All language subtitles for BBC Arena 2017 American Epic 4of4 The Sessions_Subtitles01_Unnamed

This programme contains some
strong language

BAND PLAYS

# You people can talk about
your kosher-rolling mamas

# While you're cheating with your
high-speeding brown

# I got a woman way down
in Mobile, Alabama

# She's the warmest thing
in that town

# Doggone her skin

# She ain't got no papa,
leave me alone

# She ain't got no big boy,
please take me home

# This mama just got one
object in view

# And what she said to me
I know she's bound to say to you

# She'll say

# Papa, if you ain't got no
matrimonial inclinations

# Then keep your hands to yourself

# Daddy, if you ain't got
no bungalow-made reservations

# Son, don't let your hands
be felt

# Girl, I'm this red-hot papa you
heard so much talk about

# But this is an ice-bestest woman

# Who'll mortally
put your fire out, hmm

# Papa, if you ain't got
no matrimonial inclinations

# Just keep your hands to yourself

# Do-do-do

# When I first met you

# I had no shoes

# But look at me now

# I've got these bare-footed blues

# Papa, if you ain't got
no matrimonial intentions

# Please keep your hands to
yourself

# Do-do-do... #

BAND PLAYS

# Papa, if you ain't got
no matrimonial inclinations

# Please keep your hands
to yourself

# Daddy, if you ain't got
no bungalow-made reservations

# Son, don't let your hands be felt

# Well, I'm this red-hot papa
you heard so much talk about

# But you're a ice-bestest woman
who mortally put my fire out

# Papa, if you ain't got
no matrimonial intentions

# Oh, death, where is that sting? #

Power it up. Feel lucky? Is that one
of the first amplifiers ever made?

Yes, the amplifier rack.
Electric.

It would have been wheeled
into the early studios.

They installed them in '25. The
first audio amplifiers ever built.

Whoa!

That is wild. It's fantastic.

This is one of the first condenser
microphones. This is from 1928.

BAND PLAYS

Just keep the pace.

Did you say it took 20 years to
put all this together?

Like ten years or so, yeah.

I was kind of researching the
history of it. Yes, I see.

It's very complicated.

But it's brilliant because
they were dealing with rocks

not long before this! Exactly.

This is the kind of machine they
recorded Charlie Patton on in 1929.

And it's the only one in the world.
It's the only one left.

That's the first time one's been
working in 80 years.

It's pulley-driven.

You've got three minutes to finish
your song before the weight hits

the floor.

GUITAR PLAYS

# If the river was whisky
and I was a duck

# I'd dive to the bottom
and I'd never come up

# Tell me how long
have I got to wait?

# Can I get you now?
Must I hesitate?

# If the river was whisky
and the banks were wine

# You'd see me in bathing just
any old time

# Tell me how long
have I got to wait?

# Can I get you now?
Must I hesitate?

# Look here, woman, what you went
and you done

# You caused me to love you,
now your manner's gone

# Tell me how long
have I got to wait?

# Can I get you now?
Must I hesitate?

# Hesitating stockings
and hesitating shoes

# Believe me, I've got the
hesitation blues

# Tell me how long
have I got to wait?

# Can I get you now?
Must I hesitate? #

MUSIC PLAYS BACK

That's pretty great.

APPLAUSE

Well done. That's fantastic.

You don't get to see that every day,
do you?

Cut a record and play it back in
the next five minutes.

That's the master now, OK?
Don't play that ever again.

LAUGHTER

# ..She ain't got no papa
leave me alone

# She ain't got no big boy,
please take me home... #

Yes.

# ..The one thing she got,
this object in view

# Well, what she said to me

# Lord, I know she'll
see it through... #

Recording studios in general have
sort of been churches for music.

Always have been and basically
always will be, I hope.

You had to come rehearsed with
your songs ready to go.

This is your one moment to do that.

And all the recordings since the
beginning of this recording

technology were like that.

You came to the room prepared
for this moment.

So, that's like going to church,
that's like getting on your

best clothes and going to church
for this moment to happen.

So, we should record
in this 1920s style.

I mean, everybody, record
everybody in this style, you know?

Rappers, pop singers,
blues singers, country artists.

I mean, it's sort of like if
the field is wide open.

All these amazing artists
are going to record

with the very first
electric recording machine.

And this is a very romantic way
of recording.

You can't fix this later.

Any mistakes that happen are going
to be there in the finished record,

which is a great place to be.

It's a scary place to be
for some people, too.

This gave me a chance to go,
like, through a time machine.

It's like, you know,

you hear old records and you hear
that sound, the way they

sound and you just, you can picture
how it must have been back then.

You kind of picture the world and
you hear the music in the

song from back then.

You can hear a different world.

And so recording here is like
that time machine.

It brought me back to that world.

MUSIC PLAYS

# I went to my window

# My window was propped

# I went to my door

# My door was locked

# I stepped right back

# I shook my head

# A big, black nigger
in my folding bed

# I shot through the window

# I broke the glass

# I never seen a little nigger
run so fast

# He's on the road again

# Lord, a natural-born... #

BAND WARMS UP

# I wouldn't marry a black woman
here's the reason why Why?

# Black women's evil,
do things on the sly No!

# You look for your supper
to be good and hot Hot!

# She never put the neck bone
in the pot

# She's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
She's on the road again

# She's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
On the road again

# I went to my window
my window was propped

# I went to my door
my door was locked

# I stepped right back
I shook my head

# A big, black nigger's
in my folding bed

# I shot through the window

# I broke the glass

# I never seen a little nigger
run so fast

# He's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
On the road again

# He's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# God, a natural-born Eastman
On the road again

# Your friend at your house
just to rest his hat

# Next thing he wanna
know where your husband's at

# She says, "I don't know
he's on his way to the pen"

# Come on, Mama, let's get on the
road again

# She's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
She's on the road again

# He's on the road again
# Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
On the road again

# I'm with my black woman
let me tell you why Why?

# Black women's evil,
do things on the sly No!

# You look for your supper to be
good and hot Hot!

# She never put the neck bone
in the pot

# She's on the road again
Sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
She's on the road again

# She's on the road again
Just as sure as you're born

# Lord, a natural-born Eastman
On the road again

# Yeah!

# Uh-huh

# Yeah. #

The lyrics in the song that we
did was basically

a street rap record today.

MUSIC PLAYS

When you hear me saying it,

you might think I wrote it because
it sounds like something today.

This is it, man. This is cool.

And these guys are talking about
carrying guns, shooting something,

protecting their honour, chasing
after some woman

who's done them dirty.

This is not high-society black
folks, this is the down under,

you know, street, wild black folk
that they're singing about.

And it's the same as today,
it's the same as rap music today.

So, it just tells you something
about our American culture,

American music and, you know,

when they look down on hip-hop music
and look down

because of the words that we use and
stuff like that,

it didn't start with hip-hop,
it started a long time ago.

It started with America.

BAND PLAYS

KNOCK AT THE DOOR

Come on in. I know you.

Welcome, welcome.

Welcome, welcome.
So, you guys are the mix.

Where we place you is the faders.

One foot this way. Fader up.

I like that concept. Very easy to
understand. Yeah, exactly.

Got about ten seconds.
It's rocking. Let's do it.

BAND PLAYS

# Well, the ugliest li'l thing
you ever see before

# He didn't be a tramp,
he's no hobo

# He's an ugly li'l baby
on the scout

# He's a terrible li'l creature
hush yo' mouth

# He's an awful li'l thing

# He's a killer diller
from the South

# He walked in the
store where I was at

# I looked to his face
looked like a cryin' cat

# He's an ugly li'l creature
on the scout

# He's a terrible li'l creature,
hush yo' mouth

# He's an awful li'l thing

# He's a killer diller
from the South

# He walked down the street
lookin' in a showcase

# His stacker walked out,
said you can take my place

# Cos he's a ugly li'l
sucker on the scout

# He's a terrible li'l baby,
hush yo' mouth

# He's an awful li'l sucker

# He's a killer diller
from the South

# He walked in the hotel
and everybody left

# He looked in the glass
and just smiled to himself

# Cos he's an ugly li'l baby
on the scout

# A terrible li'l somethin',
hush yo' mouth

# He's an awful li'l creature

# He's a killer diller from the
South. #

This is the weight that powers
the entire cutting lathe.

It's like a grandfather clock and
the length of the rope

determines how long you
can record for.

So, as the weight hits the ground,

the recording's over and
the song is done.

As the weight falls,

there is a governor in here that
controls the speed of the belt

and it does that by having these
three lead weights on springs

and so as the balls fly out, they'll
go, say like 45rpm, 60rpm,

78rpm and when it hits the speed
you want, it's touching the leather

pads, here, applying friction and
slowing the machine down.

That's was controls the speed of
the motor,

and then from there it follows
a belt to the turntable, here,

and then it goes through a series of
gears.

Into a gearbox, here.

That controls the lines printed
on the record.

And then from there,
it goes into the feed screw, here,

and that's what makes the lines
on the record.

The cutting head is basically
a small speaker,

so you're just moving the
speaker back and forth

and attached
to that is the cutting stylus.

Sitting on the floor is the
bellows pump which sucks

the shavings from the stylus as
it cuts the record.

BAND PLAYS

Hey, Nick? Nick?

So, here's the story
with the warning lights up here.

So, when Nick hits the blue light,

he's got the machines turning and
that means we should be quiet

until the red light goes out
and then the song can start.

And then it'll stay red the whole
time until he lifts the needle off

and then he'll hit the blue light to
let you know you can speak again.

Make sure you do it for
a long time at the end. OK.

So, after the blue, we're good.

Yeah, once it says blue, then it's
time to get ready for the cutting

and then at the end,
blue means we can talk again.

Do you want to just go right in
and do a cut? Yes. All right.

All right, Nick, you ready?

LOUD BANG

Oh!

What was that?

The weight broke.

We broke the machine
going too heavy.

What was that?

You got another one?
We have length on that one.

Of all the things that could've
gone wrong. The weight breaks.

Exactly.

I can't even lift it.

So, what's the weight of the...
105 pounds.

That would break a foot, wouldn't
it? Probably break a toe.

If you were able to relieve it
from here,

I could go take it over to that car
shop next door. Oh, really?

There's an upholstery place or
what? If they do upholstery...

You know what? There is an
upholstery place.

I'll take it over. There's a place
right down the street. Oh, yeah?

I'll take it over. If you...
Let me get it off of here. Yeah.

Could that be repaired, like,
so it'll be as good as new?

Yeah, it should be fine.
I mean, that's a freaky thing, man.

What the hell?! We're not going to
use this,

we're going to extend it and
make a new piece right here.

Oh, I see. Wrap that round and
sew that right there.

There's this place I pass every day
coming here.

They look like they're
always open.

Here you go. Let's see what this
girl's got.

We kind of have an emergency here.
This broke. OK.

And I need to put
a new piece through here.

Do you have a sewing machine here?

Oh, yes. This one here?

SEWING MACHINE NOISE

Thank you so much for letting us do
this. We really appreciate it.

You have lots of talent.
Do I know you? I don't know.

Maybe we went to school together.
Maybe previous life.

OK.

Here we go.

OK.

Yeah, seems to be OK now.

All right. OK, here we go.

BAND PLAYS

THEY SING IN SPANISH

PIANO PLAYS

HE MURMURS LYRICS

# I cheated on myself

# Got to keep on getting high

# If I can't save my sinnin' ways

# Gonna keep on getting high. #

Do you like that?

I like the way you started.
When I'm awake, I'm looking back.

HE MUMBLES

# I cheated just to get on by

# If I can't save my
sinning ways... #

Change there.

# ..My sinning ways

# Want to keep on going... #

Yes, like that.

PIANO PLAYS

That was done twice, there?
Can you do that twice at once?

Those three chords, "living in me"?

# Keep out the devil

# Living in me

# Living in me... #

That was cool. Yeah?
Hang on a minute.

# Living in me... #

Nice.

# ..To keep drowning the devil

# Living in me. #

Yes. Want to play on this?

Well, if I could just lean next to
you and sort of like get

really lots of tambourine,
really annoying.

LAUGHTER

I don't know what note to hit
there. You're going...

# Good old-fashioned love

# Two fingers of whisky

# Good ol'-fashion... #

What did you say?

# ..Two fingers of whisky

# Good ol'-fashioned rye

# Two fingers of whisky

# Good ol'-fashioned rye

# Two fingers of whisky

# That is all I need

# To keep drowning the devil

# Living in me... #

Is that Mr Taupin? Yes, it is. Ah!

You know Jack? No, I don't. How are
you? Great to see you.

How are you? Really great. Yeah?

He'll tell you. Bessie Smith made a
record here. Really.

Amplifier, it's the very first
amplifier. That's great.

I just saw that, I thought it was
an espresso machine.

LAUGHTER

That's outrageous.
Yeah, that's great.

I'll let you...

Bernie Taupin ever come in

and not liked what you're doing with
the lyrics?

Never done. In 46 years of writing,

he's never said anything bad
about us.

He just walks in? Walks away from
it and that's the way it happens.

He walks in and hears it
and that's the way.

It's never been in the same room.
Weird, isn't it? So cool.

I still get excited,

playing a melody to the newly
written lyric as I did when I

started 46 years ago and I never
questioned the way we write

and it's just kismet.

So cool.

PIANO PLAYS

All right, we're ready to go.
Got my guitar.

BUZZER

# I cheated just to get on by

# Yeah, I cheated just to get on by

# If I can't save my sinning ways

# Gonna keep on getting high

# I'm sleeping off the weekend run

# Sleeping off the weekend run

# When I'm awake, I'm looking back

# At all the ships I've sunk

# Two fingers of whisky

# Good ol'-fashioned rye

# Wish I were bound for glory

# And Prohibition dry

# Two fingers of whisky

# That is all I need

# To keep drowning the devil

# Living in me

# I'm hanging on the hook of the
moon

# Yeah, hanging on that crescent
moon

# If I don't get out of this battle

# Lord, you're gonna see me soon

# Just like a dog
I wanna howl

# Like an old dog
I wanna howl

# Used up all my aces

# So, who's gonna save me now?

# Two fingers of whisky

# Good old-fashioned rye

# Wish I were bound for glory

# And Prohibition dry

# Two fingers of whisky

# That's all I need

# To keep drowning the devil

# Living in me

# Ohh, two fingers of whisky

# Good ol'-fashioned rye

# Wish I were bound for glory

# And Prohibition dry

# Two fingers of whisky

# That is all I need

# To keep drowning the devil

# Living in me

# Living in me. #

BUZZER

Yeah. That was good. That was my
favourite. It rocked, too.

And the choir parts felt good.

Yay.

GUITARS PLAY

# It's all out on the old railroad

# It's all out on the sea

# All out on the old railroad

# As far as I can see

# Swing and turn
Jubilee

# Live and learn
Jubilee

# Hardest work I ever did

# Working on the farm

# Easiest work I ever did

# Swinging my true love's arm

# Swing and turn
Jubilee

# Live and learn
Jubilee

# If I had a needle and thread

# As fine as I could sew

# I'd sew my true love to my side

# And down this creek I'd go

# Swing and turn
Jubilee

# Live and learn
Jubilee. #

BAND PLAYS

When I first auditioned at
Columbia Records,

somebody said, "You're so young."
And everybody said...

I was 15. And I said,

"Yeah, but I'm channelling
an old man

"that worked on the railroad
that's 90 years old."

And he was kind of like,
"What in the world?"

But it's weird, I've heard these
melodies, these old melodies.

And I don't know... I feel like,
sometimes, I'm just channelling

things that I've heard since I was
a little, bitty girl.

Looking at what you recorded,
you would have plugged into this,

back in the '20s...
When those record companies,

Columbia and Victor, they started
organising talent contests

throughout the South,

thousands of people were travelling
for hundreds of miles

for these auditions... So they would
advertise in local papers and say,

"Columbia Records are coming to
Johnson City, Tennessee.

"If you would like to be
immortalised in a phonograph record,

"turn up on the 14th of April..."

And I would have went if I saw
that in the paper,

even in my lifetime, so...
Yeah. Yeah, I would have.

And so most of the people
making the records

had never heard records
themselves.

Yeah.

Radio hadn't come to rule America,
so if you were living

in Avalon, Mississippi,

you hadn't really heard anything
outside of your local town.

So, you can see all the strands of
what make up American culture

before it starts mingling together.

Music did it.
Yeah, and music did it.

Which makes music so important,
that's what tells a story,

when you sing it or when you put
a story in words to music,

somehow people take it gentler.

I don't know, there's something
about it that makes it instantly
relatable.

MUSIC: Like A Rose
by Ashley Monroe

# I was only 13

# When Daddy died

# Momma started drinking

# And my brother just quit trying

# I'm still bouncing back

# Heaven only knows

# How I came out like a rose

# Ran off with whats-his-name

# When I turned 18

# It got me out of North Dakota

# But it did not change a thing

# I left it in a yard

# All covered up with snow

# And I came out like a rose

# Sitting in this diner with
a coffee in my hand

# Waiting on
a bus to some promised land

# Well, I got a one-way ticket

# As far as it goes

# And I came out like a rose

# So I'm headed South to anywhere

# That ain't so damn cold

# Where I can warm my heart and
shake the chill from my bones

# It took a while to get here

# It's been a long, hard road

# And I came out like a rose

# Sitting in this diner
With a coffee in my hand

# Waiting on
a bus to some promised land

# Well, I got a one-way ticket

# As far as it goes

# And I came out like a rose

# Well, it took a while to get here

# It's been a long, hard road

# And I came out like a rose

# Oohh

# Ahhh

# Ahhhh... #

ECHOING MUSIC

TUNING UP

Here we go...

One chord...

Four chord...

HE SINGS

OK, so it probably will be...

# Da, da, da, da

# Ta, da, da, da... #

Are you ready? Yeah.
OK, Nick, let's bootleg...

MUSIC: High Water Everywhere
by Charley Patton

# Backwater at Blytheville

# Backed up all around

# Backwater at Blytheville
Done took Joiner town

# It was 50 families and
children come to sink and drown

# The water was risin' up at my
friend's door

# The water was risin'
up to my friend's door

# The man said to his womenfolk

# Lord, we got to go

# We had to get outta there

# The water was risin'
Got up all in my bed

# Yeah, the water was risin',

# Got all up in my bed

# I thought I would take a trip

# Out on that old ice sled

# Oh, I can hear, Lord,
water up on me

# Oh, I can hear water up on my door

# I couldn't get no boats

# Nobody going there no more

# So the water was risin' our men
sinkin' down

# Oh, the water was risin'

# People sinking down

# It was 50 men women and children
come to sink and drown

# Oh, Lordy, grown men, women

# Grown men, women, they drown

# Oh, women
and children, oh, they sinkin' down

# I couldn't see nobody's house

# Nobody could be found

# Backwater at Blytheville
Backed up all around

# Backwater at
Blytheville, done took Joiner town

# It was 50 families and children
come to sink and drown. #

I love a lot of Charley Patton
stuff. He was kind of like

the template for
a whole lot of people, um...

Howlin' Wolf, Papa Charlie Jackson
and the interesting thing

about his voice is that it goes
back to an older African style,

where they mask the voice in this
kind of rough sound

and usually surround themselves
with some sort of spirit,

raffia-styled thing and nobody
knows who this person is

cos he changes his voice and comes
out at a certain part of

the ceremony to raise the
consciousness or excitement,

or bring down a certain spirit or
deity or whatever.

So, it's just interesting hearing it
come up in the blues

the way it did and then travel
though several generations

of the blues and today's song -

High Water Everywhere is the
narration of huge flood

that happened in this town -
from somebody that was at

ground zero. It's not
a happy song, but it's very powerful

the way he delivers it, with himself
as just a single musician

and a guitar.
Every time I hear it, it just,

it's one of those songs that just
stop you and make you listen to it.

What was it that inspired you to
participate in these sessions?

Just the idea of it, to be back at
the front of the recording industry,

I mean, this is incredible.

You know, I mean,
the same machines that my heroes

and mentors have played on and
that this industry got

jump-started from, I'd certainly
like to be a part of that, you know.

And reverence for them is to come
back and do it this way. Yeah.

Yeah, and it's the sound - I don't
think you can get any better

than vinyl. I mean,
you can get clean, blah-blah-blah,

pristine, you know, get all this.
But you can't get that juice.

It's like - give two people
a chicken and some vegetables

and two stoves to cook on...

Unless they're twins and they grew
up in the same house,

one chicken is going to be good and
one chicken's going to be

off the hook!

HE CHUCKLES

And that's the way this is for
me - off the hook, I love it.

Are you telling me this capsule is
the exact same capsule

inside this mic?
Yeah, yeah, the same uh...

diaphragm but the electronics
are different.

Same diaphragm,
different electronics.

And this is the very first
microphone? Right, yeah.

This is one they started to use
in 1925 and '26 and '27.

This is actually an
omnidirectional microphone,

however, it's very directional,
high frequencies,

so even though, in theory,
you won't be able to sit here

or here and sound the same, because
of its directional high frequencies,

there's a big EQ shift as you move
from left to right on

the microphone,
as you've experienced. Yeah.

I like this part of it, though,
I like the positioning

of the people instead of the
microphones. Right.

Makes it a completely
different experience,

you would never do that in
a modern recording studio... Uh-huh.

You would never keep the microphone
in one place and move people

around it, really. You basically put
things where you want them

and put the mics near them or as far
away as to your taste. Right.

This is a more interesting
way to do it. Yeah.

So, Bernard tells me that
Justin Bieber and the Beatles are

coming on. Nice, excellent.
So, we'll be right back after

these messages.

# Sing the blues... #

OK, that's really good.

What is it, though,
where's it coming in? 3.50?

Oh, time-wise, we have four minutes,
about 4.10. Is it, really?

I think we played the slow part
really slow.

We need to come down to
around 3.30. That's all the time we

have on this machine. 4.10 now,
under four is better.

The other option will just be

that I pick it up...

You know. I do that pick up
St Louis Blues

and then just end it on the verse.

It seems like that's
a little too quick...

Is that after the guitar solo?

No, this is where it picks up
the first time...

That would be just be
me singing the whole time.

And then the guitar solo?

And then the guitar solo, but
that's probably only going to

give you 10, 15 seconds.
Can you do a shorter guitar solo?

Hold on a second, yeah.

That's how we do it. OK.

So you do half of that and we go
into the two and into the five

and then into that outro.
Let's see how long that is...

What have we got? 3.23. Well done!

Yeah, we got it, all right!

You have a pop single!

LAUGHTER

MUSIC: St Louis Blues

# Oh, I hate to see that evening sun
go down

# Yes, I do

# Oh, I hate to see that
evening sun go down...

INDISTINCT

# ..Feelin' tomorrow
just like I feel today

# Feelin' tomorrow just like I feel
today

# I'll pack
my truck go back to St Louis today

# St Louis woman
with her diamond ring

# She drags that man around her

# Just like a little apron string

# If it wasn't for her and her
hair

# If it wasn't for that
St Louis woman

# You know he would have gone
nowhere

# Nowhere... #

Let me tell you about it...

# I got the St Louis Blues

# St Louis Blues

# As blue as I can be

# Oh, I hate to see that
evening sun go down

# Oh

# Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah

# It means that gal of mine

# Oh, she's making her last go-round

# Oh, my good gal has left me

# Left the South,
sing the blues. #

MUSIC ECHOES

MUSIC: The Cuckoo
by Clarence "Tom" Ashley

# Oh, the cuckoo

# She's a good bird

# And she warbles as she flies

# And she never hollers coo-coo

# Till the fourth day of July

# Jack of diamonds

# I know you of old

# You robbed my poor pockets

# Of my silver and gold

# I've gambled in England

# And I've gambled in Spain

# I bet you ten dollars

# That I'll beat you the very next
game

# Gonna get me, get me a shotgun

# Just as long as I am tall

# Gonna fill my big shotgun

# Gonna build me a log cabin

# On a mountain far away

# Gonna live there

# With my true love

# Till we both have passed away

# Sometimes I wonder

# What makes women love men

# And I look back and I wonder

# What makes men love them. #

Come on in - the lathe room.

Nice and toasty!

Like the old wax days,
nice and toasty.

So, here's the machine,

it's weight-driven,

this is a big hunk of lead
right here.

That's 105 pounds or so.

Phew!

That's your microscope.
Exactly, yeah.

All right, diggity.

Yeah, you all been messing
around...!

How long did it take you to
put this together?

It's been a long time cos the
Western Electric rack especially,

it was only leased equipment
so none really survived all-intact,

so it's kind of pieced together,
each individual piece until

it was a complete system.
That only happened about a year ago

but I've been working on it for
a decade or so,

trying to piece it all together.

LAUGHTER

You've done this
so that nerds like me...

And others...can sit here and go,

"Ho-ho-ho!"

LAUGHTER

All right, let's go for it.

We shall see. Sounds good.

That's good, start with it there.

Can I see what's in the box?

Yeah. Just some spare parts but,
yeah...

Don't put your fingers in there,
might zap you!

Sounds, sounds good. Oh, man.

There's a tube in the bottom there.

So, how many folks were like
me and would sit their chewing gum

right on it before they start?!

Probably a lot!
The cigarette marks there... Yeah.

"Bubba, I can't hear you."
"Hold on..."

LAUGHTER

Keep in mind, Jerron, the project
of your voice. Yeah, yeah,

my guitar tends to get out of...

Out of control!

I can hear me all right, but I can't
hear the guitar... Yeah, yeah...

It's up in here? Yeah.

So, just think in terms of
projecting it into that mic,

your voice, a little bit,
without thinking about it too much.

LAUGHTER

# Candyman, salty dog

# Just give anything to see
that candyman home

# Candyman, Santa Claus

# If you can't be my candyman

# You can't see my Santa Claus

# Big leg

# Aw, sure

# I know that big leg gal

# Run, get the pitcher,
get my baby some beer

# Wish I was in New Orleans

# Just sitting on the candy store

# Little red light

# Little green light

# Little red light

# Little green light

# Little red light

# Little green light

# Stop on the red and go
on the green

# Don't mess with us in between

# Candyman, salty dog

# Candyman, Santa Claus

# Candyman, fattenin' hog

# I wish I was in New Orleans

# Sitting on a candy store. #

Yes, sir!

# And that ain't all... #

Yay!

THEY SING IN HAWAIIAN

THEY SING IN HAWAIIAN

Thank you so much for coming down.
Thank you so much for having me.

This is the earliest
and never-before-seen picture

of Ma Rainey.

Mm, it was my mother's
favourite singer.

Really?

My mother was born and raised on a

plantation in Louisiana in 1906.

So, these were her singers.
I had never heard their names.

When she told
me many of these names -

Memphis Minnie, Clara Smith,
who you never hear of.

You hear of Bessie,
but you never hear of Clara.

Lead Belly. I never heard anyone
mention those names

for the first 30 years of my career.

I'd only heard those names
from my mother.

We had a jukebox in the
living room.

My mother had records on that
jukebox by all the people

that she liked.

She would sing those songs along
with them, or whatever.

I don't think that I was trying to
learn to sing like her,

it's just that was the only
singing that I'd heard,

so when I started to sing,
I sung like she sung. Wow.

Blacks from this time were
totally bastardised,

so by the time I started singing,

I wanted to be anything but her.

Anything.

So this all comes to my ear in two
kinds of ways, you know?

It's a great discovery for you,
it's...

It's a lot of different
things for me.

It makes me feel
a lot of different ways.

Because when I
first started singing -

my first record came out in 1962 -

if they said,
"OK, you're going on a tour",

which was more like
a minstrel show.

But if BB King was the star,
you did not want to go,

cos he reminded you of this.

Everybody knew that was
Uncle Tom-ish and coonish.

So you wanted to go
with whoever was new -

The Drifters and whatever.

You didn't want to go with BB King.

Every time I think of that,
it hurts me.

I wish I could go anywhere
with him now.

Just anywhere - down to the corner
store or wherever.

So, this early music,

does it actually represent the
tough times of the...?

Oh, absolutely.
That was what they sung about.

Because when they write the stories
about the love songs and whatever,

they're almost...

..lewd and lascivious,

because our love lives
and sexual lives

at that point weren't private.

Especially during slavery,
there was certainly no privacy

in your sex life or love life.
They talked about it freely,

they talked about you doing
it freely,

and the songs certainly show that.

One of the things that made whites
kind of look down

on a lot of the music was because it
said things

that you weren't supposed to say.

You just weren't supposed to say
many of those things.

Ain't Nobody's Business
is a perfect example.

You didn't say those things.
Bing Crosby wasn't saying that.

VOLUME INCREASES
# ..Ain't nobody's business but mine

# If I were me
I'd have let you alone

# I wish to God
I'd stayed at home

# It ain't nobody's business
but my own

# It ain't nobody's business, honey

# How in the world I spend my money

# Ain't nobody's business
but mine... #

# I said my old man
he wrote me a letter

# He told me he was gonna
treat me better

# Nobody's business but mine

# Now he wrote this letter
He wrote it and said

# Hey, if you're gonna do better

# Child, you better make haste

# Ain't nobody's business but my own

# It ain't nobody's business, honey

# How I find my money

# Nobody's business but mine

# It ain't nobody's business, kid

# Who I do my business with

# Nobody's business but my own

# Now, baby, I said you
ought've been told

# 14 years before you wrote me

# So I had me some place else to go

# Now I ain't got a rooster
Ain't got no corn

# The poor roustabout ain't
got no home

# Nobody's business but my own

# It ain't nobody's business, kid

# Where I've got my money hid

# Nobody's business but mine

# It ain't nobody's business, honey

# Where I find my money

# Nobody's business but my own

# My business, business, baby

# Business, business, baby

# Nobody's business but my own. #

Do you want me to just go through
these things real quick, or...?

Yeah, please, yeah,
take us through these.

Do all those parts work or are most
of them just for show?

It's all just for show.
I have...

There's this iPod hidden
inside here.

LAUGHTER

I just turn all the tunes on first,
you know.

So here in the live rooms,

the musicians play and sing
into the microphone.

Their sound waves hit a very thin
aluminium foil called the diaphragm.

This creates fluctuations of voltage
through a small amplifier

that is just under the microphone.

This amplifies the voltage just
enough to send it down

through the 50ft or so of cable,
all the way to the recording room.

The sound then enters the amplifier

here at the microphone input.

So, here is the microphone
amplifier.

This is the level control here.

From 0 all the way to 12.

So these are the amplifying tubes
here.

They're pretty much the heart of
this 1920s recording system.

AT&T once called these
"A bottle of magic".

The tube is what provides
the amplification of the sound

through the entire system.

It allows a small amount of voltage
to modulate

the invisible river of electrons
going through the tube.

This electron river is created by
this bright filament here,

boiling off electrons that are
being attracted

to the plate on the opposite
side of the tube.

The music recording is actually
inside of this bottle.

Or, in other words,
a "bottle of magic".

So, basically, the job
of these amplifiers

is to take the small
amount of voltage

from the output of the microphone

and create enough power to move the
stylus back and forth

and actually cut the record.

In a modern recording situation,

this entire 70lb amplifier can be
made in a one-inch little chip.

You know, it's...

This is the very earliest
incarnation of this.

What do you think about this?

What do you think about Just A
Closer Walk, a capella?

Just a little bit of guitar and
vocals?

That's cool, too, yeah.

Old-school gospel.
That'd be great, yeah.

Just a capella?

We'll do just one guitar
kind of thing.

OK, great, yeah.

Yeah, let's try it.

You want to hear it?
That's great. Let's hear it.

# I am weak, but Thou art strong

# Jesus keeps me from all wrong

# I'll be satisfied as long

# As I walk, dear Lord,
walk close to Thee

ALL: # Just a closer walk with Thee

# Just a closer walk with Thee
Just a closer walk with Thee

# Grant it, Jesus, is my plea

# Just a closer walk with Thee
Just a closer walk with Thee

# Daily walking close to Thee

# Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

# When my feeble life is o'er... #

SOUND DIPS

MUFFLED: # Time for me will
be no more

# Guide me gently, safely o'er

# To Thy king... #

We've had a mic cut out.

I wondered what that feedback is.
Is it still happening, Nick?

Is it still happening?

Maybe somebody doesn't want you
to play this.

CHUCKLING

FEEDBACK

Nick, what do you think?

Looks like it's
on the microphone side.

INAUDIBLE

It appeared out of nowhere.

Nothing changed,
nobody was moving around.

Nothing, yeah.
In the middle of the take.

Gentlemen, we seem to have
encountered

a minor problem with the machine.

We've got a kind of hum on it,

which we're trying to troubleshoot
at the moment.

I'm going to check the mic
one more time and I'll see if...

I'm going to bring the mic in here.

# Aaaah-aah-aah-aaah! #

# Daily walking close to Thee

# Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

# Through this world of
toils and snares

# If I falter, Lord, who cares?

# Now who with me my burden share?

# Oh, none but Thee

# Dear Lord, none but Thee

# Just a closer walk with Thee

# Just a closer walk with Thee
Just a closer walk with Thee

# Grant it, Jesus, is my plea

# Just a closer walk with Thee
Just a closer walk with Thee

# Daily walking close to Thee

# Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

# Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. #

All right, it get that?

Cut it. Release it in Japan.

So I think I see
the problem here now.

OK.

It got hot in this room,
and so these...

The microphone power supply that was
powering the mic in the other room

and it got too hot and burnt it.

Do what you need to do.

We'll try and start as late as
possible tomorrow, yeah?

Sure. Yeah?

So, yesterday the machine
overheated.

Everything was too hot to handle.

Something broke, so I think Nick
might have spent the night

trying to get everything fixed up.

So, we're hoping that it's going to
be working again today.

But we're not quite sure what's
going to happen.

You need to be much more...
You need to be gentle with this,

it's very sensitive.

If we move the position...

Well, that's how it normally looks,
isn't it?

OK? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ready?

MAN SPEAKS SPANISH

SHE RESPONDS IN SPANISH

This is a rehearsal.

OK.

Then we will listen back on the...
Yeah.

And her payment afterwards is $25.

LAUGHTER

No, no, no, no, I need 30.

Oh, 30, 30. We can do...
We'll talk about it.

Because I need five for my...
LAUGHTER

For the crew.

Right, guys, let's get ready.

God bless you, and thank you again.

Thank you, God bless you.

Thank you.

SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

SINGING

We got this...? Yeah,
it's cool, it's loud.

It's sort of like,
everything's loud.

OK. It's like, if...if every
instrument and every voice just

kind of went down a third of the
volume... Should I go down, too?

..it would be a better recoding.

I think you'll be fine. I'm OK. Your
vocal will be fine. I think we need

to lower this mic, to get this
guitar.

Everything's so loud it's not even
getting picked up. Yeah, yeah.

Which is crazy cos it's right in
front of the mic!

LAUGHTER

Let's see how crazy it is. Yeah.
But I'm having a hard time figuring
out what to do with your voice

because it's sort of the right vibe
but it's sort of distorted, so I

don't really know...

I keep thinking you are aiming there
but when I look, you are not, you

are aiming off, so...

Yeah. It's sort of trying to find
that... I'm pretty much this way.

I can try this way again.

OK, you guys want to try it from the
top? Yeah. OK, great.

Ready in there?

That looks really cool.

LAUGHTER

It's amazing. All right.

GUITAR PLAYS

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# Bend your body
to the heavens above

# Don't get drunk

# Don't get dry

# Just bring your money
next Saturday night... #

Wait, that's too...? It's good.
No, yeah, that's too much.

You couldn't hear the guitar at all.

Yeah. We've got a situation
like, when they're loud, it is just

blowing up the mic and it's
distorted. Yeah.

When you're quiet, you sound
like you're 100 feet away.

BUZZ

It's weird but you have to sing
different for that kind of mic.

You have to do everything different.
It's sort of shows you how much they

were sculpting their own stuff.
BUZZ

The loud part is so amazing.

I'd don't even know how to say,

"do that quieter"
cos it's so amazing.

Yeah. I mean, can it be done
quieter like that? Of course not.
LAUGHTER

It feels like a ridiculous
request so...
BUZZ

Can we do just the three-part part
where everyone is facing in that

direction? This direction? It's
still too loud.

You literally want us to face that
way? Just to see. Let's try it. OK.

BUZZ

BUZZING CONTINUES

# 14 rivers, 14 floods... #

Like about that level.
Are you happy at that?

If you did that...

# Bend your body to the heavens
above... #

Yeah. In itself huge,
whereas we're belting it out.

It's a little distorting,
mid-range.

Yeah. So, not as...

GUITAR INTRO

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# Bend your body to
the heavens above

# Don't get drunk

# Don't get dry

# Just bring your money
next Saturday night... #

PLAYS HARMONICA

# Ooh, hum

# 14 miles on the ten-tonne trail

# With a half-dead mule

# And nothing on my mind

# All my life

# I've been talking fast

# Taking all the things
Taking all the things

# That I should've let pass

# Hum

# Ooh, hum

# Put my hat on my coffin nail

# Put another brick in the fireplace

# Well, I don't know about you or me

# But someone got loose

# Someone got loose

# On the downtown street... #

TEMPO SPEEDS UP

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# 14 rivers 14 rivers

# 14 rivers, rivers, rivers

# Rivers, rivers

# Rivers, rivers, rivers, rivers

# 14 rivers, 14 floods

# 14 rivers! #

Well, thanks, everybody.
Real good job. Yeah, thank you.

TAMBOURINES RATTLE

CHEERING

Yeah!

# I've always heard that haste
makes waste

# So I believe in takin' my time

# The highest mountain can't be
raced

# It's something you must
slowly climb

# I want a slow and easy man

# He needn't ever take the lead

# Cos I work on that
long-time plan

# And I ain't a-lookin'
for no speed

# I'm a one-hour mama

# So no one-minute papa

# Ain't the kind of man for me

# Set your alarm clock, papa

# One hour, that's proper

# Then love me like I like to be

# I don't want no lame excuses

# 'Bout my lovin' being so good

# That you couldn't wait no longer

# Now I hope I'm understood

# I'm a one-hour mama

# So no one-minute papa

# Ain't the kind of man for me

# I can't stand no greenhorn lover

# Like a rookie going to war

# With a load of big artillery

# But he don't know what it's for

# He's got to bring me a reference

# With a great long pedigree

# And must prove he's got endurance

# Or he don't mean that to me

# I don't like no crowin' rooster

# What just kicks a lick or two

# Action is my only booster

# Of just what my man can do

# I don't want no limitation

# My requirements ain't no joke

# Cos I've got pure indignation

# For a guy what's lost his stroke

# I'm a one-hour mama

# So no one-minute papa

# Ain't the kind of man for me

# Set your alarm clock, papa

# One hour, that's proper

# Then love me like I like to be

# I may want love for one hour

# Then decide to make it two

# Takes an hour before I get started

# Maybe three 'fore I'm through

# I'm a one-hour mama

# So no one-minute papa

# Ain't the kind of man for me

# Ohhhhh!

# Hmmmm. #

CYMBALS CLASH

The thing that draws me to this is
my grandmother. Hearing her sing.

Like, she was really into blues and
jazz. She had an incredible record

collection but we lived in the
country, you know, and it was just

the sort of juxtaposition. But just
hearing her sing when she would be

cleaning the house or whatever,
it just...

It's clear she listened to a
lot of these singers and that's

my first connection to it.
It's like,

Grandma, you know. So it's kind of a
visceral one for me.

When I was 17 or 18, I heard
Skip James for the first time.

It was the first time I like,
cried - hearing a song.

Just like thinking about the
power of one person, one instrument.

PIANO PLAYS

# Yo, all I need is one mic,
one beat

# One stage, one person front,
face on the front page

# Only if I have one gun, one girl
one crib, one god

# Show me how to do things his son
did, pure

# Like a cup of virgin blood mixed
with 151

# One sip probably makes me flip

# Write my name on the hollow-tips

# Plotting shit

# Mad violence who I'm gon' body,
this hood politics, acknowledge it

# Leave bodies chopped up in
garbages

# Seeds watch us grow up,
try to follow us

# Police watch us, roll up,
try knocking us

# One knee I ducked, could it be
my time is up?

# I got up the cops shot again

# Bus stop glass bursts,
fiend drops his Heineken

# Ricocheting between the spot
that I'm hiding in

# Blacking out as I shoot back

# Fuck gettin' hit

# This is my hood, I'm a rep,
to the death of it

# To everybody come home,
little niggas is grown

# Hoodrats, don't abortion your womb

# We need more warriors soon

# Slip from the star sun
and the moon

# In this life of police chases,
street sweepers and coppers

# Stick-up kids with no conscience
leaving victims with doctors

# If you really think
you're ready to die

# This is what Nas is about

# See all I need is one mic

# All I need is one mic

# All I need is one blunt, one page,
one pen

# One prayer - tell God forgive
me for one sin

# Matter of fact, more than one

# Look back at all the hatred
against me

# Fuck all of them

# Jesus died at age 33, 33 shots
from twin Glocks, 16 apiece

# 32 which means one of my guns was
holding 17

# 27 hit your crew

# Everybody gotta die sometime

# Hope
your funeral never gets shot up

# Bullets tear through the innocent

# Nothing is fair

# My heart is racing, tasting
revenge in the air

# I let the shit slide
for too many years

# Strapped up too many macs,
too many nines

# You really with me get busy
load up the semis

# Do more than just hold it explode
the clip until it's empty

# There's nothing in our way - they
bust, we bust, they rust, we rust

# Lead flying, feel it?
I feel it in my gut

# That we take these bitches to war,
lie 'em down cos we stronger now

# The time is now!

# I need one mic

# All I need is one mic

# All I need is one life, one try

# One breath from one man

# What I stand for speaks for itself

# They don't understand
Don't wanna see me on top

# Too egotistical,
talkin' all that slick shit

# Same way these bitches do

# Wonder what my secrets is
Niggas'll move on you

# Only if they know what your
weakness is

# I have none, too late to grab guns

# I'm blastin'
cos I'm a cool nigga

# Thought I wouldn't have your ass
done?

# Fooled you, niggas

# I need one mic

# All I need is one mic

# All I need is one mic

# All I need is one mic. #

# Stealin', stealin', pretty mama
Don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# I'm stealin', stealin'
pretty mama, don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# Now put your arms around me
like the circle round the sun

# I want to love ya, mama
Like the easy rider done

# If you don't believe I love ya
Look at the fool I've been

# If you don't believe I'm sinkin'
Look at the hole I'm in

# I'm stealin', stealin'
Pretty mama don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# Yes, I'm stealin', stealin'

# Pretty mama, don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# The woman I'm lovin'
Just my height and size

# She's a married woman
Come to see me sometimes

# If you don't believe I love you
Look at the fool I've been

# If you don't believe I'm sinkin'
Look at the hole I'm in

# I'm stealin', stealin',
pretty mama don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# Yes, I'm stealin', stealin'
Pretty mama don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be

# All right, oh

# Come on

# Oh

# I'm stealin', stealin'
pretty mama don't you tell on me

# I'm stealin' back
to my same old used to be. #

I love this studio.

To walk in and see how we're
recording this, um...

I just looked at it for a while and
wondered what it would sound like,

it just made me feel like, wow,

somebody built this to make music,
so other people could hear it.

But it just has, like, magical
sound, the way that it's built.

It's true, it's just the truest
sound you could ever get.

Thinkin' about the song now, I don't
think I could ever forget the song.

And it's from Memphis, and Memphis
is one of my favourite places

for, like, soul music, period.

I think the south brings that to
everybody,

everybody wants to join in, no
matter who they are.

Black, white, whoever they are,
it's like everybody wants to sing a
song like this, it just feels great.

SONG PLAYS ON RADIO

THEY SING IN FRENCH

Allons a lafayette!

Early electric recording is very
interesting to me, uh,

largely because it's...

It was so well thought out and
designed that it really set up,

you know, the next 90 years of
recording technology.

And, uh, this recording system was
the result

of a giant technological push
by AT&T in the early 20th century.

AT&T's lab was often referred to as
the "Ideas Factory",

and some of the greatest minds in
the world came together

to work on this recording system.

I mean, it literally transformed the
way the whole world communicated.

And, uh, it essentially enabled
the record companies

to set up recording sessions all
over the country,

where everyday people could record
their songs

and then have those
songs distributed across America.

And even though millions of records
are being made in the 1920s,

it was only a couple of dozen
systems making these recordings.

None of these recording systems have
survived intact.

So, what we've reassembled here

is like the blueprint of American
communication.

It's staggering that it's the only
one that's survived.

And, uh, things have gotten smaller,

but the basics are still there. So,
the microphone that was developed

in the mid-'20s is still the most
popular microphone we use today,

it's just smaller and has better
high-frequency response and such,

but it's the basic same... The same
thing they worked out in the '20s.

Wouldn't use it at home.

Like it was when we was kids.

Yeah.

Some call him a sinner.

I say I call him a... Some call
him...

Oh, I got that line.
You got that line.

# I never robbed trains,
I never did time

# I remember men whose last two
agreements...

# Some call him a sinner

# I'd call him a winner... #

Some call him a sinner,
I call him a winner.

That's what we got. There we go.
He's the only man wilder than me.

Wait a minute. Don't stop.

I've never robbed trains
and never did time.

I'm a man who's last to agree.

And I say some call me a sinner...
And you say...

I call you a winner.

I call you... I call him a winner.

How could he go wrong?

Let's get blue light, Nick.

# He's the only man wilder than me

BOTH: # He's the only
man wilder than me

# He's an outlaw, he's crazy
And he's never been lazy

# He's busy on a lifelong spree

# He's the only man wilder than me

# I never robbed trains
and I never did time

# A man whose last to agree

# Some call me a sinner
I call him a winner

# And he's the only
man wilder than me

# He's the only man wilder than me

# The only man wilder than me

# Some call me a sinner
I call him a winner

# And he's the only man wilder
than me. #

Pick one.

# If he ever really cared,
he'd apologise

# Indifference
has kept his mind free

# And he knows yesterday's dead
and tomorrow is blind

# And he's the only
man wilder than me

# He's the only man wilder than me

# He's the only man wilder than me

# Some call me a sinner
I call him a winner

# And he's the only
man wilder than me

# He's the only man
wilder than me. #

It's him!

# He's the only man
wilder than me. #

It's him!

APPLAUSE

What do you think? Let's do
the Bob Wills Song.

Get the band in there? Yeah, let's
get the band in there. Great.

# I got that old-fashioned
love in my heart

# And there it will always remain

# Like an ivy clinging vine,
clinging closer all the time

# Through the years and the tears,
just to say

# Got that old-fashioned faith
in my heart

# And nothing can tear it apart

# Dry land will turn to see
But they'll find no change in me

# I got that old-fashioned love in
my heart... #

Sing it, you sing.

# I got that old-fashioned love
in my heart

# And there it will always remain

# Like an ivy clinging vine
Clinging closer all the time

# Through the years and the tears
just to say

# I got that old-fashioned faith
in my heart

# And nothing can tear it apart

# Dry land may turn to sea
But you'll find no change in me

# Got that old-fashioned love
in my heart

# Dry land may turn to sea
but they'll find no change in me

# Got that old-fashioned love
in my heart. #

APPLAUSE