomery, Alabama

on a Sunday morning.

Pops said, "Listen, y'all.

This man, Martin Luther King,
is here.

I'd like to go
to his 11:00 service."

So we all got in the car
and went down

to Dexter Ave.
Baptist Church.

We heard Dr. King's sermon.

[King]
I'm worried about America.

-Yeah.
-I'm worried about our nation,

because it's sick with racism.

Pops said, "Listen, y'all,
I really like his message,

and I think that if he can
preach it, we can sing it."

And that was the beginning
of our message songs.

"March Up Freedom's Highway."

"Why? [Am I Treated So Bad]."

You know?

♪ Made up my mind

♪ And I won't turn around

♪ Made up my mind

♪ And I won't turn around

Marching up freedom's highway.

♪ Made up my mind

♪ And I won't turn around

Pops used to tell us stories

about how if a white man

was coming towards him
on the same side of the street,

he'd have to cross over,

and I couldn't believe that,

but it was real,

and it was just so sad
that it had to be that way.

But it was.

It took Pops to let me know,

"Unlock your mind, Mavis,

and see what's going on
around you."

You know, I was--
I was the youngest.

I was still having fun.
You know?

I was--I was still a kid,

but I realized
what was going on

because we were living it.

I saw how Black people
were treated in the South.

I saw the signs
for "colored only."

I saw Emmett Till,

I saw Rosa Parks,

and I knew we needed
to sing these songs to help.

Music played a big part
in the change.

A huge part.

♪ And I won't turn back

♪ And I'm on my way

♪ I'm on my way

♪ And I won't turn back

♪ And I won't
turn back ♪

♪ And I'm on my way

♪ I'm on my way

♪ And I won't turn back

♪ And I won't
turn back ♪

♪ I'm on my way

♪ Thank God I'm on my way

[Clayton]
Odetta was a folk singer.

She was very soulful.

And then she would
play this guitar,

and it was just beautiful.

She was like a mom to me,

and she would always
give me great advice

about anything
that I talked to her about.

♪♪♪

[George-Warren]
At the time, folk music

was becoming popular again,

and Odetta was trained
as an opera singer,

musical theater,

but then, she really
fell madly in love

with folk songs, blues,

and, you know, using music
as a form of protest.

She was such
a powerful presence.

[Hoff] There was so much
great folk music

when I was growing up
in the '60s,

and I loved Odetta,

the badass guitar playing
and just the soulfulness,

and I--I like it

when it's just so raw and real,
you know?

And truthful.

[George-Warren]
In the early '60s

with new faces
coming along in the folk scene,

they were in awe of Odetta,

and there were these women
working in the folk tradition

that had very powerful things
to say with their music.

[Hendryx]
The change in this country

that was going on

meant people needed a lot of--

a lot of truth,

so you had to be authentic
and be you.

Even if it was a show,
even if it was entertaining,

it had to be
authentic entertainment.

Nina Simone was just
an incredible artist

who was a musician, singer,
songwriter,

a fierce advocate
for social change,

and a friend as well.

So, you know, she was
a few years older than me,

but just being able
to have a conversation with her

about music and about what
she was fighting against...

that was very much a blueprint
for my foundation.

[Gray] Being a woman
and being Black

in the '50s and '60s,

and being really gifted
and being really smart

made her life really difficult.

So when I listen to her music,

I just feel like
I'm--I'm so blessed.

Like, I'm so blessed
to be able to hear

what came
from somebody like that.

♪♪♪

♪ Alabama's got me so upset

♪ And Tennessee's
made me lose my rest ♪

♪ Everybody knows
about Mississippi ♪

♪ Goddamn!

[Staples]
I loved Nina Simone.

She was tough. She was tough.

And when she'd hit that piano,

and stand up, and--

and turn around, and--

oh, she was powerful.

♪ Everybody knows
about Mississippi ♪

♪ Goddamn!

[Amos] Nina Simone's voice
was a challenge to wake up.

"Mississippi Goddamn."

Wow. "Goddamn"?

As a minister's daughter,
just, Goddamn,

how great is that?

But...wow.

To look at what's happening

and then have the courage
to sing about it,

that's what she stands for.

That's it!

[applause]

[Hendryx] I was able to learn
from someone like a Nina Simone,

Abbey Lincoln.

These women, they had gone
through things

that I didn't have
to go through.

In the early '60s,

I was in the girl group
Bluebelles.

We were dressed alike,

and we had coiffed hair,

and sometimes tiaras, gloves.

You know,
all the sort of, like,

trappings of the feminine.

You know, you were--

you were cute,
you were kind of these...

dolls that were on stage,

and, you know, that was about
a fantasy of women.

People really saw

the girl groups
of the '50s and '60s

as just sort of
a manufactured pop phenomenon,

acting at the behest
of the puppetry

of the, you know,

gleaming male producer
on the mount.

But I really
see girl groups like

Diana Ross and The Supremes

as breaking out
and actually seeking agency.

[Jones] Well, the first one
I noticed, I suppose,

is Diana Ross.

She had an unusual voice,

and when I now try to sing
a Diana Ross song,

the thing that I notice is

she makes everything
sound very easy.

It's so natural,

and the songs
are actually not, any of them,

not easy to sing.

[Ross] We just wanted
to do harmony things

where the three voices blend,

but as we began
to release records,

we separated ourselves into
a lead and background singers,

because in
the rhythm 'n' blues feel,

and rock 'n' roll,

this is the way it is now

with the lead voice
and the back harmony notes

or even
the back unison notes.

The Supremes were kind of
like a girl gang.

They were a little bit
more sophisticated

than, say, the Girl Gang
or The Ronettes,

who had a little meaner,
kind of, tougher stance,

and same thing
with The Shangri-Las,

but these were amazing singers.

They totally knew how
to rock a song.

I loved the girl-group thing
with the look, the hair.

like, lashes out to there,

hair higher than the sky,

and the incredible.
incredible singing,

and it was mostly Black women

that were at the forefront
of all these groups,

and so that kind of coincided
with the Civil Rights Movement.

-♪ No more brothers in jail
-Off the pigs!

-♪ Pigs are gonna get killed
-Off the pigs!

♪ No more brothers in jail

[Hendryx] The period
was very...volatile

in terms
of the country changing...

and the people who peopled
my life very closely,

a lot of them
were poets, writers,

people like Stokely Carmichael,
the Black Panthers.

Angela Davis was a friend,

Nikki Giovanni,

you know, Muhammad Ali.

You know, so all these people
were a part of my life,

and I could see
what was happening to them.

If we do not seize the time,

if we do not realize
that the time is now,

then the time will never come.

So everybody who believes it,
and can say it,

and can fight for it,
all power to the people.

[Hendryx] These were thinkers.

These were people about change.

They were people
about social change.

They were crossing lines,
kicking down doors.

You know,
they were fierce people.

That's what raised
my consciousness.

The change that had happened
in the country,

in the world,

and specifically
in our world,

there was no way of going back
to being that fantasy.

When we were the girl group
Bluebelles,

we felt that we, you know--

that we were being fake,

and that's when we began
the transition to Labelle.

I think Labelle brought
something completely different.

I was interested in writing
music about the future,

writing music
about space travel,

so that also became a part

of what it was
that we were wearing.

Larry LeGaspi and
a whole gaggle of gay guys

who were very into
a futuristic vision

of fashion and design

said, "Get rid
of what you're wearing.

"It doesn't work.

We have some better things,
better ideas for you."

Larry had a vision

about how to bring this
futuristic look to Labelle.

This just happened
about four years ago

when we changed our name
and our everything.

We saw that as Patti LaBelle
and the Bluebelles,

we weren't going
anyplace, really.

And after changing,
we could see the change,

It was very necessary.

But you seem with your music

to really be
taking us somewhere.

I get the feeling

that there's
a lot more to it than--

than the way you--
you know, the space clothes,

and I think
you're saying something.

Am I tuned in there?

The space clothes

came about
just by us being us.

It wasn't an intention
to put something, a facade up

for the people to look at
rather than to listen.

But don't you feel
that you're part of the future?

-Oh, yes.
-Yeah.

Well, in the sense of being
in the future, we're present.

We deal with
what's going on now.

♪ About love

-♪ Oh yeah
-♪ What you say, y'all

♪ Oh yeah

[Hendryx]
What we were wearing

was ornamental
and fun and creative,

but it wasn't
the reason for

our being there on stage.

The reason was to communicate.

We could have
this fantasy look,

becoming these birds.

these bird-like characters,

but also say things like,

"People of color are
going to be in the future."

People didn't know that
that's what we were saying,

but that's what we were saying.

[Contreras]
The audacity of believing

that there is a place
for you in the future

as a Black person
in America,

especially back
in the 1950s, '60s, '70s,

is--is--it's--

you know,
that takes some cojones.

Basically Labelle is just
sort of like a power trio,

because you had Patti LaBelle,
Nona Hendryx,

and then you had Sarah Dash.

Labelle was part of
a larger imagining

that was coming from growing up

around sci-fi movies
and the space race.

If you think about it,
outside of Lieutenant Uhura,

there weren't really any
Black people in those spaces.

You know?

So we're gonna imagine
our own future.

[Hendryx] We knew that people
would want to see us

because of what we looked like,

but then we can inform you

about what was
going on in the world

in a way that
was celebratory

as opposed to beating you over
the head with the issue.

[applause]

[Khan] In the late '60s,
I was still in high school,

and I was going to a lot
of Black Panther rallies.

Black Panthers
were beautiful to me,

because if you put your life
on the line for something,

that's beautiful.

I did join the Panther party,

but they wouldn't let me
do much, you know?

I was a young chick
with jeans on,

and I didn't wear shoes a lot.

I was so cool,
and, um,

I sold kisses
once to raise money.

I started a free breakfast
for children's program

with the Panthers backing,

and I became
very close to Fred Hampton.

-I.
-[crowd repeats]

-Am.
-[crowd repeats]

-A revolutionary.
-[crowd repeats]

-I am.
-[crowd repeats]

-A.
-[crowd repeats]

-Revolutionary.
-[crowd repeats]

[Khan] I loved that man.

And I used to cut class

and beeline
down to LouCity College

and watch
"Battle of the Algiers"

over and over again.

Over and friggin' over again.

It was a Panther movie.

This night watchman came in.

He said, "Y'all
not supposed to be in here,"

so we all rushed him
to the floor.

We didn't hurt him,

but while he was
on the floor, I--

I took the .38 police special,

and everybody thought
I was so...

"right on" doing that, so...
[laughs]

I took it.
I secretly took it home.

And I just had it there.

And in my mindset, I said,

"Well, you know,
if shit goes down,

I'm gonna have to use this."

And I have to make sure--

I've devoted
my life to this shit.

I have to make sure
I wanna die for this.

Do I feel that strong?

And the one main thing
about the Panthers

that I really loved

was that they're willing
to fight for something,

to die for something.

[Bobby Rush] And we are going
to see to it, Freddy...

that you did not die in vain.

[applause]

[Khan] When Fred Hampton
got killed,

that was when
I made the decision.

so I ended up throwing the gun
in Botany Pond.

And that's the first time
I really sat down

and really took stock

of what I was gonna do
for my future.

And that's when I decided
I was gonna do music.

I was with a group
called Life.

We played at five or six clubs

that were on Rush Street
in Chicago,

and we did four or five sets
a night,

but I was 16 when I started
doing that work,

and I had no business
in a club at my age.

Of course,
they didn't card anybody,

but I used to love
peppermint schnapps.

Anybody who loves
peppermint schnapps,

you have to be
pretty young, German,

or really out of your mind,

Right, so I was doing shots
of peppermint schnapps,

and so, they had to, like,

pour me in the car
most of the nights.

But, in retrospect,

singing that much,
it was training,

and I did develop some kind
of stamina and strength.

But those were good days.

I--you know, I was--

I don't think
I can think of a time

where I was happier.

You know, it was
a great place to be.

You'd meet all the bands,

and that's where I met
the guys from Rufus,

'cause they were also
playing the same...

five or six clubs
that were on Rush Street.

So, whenever I had
my 20-minute break,

I'd run across the street
to see Rufus,

because they were doing
all original music,

and this girl
named Paulette McWilliams

was singing lead.

Paulette was very beautiful,
and she knew everything,

and she taught me a lot
about makeup

and, you know, what to wear,
and things like that.

She sort of
really was a big sister.

But then Paulette decided
that she was going to go solo.

The guys immediately
asked me to join them.

That was training
for the rest of my life. Really.

In that day, it wasn't unusual

for a band to be
discovered at a club,

and to sign a record deal
on the spot at the very club.

♪ Love me right

♪ What's the matter with you?

♪ Hold me tight

♪ Why must I tell you
what to do? ♪

♪ Smilin', smilin'

♪ Comes as no surprise, no

♪ So you're smilin'

♪ Ain't hidin'

♪ But what I see in your eyes

♪ The story goes

♪ A little deeper

♪ Than the eye can see

♪ Yeah

♪ Stop runnin' the game

Her artistry,
her gift,

and the legacy
to come from a band

and to be still standing strong

no matter what, you know,

that is
the one and only Chaka Khan.

[Staples] The first time
I heard her sing

was in our basement
at our rehearsal.

I remember her singing
"Amazing Grace."

And, and Pops,
we all talked about this kid,

she has a beautiful voi--

Chaka was no more
than 13, 14 years old.

She just had this high--

and she had a smile on her face
when she would sing.

[Contreras]
To an entire generation,

Chaka Khan represents
Black radical imagination.

So you saw her with her jeans

that were festooned
with feathers

and her little midriff top,

and she was fronting
this bad band,

and she embodied
this joie de vivre

that made you feel like
anything was possible.

Here's the thing
with Chaka Khan.

You can't deejay
a Chaka Khan song

without getting the room
just completely lit.

Like, she's just fire.

[Jones] For me, there were two
great vocalists at that time.

The first was Aretha,
and the next was Chaka,

and they both had licks
they did

that would be emulated
by all singers

for the rest of time.

♪ Yeah is Aretha.

Chaka was ♪ Oh, whoa

It's just this thing they do.

It's a different thing
that you might not even notice,

but as a singer, you go,
"Nobody's done that before.

Nobody's done that before."

They brought it,

and now everybody in its wake

emulates it or imitates it.

[Khan] Rufus was like
a really tight-knit family.

I was the little sister,

and if I had a boyfriend,
the guys had to approve him,

and things like that.

I mean, we were on the road.

They would come to my room,
do a walk-through,

make sure no one
was in the room.

I was a prisoner. I was--

Once I was with Rufus,
I was a prisoner on the road.

I couldn't go anywhere.

Certain members of the band
would make sure

I would stay pretty fucked up,
you know?

So I was, you know, pliant.

It can be
an ugly, ugly world,

an ugly scene, you know?

My A&R man,
his name was Otis Smith,

and he was a very powerful guy.

He was the guy who decided
that the band would be

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.

That was the beginning
of the end

for Rufus, obviously.

I was working
so hard all the time.

I don't think I'd found...

my power.

When I became a solo artist,

because of the way
I was living before,

was I just went head-on

into some places that
I--I--I shouldn't have.

Or, you know, were dangerous.

Etta James happened to be
at the Warner Brothers offices

when I was having a meeting.

She pulled me aside
and into a room,

and closed the door,

and she said,
"I've been watching you.

"I know--I know
what you're doing.

"You're doing a good job.

"You sound beautiful,

but I don't want you
to end up like this."

She pulled up her sleeve,

and I saw tracks.

There's tracks
up and down her arms.

"I don't want you
to end up like this.

I don't want you like this."

When I saw her tracks,

I was like--
it was high impact.

That was like some wild shit.

I said, "Don't worry, Etta.
Don't worry."

I said, "It's not gonna
happen to me."

[applause]

There's no reason

why I shouldn't
be making as much money

on tours
as the Rolling Stones.

There's no reason
why I shouldn't be.

But I'm not. You know?

There's no way that we are seen
as equals in this game.

Period.

With the guys. Okay?

Forget about it. [laughs]

You know, you just have
to go through them.

You know what I'm saying?

You just have
to just go through them

to get what you want.

I had to fight for that.

I mean, I used to keep my band
in check, you know?

If they started out
a song on stage,

and I didn't like the intro,

I would just say, "Stop!"

[laughs]

I'd say, "Stop everything.

We're gonna do this song
over again."

In front of the audience,
I'd do that.

So...

I--yeah, I was doing
stupid shit like that.

It was--you know, but...

I had to remind them
who the boss was.

You have to be very meticulous
about what is yours

and what you want for it,

because I am

a very strong, opinionated,
ass-kicking woman.

So I took my power back.

When I got pregnant with
my daughter, my first child,

I was 20,

and Otis Smith said to me--

I told him I was pregnant.

He said, "How the hell

"am I going to make
a fucking star out of you

if you're gonna be
having babies?"

I said,
"Let me tell you something.

"I'm going to be a star,

"with or without you.

"With a baby,
or without a baby.

"Any way I come.

I'm gonna be all right."

♪♪♪

[Staples] In the late '60s
and into the '70s,

people were more alert

of what was going on
around them.

People were
so much more ready

to stand up...

and to--to work together
to get it right.

[Khan]
It seemed like a mass...

revelation was happening.

With the Vietnam War,
a lot of the guys that went out

nice, clean,
healthy young guys,

and came back addicts,

and all they wanted to do
was be musicians,

or just--wild out, you know?

And everyone is trusting

and this beautiful,
open-hearted thing was going on.

It'll never happen again.

[Staples] It was just a time
you--you heard music.

Music had a lot to do with it.

I liked all kind of music,

and I've been fortunate
to meet

most of the artists
that I loved.

'Cause there would be times

when we would be on
the same show, you know,

especially, like, festivals.

Tina Turner.

We all went to Ghana together
on the same plane,

and we had big fun.

Another one was Janis Joplin.

I first met Janis Joplin

at Fillmore West
in San Francisco.

Janis came into
the dressing room.

She had
a rabbit-fur shoulder bag

with her Southern Comfort
in there.

You know, and she said,
"Which one of you is Mavis?"

And the way she said it,

I was almost afraid
to raise my hand.

I said--I said, "I'm Mavis."

She says,
"Oh. I like your voice.

My name is Janis,
and I'm making a record."

She hadn't even recorded yet
when I met her,

but I'd say about
six months after that,

Janis was on top of the charts.

Janis had transcended
this "pretty" thing.

She was so attractive,

and you wanted to hug her,
as well as become her,

and I don't know
how she did it.

She was boyish,
but she was totally a woman.

She didn't seem to have

anything to do
with the hippies.

She was more like
that other generation.

[Cavett] Why aren't there
more ladies who do what you do?

-Sing, you mean?
-No, do--the kind you do.

You're not in the same category
with Kate Smith, or--

I don't know why.
I always wondered,

because it
seemed so natural to me.

But, um. I don't know.

It's not feminine, maybe,
that's why.

I mean, to get down
and really get into music,

get on the bottom side
of the music,

instead of float around
on the top

like most chick singers do.

I think they [vocalizes]
on the top of the melody

instead of get into
the feeling of the music.

I don't know.

[George-Warren]
Janis had to blaze a trail

because there were no women

doing the kind of work
that she was doing.

She wasn't playing the game
of a pretty little girl singer,

which was a role that had been
"opened" to women.

Janis just laughed at,
you know?

She wanted to do things
the way she wanted to do them.

And it was through
her many influences

and her own incredible talent
that out came Janis Joplin.

Whatever the song needed,
she could bring to that song,

and she was one of the few
women that was in that scene.

There was Grace Slick
with Jefferson Airplane,

but when Janis came along,

there weren't a lot of women
doing it.

She's driven about 3,000 miles
to get here in her Cadillac,

which she says is sometimes
gray and sometimes brown,

but right now is mostly muddy.

So let's have a big welcome
for Big Mama Thornton.

[applause]

[music begins]

♪ Well, you know
hard luck and trouble ♪

♪ Is my only friend

♪ I wanna let you know, baby

♪ I've been down
ever since I walked in ♪

♪ You know, I was born
under a bad sign ♪

[Terkel]
People who influenced you.

Big Mama Thornton.

[Joplin]
Yeah, she's still playing.

We've played with her twice.

She's fantastic.

[Terkel] Did you and she
sing together?

[Joplin] I wouldn't get
on the same stage with her.

Oh, she'd kill me. [laughing]

No, but we have played
at the same bill, you know?

And I was absolutely
terrified. [laughs]

But it was really
a thrill for me.

[George-Warren] One of the
great, great rock 'n' rollers

who came out in the 1950s
is Big Mama Thornton,

and of course,
as the world turns, you know,

in the 1960s,

Janis sees Big Mama Thornton

playing a little club
in San Francisco

and hear her do
"Ball and Chain,"

which had not even
been recorded yet,

and that really became
Janis Joplin's signature song

after she and her bandmates
saw her do it.

She goes backstage,
meets Big Mama,

and says,
"Hey, can we do your song?"

And Big Mama was like,
"Yeah,

as long as you don't,
you know, F it up."

So that really became

Big Brother
and the Holding Company's

breakthrough song for them,

and what got them, you know,

their notoriety
when they played it

at--at Monterey Pop.

♪ And I said, oh, whoa, whoa

♪ Well, honey,
this can't be,

♪ Oh, b-b-b-b-be--be--
baby, no ♪

♪ In vain

♪ I said, no, no, no, yeah

♪ Aah

♪ And I--

♪ And I want somebody
to tell me, come on ♪

♪ Tell me why

♪ Want to know why

♪ Oh, people tell me why love

♪ Honey, why love is like

♪ Well, it's like

♪ A ball and

♪ And a chain

[cheering]

[George-Warren]
Everybody remembers

Mama Cass voicing,
like, "Wow."

I think it was
just such a shock

to see someone

who was able to put it
all out there on the stage

without holding back.

It was this kind of opening of,

"This is who I am
and this is my music,"

and it was--It just raised
people out of their seats.

It was like a--

an orgy and a religious
experience at the same time.

[Jones]
"Ball and Chain" remains

one of the greatest
live recordings ever done.

I don't know why we don't
hear from it more.

The shame attached to dying

in a motel by yourself
from heroin?

Why is she not remembered
and talked about

as much as any guy
who died by himself in a motel?

She was left behind
as quickly as they could.

"Oh, good,
I'm so glad she's gone.

Let's tie her and go on,
and move into the 1970s."

♪♪♪

[Wilson] In the early '70s,
the culture had shifted so much,

mainly from the Beatles.

We were just fresh-faced,

apple-cheeked girls
from Seattle.

We just had it in our cap

that we were just gonna
get on those stages

and rock out on big stages,

and it worked. [laughs]

♪♪♪