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There are special places on this earth.

Places of origin.

The Mississippi delta

is one of those places.

It saw the birth of more musical genres

than anywhere else on the planet.

An incredible number of musical artists

came from this region.

Countless award winners

who would influence

and inspire music around the world.

And at the center of it all

the city on the river.

You know there was something special brewing in Memphis.

Out of nowhere hits began to spring from this

integrated musical utopia.

And the sound that was brought forth

was heard throughout the entire world.

Music producer Martin shore

and the director of this film

has gathered together a group

of legendary memphians

to create a historic new album.

Sitting in the studio built my mentor,

legendary producer Jim Dickinson,

I had the inspiration for this project.

Together with my friend Cody Dickinson,

we would reintroduce the influential music of Memphis

by pairing legendary musicans

everything we touched turned to gold,

and they couldn't figure out how.

With stars of today.

No matter what style or what genre,

it felt good to you, it touched the spirit.

All with roots from Memphis

to the Mississippi delta.

To record new music

these sessions witnessed the legendary masters

mentoring and passing on their musical magic

to a new generation.

Booker t. And the m. G.'S was a completely

new phenomenon for the world, okay?

The music was different from anything that had

ever been played before.

We were an integrated band.

We couldn't just anywhere we wanted to.

We didn't play the black clubs,

we didn't play the white clubs together.

Not at first.

A lot of people thought that is was

a black band.

A lot of people thought it was a white band.

They didn't know what it was,

'cause we didn't have any photos out.

You guys want to go see the studio?

Yeah, let's do it.

Zebra ranch, man.

You are listening to the sounds

of the north Mississippi allstars

and booker t.

I'm just your host.

They call me ai kapone, ai kapeezy.

Look, man. Hey!

Luther!

Nice to see you. Welcome.

How are you?

Thank you for coming here.

Oh, you're welcome.

I come on take a ride with me

I south Memphis, north Memphis, tenneesee

j' I'm a product of my environment

I same neighborhood as mister booker t.

J“ riding in the Van where he gave the game

I some things change, some remain the same

I it don't really matter cause we do our thing

I different time period but we still the same

I we gonna get it back where it's supposed to be

j“ black, white, it don't really matter to me

I the past and the present bring the whole new team

I we gon' get it back where it's supposed to be

I we gon' get it back where it's supposed to be

I get the money flowing so we all can eat

I we gon' get it back where it's supposed to be

I Memphis, tenneesee making history

I we gonna get that Memphis thing back

I where it's supposed to be

I'm Luther Dickinson, and my brother and I

play in a band called the north Mississippi allstars.

Products of the Memphis music scene, you know.

Our father was a huge guiding force for us

our whole lives.

He was a piano player, and a guitar player

and a record producer.

He was so happy to play with Bob Dylan

on the "time out of mind" record.

He had a wonderful career.

He was a true champion and hero of Memphis music.

And that's what it's all about, man.

Passing the tradition on.

Getting the great Memphis musical legends together

with the younger generation of artists and bands, you know?

We've been talking about this project for a few years

and I wish we'd done it then, man,

because we lost so many great people

even since we started talking about it.

I we gonna do this music scene

I back where it's supposed be

I we'll put that music where it's supposed to be

I Memphis, Tennessee is back where it's supposed to be

it works though.

I my city got talent, man

I we got our own sound

I it's a Memphis thang

I worldwide known and respected, too

I but it's kinda hard to break it all way through

I want my legacy in music to be that

I was a memphian that helped create

underground sound that hadn't even been

developed before, that was created from

dances like the gangsta walk

that evolved later into buckin' and jookin'

that didn't stay stuck in a box,

that transcended race.

I we'll put that music where it's supposed to be

I Memphis music scene back where it's supposed to be

Memphis music is often passed down in families.

Willie Mitchell founded royal studios,

home of hi records, and the hi rhythm section.

Papa Willie is considered the architect

of the Memphis sound, and produced hit records

for some of the biggest stars in Memphis

including all of al green's classics.

One, two, three!

Willie Mitchell's royal studios.

So as young teenagers, we were brought over here

to sing background on something that was a country session.

And I remember Willie always said, you know,

country music and r & b, he said, they're cousins.

If something was good and musical and caught him,

you know, it didn't matter if it was rap, country, gospel,

jazz, whatever.

He'd like it.

Next thing you know we're singing "tired of being alone."

Fourteen number one.

Fourteen number one gold records in a row,

and it's just like, okay.

He'd see something he'd like,

he'd say, "god from glory!"

"God from glory!" That's it.

He'd go along like that, "god from glory!"

He'd pop that' knee, you'd just send chills

out there like, okay, guess he likes that.

Now let's keep that up.

Willie was my man, and he was like

a father to me too, man.

And his son, b00 is like what Willie was the same way.

I'm sure if I needed something I could go to boo and get it.

I'm sure I could.

We love papa Willie.

He was our pops too,

and we'd like to say to him and to Memphis music

and all the people out here

I let's, let's stay together

I loving you whether

I whether times are good or bad

I happy or sad

I let's, let's stay together

Hey man.

Hey Mr. Otis Clay.

You look like somebody I should know.

You look like somebody I do know.

Ah, how you doing?

What's your name?

Lil' p-nut.

What!

You're p-nut? Yes, sir.

How you doin' p-nut?

Fine.

Yeah, great, man.

Been checking you out.

I don't know what we're gonna do,

but we're gonna do it well.

I didn't know who I was going to be working with,

but then I see p-nut, you know, I said, okay.

This is gonna be fun.

You know?

There's not a generation gap.

It's a communication gap.

And when you take the time to communicate

then you find that there really is no difference.

Okay, let's do this.

From the top?

Yeah, from your top, from your top.

I'm talking to one of the greatest dummers in what?

Can you give me bop bop?

Okay.

Count it out, Steve.

One, two, three.

I I used to smoke five packs of cigarettes a day

I it was the hardest thing to put them away

I I drank four, five bottles of wine

I I kept a glass in my hand all the time

I oh breaking old habits

I nothing compared to the changes

I that you put me through

I trying to live my life without you, babe

I it's the hardest thing I'll ever do

I trying to forget the loving we shared, now

I it's the hardest burden I'll ever burn

I oh, baby, baby

I baby, now, now

What's goin' on, Charles?

Hey man, what's goin' on?

Hey, man, it's been good.

This here is home sweet home.

Taking nothing for granted.

Just trying to keep on keeping on.

I can relate to that, but not as the girl way.

I can relate to that without having anything like

I can't live without toys, or nothing like that.

Right!

I oh, baby, baby

I oh, baby, now, now

I p-nut

I what's up shorty

I you ain't actin' the same

I I thought me and you was cool

I why you acting ashamed

I maybe it's me

I or maybe it's Karma

I whatever it is

I girl ain't normal

I do you understand

I do you get the message

I you got your boy trippin'

I you got your boy stressing

I I ain't trying to smother you

I I ain't trying to bother you

I but me without you is kind of hard to do

I one of the most things

I got the girls findin' out

I but thinkin' about you

I got my curls falling out

I thinking about you

I girl, world's all about it

I thinking about you's hurting

I got my hurtin' out my mouth, uh

I girl, you got my life complete

I no other's competin'

I that's why the other's deleted

I shorty, you got your boy right

I sho' is entertaininment

I lil p-nut and mister Otis Clay, uh

I trying to live my life without you, babe

I I can't do it

I it's the hardest thing I'll ever do

I no, we can't, we can't do it

I we got to road to share now

I it's the hardest burden I'll ever hear, oh

I I can't do it

I baby, baby, ooh, baby, now, now

I trying to live my life without you, babe

I without you

I it's the hardest thing I'll ever do

I hardest thing I'll ever

I trying to forget the loving we shared now

I that's the hardest burden I'll ever

I I keep running

I keep running, babe

I I can't do it

I can't do it no more

ino no

I yeah, I'm tryin'

I oh, I keep on

I okay

Real fun.

Woo, p-nut!

P-nut is killing it!

Hey, you some of our background singers?

Yeah, I guess, yeah.

Skip pitts, baby.

Sharisse.

Hey, sharisse.

Skip pitts, baby.

Shontelle and sharisse, all that?

I like them names.

Y'all from Memphis too?

She said, "yes, sir."

Well, when it comes to you she'll say, "yes, grandpa,"

with your old ass.

- Guess what? - What?

I'm still here.

Guess what?

Me too.

If you keep Ing with me, not much longer.

Hey Ben!

We got Ben cauley, ya'll!

Hey, my brother! I love you, man.

How you doin'?

You know Ben cauley?

He's the only living survivor of the

Otis Redding plane crash.

And he's the only guy who could not swim.

And he survived the Otis Redding plane crash.

Everybody on board.

His band, and Otis Redding, and the pilot all went down.

Everybody but him.

How are you?

What's up, man?

Thank you so much for coming.

We love having you, man.

Good to be here.

We love it, love it.

Absolutely love it.

Okay, so I want to take one of the eight-bar choruses

out and push the horn thing up.

And then the verse.

And then the verse is gonna be a 16-bar verse

for the rapper.

Yeah, man, going over my lyrics.

To get ready to work with the legendary Bobby rush.

We're gonna remake Rufus Thomas song called

"push and pull."

Real, real honored to be a part of this situation

and can be able to work with somebody

you grew up listening to.

So, you know, I gotta perfecting it.

I gotta be ready.

Here you go, sir.

Is that "push and pull?"

Yeah, come on, we gotta...

You ain't got to give that to me, push and pull?

Yeah but it's a different structure

I changed the structure.

Really?

Yeah, cause we got a rapper.

We got a rapper so.

So some of the verses gon' be 16.

You're like, taking out

the chorus and some verses.

That's the same song.

Same song, yeah.

Alright, then.

That's frayser boy.

How you doing, sir?

It's an honor, man.

How you doing?

I can't complain.

What's hometown for you?

Right here, this home for you?

Yeah, it's home.

This is where I'm from.

I probably knew your great grandad.

Probably do, man.

Grew up listening to you, man.

Honor, man.

It's an honor, man.

You'll be alright.

Let's do it, man.

Let's do it.

Do we repeat the da-da-da-da-da?

Just one on the top.

All right, ya'll ready?

Okay, hunt going to count it.

Count it loud, hunt.

One, two, one, two, three.

I hey everybody, Bobby rush is in town

I come here take care of business

I ain't no messing around

I've been recording since 1951.

I have 249 records.

And I don't think I worked under 200 shows a year

for 50 years.

1957 I had three beers.

I haven't had one before or since.

November 10th.

I'm 79 years old.

Man, you don't look no 79.

You look 40.

I ain't 79.

I won't be 79 'till November.

I'm 78.

I gon' push it, push and pull it

I only ask one

I she's sure hums like a bullet, like a bullet

I and she push it like she show we where to put it

I kid in a candy store

I I guess she got the goodies

I twenty-two and she gon' get the candies

I energizer bunny, she don't even need batteries

I she doin' there, then she doin' wit it

I way she movin' that thang

I make me wanna come and get it

I frayser boy, no tellin' what I might do

I way she movin' need somebody just like you

I let me see it, give me what I ask for

I she's so good willin, she was swimmin'

I backstroke, do the damn thing

I pop it like champagne

I what are they doin'

I lmg, that's a damn shame

I queen, watch her drop it low

I then she pause for a minute

I so I call her stomp and roll

I now push, and pull

I push and pull

I get on up

I now get on down

do you rap a lot of freestyle stuff?

I'm not a freestyler.

I'm better when I'm writing.

'Cause I have time to really think about what I'm...

What you doing and what you gonna do.

I wrote the lyrics to "it's hard out here for a pimp".

I got a Oscar for that.

Close song, but I didn't know you'd written it.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm glad for that, man.

I appreciate it man.

I do some freestyle in the things that I do,

but most of the time, the script is already there

and I can vary from that.

You know what I'm talking about?

Ad lib, or whatever you wanna call it.

Yeah, yeah.

It'll beat me all day, the freestyle.

But you let me write something,

give me a minute, I'm a get cha

I man, look at that thing

I go ahead, dance

I look at that Booty bustin' outta' them pants

I she got me lookin' hard, just like a fan

I opposites attract, you a woman, I'm a man

you know, this is my first time

really working with a live band.

Like, a rap session...

I know.

It's a whole lot different.

Because of the computer stuff, and you sample it.

Yeah, yeah.

If we keep sampling, we'll run out of things to sample.

You know what I'm talking about?

There's nobody creating new things

so you have something to sample from.

Lotta people tell me when they come here

and they not from here, they feel the soul in the street.

They just feel the soul in the atmosphere,

so you know, it's just a real soulful city.

Just a good city to be from, you know what I'm saying?

I think it's up to us to let 'em know where Memphis is,

you know what I'm saying?

It's up to the voices of today, or whatever.

It's so much talent in Memphis.

I push it, pull it, push it, pull it, push it, pull it

Woo!

When they told me a rapper was in,

it was a young guy.

And I said, I'm glad to do it,

because this what it's all about.

Yeah!

Few guitarists influenced

the evolution of funk and r & b

more than Charles "skip" pitts.

His signature wa-wa pedal

turned wax records into gold.

I started recording with gene Chandler,

believe it or not.

Du-du-du-Duke of Earl.

I got with him when I was 17 years old,

and he said, "man, do you know my songs?"

I said, "I know all the Curtis songs.

"I know your songs."

I knew it in my ear, I got a good ear.

I don't even hardly read, but I got a good ear.

He started taking me to the studio.

I would go when he record and watch him,

and watch what was going on, and then eventually he said,

"you wanna record with me?"

I said yeah, and I did.

We played with gene Chandler until the beginning of '68.

We left him, like I say, on a Friday,

and Saturday, we was in New York

rehearsing with Wilson pickett.

I good times walkin' down Broadway

I nothing but good times every day

And I was the band leader.

This is my buddy, man.

I swear he is, I'm so glad you here.

It is great to see you.

You, too.

It's a blessing, it's a blessing, man.

You know I wasn't almost here one time.

I know.

You know.

I do know.

He saved me, too.

I was almost dead, ya'll.

I lost a kidney, I ain't ashamed.

I got a kidney outta me, and I ain't

as strong as I used to be.

This man came to my help, he did.

He came, he helped me, he did.

You family, that's what families are for.

Yeah, but a lotta people don't feel like that.

I know.

You know that.

I'm here today, thank you, lord.

By way of these people here and through god.

He's giving it back, you know? Keep it going.

Can't keep it until you give it away.

Singer, songwriter William bell

was instrumental in shaping the sound of stax records.

Legendary artists like Jimi Hendrix,

Albert king, and cream covered his songs.

The hottest musicians of today

continue to sample his signature sound.

All of us ghetto kids probably woulda

wound up dead or in jail.

We have to give back.

We have to perpetuate the music

and help the youngsters along,

because the older guys helped us.

I worked with old man Phineas's band for four years

in junior high and high school on the weekends.

B.b. Is like a surrogate father.

These guys, they were close enough to us

but where they were mentors,

and told us that there was more to life

than gang bangin' and robbin' and stealin' and all that,

and it gave us a purpose.

We didn't care, or know whether it was gonna have longevity.

We didn't care whether it was gonna make a hit or not.

We just wanted to hear our own voice on the radio.

The music that they were making in their time

is exactly what we making.

We just expressing what we going through

as young kids from the ghetto.

If we wasn't rapping and singing, we'd be dead or in jail.

It's the same story, it's the same connection.

The old record companies,

sun, stax, American, hi, every Memphis studio

had its own thing.

Stax didn't say, "we want a sound.

"We want you to sound like this or sound like that."

Stax was saying, "come on in and be yourself.“

and then the writers would write a song that fits

and was appropriate for this specific artist.

It was tailor-made, that's what made it so authentic.

They were not about the business of seeing how

it can sound like this person, sound like that person.

It was about trying to create a unique and original

spirit about what you were doing.

As stax's premier writing team,

Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter wrote some

of the biggest songs of the day

for Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, and Sam & Dave.

Man, you know what?

Stax records is an institution

and the foundation for all of American music.

And you're looking at two guys

that were a significant part of that foundation right here.

On the real deal.

This is the guy that is chock full of lyrics. Chock full.

"Hold on I'm comin'" and all of that stuff.

I'm talking about chock full of lyrics.

"Hold on, I'm comin' ", David had to go to the men's room.

David Porter had to go to the men's room,

and he and Isaac working with Sam & Dave on that song.

Isaac had a little riff going, and so

while he was playing the riff,

David said, "I'm going up here to the bathroom,"

and he stayed so long, so Isaac said,

"hey, Dave!"

"Yeah, hold on, I' m comin.

That's how the song came about.

We sit down, in 20 minutes, we had written

"hold on, I'm comin' “.

It's a true story.

But that produced a monster song.

Don't you ever feel sad. Lean on me when times are bad.

When the day comes and you're down

in a river of trouble and about to drown,

hold on, I'm comin'.

Hold on.

We were coming up in a time in the sixties and seventies

where we wanted to have some substance

to what we were saying in the music,

and we wanted it to feel good.

A hook that would draw you to the message.

You know, we didn't have access

to pro tools and all the other technology

that's designed to make you sound

as though you can sing when you can't.

Or to improve your timing when your rhythm is lousy.

And so they had to be right.

And it was true art. It was true art.

Not manufactured art that was marketed

to people, but true art.

Abilities and talent and consistency were requirements,

and if you didn't have your act together

as far as singing or playing or something,

they'd send you back home and tell you to go practice.

Nobody could play anything out of synthesizers

or punch buttons on drum machines,

but ask 'em to actually play?

They don't know how.

And that's the truth.

Autotune.

Autotune, yeah, yeah.

Alter your voice.

Yeah, and you got when somebody goes on the road,

they take the autotune and put it in the rig.

Yeah, so actually today, you really don't

have to be able to sing.

The audience that's listening to you

does not know that if what they're hearing is really you.

I think if you're making a record, man.

You get in the room, you get ready, and you play it, man.

It's not a lot of overproduced, overdubbing,

or cutting and pasting.

I think a real record is proof of people playing

in a room and recorded live.

Hey Joe, I'm gonna need your guitar just one second.

Charlie, how 'bout I just come scoop you up, man.

We get to work.

Part of me just wants to do an up-tempo song,

but that's just because the mood I'm in today,

so that obviously can't affect it.

Hey, Charlie!

How are ya?

How does it feel to be back in Memphis right now?

I always love to be back in Memphis.

Like I remember we catching the train here.

Hey, I know you.

I got you a Dr. Pepper today.

Did ya? Alright.

Feel like I'm at home.

You are.

How y'all doing?

Hey, Charlie, I'm David hood.

Charlie's the name, harmonica's the game.

Alright.

Hey, I'm George.

I'm Charlie musselwhite.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Joe restivo, man.

Make some noise and have some fun doing it.

What do you think of that?

I like it. I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just noodling.

Awesome.

Now is this an instrumental,

or are we gonna write vocals for it?

It's just instrumental.

It's a instrumental?

Is it really?

I hadn't even thought about lyrics, I just...

You hadn't even thought about lyrics?

Oh, I love your voice so much, man.

I was really hoping you would sing.

I mean I know a lot of tunes,

but they're all just straight ahead blues.

Sing a blues song, man, what you do.

Well I don't know if that's what they wanna do.

Yeah, man. Name it.

A shuffle?

Eddie Taylor shuffle.

I'll do my best Eddie Taylor.

And you can start the guitar like.

Can I show you how to do it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Something on the order of...

I need to put my foot up here on something.

You should just play guitar.

That sounds great.

Just something like that.

He's a swamp boogie badass.

He's a swamp boogie badass.

When I was growing up here in the forties and fifties,

it seemed like Memphis was just loaded with music.

I didn't know if it was that way everywhere,

but I found out later it was pretty special.

There was street singers downtown

that I was really fascinated with, blues singers.

But there's always these jam sessions,

spontaneous jam sessions.

Somebody'd just drop by with a bottle and a guitar,

and next thing you know, we're playing just for fun.

I if I should have bad luck

I honey, a long, long way from home

I if I should have bad luck

I honey, a long, long way from home

I well now since I know you love me

I honey, your love will keep me goin'

I comin' home to you baby

I'd been doing a little moonshine running

and laying cement floors in cotton warehouses

and digging ditches and stuff.

That didn't appeal to me, so going up to Chicago

and getting one of those big factory jobs

with all the benefits.

I didn't know that Chicago had

all the big blues singing there.

And when I got there, boy, it was like

a kid in a candy store.

I'm hanging out at pepper's lounge

with muddy waters, or silvio's with howlin' wolf,

or run into will Walter and Sonny boy,

and they were all there.

Everybody up there was from down here,

and I'd already met Jimmy Reed here in Memphis,

and I'd met muddy and James cotton here.

You know, the south side of Chicago was

sorta like north Memphis or something.

It's more than just music.

It's got that substance, that feeling to it.

It just grabs people.

Once they hear it, they gotta have more.

Because they know it's deep stuff,

and it's real and genuine, and straight from the heart.

If you ain't got that secret southern Memphis ingredient,

which you can't put in a book or write down,

it just ain't gonna be the same.

We were just jamming.

Bass. This is the bass part.

In the true spirit of collaboration,

we matched English blues extrordinaire, Ian siegal

with Memphis guitar slinger, Eric gales.

Mentoring is the legendary Hubert sumlin.

That's it, that's the bass part.

Hubert sumlin played with blues icons

howlin' wolf and muddy waters,

and they influenced a new generation of musicians

that created the British invasion.

That magic inspired musicians to travel

from all around the world to record in Memphis.

Robert plant said, "once I heard the music

"of the Mississippi delta, I was no longer English.

"I was a man of the world."

I was thinking about the debt

that the British musician owes to this town, this area.

And as a kid, you found your escape

with the whole idea of bringing lead belly,

bringing the delta music into British mainstream

alongside traditional jazz.

We always looked, we couldn't do anything else but look,

and try and emulate this music.

It was phenomenal.

Really, really amazing.

As I drove in last night in the rain,

I said to Nick, I said, "we're back."

I goodbye, she said

I I know you're glad I'm gone

I oh, you been had me iivin', boy

I yes, sir

I in this phase too long

I I don't worry

I I don't worry, y'all

I 'cause I'm sitting on top of the world

Yeah!

B.b. King, buddy guy, and Hubert sumlin, you know,

and those are the last three real electric guitar

blues men around of the first generation, man.

It's a miracle that those cats are even with us, man.

I mean, we love you, b.B., and we love you, Hubert.

God!

You're a major legend to me, man.

And you're just really a huge inspiration

to have set down with you

and had talks with you that we've had before.

And you mean a whole lot to me, man,

and anytime that we can get together

to do anything together, man, I'm always there for you, man.

And like I said, there's not a favor you can't ask of me

that I would not be there

I would be there, man,

because you are the true legend.

You are the pioneer, you're the man.

Ain't nothing but a party here.

Hey, Luther!

How you doin', Luther?

I missed you so much.

Oh, I missed you guys, man.

Missed you so much.

We missed you all.

Miss Yvonne, hey.

Y'all act like we ain't in the family no more.

Luther, we heard you got a little girl.

Woo!

She's my heart.

Hey, so we're grandmas now.

I'll show you pictures later.

I know she's cute.

I know she is, Luther.

She looks just like my dad.

I'm so proud of you.

I missed y'all so much!

My children.

We love you so much.

I love you, too.

We miss you. We love you to, miss Yvonne.

Oh, lord, it ain't easy.

I grew up on this record right here,

"the staple singers make you happy".

The way we actually, our family got to know

the staples family was because of the song,

"freedom highway".

We were playing the song, we were gonna record it,

but there was one line that we couldn't figure out.

And my mom called Yvonne and mavis

and asked her what it was.

I was so impressed that mom found them, you know?

And they were so cool.

"My sons want to sing 'march freedom highway'.

"Can we have the lyrics?"

And they were like, "what are these young white boys in

"Mississippi doing singing our civil rights protest song?"

I was like, “hey man, I'm feelin' it."

Mavis staples is a queen, man.

She is queen of the civil rights movement and of soul music.

Pops, you know, pops staples, he knew Charlie patton,

and mavis talks about howlin' wolf

coming to the house and hanging out, you know?

And pops staples takes the country blues

straight through into the future

through the civil rights movement

When we were brought here as slaves

and not allowed to congregate or talk,

those slaves organized a way of communicating,

and it was through singing.

From the field songs and all the way through the gospels

and the civil rights movement, where the church was

at the center of the movement,

and the black preachers were motivating people

to stand up for what they believed in, and their rights.

Mavis staples marched and sang

side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the struggle for racial equality.

After decades of hit records with the staple singers

and a solo career, mavis was inducted

into the rock & roll hall of fame

and earned a grammy lifetime achievement award.

Lord knows, people needed a change.

They were ready for a change, a change had to come.

And the music was reflecting that, you know?

And the Memphis music flourished through the fight,

and man, I don't know.

“Keep on marching", I'm not gonna turn around, man.

We're gonna keep on marching, mavis.

We love you, baby.

God, they were so cool.

Well look here, what's with these songs

we keep changing up on?

What did we decide to do?

"I've been buked".

I I've been buked

that'd be beautiful

I'm just gonna say, that's good.

I said, "I've been scorned" is good, but tell them

to listen to "wish I had answered", too.

He didn't tell us that.

Papa was playing to get that

That sounds great.

You might not have "wish I had answered" on you.

I never heard that one.

Oh, man!

Maybe you can find it on the computer.

Yeah, I'll look.

That's what we're gonna do.

Oh, okay.

"Wish I had answered“, Cody.

We was going, getting it down.

I know it don't take y'all long.

Y'all some bad Montana's.

I don't you know that I wish

I wish I had an answer

oh, yeah! Woo!

That's it.

Go, Cody! Go, Cody, you little scutter!

I love this song, it sounds incredible.

It's a great song, Cody.

Pops wrote that.

It's beautiful.

Isn't that bad?

That guitar part's so funky.

Yeah, yeah, that's what I liked.

I knew y'all would like that.

Listen to the pep of it.

Now, pops bad.

That's the bomb!

Ain't that hip?

You mean you writin' that down?

I he took a look at me

that's too high.

I to 104

I was 22 years old.

I deep down inside

I and I felt the fear

I of the swelling tide

I you know I wish

Who gonna sing pops' part?

Y'all want me to sing on pop's part, too?

Okay.

We'll all do background.

Background, okay.

Five, yeah.

One, six, six, five.

Woo pops, you're slick!

That's pops' doing now.

I hear it, it's tricky.

Aww, alright, I'm off now.

Go pops. Go pops.

But Luther, you can get it.

Luther can get it.

Thank you, I'm gonna keep the faith.

If anybody can get it.

I'm gonna keep the faith.

Nope.

There it is.

I woo, to 103

I old death took a look at me

I then it Rose to 104

I said "old death, it knockin at your door"

I it Rose to 105

I said "I don't believe, lord, you will survive"

I don't you know I wish

I said I... nevermind.

Nah, keep going now.

I he called

I can't breathe. That was sick.

Wow, that gave me chills.

Alright, we got us one, y'all.

That gave me chills, too.

This Montana's bad.

Still got it.

In the house. In the house!

I she said "oh death is knockin' at your door"

but see, I can't make my hoops.

We did all sessions, though, man.

We put so much stuff in the can.

We created the music, see?

And the bass had.

No, the bass had.

Now puttin' on this.

I t's your thing.

"It's your thing" came out and instantaneously it was a hit.

So after "it's your thing" we had carte blanche

with the isley brothers.

I left the isley brothers and came here in 1970,

'cause Isaac called for me from doing

"it's your thing".

He was getting his own band.

And Isaac had us plenty of work.

If I wasn't in the studio, I was on the road.

Isaac was hot.

Isaac Hayes!

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

We have Isaac Hayes's academy award here.

1972, for "shaft".

If I remember correctly, Isaac Hayes

was the first African American musician

in the history of the academy.

That was also very special, because

he brought it home to Memphis.

Then Isaac Hayes's Cadillac.

This doggone car caused more accidents on the streets

of Memphis than you can ever imagine,

because people had never seen anything like it before.

It's quite an automobile, don't you think?

And I played with him from then

to about '81, when he went bankrupt

and stopped playing for a while.

He went overseas somewhere.

Then, Isaac came back and started working in '94.

And called for me.

I ended up being his band leader

and I was with him until the day he died.

That day, I was supposed to go to lunch with him,

and I couldn't get there in time.

He died before I could get to him.

He was gone.

Now Jesse Jackson said that "stax

"was not just a record company.

"I t was a sound.

"I t was a piece of culture.

"I t was a movement of conscience

"and an experience of mankind at the right time."

Here in this musical environment,

at stax records and hi records

we respect each other culturally.

We respect each other as men and women

and as professionals.

And we really don't care what your gender is,

and we don't care what color you are.

It's all about the music.

Those were some strange kind of times,

because racism still permeated our society

at that time, but we had two people

who had a greater love for the music.

So they allowed the people, black and white,

to come in and they worked together."

We just didnt' see color.

I guess you might say stax was kinda like an oasis,

a musical oasis in the middle of a ghetto, a desert.

The minute we walked out of the door,

it hit us in the face.

Sometimes blatantly, because the police

would sit across the street at big d's,

and they would come screeching over,

and sometimes with guns drawn,

because we'd turn around and lock the doors.

At 3:00 in the morning, we're coming out of the studio

to lock the doors, “what are you doing here?"

"Are you robbing the place?"

We just locked the door.

Would we Rob it and lock the door?

Hey, boy!

Happy new year!

What's going on, baby?

This is my partner here, man.

This is Leroy Hodges, the bass player,

Teenie Hodges' brother.

Minister! Another Hodges, y'all.

We cut so much stuff with these guys.

Like he cut "I-o-v-e, love" and he said

he don't even remember what key it was in.

You cut so much, you can't think about what you did.

I've got so many covers, I don't even know.

I mean, I have over 26 gold and platinum records.

D-flat, major seventh,

a-flat, b-flat seventh.

We did it together.

That's what made it so beautiful.

Hi rhythm, Leroy, Howard, hubby, Teenie and myself.

We recorded 27 gold and platinum records,

one behind another, 27 in a row.

Leroy, Teenie and myself, Charles,

we were brothers first, you know, the three of us.

My dad, Leroy Hodges, senior.

He, without a shadow of a doubt,

was one of the greatest blues pianists in the world.

He played with some of the best ever,

Memphis slim, some of all those guys.

But he started having all these kids.

My mom and dad had seven kids in four years.

Nine kids in six years, but it didn't stop him from playing.

And that's how we all got started.

We worked in his band.

I was sitting here, Teenie was always here.

Charles, that organ and piano been in the same spot

for, same since bill black come up.

D-flat.

On what?

D-flat, major seventh.

Hold on, slow down, slow down.

Do it slower.

Hold it right there, d-minor?

Yeah, d-minor.

No, you called it out the first time.

Are we in the same place?

Do it again.

Hold the f

to a f seventh to b-flat.

We loved, we care for each other,

what they was going through.

We were never too busy or too big

to just sit down and talk about your problems,

what you were going through.

If you need some help on something,

I'm right here for you.

Oh, I got another one too,

y'all gonna really like.

So let's start of something like...

I the drama, the drama

I the babies, their mamas like

I "you promised, but you was dishonest"

I now you've got some trip in your stride

I there's only one pimp in this ride

I so you walk

that's cool.

Learn it.

Give us about 15, 20, 30 minutes.

Willie say, "y'all ready?"

Let's roll it.

I it's lost art

I tryin' to get all of that cheese

I like people, like Russell

I pray to god, though

I with everyone telling you please

I go in the back door

I what's the front for

I mister, I think you should leave

I what if I don't go

I then the cops show

I hands up, get on your knees

I turn around, face the floor

I but I'm all "no

I "I ain't gon' get on my knees"

I that ain't my spot, bro

I I ain't got no warrants or felonies

I so what's your hassle

I it's a lost road

I you got a problem, I see

I 'cause of my afro

I let them naps grow

I mister, you better freeze

I I ain't gon' tell you no more

I I was in line, I done told you one time

I don't forget that you're talking to me

I you walkin' prime and respect what is mine

I why don't you take your partner and flee

I this is the score,

I they've got three guns, no four of them

I I'm thinking war, but there may be some more of them

I I'm not so sure at the door, there's just more of them

I might be some hands and I'm free

I so we walk

I walk away

Willie Mitchell had one of the few clubs

that blacks could play in.

I had a club down the street.

Was the first all integrated,

and I caught all kinds of flack.

They tried to place drugs in the bathrooms.

But thank goodness I had people downtown

saying we're gonna be raided.

So we went through all of that, man.

And then on tour, it was just as bad

throughout the country.

I mean, we had to ride all night sometimes

because you couldn't stay nowhere.

Highway patrol would pull you over,

pull all your instruments out of the trailer,

and then, "oh, you musicians?

"Play something."

For real?

Mmmhmm.

It's like...

Man, you gotta be humiliated

to play some music on the side of the road.

Yeah, on the side of the road.

There was rampant segregation here at the time.

And seeing a lot of black people

driving around town in jaguars and new Cadillacs

and making large amounts of money

and being internationally famous.

Overt opulence rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

And they showed their displeasure.

There were places where we couldn't eat.

If we walked into a restaurant, and they said,

"well, no, no, no, you can't.

"You gotta go around the corner.

"We don't serve you."

Everybody walked out.

I remember once that they wouldn't

let us eat in this restaurant.

So he said, "well, can we get something to go?"

And everbody said, "oh, no, no.

"We're not gonna spend the money in here

"if they won't let us eat."

So he said, "no, no no.

"Give us 40 hamburgers.

"Everything on 40 hamburgers."

The minute the guy started fixing up the stuff

and throwing the meat on the grill and everything,

we all walked out and got on the bus and left.

I hey baby now

I you got a dangerous town

I ai the things you do

I baby, you change the rules

I ooh, you tell me how

I makin' 'em scream and shout

I it's just a game with you

I do what you came to do

I baby, you walk

Yes, yes! Wow! Yeah!

That can be in front.

It's like it stopped you from getting into trouble.

It's like, "walk. Walk.

"Just walk."

The garbage workers in Memphis

started the whole movement.

The garbage workers quit, everything's gonna fall apart.

But they couldn't feed their families, so they stood up,

and once they did that, everything just started to change.

Somewhere I read

of the freedom of assembly.

Somewhere I read

of the freedom of speech.

Somewhere I read

of the freedom of press.

Somewhere I read

that the greatness of america is the right to protest

for right.

I've seen the promised land.

I may not get there with you.

But I want you to know tonight,

that we as a people will get to the promised land.

So I'm happy tonight.

I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord.

The moment that Dr. Martin Luther King was shot

the utopia began to crumble.

Our neighborhoods were on fire.

It seemed as if the spirit of Memphis

was at war with the times,

as fear of the unknown covered the entire city.

It was just like, devastating.

I mean, the whole neighborhood

was just out in the street screaming,

and yelling and crying.

They didn't know which way to turn,

because Dr. King, to the black community,

was everything.

When Martin Luther king was murdered,

don't forget, stax was like black and white

and at the time of the riots,

the black guys, like Isaac and everybody

had to chaperone people like Steve cropper

and all of them in and out of stax,

'cause white man was just gonna get crushed.

And so we just said, "hey man,

“just, please man, they work with us.

"Leave 'em alone, brother. Let 'em go."

And then then the called me, Isaac, and David,

and a couple other people to get on the radio

and to try to calm the people down,

but there was a lot of frustration.

Burning and looting, and even in talking

with some of the neighborhood people,

you had to tell them,

"but you're burning down your own homes.

"You're burning up your own cars."

It hurt the city.

At that point in time, the music industry

was the third largest employer in the city,

lead by stax records.

It was the second largest black-owned business

in the United States of America,

and in this region, it was the biggest.

So stax records was the greatest

marketing tool that Memphis had.

Because the stax sound was going all around the world.

When you have something like that being born,

you either copy it, as major corporations,

you copy it, or you acquire it,

and if you can't do those two, you destroy it.

So I was offered money, they wanted to buy stax,

and I didn't want to sell it.

I wanted to build something to leave

for my family and future generations.

So I stood my ground.

There were elements that did not want stax to survive,

and it was systematically put out of business.

Once they realized that they could

stop the creative community from ever developing

and introducing another Isaac Hayes,

or another booker t. & the m.G.'S,

or Rufus Thomas,

I think they had a silent commitment

never to allow that to happen again.

Union plans, at that time, was either the largest

or second largest bank.

It was in trouble.

I had a meeting with bill Matthews,

who was the president.

I said to him, "you're asking me

“to participate in an economic lynching

"of stax records."

And he tried a number of things to save the bank,

and wanted me to engage in a number of things with him

to save the bank, that in my judgement,

would have been illegal, and I expressed

that to him on one occasion, and he said,

"nigger, I didn't ask you to do it.

"I told you to do it."

You have the finances to create a system

that ensures that you can realize

the results of your prejudices.

That is racism.

That's systemic.

They had brought against me a 16-count indictment

that alleged that I conspired to defraud a bank

of 18.9 million dollars.

There ain't a crooked bone in here, up here.

I believe that al bell was indicted

as a sacrificial lamb in order

for them to collect on the insurance.

And that allowed them to prop up the bank

to keep the comptroller of currency from closing them

until they figured out another way to save it.

In the meantime, they tried to put me in jail

for two or three lifetimes and all of that.

"But we gotta get rid of this nigger."

I will never get over the fact

that there were people in this community

who could have rallied to the side of stax records

and realized that with a little assistance,

we could have overcome our difficulties,

and we could still, perhaps, be in business today.

We had hit records on the charts

when stax filed bankruptcy, which was crazy.

When stax records shut its doors in 1975,

the neighborhood was devastated.

Allowed to fall into despair,

the building was eventually sold for a dollar,

before being torn to the ground.

Booker t. Jones said, and I quote,

"if Martin Luther King had not been killed

in Memphis, Tennessee, stax records

would still be in business today."

It just killed the Memphis music scene.

I think it was just such a terrible thing.

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I only darkness when she's away, lord

Money.

Grammy lifetime achievement award winner

Bobby blue bland started the beale streeters

back in 1949 with an unknown guitar player named b.B. King.

He embarked on a sizzling solo career,

which has been sampled by mega-stars

like Jay-Z on his hit, "heart of the city".

Okay.

We based the structure around, like, that breakdown,

that call and response that you do

with the audience and everything.

But basically, like, the first chorus at the beginning,

will be, it's just like a breakdown, and that's you, Bobby.

Then it goes into a verse that's gonna be a rap verse.

Then there's another chorus.

Rap?

A rapper, yeah, yo gotti's gonna come in and rap on it.

Yes. Oh, absolutely.

He should be here soon.

He's coming in a little while.

Okay.

And after the rap verse, there's another chorus

and then your verse, which leads into the breakdown.

The, "I know, I know..."

We'll have you do it, we'll get it together

okay.

So I can do it right.

It's never one way to sing it.

Right.

Like it's written, you know.

Let me hear that track again now, please,

if you don't mind.

How you doing?

How you doing, man?

I'm good, honored to meet you, you know.

My pleasure.

Whole honor to come in, you know, do this situation.

Thanks for having me.

We're gonna lay it down, gonna be good shit.

I just need to get the first part of this punched

when I come in, you know what I mean.

Yeah, when that guitar does that lick,

that slide-down, that.

You're gonna do that twice

and then after the second time, come in?

I yeah, every day, my love

Ah wait, I shoulda come in here, right?

Yes, sir.

It's tricky.

It is weird. That intro is really...

No, no, let me get it.

It's just real hip.

I just have to get into it.

I've heard it a lot of times,

but that's pretty slick there.

You mean to tell me you that good?

No, yeah. You're that good, man.

That's why it's so easy.

We have to get it together.

I have been doing this before,

but every day it's a new time, you know.

Absolutely.

So it's never where you so perfect

you can get right in there.

Okay, well...

Where you at anyways?

He's in the window.

You sound amazing.

When I get it right

it probably will.

It should make sense for you

it will, once I get it in through this thick head.

I'll be alright.

Let me hear that again.

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I only darkness when she's away, lord

yes!

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I she's always gone too long

I anytime she goes away

you do it, yo gotti.

I chill

I last night I was thinkin' 'bout ya

I hit your phone, let you know I ain't forgot about ya

I I remember when I couldn't live without ya

I now I can't live with ya

I no around here

I yeah, you used to be my sunshine

I I know, I know, I know, just like the punchline

I one life, like history

I my job is a mystery

I I'm a street dude, shorty says she like my chemistry

I see it in my eyes

I shorty really into me

I sample about it, I know that'll never get to me

I you don't get no focus and I'm ready for whatever

I and I'm the king type

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I only darkness when she's away, lord

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I and she's always gone too long

I anytime she goes away

I I wonder this time where she's gone

I I wonder if she's gone to stay

I ain't no sunshine when she's gone

I she's always gone too long

I anytime she goes away

I hey

I I know, I know, I know

I I know, I know, I know

I I know, I know, I know

William bell sings a little different.

He's a good vocalist, man.

And he does the kind of upper crust type of singing.

And see there's the methodist way of doing it

and a baptist way.

Really?

Well see the baptist is one where

you get all the crying folk.

Methodist, you get the diction.

You know, and how to pronounce your words better.

See I learned mine from nat king Cole.

Diction, yeah.

Not to sing like him, now.

But I love his music, and I loved his approach

to a lyric.

So what did you think of the drums?

I thought it was very nice.

Sounded like somebody I know.

Someone you raised?

Someone you made?

Yeah, nah, it was me.

Pretty good, son.

Okay. Money.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

What else are we gonna do together, man?

Well, we gonna put something hot together.

I appreciate you having me here, you know.

And don't make it the last time, okay?

Believe that.

For sho.

It's alright there, buddy.

I I got a woman

I live way over town

I she good to me

I and she good to me

I she give me money

I when I'm in need

come here, come here, come here.

Come here.

Now, I want you to say it again.

I she give me money

I she give me money

no, you singing from your diaphragm.

Some of these things come from your throat.

I he give me money

right here makes it sweet.

Right here's to hold the note longer.

I she give me money

sing that.

I she give me money

talk to me.

That's what I'm talking about.

I I got a woman

I way across town

I she good to me

I she's good to me

uh uh

I she give me money

I when I'm in need

yeah, there you go.

I oh, she's a kind one

I and she's good to me

I don't know the rest.

Yeah, okay, but come here a minute.

I I got a woman

I way across town

I she's good to me

I whoa, yes she is

I she give me money

I when I'm in need

I whoa, she's the kind of woman

I every man needs

I I got a woman

I way across town

I good to me

okay?

All I care about is you.

Yeah, you alright, Peter.

Thank you.

Don't you stop doing it, hear?

Yes, sir.

Me and you.

I'm right in your corner.

You cannot destroy stax,

because it lives in the hearts

and in the minds of the people.

And not in the bricks and mortar

in that building, or in those master tapes.

So it's alive and well,

and it's alive and well today.

The original stax recording studios

has been reborn as the stax museum.

Stax music academy and charter school,

a training ground for young aspiring musicians

and students who look to carry the legacy

of Memphis music into the future.

Many Memphis legends teach here,

passing the torch, so the music will live forever.

I t's back to royal studios

with the students from stax music academy.

This time, we've raised the ante.

We brought together three generations of musicians.

And the next one is f, c, a-flat.

Okay.

When I walked in, it's like okay.

It's the same energy, the same vibes you get

when you come in here.

Ahhh! Master, how you doing, master?

Good to see you!

Wanna be like you when I grow up,

that's all I'm gonna say.

I love it when a plan comes together.

We gonna get this thing assembled.

A lot of music has come out of here,

a lot of great music has come out of here.

I got two guitars, you give me a stand.

Okay, did you bring your strat?

Yeah, I got my strat.

Okay, you know I like the strat.

That's right, you like the strat.

It's just amazing, it's like déja vu.

As you come in here, okay.

And we're good to go, let's cut a session.

I I don't wanna lose

e-flat.

We got you.

Hey, my man, where's the other guitar?

Major, one time.

Ah that's one time.

You gonna be in the horns' way if you don't, see?

Teach kids the ground roots of the development

of the music, and not only from the sixties,

but all the way back,

so that they can get a good foundation.

Once they get a good foundation,

they can survive in it.

Two, three, four.

One time!

I ain't no secret

that's it.

See, you can't step on the horns, the vocals.

You have to learn how to play in the groove.

I got you.

And it's simple, really.

It's not a whole lot of shit.

How old are you?

Seventeen.

Good, you're great man, for 17, isn't he man?

What's your first name, my man?

Andrew.

You ever use this on your guitar?

Have you ever tried it?

Let me give you some slide-ability.

Now run your hands up and down that

and tell me something.

Is that sweet?

Yeah!

See, I'm hipping you to some stuff, young blood.

Finger ease.

Some of the tricks of the trade there, see?

You gotta do it clean, now.

There's no such thing as color

when it comes to kids nowadays.

My kids' friends is like multicultural,

so it's like, when I come home,

my kids got diversity of friends in the house.

That shit turns me on.

That is not just one status,

that they have no vision, and they just love.

It's all about love.

That's what the kids is on nowadays.

Our kids have more freedom than we had.

So they'll pass all of that knowledge

that we give down to them

to all of their friends.

I would love to do a album with you.

I want you on my album.

I need to get your information.

Anytime.

And I'll give you mine.

I do a lot of recording at my house.

Huh?

I do a lot of recording at my house.

I got a whole pro tools setup.

You got pro tools, huh?

Those youngsters gonna go a long way with that.

'Cause when they finally figure out who those guys was

that was teaching them that?

When they really sit down and do the history,

'cause they not even old enough to even know the history.

When they're able to look back

at all these records that they was a part of,

and they played on, and they did this,

and to say that he spent time with me

and showed me how to get my notes right

and put me in the right key,

that shit go a long way.

It's ike a athlete that's able to work with a

Michael Jordan or magic Johnson,

and to be able to have a one on one session with him,

and he gets your shot right.

You were the heaviest guitar player

in the whole group I heard.

I heard three guitars,

and you were playing most of the good shit.

Good stuff.

Lester!

Lester!

Where are we at, man?

The students had to leave at 7:00.

What's going on, man, it's after six.

What's going on now?

What's going on?

Yeah, it's like 30 minutes,

we've got like 30 minutes.

We can knock that out. "Dock of the bay“?

"Dock of the bay"?

"Dock of the bay", he can do that.

He does it all the time.

Perfect, let's do it.

Do you think it's better to do one of his own songs?

Uh huh.

Would you rather do "dock of the bay",

or one of your songs?

You wanna do, you want up tempo

or ballad, or what?

He'll kill "dock of the bay" man.

Oh, I'm sure he will.

I'm just, I like the idea of originality, too.

A song that has such an iconic

thing as "dock of the bay",

and you want to make sure it's just like,

it feels special enough.

I mean we have all these people here,

all this talent here,

but I want you guys to have the right song.

Do you want up tempo or ballad?

First of all, where do you feel the most comfortable?

He's having 30 minutes.

Well I can do up tempo, but I'm a ballad singer.

So let's do it that way then.

Yeah, ballad.

"I forgot to be your lover"?

"I forgot to be your lover"?

Yeah, fine now.

But you say we got 30 minutes.

Yeah, we can knock it out once they know, yeah.

Skip's gonna play it and I'll run through it with him.

Hey, it's in g, guys.

It's in g.

And the good news is, they do have great ears.

You know, they can..

I remember that song, of course.

See if we can do the intro.

One, two, three.

All you got to do...

I'll do all the extra shit, don't worry about it.

I'm sorry, y'all.

Forgive me for cussing around y'all.

I'm cussing around these children.

I'm just trying to make him do that.

Count it.

Drummer.

One, two, three, four.

That's a g.

E, g, stay there.

We have to thank these guys for what they've done.

They cut the trees down to show us how

to walk on the log.

So the power that we have is the power that they gave us.

That's why it's a blessing for us to come back,

and to intertwine and to make music together.

And show, "hey man, your music is what made us who we is.“

they learning it right there on the fly.

They didn't know they were gonna do this song.

They too young to even know this song.

I'm looking at them babies and I'm like,

"look at these babies in here playing this."

You got babies playing baby making music, man.

I need some paper and a pen so I can get going.

Let me make this thing happen.

Complete break on this one now, the intro.

There's a complete break there.

Now.

Yeah, run it down to 'em, skip.

Teach it to 'em.

Teach 'em how to learn.

I have I told you lately that I love you

I if I didn't, darling, I'm sorry

I did I reach out and hold you in my loving arms

I oh, when you needed me

I now I realize you need love, too

I I'll spend my life makin' up to you

I oh, I forgot to be your lover

I I've been working for you, doing all I can

I and work all the time didn't make me your man

I think I got a mean 16.

It don't take that long, do it?

Look how easily he did this.

I mean, he just came right in,

hey, because he felt it.

I planted the seed, looking above

I we got the best, just looking for love

I planning to be, ran into me

I I did not mean to, I'll intervene, too

I so I can bring you, then I will sing you

I stax, tracks, relax at the venue

I then you, in you, spin you, then you whirlwind you

I girl, look at the menu

I chocolate hearts, mellow moons

I livin' the life, silver spoon

I havin' it all, havin' a ball

I in love with the big snoop dogg

I time will tell

I if I fell

I pick up the cell, call William bell

I 'cause he's one of my big brothers

I tell him I forgot to be your lover

I have I taken the time to share with you

my grandparents, and my mother and them,

they inspired me by playing this

good music when I was young.

You know, they turned me on to it,

to hip me to it and make me love it.

My mother used to always have a big eight track

cassette playing in the living room,

and invite her friends over, and they'd be partying.

The kid's would be in the back, and they'd be like,

"snoopy, come out in the living room."

And I come out there, do the bump.

You look at my laptops, it ain't nothing but

r & b, soul music.

That's it.

It's a respect thing.

Hip hop is the dominant music right now.

So I say that to say this.

When those brothers take the time out

of their careers to say, "we want to dedicate this song,

this title to somebody who inspired us

who wasn't a hip hop artist,"

respect that.

I get me right

I set me tight

I m-i-c, peep the beat

I late night, what it do

I baby girl, I'm in love with you

I I'm tryin' to do what I'm 'posed to do

I but I need you close to me

I toastin' me, float with me

I baby girl, you get the most of me

now Teenie, you gotta go back to

"I forgot to be your lover" though.

You gotta go back to that.

'Cause that's the most important part of the song.

If you come back to that,

and then we can do that together at the end.

I forgive me girl, 'cause I forgot to be your lover

I oh, I'm sorry, baby

I let me make it up to you

I I forgot to be you lover

I but I'll make it up to you

I said I'm sorry, baby

I I forgot to be your lover

I I forgot to be your lover

I gonna make it up to you

I hold on a little bit tighter, baby

I I'm gonna make it up to you

I oh, I forgot to be your lover

I I'm gonna make it up to you

I I forgot to be your lover

okay, snoop! Yeah, baby!

"I forgot to be your..." That's a cold jam right there.

The boy jaheim remade that.

Yeah, he did a different spin on it,

but this is the original.

Original, yeah, this is where it came from.

This is where the seed was planted.

Now he's a branch off of the seed that grew,

but this is the origins of where it all began.

Mmm! What year you wrote this?

Sixty-seven.

Sixty-seven?

You were young.

No, I was born in '71.

That's even before me.

My mom and them was probably starting to create me, rizzle.

That's cold.

Awesome, man.

Absolutely incredible.

When you kicked in that wa-wa,

I about fell out of my chair man.

I just put that in.

Aw, this was just so sweet, man!

Damn, how old are you?

Sixteen.

Sixteen and keeping a tempo like that?

You guys, get him, because he's gonna be somebody.

What's your name?

Brandon.

Say it in there.

My name is Brandon. Brandon chornes.

Brandon corns from Memphis, Tennessee.

Watch this fellow.

He's already plugged in.

Nobody have to tell him to do nothing.

Love you, man.

Hope you liked what I did.

I tried to put a little somthin' somethin' on it,

a little stank on it.

Yes, sir.

I heard it, too. It sounded good.

Yeah, you sound good too, brother.

Man, he sound good, didn't he?

Tragically, the world of music lost

one of its great innovators, skip pitts.

The time is moving so quickly,

and there are so many greats that we've already lost.

You know, when I finally meet my day,

and where I'm like, "I'm finished with it."

We can look back at this, and I can show my grandkids.

This is history right there.

This has been an honor and a pleasure, man.

Hey man, mine.

Something like this, man.

I never thought in my wildest dreams

that I'd be doing something this special.

Yes sir, so anytime you wanna work,

mister bell, you know you got me.

Don't let this be the last time.

Oh yeah, pops still lives in the music.

That's right.

I "come and follow me"

I you know the master said

I "don't wait 'till tomorrow"

one take on the floor, with vocals.

One take, this song, right here.

I oh, before it's too late

I said I'd wait just one more day

I don't you know I wish

I oh, I wish

I hey, lord, I wish

I oh, lord, I wish

I oh, I wish

God from glory!

God from glory!

Feeling, you know what I mean?

Putting love back into the music.

That's Memphis, Tennessee.

That sounds so cool, man.

It came from the gut.

We did it together.

Pool boogie is coming.

I'm startin' to feel that shit, man!

Shoot your best shot.

Don't you ever feel sad, lean on me when times are bad.

When the day comes and you're down

in a river of trouble and about to drown,

hold on, I'm coming.

It's real and genuine, and straight from the heart.

We love you!

I love you more.

I yeah, I wish

I I said wish

I yeah, I wish

- Woo! That's a wrap. - Amen.

That's a wrap.