I’m a big fan of Burns documentaries and enjoyed the first episode of his latest opus on Country Music which aired last night.
I’m no expert on the topic and did not know about how seed and insurance companies created popular radio stations or about the huge influence of Carson, the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers.
Critics largely appear to have liked the previews, but some think more time could have been spent with their favourites and a few people were not highlighted. But editorial decisions render such thoughts inevitable. Any other fans out there?
I enjoyed the first segment, will be watching the second tonight.
Here’s a critical review that I listened to today, makes some valid points, but I’m all in for the whole thing.
FWIW, it is an eight-part, sixteen hour series on public television that began yesterday. It will certainly be rebroadcast since it is a major fundraising plank for these stations.
I got a little confused by one of the on-line reviews I read. It was talking about how Ray Charles, finally given the freedom to record album of his own music, recorded a soulful album of country and “hillbilly” music. The article was critical of the documentary, since it did not mention the difficulty Charles had in getting songs played on the radio and Nashville’s not unusual rejection of new musical trends. But the documentary quotes white stars who say it played all the time, and the record sold twenty million copies. Admittedly, both views probably have some truth, but clearly eventually it got tons of exposure. Anyone hear able to clarify this?
I think Ray Charles’ album probably, singlehandedly saved country music.
What shocked me tonight was the so-called ‘Nashville’ sound and Chet Adkins role in it.
And I’d highly recommend the recent American Masters episode on Mr. Pride. It was rebroadcast last week here. It’s great.
The current series is up there with the best of Burns’ documentaries so far, IMHO.
I haven’t learned too much, but it’s been told really well. I didn’t know that Mother Maybelle was also the brains behind the business of the Carter Family. I knew that Chet Atkins made Nashville the sound it became, I didn’t know that the session musicians saw his takeover coming and that the Opry had actively tried hard to keep him out. I knew Jimmie Rodger’s history, and was surprised that my wife hadn’t heard it before. I missed tonight’s episode due to band practice, but I’ll watch it tomorrow night.
Best episode yet. It was good to see Roger Miller get some coverage, especially at the beginning of his career. I thought they’d wait until later to introduce him. It really blew my mind that he was in the search party for Patsy’s crashed plane.
I also like the way Rosanne Cash talks about her dad. It’s obvious she loved him but is under no delusions whatsoever about his bad side.
The stories of Willie Nelson’s early days were great too. The one about him being too shy to go into Patsy Cline’s house was really sweet. I’m glad it worked out, though: Patsy’s recording of Crazy is one of the all-time great performances.
I’m not overly critical of shows such as this, and am enjoying pretty much every minute. I would say though that time spent on the Carter Family, Hank Williams, Jimmy Rodgers, and others, as undeniably important as they are, could have been trimmed a bit for other performers that are very worthy of inclusion. Hank Snow, for instance. Multiple number one hits and a big star of the 1950s. I don’t believe he was mentioned once, though I did see his face in one of the pictures. I know he performed in the 60s and onward, but I don’t suspect we will be hearing about him in episodes 5, 6, and 7.
But it’s all good. Favorite non-musical moment so far: find out that Johnny Cash was the first