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This programme contains strong language.
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Legend has it that rock 'n' roll's
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all about the electric guitar.
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All that sex, energy and aggression.
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ROCK ELECTRIC GUITAR
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Welcome to the jungle...
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But what happens to rock music when the amps are turned off...
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FEEDBACK
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..and our guitar hero picks up an acoustic?
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MUSIC: "Wonderwall" by Oasis
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You weren't a real guitar player unless you could play acoustic.
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In order to be the complete rock musician,
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you had to have an acoustic passage in a song somewhere.
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There's something about an acoustic
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that inspires you to do some crazy stuff.
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That's what the acoustic guitar is to a musician.
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It's a different feel.
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If it plays right and sounds right, that's all you need.
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A man with an acoustic guitar on stage is truly naked.
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But if you're an exhibitionist, you might enjoy it.
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The electric guitar is powerful,
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but it's the child, it's not the father of the music.
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Acoustic guitars have a sound unto themselves.
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The guitar can sound
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so gentle and so melodic
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and then it can sound so strong and so dramatic.
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The guitar is complete in itself as an instrument.
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There's nowhere to go. There's nowhere to hide with an acoustic.
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The acoustic guitar -
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six strings, a hollow body
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and a long neck.
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Simple,
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beautiful and elegant.
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Unfortunately, the instrument does come with some baggage,
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and I'm not talking about the case.
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Adopted over the years by everyone, from singing nuns
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to bearded folkies,
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the acoustic guitar's had something of an image problem.
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I definitely grew more of a beard
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when I started playing acoustic guitar every day.
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There are definitely periods in our history as we suddenly realise,
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"They're not playing their Gibson, they're playing an acoustic
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"and, wow, they've grown a beard and their hair's just a wee bit messy
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"and they've been in the forest chopping wood.
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"Now they're serious. Now they have soul."
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Mull of Kintyre
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Oh, mist rolling in...
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Pull one out at a party
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there's a danger you'll drive your guests to distraction.
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I gave my love a story...
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But cliches aside, has this humble box of wood been as important
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to the development of rock music as its sexier electric brother?
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With the lights out
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It's less dangerous
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Here we are now
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Entertain us.
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The rock scene of the early '90s
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was dominated by thunderous guitar bands like Guns N' Roses,
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Pearl Jam, and the kings of grunge, Nirvana,
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whose explosive live shows
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often ended in a riot of smashed instruments and wailing feedback.
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But in November 1993, Nirvana risked blowing their punk cred
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by appearing on MTV Unplugged.
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No distortion, no crowd surfing, nowhere to hide.
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MUSIC: 'All Apologies" by Nirvana
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Just Kurt Cobain's cracked voice and the songs intimately exposed
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by the simple accompaniment of acoustic guitars.
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All apologies
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What else should I say?
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Everyone is gay
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What else should I write?
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I don't have the right.
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It was sort of a perfect storm.
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You had the unplugged genre building up for a few years at that point
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when Nirvana appeared, and then you had Kurt Cobain,
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who was truly able to shine in that setting.
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All apologies
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In the sun
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In the sun I feel as one
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In the sun
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In the sun
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Married
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Buried...
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It was a real personal night.
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He didn't have to be outrageous, he didn't have to come out and say,
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"Hello, London."
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You just come out and start playing.
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I need an easy friend
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I do with an ear to lend.
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It was just the way
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the songs translated across from being really noisy,
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loud, scary songs,
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to being just these heartbreaking numbers.
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# I take advantage while
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You hang me out to dry.
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It showed you how great that band really were
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because their sound was completely the opposite,
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but yet the songs in that particular set
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put across how great their ethos was,
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their songs, the words, his singing.
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If you strip away everything else and it still stands up,
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it shows it was a great song in the first place
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and you don't get to hide behind a big wall of guitars.
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- What you saying?
- HE LAUGHS
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I think it is a real pinnacle in that band's career.
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It takes them from being a noisy rock band
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into being just a timeless rock band.
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They're great songwriters and they were a great band
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and that moment on Unplugged says that.
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I do.
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It was a defining moment for acoustic rock,
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but it was no accident.
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Kurt Cobain and Nirvana understood just how central the instrument was,
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and always had been, to the very soul of rock 'n' roll.
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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
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Well it's one for the money Two for the show
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Three to get ready Now go, cat, go.
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Much of early rock 'n' roll's popularity
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relied on Elvis' hip-swivelling antics.
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But he had another secret weapon.
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Of course, acoustic was very cool, you know,
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like Elvis and the Everly Brothers.
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Slander my name All over the place.
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I heard Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel.
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Well since my baby left me...
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I loved the sound so much, I wanted a guitar.
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It was THE symbol of rock 'n' roll.
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Well it's down at the end of lonely street
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At Heartbreak Hotel.
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SCREAMING # I'll be so lonely baby
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I'm so lonely...
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The success of Elvis inspired teenagers
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on this side of the Atlantic.
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They picked up the acoustic guitar in their droves
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and dreamt their rock 'n' roll fantasies.
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And it was a peculiar,
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acoustic-driven style of rock 'n' roll
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that first captured the imagination of British youth -
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skiffle.
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For many an Elvis wannabe,
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from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, seen here on the left,
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to the young Beatles, joining a skiffle band was the first step
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into the brave new world of rock 'n' roll.
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Skiffle was invented
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to teach kids how to make music without much money,
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hence tea-chest bass and stuff like that
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and washboards.
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And the guitar was the only real instrument in that line-up.
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What it did is it said, "You can do this.
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"Grab a guitar," or in some cases,
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"Grab a piece of string, a broom handle,
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"tie the string onto a crate and there's your double bass."
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That's what skiffle did. It was incredibly liberating.
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- And now it's time for us to introduce the...
- King.
- Of.
- Skiffle.
- Himself.
- Lonnie.
- Donegan!
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When you play the game of life You've got trouble you've got strife
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Jack of Diamonds is a hard card to find
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Life is like a game of cards
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But it's very very hard
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Jack of Diamonds is a hard card to find
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Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds
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Diamonds is a hard card to find...
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This homespun music craze might have been a flash in the pan
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had it not been for the remarkable success of Lonnie Donegan.
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Guys that I grew up with, like Clapton and Jimmy Page,
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we heard Lonnie Donegan first of all,
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that's what started us playing the guitar.
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Everybody wanted to do that.
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SKIFFLE MUSIC
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The impact that he has on British musicians, not just the Beatles,
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but you talk to Jimmy Page,
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he'll tell you that Lonnie Donegan was a massive influence
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on that generation of guitar players.
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SCREAMING
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And it's a first-time welcome now for that top four with their top hit,
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- You Really Got Me Going, The Kinks!
- SCREAMING
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# Girl you really got me going
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You got me so I don't know what I'm doing.
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In the early 60s, everything got louder.
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The music, the fans, the instruments.
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And the electric guitar was king.
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You really got me now
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You got me so I don't know what I'm doing
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Oh yeah, you really got me now...
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But as the decade progressed,
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bands such as The Kinks and the Rolling Stones
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looked back to the early blues for inspiration,
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adapting the acoustic playing styles of iconic guitarists
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such as Lead Belly and Robert Johnson.
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Well poor boy Took his father's bread
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Started down the road
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Started down the road
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Took all he had and started down the road.
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You go down the line,
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all of your first and even second generation rock guys
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were all influenced by those old guys.
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We based everything we did and have done
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from our knowledge of
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starting as a blues band.
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Just the great pleasure of doing something like this.
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HE PLAYS BLUES RIFF
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And then you just sit on it, you know?
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And you can say what the hell you like.
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You can get out of here baby
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You can stay
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The whole damn night.
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HE PLAYS BLUES RIFF
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But the early blues men weren't the only acoustic influence
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on the new rock royalty.
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Hey Mr Tambourine Man Play a song for me.
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In America, even folk musicians were considered hip and bohemian,
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thanks to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
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Hey Mr Tambourine Man...
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Bob Dylan's influence extended from New York's coffee houses
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to the hippy west coast,
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where The Byrds recorded a chart-topping version
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of Mr Tambourine Man
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and brought Dylan's brand of American folk
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to a mainstream audience.
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When we first heard it, it was in 2/4 time.
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Hey Mr Tambourine Man Play a song for me
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I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
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And I took it and I put a Beatle beat to it, like...
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Hey Mr Tambourine Man
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Play a song for me
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I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to.
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Hey Mr Tambourine Man
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Play a song for me
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In the jingle-jangle morning...
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Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic,
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the acoustic guitar-playing folkies were still more associated
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with comfortable jumpers,
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considerable beard growth and real ale,
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rather than revolutionary protest songs.
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However, the success of Dylan inspired a new generation of British folk musicians,
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led by Donovan, to take the acoustic to the top of the charts.
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Jennifer Juniper
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Rides a dabbled mare
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Jennifer Juniper
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# Lilacs in her hair
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Is she dreaming? Yes I think so
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And is she pretty? Yes ever so
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What you doing Jennifer my love?
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When I arrived in the folk scene, the spring of 1965,
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the papers were full of it. Folk music appears, arrives,
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on the pop charts.
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And would you love her? If I could, sir
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What you doing Jennifer my love? Jennifer Juniper.
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Donovan's success had a big impact on other aspiring troubadours,
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including influential singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan,
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the figurehead of today's new folk movement.
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I wanted to see somebody bring acoustic music into mainstream pop.
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When I first saw Donovan by himself,
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that was just a wonderful, magical moment for me,
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and I thought, "OK, somebody's done it."
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SCREAMING
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Donovan even influenced the biggest band in the world, the Beatles.
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In 1968, shortly after the release of their landmark album Sgt Pepper,
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he joined them on their transcendental pilgrimage to India.
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They were constantly growing and learning
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and experimenting with different things
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00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,200
and acoustic guitar was one of the things they experimented with
262
00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,080
and Paul was taught finger-picking by Donovan.
263
00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:21,560
There we were, completely cut off from the world, in the jungle
264
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,520
with these acoustic instruments.
265
00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,520
And one day, John saw me doing the clawhammer.
266
00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,440
HE PLAYS GUITAR
267
00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,440
It's a claw, right?
268
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,400
HE PLAYS GUITAR
269
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,000
And he said, "How do you do that?"
270
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:50,880
And he picked it up very quickly.
271
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,760
Paul wouldn't sit down.
272
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,920
He was listening or walking about doing his own thing,
273
00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,000
but he's so bright, Paul,
274
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,720
he picked up kind of a backwards way of doing it
275
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:03,920
and started writing Blackbird.
276
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,360
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
277
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,080
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
278
00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,760
All your life
279
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,760
You were only waiting for this moment to arrive.
280
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,280
When the Beatles returned from their trip,
281
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,000
they recorded a double album
282
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,280
with a strong acoustic guitar presence - The White Album.
283
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,280
It featured several of the most celebrated acoustic songs in rock music,
284
00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,920
such as Julia, Dear Prudence and Blackbird.
285
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,760
By the end of the '60s, other innovative folk guitarists,
286
00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,240
such as Davey Graham
287
00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,880
and the legendary Bert Jansch, were also influencing rock music
288
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,440
with their intricate finger-picking styles and unusual tunings.
289
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,640
HE PLAYS BLACKWATER SIDE
290
00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,600
All through the fore
291
00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,280
Part of the night
292
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,920
We lay
293
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,000
# In sport and play
294
00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:10,160
This young man arose...
295
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,800
Bert, his sound and his approach and everything was intense.
296
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,200
It's not too tidy, either.
297
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,800
It's pretty street, as well. It's kind of unusual.
298
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:28,800
This unassuming guitar hero
299
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,200
opened up a whole new range of techniques and sounds
300
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,720
for the rock musician.
301
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,200
But it would be a skiffle school graduate
302
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,600
who would fully realise the acoustic guitar's rock potential.
303
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,720
By 1970, Led Zeppelin had released two albums of heavy, hairy,
304
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:46,560
riff-based blues.
305
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,760
Driven by Jimmy Page's blistering electric guitar playing,
306
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,040
they were hailed as the undisputed gods of rock.
307
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,560
We come from the land of the ice and snow
308
00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,400
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
309
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,720
Hammer of the gods...
310
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:10,200
For their third album, the band retreated to a remote cottage in North Wales.
311
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,480
Bron-Yr-Aur had no running water or electricity
312
00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,560
but the change of scenery sparked a period of intense creativity for the band.
313
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,000
There they wrote the songs for Led Zeppelin III,
314
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,600
for many, the landmark album in acoustic rock.
315
00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:39,920
Led Zeppelin III was different.
316
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,160
There's a lot of sounds you don't hear on the first two records.
317
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,760
They were horrified, the label. And the fans couldn't believe it.
318
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,080
"What are you doing? Where's the electricity?"
319
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,080
Led Zeppelin were rock gods. What were they thinking?
320
00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,960
Why suddenly was all this acoustic music coming out of them?
321
00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,200
There was no escaping the fact that with Led Zeppelin III,
322
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,480
folk music had quietly gatecrashed the heavy rock party.
323
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,320
And I walk down the country lanes
324
00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,840
I'll be walking along, hear me call your name...
325
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,680
They aren't dabbling with folk music. They absorb it.
326
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,440
It is part of their make-up as a group
327
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,880
and it is what they genuinely love
328
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:22,960
and refer to.
329
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,800
It's based on an immersion in that music and an understanding of it.
330
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,560
And I think it's that grounding that introduces folk music
331
00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,040
in a really credible way to hard rock, if you will.
332
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,400
From their third album onwards,
333
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,720
acoustic instruments were an essential part of Led Zep's sound.
334
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,760
Their songs had an authenticity
335
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,440
that somehow looked back to old folk traditions
336
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,400
whilst remaining cutting-edge.
337
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,640
Hangman, hangman
338
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,520
Hold it a little while
339
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:10,160
I think I see my brother coming, riding many a mile...
340
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:16,360
Jimmy Page certainly took a lot of his knowledge about alternate tunings and the like
341
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,680
from guys like Roy Harper and Burt Jansch,
342
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,840
and all of a sudden, they gave you an entirely different sound.
343
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,400
Sister, I implore you
344
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,160
Take him by the hand
345
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,880
Take him to some shady bower
346
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,040
Save me from the wrath of this man...
347
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:37,280
You can hear how the possibilities of acoustic music are not narrow cast,
348
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,440
they are not about just being a bit of a maudlin singer-songwriter.
349
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,760
You can be symphonic in an acoustic context.
350
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,520
I'm free to ride, ride for many mile...
351
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,480
When they brought it into rock music, they made it strong.
352
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,000
They didn't bring it in with a whimper.
353
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,760
It came in very, very forcefully.
354
00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,440
Even if they were playing something quite gentle,
355
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,160
you still knew that you were in a rock song.
356
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,600
HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF
357
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,120
If you listen to the acoustic moments on Led Zeppelin records,
358
00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:21,920
your spine tingles with some kind of, like, majesty
359
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,000
and it just feels so gentle and it just feels so articulate.
360
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:41,000
I don't know how I'm going to tell you
361
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,600
I can't play with you no more
362
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,520
They took it to a different level. They took it to a stage,
363
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,600
to a live stage where you could not only play a beautiful song
364
00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:01,920
but you could rock an arena crowd with a pulse and with percussion
365
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,400
and I think that changed things for everybody.
366
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,040
I think that made it very cool to play acoustic
367
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,520
and not just be a folk hero.
368
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,360
CHEERING
369
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,520
Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw it back to you
370
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,200
And by now you should've somehow realised what you're not to do
371
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:46,760
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
372
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:51,200
I said maybe
373
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:55,800
You're gonna be the one that saves me
374
00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:00,240
And after all
375
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,480
You're my wonderwall...
376
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,240
From Zeppelin to Nirvana and Oasis,
377
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,040
the greatest bands have proven that you can rock a stadium crowd
378
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,360
with whatever guitar you're wielding.
379
00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,920
But only the bravest musicians leave the comfort of the band
380
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,800
and expose themselves, alone, in front of an audience.
381
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:25,760
Richard Thompson said that a man with an acoustic guitar on a stage is truly naked.
382
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,720
But if you're an exhibitionist, you might enjoy it.
383
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:34,240
You have your very own number
384
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:43,080
They dress your cage in its nature...
385
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,400
It's a challenge and you kind of enjoy the challenge of trying to
386
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,960
explore the intimacy between not having the power of the band behind you
387
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,440
and having the challenge of having an audience in front of you, and you kind of feel naked.
388
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,800
Someone who can just hold someone's attention and make a big noise
389
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,640
and get their song across on an acoustic is, er...
390
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,840
There's nobility in it. It's quite heroic in a way.
391
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,160
Environment's not yours
392
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,720
You see through it all
393
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,120
Wanna get out
394
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:20,200
Won't miss you sensaround
395
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,160
To carry your own dead
396
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,560
To swing your tyre tricks
397
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,640
Oh, wanna get out
398
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,520
Here you're bred dead quick
399
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,480
For the outside
400
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,160
The small black flowers that grow in the sky
401
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,560
Here chewing your tail
402
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:59,080
Is joy.
403
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,200
An acoustic number at a rock gig can certainly be powerful,
404
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,840
but sometimes, seeing the lights turned down and the amps unplugged
405
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,000
fills people with dread.
406
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,040
You've got... HE IMITATES DRUMS
407
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,880
"We're going to slow things down a bit now..."
408
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,320
"Whoa, don't do that." It could be bad news.
409
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,640
I remember when I did Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
410
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,360
on stage the first time, I saw a lighter in the distance.
411
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:32,760
I thought, "Oh, no, no, no, this is wrong, this is definitely wrong."
412
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,680
I think people are waiting to light the match or the torch
413
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,640
as soon as the acoustic gets handed to the guy, before they even hear the song.
414
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,680
"There's the acoustic, let's get sad!"
415
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,960
There's an insect in your ear
416
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,320
If you scratch, it won't disappear
417
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,400
# It's gonna itch and burn and sting
418
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,280
You wanna see what scratching brings...
419
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:57,600
The acoustic part of it could be trouble.
420
00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,640
They should put up the acoustic flag
421
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,280
and then people have the right to go out and, you know...
422
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,360
talk to their friends, maybe go to the pub across the way.
423
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,480
The mass experience of people standing in a stadium with their lighters aloft
424
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,240
is quite satisfying when you're in that crowd.
425
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,320
You do want to share that communal experience,
426
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,400
against your better judgement at times.
427
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,680
Staring at the sun
428
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,200
Afraid of what you'd find
429
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,840
If you took a look inside
430
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,440
I'm not just deaf and dumb...
431
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,400
There is a great pleasure in buying into these constructs.
432
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,040
There is a great pleasure in saying, "OK, this is the encore,
433
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,640
"we're going to have four or five acoustic songs -
434
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,240
"people no longer light lighters, people will wave their phones
435
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:51,360
"and we will all feel soppy and fling our arms round each other."
436
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,480
When the acoustic's pulled out for the acoustic number,
437
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,880
it normally comes with so much sentimentality,
438
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,320
it seems to be this token, "Now I'm really going to get down to it
439
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,120
"and bare my soul for the quiet bit of the set
440
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:08,920
"in front of 20,000 to 100,000 people."
441
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,480
- BOTH:
- I'm not just deaf and dumb
442
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,440
Staring at the sun
443
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,840
I'm not the only one
444
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:23,840
Who'd rather go blind.
445
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,920
I think there's a great problem with this notion,
446
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,760
if you strum your guitar really intensely with your eyes shut
447
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:40,280
that you are conveying automatically a great depth to your songwriting
448
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,920
or you are revealing the inner workings of your soul
449
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,480
in a way that you weren't doing half an hour earlier
450
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,160
with your foot on the monitor, hitting a power chord.
451
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:54,200
Do you wanna play with me?
452
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,720
The urge of every self-respecting hard rock band to bare their souls -
453
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:03,560
as well as their chests -
454
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,760
isn't restricted to the big stage.
455
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,760
And if you really want to prove that you're a "serious artist,"
456
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,400
then why not bring out the acoustics in your video
457
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,560
as well as on the album?
458
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,280
Every band had one of these songs
459
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,720
and they all sort of had a lot in common,
460
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,720
one of these things being, for some reason,
461
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,160
these guys could only play the guitar sitting down in their videos.
462
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,440
Saying I love you
463
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:39,800
Is not the words I want to hear from you...
464
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,440
Bringing out the acoustic guitar meant that you had something
465
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:48,320
if not serious to say, something emotionally serious to say.
466
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,720
It gives this veneer of confessional,
467
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,000
this veneer of feeling,
468
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,760
this veneer of you're revealing something deep within you.
469
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:01,000
How you feel
470
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,240
More than words
471
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,480
It's us playing it, it's us in there,
472
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:08,960
trying to get the band involved with some lighters
473
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,640
so they knew we were a band, by even having them put the sticks down.
474
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,680
"Let's make sure they don't think we're the Everly Brothers."
475
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:22,120
Cos I'd already know
476
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,960
What would you do?
477
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:32,440
The acoustic is aiding you, as you're being let in
478
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:37,240
on maybe what you're not supposed to see, because the acoustic signifies the emotional
479
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,760
and stripping away all the pretence.
480
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,000
The flip side to a lot of all this for the bands,
481
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,880
who could make instant riches off of doing these power ballads,
482
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:51,680
was the fact that some of them
483
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:56,040
kind of became pigeonholed as ballad bands,
484
00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:01,040
whereas they viewed themselves as these, you know, manly, hard rockers,
485
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:05,120
but it was going to follow them around from then on.
486
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:09,840
Then you couldn't make things new
487
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,440
Just by saying I love you...
488
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,080
There were people coming to the shows that heard More Than Words.
489
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,760
We'd see their faces in the first three rows like...
490
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,440
Looking at their tickets. "Is this the right band?"
491
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:30,080
Just by saying I love you.
492
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:43,040
Apart from pleasing, and occasionally surprising, their fans,
493
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:47,120
slinging an old acoustic round your neck can do a lot for your image.
494
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:51,280
Countless acts would strap it on in the video
495
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,640
and you'd sort of know what was coming.
496
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,240
It was great to start off a song with an acoustic
497
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,200
and then when the big chorus comes in,
498
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,880
turn on the electrics and really bring it all home.
499
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,840
Former poodle rocker Jon Bon Jovi took things way out west.
500
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,600
And also the odd fascination with
501
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,800
pairing acoustic guitars and cowboy imagery in these ballads.
502
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,120
And that was a big thing with these bands.
503
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,800
The cowboy boots and the cowboy hat and your acoustic guitar
504
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,440
and all of a sudden you're good old American country boy.
505
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,320
It was a big money-maker for a lot of bands,
506
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,360
it was big business, but it became sort of tired and cliche
507
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,880
and sort of a joke at the end of the day.
508
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,720
Not only can an acoustic guitar make you look sexy,
509
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,320
the instrument itself is an object of desire.
510
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:54,720
And for some rockers, meeting their new partner was love at first sight.
511
00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,840
I had the worst hangover of my life when I bought this guitar
512
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,600
and it was this pathetic moment in the shop where it just sang to me,
513
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,760
and I thought, "That guitar needs to be with me."
514
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,960
It's one thing that is significant in my life that I really remember,
515
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,280
seeing the shape of the guitar case.
516
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,160
There she goes...
517
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,320
It was so amazing. It was like seeing a superhero.
518
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,760
Racing through my brain...
519
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,480
I think definitely all the retro,
520
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:30,680
well, vintage acoustic guitars just look like they've seen so much life.
521
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,600
And I love that sort of worn-away wood look
522
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:37,120
and they've definitely got a story. That looks pretty hot.
523
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:41,520
There she goes again...
524
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,280
It's not that personal. I don't compare them to women, like some guitar players do.
525
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,760
The shape of a guitar is very sexy.
526
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,120
It's like that.
527
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,320
There was this idea that the electric guitar
528
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,920
was sort of virile and potent
529
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,760
and the acoustic guitar was sort of gentle and curvy and nice.
530
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:12,200
The smell it had was just... It smelled like roses
531
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,280
and it was just sort of intoxicating.
532
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,040
You just smelled this thing and you'd go, "Wow!"
533
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,800
I kiss guitars. I'll kiss my guitar.
534
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,800
If I haven't given it enough attention, I'll just kiss the head.
535
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,080
I may have gone to bed with a guitar on the bed.
536
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,240
I'm sure I did at one time or another.
537
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:40,400
I don't sleep with my guitar. That's where the relationship ends.
538
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,600
I sleep with it under my bed sometimes,
539
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:44,280
in case somebody steals it.
540
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,520
Sexy, fragrant and considerably lighter than a piano,
541
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,560
most rock songs start life on the acoustic.
542
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,600
It's the perfect companion for any songwriter.
543
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,400
It's a good songwriting tool
544
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,960
because it's just little and you can take it anywhere, you know?
545
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,160
When I come home, you won't be there anymore
546
00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:14,280
When I come home, you won't be there anymore...
547
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,000
It's just very easy to sit and play
548
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,720
and then it's so easy to kind of sing along to, as well.
549
00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:25,440
When I come home, home, home, home...
550
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,760
There is an aspect to acoustic guitars which is very important
551
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,160
that an electric doesn't have - you can take it with you somewhere
552
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,360
and it's all you need.
553
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,400
Because it can be everything, bass...
554
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,480
HE PLAYS BASELINE
555
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:43,400
..and rhythm... HE STRUMS RHYTHMICALLY
556
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,840
..and even counter-melody, lead guitar...
557
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,280
HE PLAYS MELODY
558
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,680
The guitar hero can even take the six-string beauty to bed,
559
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:59,880
ready to be woken when the creative juices begin to flow.
560
00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:04,680
I was asleep, I woke up and without even knowing it,
561
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,360
I pushed play on my little early cassette player...
562
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,240
..played it, went back to sleep,
563
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,560
didn't remember a thing about it
564
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,080
until I saw that the tape had run to the other end.
565
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,520
So I ran it all the way back to the front
566
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,560
and there is 30 seconds of Satisfaction,
567
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:27,440
a very slow version.
568
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,320
HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF
569
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,200
I can't get no
570
00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:40,360
Satisfaction
571
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:44,600
I can't get me no
572
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,200
Satisfaction, babe
573
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:50,200
Cos I try
574
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,320
And I try
575
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,400
Girl, I try
576
00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:56,440
Yeah, I try...
577
00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,000
HE SNORES
578
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,280
Just like that.
579
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,760
The guitar is complete in itself as an instrument.
580
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,960
It can have four or five voices musically, all going on at once.
581
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,480
I do like the versatility of acoustic guitars.
582
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:34,720
You can make them sound thumpy, gentle, it's a complete instrument.
583
00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:39,520
So it can be really soft and the thumbs and your hands give you different tones to...
584
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,520
HE STRUMS GUITAR LOUDLY
585
00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,160
Erm... And, you know...
586
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:46,520
HE FINGER-PICKS
587
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,880
I can't help but play that pattern all the time cos I like it.
588
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,360
But it just has...
589
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,760
You can get real expressive dynamics in it.
590
00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,880
Because you can play just a simple chord...
591
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,600
HE PLAYS CHORD
592
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:11,320
I mean, and put a melody over that, it's very easy to do.
593
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:12,600
HE STRUMS
594
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,280
It's like a whole orchestra on its own, really.
595
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,720
- When you play...
- SHE STRUMS
596
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:36,120
A very full sound. But that's what the acoustic can do.
597
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:40,120
So it can make you feel as if you can write a song, you don't need anybody else.
598
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,160
That's the wonderful thing about the guitar, you can just be by yourself
599
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,880
and you have a whole orchestra in your head
600
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:54,240
and you can get part of it out with this six-string,
601
00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:56,880
six notes and a voice.
602
00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:00,760
SHE PLAYS AND HUMS
603
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:04,880
That's why it's good variety,
604
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:09,200
because you can get the feel of what you want without being
605
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,640
either a virtuoso or anything like that,
606
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,680
anyone can be, sit there and write a song.
607
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:22,520
You don't need amps, you don't need electricity, you don't need leads,
608
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,840
you don't need a bass player, a drummer,
609
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,600
you don't need all this set-up to create music.
610
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,120
You can create on your own, quite quietly, upstairs in your bedroom.
611
00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,080
I met her in a club down old Soho
612
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:40,120
Where you drink champagne that tastes just like cherry cola
613
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:44,920
- AUDIENCE: # C-O-L-A, cola...
- Far out.
614
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:49,960
The guitar sound is so influential in evoking a mood.
615
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:52,520
Dark brown voice she said Lola
616
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:56,320
L-O-L-A, Lola...
617
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,520
Almost any acoustic guitar has its own sound,
618
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:02,160
and that might give you some ideas
619
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,720
as to what you're writing, just the sound of it.
620
00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:08,160
She talked like a man, Lola
621
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,840
L-L-L-L-Lola
622
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,720
L-L-L-L-Lola...
623
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:22,680
Sometimes the right guitar determines the journey or the decision-making
624
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,440
about where to go next with the song you're writing.
625
00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:29,520
The jang-jang-jangy sound on Lola, for example,
626
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,120
came because I heard the guitar playback.
627
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,720
The guitar is inspirational.
628
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:38,640
Thank you very much!
629
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:40,400
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
630
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:43,320
When we collide we come together
631
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,560
If we don't we'll always be apart...
632
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:53,680
Even for some of today's heaviest bands, such as Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro,
633
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:59,080
the song needs to be crafted properly on the acoustic first, before cranking the amp up to 11.
634
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,360
When you hit me, hit me hard...
635
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:07,800
You kind of figure out whether an idea is a good idea or not,
636
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:11,600
and whether the melody is really worth working on
637
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:16,880
cos sometimes just an open chord through a big Marshall stack sounds just amazing but anyone can do that,
638
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:22,320
you know, you have to try and work a bit harder and make things more subtle and intricate.
639
00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,320
I've got Gilligan's eyes
640
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,040
I still believe...
641
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,880
When we first play our songs together, we always play them quiet,
642
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:43,240
we never play them full-on rock until we find out how the song flows and where it's going to go.
643
00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:48,000
When we collide we come together
644
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:54,360
If we don't we'll always be apart
645
00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:59,600
I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
646
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,047
When you hit me, hit me hard...
647
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,480
If it doesn't work acoustically, it's a shit song.
648
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:09,600
HE LAUGHS
649
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,360
- We write all our songs on acoustic guitar.
- THEY LAUGH
650
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,840
Against what
651
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,480
Our future is for
652
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,960
Many of horror...
653
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,760
I mean, I certainly don't think that, as a lot of people do,
654
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:32,320
that a song isn't good unless you can play it on an acoustic.
655
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,280
I don't really...
656
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,440
I think there's a lot of evidence against that, really.
657
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,840
But if you can play it from start to finish on an acoustic and it's great,
658
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,440
whatever you do to it it's going to be killer.
659
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,120
MUSIC: "Layla" by Eric Clapton
660
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:48,600
And it can work the other way around, too.
661
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,880
A rock classic can be completely transformed by playing it acoustically.
662
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,520
When Clapton re-did Layla as an acoustic version,
663
00:41:56,520 --> 00:42:01,240
there was the classic riff that everyone remembered
664
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:05,360
from the original electric version of it, which he downplayed.
665
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:08,960
MUSIC: "Layla" by Eric Clapton
666
00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:12,200
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
667
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:21,440
If you read the blogs, there are people who think it's horrible.
668
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:23,720
- Because you don't have...
- HE HUMS RIFF
669
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:27,640
But, erm, you've got to understand that
670
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:31,080
that's what the acoustic guitar is to a musician.
671
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:35,320
It's a different feel. It's more soulful.
672
00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,880
What will you do when you get lonely?
673
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,840
No-one waiting by your side
674
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:52,600
You've been running and hiding much too long
675
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:56,040
You know it's just your foolish pride
676
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,280
Layla...
677
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:00,320
It wasn't an angry-young-man approach
678
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,160
as it was when he first recorded it.
679
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:05,320
Layla
680
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:08,280
You got me on my knees, Layla
681
00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,320
I'm begging darling please, Layla...
682
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:18,320
It was someone who had more of a relaxed view of life.
683
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:22,560
Tried to give you consolation
684
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:27,520
When your old man had let you down...
685
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,600
It was always a love song.
686
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,040
But it was a heavy-duty love song
687
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:35,880
and then he managed to take it down to a much more personal level.
688
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:41,240
It just gave it a whole new life, I think.
689
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:47,000
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
690
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:51,400
Thank you!
691
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:54,520
Hey, hey, my, my
692
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,400
Rock 'n' roll can never die...
693
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:04,720
If the great rock guitarist is defined
694
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:08,040
by an ability to master both the raw power of the electric
695
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:12,640
and the intimacy of the acoustic, then Neil Young is the man.
696
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:21,360
Old man, look at my life
697
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:25,360
I'm a lot like you were
698
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,880
Old man, look at my life
699
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:34,160
I'm a lot like you were...
700
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:37,400
For artists like Neil Young,
701
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,640
who swaps between the electric and the acoustic guitar at will,
702
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:42,600
the simplicity of acoustic tracks
703
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,320
can shine a light on their innermost feelings.
704
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,400
Old man, look at my life
705
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:51,880
24 and there's so much more
706
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:54,880
Live alone in a paradise
707
00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:57,680
That makes me think of two
708
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,880
Love lost, such a cost
709
00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:05,560
Give me things that don't get lost
710
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:08,600
Like a coin that won't get tossed
711
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:10,880
Rolling home to you...
712
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,440
I guess it lends itself to a bit of melancholy,
713
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:18,440
especially with the dynamics and the sweetness that it has, and the humanness it has, as well.
714
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,160
Old man, take a look at my life
715
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:25,440
I'm a lot like you
716
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:28,160
I need someone to love me
717
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:31,040
The whole day through
718
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,880
Ah, one look in my eyes
719
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,160
And you can tell that's true...
720
00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:46,560
There's a certain rawness of emotion and spirit to the acoustic,
721
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,440
and I think that's what attracts a lot of people
722
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:54,280
to the acoustic guitar is the more immediate emotional connection
723
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,440
you can make to these artists.
724
00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:02,480
It's a sight
725
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,640
To behold
726
00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:10,240
When you've got some odd words to mould
727
00:46:10,240 --> 00:46:13,080
And you can make them your own...
728
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:18,320
You can immediately identify with the vulnerability of somebody
729
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:23,760
expressing themselves with just the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar.
730
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:28,600
It would be much better I'm told
731
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,600
I mean, it's literally sitting on your chest
732
00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,480
and it's just amplifying what's coming out from here.
733
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:39,960
Every light is on but all the rooms
734
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:42,480
Are empty except one...
735
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,960
With only the acoustic guitar between you and the audience,
736
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:52,680
every expression and every word is exposed.
737
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:57,560
People do, almost, kind of, sit up
738
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:02,400
and...lean forward a bit
739
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,560
and, erm, it's like they feel they've been invited to something.
740
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:11,680
Woncha come on home
741
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,040
Home...
742
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:19,160
When that moment is happening, I'm there with them, actually.
743
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:20,440
I like it myself.
744
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:22,440
Every key is turned
745
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:27,800
And every window's bolted from inside
746
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:32,760
Oh, babe, you know I get so scared
747
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:35,080
You know I couldn't live alone
748
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,840
It's just been confirmed
749
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:40,160
Baby, woncha come on home
750
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:42,280
Standing on the corner
751
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:45,040
Is a madman looking at my window?
752
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:49,080
When you stand on stage on your own, you just feel how important the words are.
753
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:53,920
When it's just the acoustic guitar, your voice and the lyrics that your trying to get across,
754
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:56,120
you realise the lyrics are so integral.
755
00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:59,240
Woncha come on home
756
00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:03,120
Home...
757
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:06,120
You learn pretty quickly that your lyrics are crap
758
00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:08,400
if you can't sing it with an acoustic.
759
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:11,960
Because now you're singing and it's so exposed and people are going,
760
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:16,840
"What are you talking about? That's the silliest thing I ever heard."
761
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:18,840
When the lyrics are strong enough,
762
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:22,080
then the acoustic guitar remains the perfect partner.
763
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:25,920
From old-school rockers right up to today's wistful whippersnappers,
764
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,040
it's all you need to tell your story.
765
00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:33,040
I know I said I loved you but I'm thinking I was wrong
766
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:36,720
I'm the first to admit that I'm still pretty young
767
00:48:36,720 --> 00:48:41,800
And I never meant to hurt you and I wrote you ten love songs
768
00:48:44,040 --> 00:48:47,920
About a guy that I could never get, how his girlfriend was pretty fit
769
00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:50,400
And everyone who knew her loved her so
770
00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:55,320
And I made you leave her for me and now I'm feeling pretty mean
771
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:56,960
But my mind has fucked me over
772
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,280
More times than any man could ever know...
773
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:08,760
People love the acoustic troubadour. That's why the likes of Pete Doherty
774
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:12,080
and Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley are held in great esteem
775
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:16,160
because they are people who can pick up a guitar and start playing to you
776
00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:19,520
and sing to you a song and it just immediately...
777
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:23,440
It enthrals you, it makes you want to listen to more.
778
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:26,920
I'll never love a man cos love and pain go hand in hand
779
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:30,480
And I can't do it again
780
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,920
I will never love a man cos I can never hurt a man
781
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:40,240
Not in this new romantic way.
782
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:45,000
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
783
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,920
I think there's a natural expression
784
00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:51,240
for confessional songwriting with an acoustic guitar,
785
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:54,680
because it allows your lyricism to really work.
786
00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:58,400
And I don't know what to do
787
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:04,760
Cos I'll never be with you...
788
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:09,800
There's a healthy load of miserable singer-songwriters
789
00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:11,560
working with acoustic guitars
790
00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:15,440
and so perhaps it does the same thing for them as it does for me
791
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:20,760
and if I'm in a quiet corner with an acoustic guitar then I find I express darker, sadder songs.
792
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:23,720
The success of these melancholic minstrels
793
00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:26,960
might suggest the acoustic is at its most potent
794
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:29,760
during these heart-rending moments.
795
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:33,800
Cos I'll never be with you.
796
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:38,720
Doesn't have to be like that, does it? It can be loud and proud.
797
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:42,360
STRUMS JOLLY TUNE
798
00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:44,480
Is that melancholic?
799
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:46,760
Maybe it's cos I'm smiling.
800
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:53,640
This is Ground Control to Major Tom
801
00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:57,680
You've really made the grade
802
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:05,120
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear...
803
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:08,320
Sometimes I think when people hear an acoustic guitar,
804
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:12,680
it's just an acoustic guitar and it's just going to be, kind of, quite weak.
805
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:17,160
But in the hands of the right person,
806
00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:19,480
it's going to sound absolutely incredible.
807
00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:24,760
For Johnny Marr, former member of The Smiths
808
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:28,560
and one of the most influential guitarists of his generation,
809
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:31,280
the acoustic is an essential part of his musical armoury.
810
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:34,520
An instrument that not only sets the mood of the music,
811
00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:36,720
but drives the song itself.
812
00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:41,600
One of the first things that struck me about the acoustic was, being very little,
813
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:45,120
and, erm, hearing the Everly Brothers, you know,
814
00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:48,280
and one of their records starts...
815
00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:50,840
HE PLAYS GUITAR
816
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:56,520
MUSIC: "Wake Up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers
817
00:51:57,960 --> 00:52:01,480
Wake up little Susie, wake up...
818
00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:06,280
And it's very deliberately an acoustic guitar intro.
819
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:09,480
And they had that going on on a couple of their records.
820
00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:12,600
And, erm, that's a different thing to
821
00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:17,080
this sort of earnest idea of the folk singer,
822
00:52:17,080 --> 00:52:21,520
earnestly finger-picking accompaniment.
823
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:22,760
That's a riff.
824
00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:31,400
Sometimes it adds a springiness, it adds an articulate nature to violence, you know.
825
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:35,040
Pete Townshend and stuff like Substitute, kind of like, you know,
826
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:41,200
it doesn't have to be a soppy, foppish instrument. It actually adds vitality to the violence of music.
827
00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:44,680
STRUMS MAJOR CHORDS
828
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:52,040
Substitute your lies for fact
829
00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:55,560
I see right through your plastic mac
830
00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:58,520
I look all white but my dad was black
831
00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:03,440
My fine-looking suit's really made out of sack...
832
00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:05,000
A riff like...
833
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:07,920
HE PLAYS "BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN"
834
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:16,480
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said
835
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:21,920
I'd like to smash every tooth in your head...
836
00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:25,600
That, to me, is always going to sound better on an acoustic,
837
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:27,200
and it's, erm,
838
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:33,640
it's a rock, post-punk, whatever name you want put on it, but it's not folk music.
839
00:53:33,640 --> 00:53:37,120
If there's one Smiths song I would pick which I would say that
840
00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:40,360
the acoustic playing on it is just so important,
841
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:45,640
kind of almost drives the song along and makes everything just a wee bit more bucolic, kind of thing,
842
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,800
is William It Was Really Nothing.
843
00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:49,600
It was written on an acoustic
844
00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:52,400
in a transit van going down the motorway.
845
00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:55,000
I had this acoustic and I just started going...
846
00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:56,320
HE STRUMS CHORDS
847
00:54:06,760 --> 00:54:10,320
Rain falls hard on a humdrum town
848
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:13,440
This town has dragged you down...
849
00:54:14,560 --> 00:54:21,120
And it may be because it was the noise of sitting in the back of a van, with no seats, on a mattress.
850
00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:26,480
I needed to hear myself, so I just started to play something loud and hyperactive, you know.
851
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:31,080
But the whole band, the bass and the drums all go along with that rhythm.
852
00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:36,200
And the song is, kind of, erm, propelled by that.
853
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:48,120
William, William it was
854
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,840
Really nothing
855
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:55,400
William, William it was
856
00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:58,280
Really nothing
857
00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:01,720
It was your life...
858
00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:05,360
It just feels like it's the bed for everything else.
859
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:08,360
And sometimes when an acoustic guitar is that important,
860
00:55:08,360 --> 00:55:10,760
it almost becomes more important than drums.
861
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:15,280
How can you stay with a fat girl who'll say, "Oh
862
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:16,680
"Would you like to marry me?
863
00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:18,720
"And if you like you can buy the ring..."
864
00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:21,800
The combination of an acoustic and electric is a wonderful thing
865
00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:24,600
because they don't really get in the way of each other.
866
00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:28,040
They occupy different parts of the sonic range within a record.
867
00:55:28,040 --> 00:55:30,960
And you'll find that a lot of great rock acts over the years
868
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:33,680
like REM or The Smiths, or any of those great bands,
869
00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:36,800
they often put a little bit of acoustic amongst the electrics
870
00:55:36,800 --> 00:55:40,040
and it just helps glue the rhythm section to the guitars.
871
00:55:40,040 --> 00:55:45,480
Sometimes the acoustic guitar brings the band closer together.
872
00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:50,720
And it definitely reigns the electric guitar in, makes it more gentle. Makes it more regal.
873
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:55,400
I don't know, there's just something there
874
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:59,520
where everything feels as if it's couched in some kind of Ready Brek glow.
875
00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:15,480
Proud as a peacock, the acoustic guitar.
876
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:17,720
Well, I'm up on the eleventh floor
877
00:56:17,720 --> 00:56:20,120
And I'm watching the cruisers below...
878
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:25,360
It's been an essential part of rock 'n' roll from the very beginning, and has never gone away.
879
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:30,560
As crucial to a rock band as the bass, drums, and its electric brother.
880
00:56:30,560 --> 00:56:34,040
It is the basis of popular music today.
881
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:37,840
It goes away and it comes back, goes away, comes back. It's always there.
882
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:42,440
A little thrum in the background. There's always some acoustic music around.
883
00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:45,280
I'll take advantage while
884
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:49,040
You hang me out to dry...
885
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:53,720
A gentle music machine that's at the heart of even the loudest of bands.
886
00:56:53,720 --> 00:56:57,240
Acoustic music is not just
887
00:56:57,240 --> 00:57:02,000
rock 'n' roll music and it's not just folk music, it is music.
888
00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:05,080
Come on, let me tell you what you're missing
889
00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:07,040
Messing round these brick walls...
890
00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:13,520
The most complete artists seem to be able to switch in between,
891
00:57:13,520 --> 00:57:16,040
harnessing the power of a band
892
00:57:16,040 --> 00:57:19,320
and also just showing how gentle the acoustic guitar can be.
893
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:22,640
MUSIC: "Wonderwall" by Oasis
894
00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:28,640
The musicians' bedfellow, collaborator and best friend.
895
00:57:28,640 --> 00:57:30,520
It's all you need.
896
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:34,480
I don't know of anything else in my life that's like that, really.
897
00:57:35,640 --> 00:57:39,200
A humble box with six strings that can write your song,
898
00:57:39,200 --> 00:57:42,080
break your heart and set a stadium alight.
899
00:57:42,080 --> 00:57:45,080
I don't believe that anybody
900
00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:48,560
Feels the way I do about you now
901
00:57:51,520 --> 00:57:56,160
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
902
00:57:56,160 --> 00:58:00,720
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
903
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:05,280
There are many things that I would like to say to you
904
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:08,040
But I don't know how
905
00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:10,680
I don't know how
906
00:58:10,680 --> 00:58:13,840
Because maybe
907
00:58:13,840 --> 00:58:18,600
You're gonna be the one that saves me
908
00:58:18,600 --> 00:58:23,440
And after all
909
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:26,440
You're my wonderwall.
910
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:29,880
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
911
00:58:33,320 --> 00:58:35,440
- Cheers.
- CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
75131
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