Jazz, new orleans. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan 3. American music often reflects or impacts different points in our countrys history. Over the next 90 minutes, we will take you across the United States and through time as we explore the music of a nation. We begin with a visit to nashvilles linemen auditorium. As author dale un talks about how the venue became a place for political rallies, civil rights events and home to Country Musics great old today, we are at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown nashville, tennessee. It is known as the Mother Church of Country Music, which definitely tells the history of both things that it is famous for. It was built by a river boat captain who was famously converted under a tent in downtown nashville in may of 1865. After his conversion, he believed that traveling ministers should have a permanent home that was large enough to take the large crowds of the traveling ministers who came to town. Captain ryman built the Ryman Auditorium and it opened in 1892 as a tabernacle. That is the church part of the history. The music part of the history, the Country Music part, deals with after being in many homes in nashville and stayed here until 1974 when the new house was built. But during the run of the forties, fifties, sixties and early seventies, some of the most famous people in all of Country Music history debuted here at the grand old opera including hank williams, george jones, dolly parton. All these brand names a Country Music cut their teeth and got their start in this wonderful building. The Ryman Auditorium almost did not happen because of the 1884 president ial race. It was Grover Cleveland versus blane. The democrats had lost literally six president ial races and had not won since 1856. Tom ryman, who is the river boat captain in this town, was a very bad gambler. He was walking the streets of downtown nashville and got goaded on to start betting on the president ial election. The ruling people were thinking that blame was going to win and ryman basically took all bets for people who thought that blake would win. He said i will bet 100 dollars to you, 500 dollars to you, 1000 dollars to you, and before captain ryman knew what he was doing, he had bet his entire wealth and his house on the outcome of the 1884 president ial election. Thankfully for us in nashville, Grover Cleveland won, because if not, captain ryman would have been penniless and broke and probably would not have built this grand building a few years later. During his life, ryman envisioned a haul for all types of religious denominations. It could be rented for anybody. So it did not have one particular slant or religion. It was available for everyone, which, it was the Largest Convention hall when it was built south of the ohio river. So nashville got a lot of groups and people that came and had their events here. This was an incredible indoor space. Around 1925, the grand old opery started in another building in downtown nashville. But during that era, we had fiddling contest here at the Ryman Auditorium. One of the fiddlers, who was later a member of the grand ole opera during that era, competed in a fiddling contest here. There were probably some early versions of Country Music. Its interesting that the ryman had been around for about 50 years when the grand ole opry came calling in 1943. The buildings had seen better days from a conditioning standpoint. It did not have air conditioning or proper heating at that time. Some newer buildings were being built in nashville like the War Memorial Auditorium across from the capital and other venues which could now have concerts. So windy grand ole opry moved from the War Memorial Auditorium to the ryman, it was a perfect marriage. We needed weekly events for this building. The grand ole opery saved this building in my opinion. Because if it werent for the weekly concerts that happened every saturday night in this building, this building would not have had the revenue to support it and would have been torn down long ago. But with it coming in, it provided new energy to this building and provided a place where literally three or four or 5000 people a week got to hear the most popular and oldest Country Music show in the world. Interesting lionel, there was a Teddy Roosevelt story related to the assassination attempt in 1912, related to the Ryman Auditorium. Teddy roosevelt was in milwaukee, wisconsin. He was campaigning for president after he had left office. He was campaigning again. And in assassin shoots him and the bullet enters his chest. Hes got this long speech of about 50 pages. The bullet is slow down, but it still enters the chest. In Teddy Roosevelt tough guy fashion, he goes out and gives the speech anyway. One of the first things he says is, ive just been shot and kind of shows the audience. But then he gives this long speech and then goes to the hospital. The person who assassinated him track him down and with staying in a hotel a few blocks away from the ryman. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt had been to memphis, chad a new good and knoxville and was supposed to come to nashville. But in anti Teddy Roosevelt group had booked the ryman. Only 200 people showed up. So this assassin was down the street thinking that the president would be here. It was probably the reason Teddy Roosevelt did not come to nashville was because this other group had booked the ryman. Only 200 people showed up including a congressman, but that kept Teddy Roosevelt from nashville. When they caught the assassin in milwaukee after he shot him, the plans that he had to shoot Teddy Roosevelt and follow him around were on the back of the hotel stationary from the hotel two blocks away. The Ryman Auditorium played a key point in the Womens Suffrage Movement in passing the 19th amendment that gave 27 million women the right to vote. Tennessee was the last state to ratify that on august 19th of 1920. However, before that, susan bee anthony spoke in this building in 1897 when tennessee was celebrating their 100th anniversary as a state with the tennessee centennial exposition. That was the first time that women were able to hear from this National Leader and get involved in the movement. In 1914, tennessee had the first womens suffrage parade in the south. And based on that and what the local women did, the National WomensSuffrage Convention that Susan B Anthony started had their convention right here at the ryman. Many people have had more free time than work time. The women here in the fall of 1914 one of the right to vote, they want to work hard. The sessions last until 3 am in this building when the women got the right to vote. Interestingly enough, the ryman, because its so large, it has always been a place for political conventions of the state parties. The Democratic Party and the republican party. So in 1920, when it was time to selling delegates to go to the Democratic National convention that was being held in san francisco, they met here at the Ryman Auditorium. And for the first time, tennessee said to women delegates to that convention and that was historic. That was once before they passed the 19th amendment so women could get the right to vote. So history was made here even at the ryman, before the right to vote was granted. The Civil Rights Movement was very important in nashville tennessee. A few blocks from here, Young Students from fist university, tennessee a and i, now Tennessee State university, all did the lunch counter sitins including congressman john lewis. They got arrested here. They challenged the system of what was going on in nashville, tennessee and the conscience of the country. So in 1962, Martin Luther king was here at the ryman to present an award, or scholarship money, to some of the students. One of those students got a check to go to school from martin to the king and the southern Leadership Conference was john lewis. So part of the history of the ryman is also martin to their king who spoke here. Jackie robinson spoke a few years later here on the Civil Rights Movement as well. Even before that, booker washington came to the ryman and spoke about three different times. Sometimes for graduations. And so he had a crowd of about 5000 people which was the capacity back then. So if you want to hear one of the leading voices in america during any time of the rymans history, they came to the Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman Auditorium is the most interesting place to hear a speech or music in america. It is part home of the grand ole opry. It is a museum. But today, its a thriving concert venue which has over 200 bookings. In the last five or ten years, people like diana ross, paul simon, areva franklin, the few fighters, mom furred in sons, the list goes on and on and on. Some people that normally play arenas of 15 or 20,000 play the ryman because it is such a interesting building that people want to perform in. The acoustics in the ryman are some of the best in america. Most people think the mormon tabernacle in utah has better acoustics. The people the reason people like the Ryman Auditorium is because it is unique. Its a small venue. Theres not a bad seat in this whole place. And the great thing about seeing a concert is you get to see one of your most favorite performers, but you get to see them in a much smaller space. When you go to a concert now, most performers think theyre banned, thank their band, they thanked their fans. When you walk across the stage at the ryman, you pay homage to the building. Most people, the first words out of their mouth is, saying something about the building and how wonderful it is to be in here. I talked to former face the nation host Bob Schieffer during the president ial debates in 2008 that were at beaumont university. There was a special performance of the grand ole opry in this building and they invited Bob Schieffer, who has a country band, to perform. Brad paisley was hosting the opry that night. And interesting leonov, i talked to Bob Schieffer about that because later on he was moderating another president ial debate between president obama and john mccain. I asked him, were you more nervous moderating a president ial debate or playing at the ryman . It was an easy answer. He said he was so nervous at the ryman. It was his childhood dream to play the auditorium and it was as exciting as he thought they would be. Rymans legacy on a National Level is a venue that has literally had speeches of president s. It has organized parties. Weve had famous politicians, even in the 20th century, al gore senior and al gore junior. Another name that a lot of people may not know is joe burns. He was speaker of the house during president roosevelts time. He had many debates for congress here in the ryman. When he died, his funeral was in nashville and fdr came to that. So the legacy of the ryman is tied with the legacy of the opry. Today, the opry is heard worldwide because of the internet. The grand ole opry is the oldest radio show in the world. We are fortunate that although the opry has a new home, it comes back here in the winter for a few months. You can still see the grand ole opry where it was famous in the Ryman Auditorium. T. As the Ryman Auditorium reflects point century history. A Musical Group called the Hudson Family fingers became the most famous entertainers in america as they traveled the country singing about freedom for enslaved African Americans. Theyre 1840 for some, get off the track, which is a Campaign Song for the liberty party. The First National anti Slavery Party in the nations history. One of the most popular songs from them. It becomes sort of the anthem for the anti Slavery Movement in the 18 forties and fifties. The book is on the hutchinson family singers. These group of anti slavery singers who were born in New Hampshire. They were born in the late tens and early 1820s. They are a family group thus the name. A group of three brothers and one sister. They are anti slavery seniors who are one of the most popular musical acts of the 1840s and 1850s. I wrote it because uniqueness of the hutchinson and their story. But also the big question, how does a group that sings for a social reform, social activists, musical social activists, how does this group become so popular . Initially, there are the three brothers. They are somewhat captivated by this idea of music. They come from a large farming family in the south of New Hampshire by massachusetts. They were a large forming family. Mainly male children. Its a family of 11 boys and two girls. One of the things that happens in the hutchinson family, the two eldest brothers are going to split the family farm. The next series of brothers actually move out to what is considered the west at that time, ohio and illinois. Then you have the youngest series of brothers who are going to form three quarters of the hutchinson family singers. They actually move to lynn, massachusetts. The somewhat really industrialized areas. There, the huthinsons connect their background in music that was developed through the baptist church. They come from a family that was very active in the Baptist Community in New Hampshire. It taught them, the church taught them how to sing. The church taught them how to read music. Music is a little bit problematic, particularly in rural new england at the time. Its dangerous. People who are musicians are seen as immoral perhaps in some way. And so, of course, the Church Provides a moral space for people to be able to sing, because they are singing the word of god. And the hutchinson family as a whole is very active in the Musical Community in New Hampshire through the baptist church. One of their brothers is the coral director of the church. He also provides Music Lessons for the community. The huthinsons try to run with that and get this idea that maybe we could become a performing troop. And so in 1841, they decide to try their luck as three brothers and they tour new england and upstate new york. Its a complete flop. They grew up, they claim, in the mountains of the old granite state, the White Mountains. Even though the huthinsons incidently, i think the highest point in melfort, New Hampshire is a couple of hundred feet. They dont visit until 1843. Nonetheless, they present themselves as coming from the mountains of the old granite state. They try to experiment. They bring their youngest sister, 12 year old abby hutchinson, on to the stage with them. These two things connecting to the geographic location of new england generally and the White Mountains in particular. The soil. Along with bringing at the on stage, creates a family based presentation that instantly resonates with audiences. So this quartet creates the foundation for the hutchinson family singers the begins to work. One example is in 1842, they play at Dartmouth College and this is one of the early concerts with abby hudson. The first night they go out, and play for the audience and its all men. They applaud, it is all great. Next night, they come out and its a mixed gender audience with children. Men, their wives and children have come. The first night, the men are literally checking them out. Is this going to be acceptable for my wife and for my children to experience . So this is the kind of gender dynamic that the huthinsons are kind of playing around with in their stage presentation at this particular moment in time. 1842, there is an important event in the fall that starts to push the huthinsons in new directions. In october of 1842, a fugitive slave and his wife arrive in boston. Seven days later, they are recognized by a friend of their virginian master, who then contacts the master. The master contacts the United States marshal in boston and they are immediately thrown into jail as a fugitive slaves. There is going to be a trial over whether or not the are fugitive slaves and therefore should be reand slaved under the fugitive slave cause of 1793. The huthinsons are involved in that by virtue of living in massachusetts at the time. They begin their kind of steps towards perhaps becoming anti slavery singers. So this idea which they will pick up on from their own christian background, is certainly one of the factors in play. The idea of social betterment that connects also to a youth movement. Many of the huthinsons fans, from what we can tell, were younger or of a younger generation. A generation that is increasingly mobile. Socially mobile and geographically mobile. They are moving to cities from rural areas. The United States at this moment in time is predominantly a rural nation. Its not until the 1890s and then afterwards that we consider the United States and urban population. What happened throughout the northeast. I can write ministers with travel from town to town and state for one or two weeks. They would create a revival. People would literally come in and camp out for a week and half a variety of celebrations. They would have personal and spiritual awakenings. In many ways, these revivals are the earliest examples of a kind of Popular Culture in the United States. These mass entertainments. Thousands of people at the largest ones. These kind of very personal live performances, whether they be of religion or from music, are one of the earliest sites of entertainment in the United States. The huthinsons kind of branch the divide, if there is a divide, they branched these two areas. The religious realm and in the musical realm. The huthinsons will bear witness to the great anti slavery sensation or the sensation of the anti slavery circuit of 1842 who is Frederick Douglass. Frederick douglass becomes one of the most notable persons through his speeches at anti slavery meetings throughout the northeast. Brought this moment of 1842, the george ladder incident, seeing Frederick Douglass and perhaps hearing him speak. The huthinsons decide to take that step. They will actually perform at the American AntiSlavery Society meeting in 1843. They will perform in boston a little bit before that. Kind of their first forays. They do this in very formal meeting settings and do it brilliantly. The huthinsons will quite literally use tunes that other people are using and that often come from revival tenths. Songs that people were singing in a church setting. Or in certain cases, there will be tunes that are circulating in popular consciousness. This is an era of black faced minstrels who are creating a variety of popular tunes. The huthinsons will borrow the chance from blackface minstrels and create sort of anti menstrual lyrics on top of it. One example is his old dan tucker. Its their 1844 song get off the track, which is a campaign sum for the liberty party, the first anti Slavery Party in the United States. One of the popular songs of the family becomes somewhat the anthem of the anti Slavery Movement in the 1840s and 1850s. Its old dan tucker sped up. They used a faster tempo, but again, they are using a team that everyone can recognize and put their own lyrics on top of it. They refused to sing to segregated audiences in concert spaces. In the 1840s and 1850s and throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, are almost always segregated, the venues. African americans are given the size seats all the way back. Theres often a special section. But at the very least, white people and black people cannot sit together in the same rose. The huthinsons actually try their best to promote a desegregated audience. This gets them a lot of criticism in boston. It creates a famous mob incident in philadelphia in 1847. A mob threatens to shut down the venue where they are playing because they are playing to a desegregated audience. The mob dictates to the theater owners that if they allow the huthinsons to play two blacks and whites together, that they will literally burned down the hall. This is a somewhat Common Threat that has been played out in pennsylvania and philadelphia on several occasions. Buildings have been burned down for anti slavery activism. Behind large, after the civil war, the hutchinson singers. A set will move out west. He will live out west for the rest of his life. John will remain centered in lynn massachusetts. Abby will remain in new york and new jersey. She will travel the world. She will be in egypt and a variety of other places. Shes married to lead low paton, who is a storm extraordinarily wealthy. The huthinsons wont be that social voice that they were in the 1840s and 1850s. By and large, they will be what a lot of singers from the 1960s are today. Right . They make money off what they once were. They had bins in many ways. They are not creating music. They are repeating their old music. They are going on stage as a relic in many ways that people want to remember. Remembering the older age in many ways. That younger generations are curious about all of these stories that their parents have about this moment. We used to listen to so and so. You can share that legacy that way. However, they are never reach the famous celebrity that they had during the 1850s and 1840s. Almost 100 years after the huthinsons tanker reform, singer and songwriter bob dylan begins achieving fame in the early 1970s 1960s for his music urging political change in america. Names of sometimes people. Do you consider yourself a politician . Do i consider myself a politician . Well i guess so. I have my own party though. Do they have a name . There is no president in the party. There is no president or Vice President or secretary or anything like that. So makes a kind of hard to get in. Is there any rightwing or Left Wing Party . No, its more or less in the center. Most people think that bob dylan is leftist or is somehow associated with the Hippie Movement of the 1960s or Something Like that. A voice of the generation in the 1960s which was a label that he detested. They would look at him as perhaps a great leader of the anti war movement. He never went to an anti war march. In fact, bob dylan is certainly not partisan. You cant stick him in democrats or republicans. I would also say that you really cant say that hes exactly left or right. There are certain themes that come throughout opulence life about his politics. Those subjects are social justice, support for the underdog, suspicion of institutions and authority. Concern about abuse of power. Those things arent necessarily the domain of the right or the left. And so i think most people have a misconception about what bob cullen is. Bob dylan grew up in northern minnesota in a town call him being. That is in a portion of minnesota known as the iron range. Thats a special place in minnesota. If a person wouldve gone to the iron range to the late 1800s or early 1900s, it would have been the hotbed of radicalism. You wouldve run into socialists, communists, these are folks who are working deep underground in iron mines. This is part of the Labor Movement that existed in america at this time. And so dylan himself at one point said hes more suspicious of bankers growing up and then communists. And of course, bob dylan grew up in a jewish household. So that made him a minority on the iron range as well. Obviously, that is going to have an impact as well on his support for the underdog and that sort of thing. The answer is blowing in the wind. In the early 1960s, 1950s as well, the Folk Movement in america sprung up. It was certainly a leftist kind of movement by and large. Interest in civil rights, anti war, that sort of thing. So when you look at the early songs of bob dylan, weve got things like, Everybody Knows blowing in the wind. Masters of war would be another one. But there were more topical songs. Songs about emma till, for example. These types of songs were written by many other folks in years as well. And so what happens is that dylan sort of progresses beyond that. By the mid 1960s, hes then writing songs that arent exactly songs that you can put your finger on. Its all right mom, im only bleeding. Or like a rolling stone. Highway 61 revisited, with almost hallucinatory type of lyrics. And so what happens then is that as American Society is changing, people start to read in a very heavy political message in dylan at a time where if you are really looking at it objectively, you can say that these songs are necessarily overtly political. Diplomat who carries on his shoulder a siamese cat. People say what does this mean . There must be some deeper message, you know. Jamies in the basement mixing up the medicine, im on the pavement thinking about the government. He doesnt say what hes thinking about the government, but you the listener then inject your own meaning into that. So hes not really offering answers throughout this time. This voice of the generations thing. When he says the answer is blowing in the wind. While, its a great song and if i were to make a play list of 1960s music, that song would beyond their, but the answer is blowing in the wind isnt particularly helpful if you are searching for answers. So thats i think that is how we have to understand this political output, its not again what i mean when i say that its not exactly what people think. Id like to know about the meaning of the photograph with you and the drive tshirt. What do we know about it . Id like to know if thats an equivalent photographic mean something is gonna philosophy in it. laughs i like to know visually what it represents to you because your part of that . When i havent really looked at it that much. I thought about it a great deal. People are looking to bob dylan for the answers but. Its a great thing to you tube, bob doing press conference 1965, no matter which when you hit its going to be great. If you start to think what it must of been like to have every little thing that you do or say looked at so intently, how many times as someone said what was the meaning of the short youre wearing right now . We are you going to do with that . It was great on a person. I think any thinking person that was in his situation would find a lot of this inane so i believe that is a big reason why he really got away from that voice of a generation protest music. He saw it as in my opinion anyway, he sought as a prison. Once he got locked in to being this one thing he could never get out. And so 1965, he went electric and started playing electric guitar rather than just acoustic and harmonica and people would come to his concert and yelled judas and boo him and how dare he and that sort of thing. And so once again i think he looked at all that and said no thanks. And so by 1966, hes out of there. He goes to upstate new york and like i, said starts having children and starts writing love songs and sort of domestic bliss in that sort of thing. So its a whole new deal in after 1966. The irony is in the 1970s when he becomes a born again christian he for the first time is telling his audience i have the answer and a lot of people arent very interested then in hearing what his answer is. The publics reaction to the new deal in by the 19 eighties is weve got to remember now we are a whole generation from the 1960s. So there is a whole group of kids growing up in the eighties and i wouldve been one of them, who are watching mtv and bob dylan for his great of a songwriter he is is not maybe the most mtv friendly persona for a 14 year old. And so it really depends on which public at this point because the baby boomers are now adults, theyve got mortgages theyve got jobs theyre following music is closely and so in some ways, dylan is slipping through the cracks a little bit. When we are the rule comes out, hes invited. He swings on that and so hes not forgotten but hes not white one public figure that he had then. As a dylan fan, when people find out that im a dylan fan, some people will say his voice, i like his songwriter like his voice. Listen, listen deeper. His voice is often very good and its like a leather coat. Its broken in, and that is one of its best. And it really, he is a remarkable artist and it might not necessarily be everybodys favorite style of music, but something he has said will resonate with you. In july of 1966, bob dylan suffered serious neck injuries or motorcycle accidents, forcing him to decline an invitation to a festival the following summer in moderate, california that would help to define 1967s summer of love in america. We love you all, this is very groovy. Monterrey is very groovy, man. This is something. This is our generation, all you people were all together. Did yourself, its really groovy. Montgomery profitable was a threeday musical event in june of 1967 which kicked off that summer of love, but it really was the first real big sort of rock and roll musical festival to happen here. We the city of monterrey when there was a lot of concern about what they called then beat next and hippie was a new word in the past years or so, where the snow sort of Hippie Movement and over the past several months, the summer of love was happening in san francisco. No one quite understood what that was all about. We wasnt the long hair, and the drug thing, but the chief of police felt so confident and so comfortable about this group we will but actually released a big number of police to cannery row, because there was a fire and he will canneries thats a night, and he sent this on the fire. He felt fine with going down on the first one in particular i. Whats great about the monetary pot festival was just not rock and roll music but all different genres of music. There was african jazz, there was sold music, lou roles played here on friday nights. He won the biggest hits of the entire festival with potus reading, and most of the audience honestly had no idea who dissuading was and he had been singing in folk music for many years before that. He came here and just blew this whole place away. Ive been loving you too long. He actually die just a few months after that festival and the plane crash but they brought a lot of things to festival and i think it really opened up peoples eyes, not just the people who were here but people who are living in the monterrey area. When we musicians that Paul Mccartney suggested was Young African american man who was not wellknown and he was from his by the name of Jimmy Hendricks, he grew up in seattle, hendricks was in the arm me and 1961 for doors unwanted rain so he knew monterrey, in monterrey he really no pun attention, ignited this place he takes lighter fluid put on his guitar, and then likes the guitar on fire and gets on his knees and burns the guitar and then he smashed in unfroze that was up into the audience. People just are stunned by this and you see burn marks on the stage that is really kind of monterrey pop mythology and it is exactly what he was and the story was that hendricks came down the next day after the festival but the truth is there was actually covering on the stage here and they put a wooden covered on the floor here and as you can see in the film and there was somebody out the fuse who let the cars beneath him. Monterrey pot festival was different, it was a different kind of audience it really open monterreys eyes to yeah, we can combine these two kind of things together and although they were very unsure about it, once they saw it wasnt really a lot of problems i think it was really good for monterrey. Were very excited here to have you with the rocket politics exhibit, this is a brandnew exhibit here the rock and roll hall of fame. It looks set cultural events our histories, how we process things all through the lens of rock and roll. A lot of what we do hear the rock and roll hall of fame looks at artists and genres in the impact of course but when you step back and look at rocks ability to shape how you view things, how we process things how people understand things this notion of rock as a very powerful art form into really has a tremendous impact on some of the most important conversations that were having our culture. Weve been talking about this exhibit that weve talking about for a very fruitful topic and now is the artsy we are mart partnering with the museum in d. C. To open in the summer 2016 here in cleveland as the rnc comes into town but they also have to travel to the museum in bc for the next president ial inauguration. So we organize this exhibit to look at topics like lgbt issues, freedom, protests songs, rocks use and political campaigns. Rocks ability to coalesce and create a movement. Look at those different topics and organize them by provincial administration from eisenhower going through today with obama. And see how our perspectives have changed over time, how issues have evolved through lyrics, through the art form a rock and roll, and how our society has reacted as a result. And how music has also reacted as society is changed. So a big part of what were doing here at the rock and whole roll hall of fame is telling stories, people come here for as these talisman artifacts, just to see the object. The object that has so much power and so much history embedded, its magical. This is really a sacred objects. This is Jimmy Hendricks electrical tar, in the 1968 fender strata caster. This is also the guitar the hendricks used on stage when he infamously plate the starspangled banner at woodstock. Got a lot of people who were considering a rock and roll distorted guitar version of the starspangled banner to be just short of burning a flag. That it was seen as a protest movement in a time when a lot of people were frustrated with the protests that were going on and the turbulence that was being created by these a piece, when hendricks gets on the show and talks about this he, says this is not a protest this is a tribute im a patriot. This man was in the 101st airborne so youve written nasty letters in. You mention the National Anthem and talk about playing it in any unorthodox way, immediately you get a guarantee for sending your hate mail. Its not unorthodox. It isnt. No. I thought it was beautiful, but there you go. This is a way for him to use his ability to connect that passion of this new style of rock and roll and demonstrate his patriotism, demonstrate is not uncommon for someone to play an electric guitar in front of a basketball game or ballpark it was also was a moment in time where that performance captured the turbulence of the time the kind of drugs to figure justification of our patriotism i love for country and the change in society that says we are not going to do things the same way and hendricks didnt do the starspangled banner the same way he. Did it his own way. We have a couple artifacts here including the 45 from Sergeant Berry or the ballot of the green berets and that is where vietnam, johnny caches its really easy to look back 40, 50 years later and think that everyone was against the vietnam war, but there is often some surprises that we forget about like the ballot of the green berets. The man who fight by night and day the green berets. So there is a lot of time throughout history where its not just what we remember, its not just we have to kind of elevated and pop culture. Vietnam is a story, its very clear that we know that rock played a role but when you really dig deep there are some surprises in there and there are some alternative perspectives and there are some stories that sometimes get lost. You also have examples of artists like neil young and. Southern man criticizing some political views. Southern change is going to come out last. Leonard skinner responding with i hope neil young will remember rut. Sweet home alabama. The debate doesnt just happen in society with an artist in a song but you have you have the songs in the things that people release. And compare what is happening now does happen in the past. It is sometimes provide some insight, some new perspective in some new way of moving forward. We have hear some artifacts from someone who helped us unveil this exhibit this year. De wore these items when he testified at the u. S. Senate Committee Hearing on censorship. The 1980 5 pm are see hearings. You say your song under the blade is about surgery. We have you ever had surgery with your hands tied and youre like strapped . The song is written about my guitar player, he was having powerful movement in his throws and was very fearful of his operation and i said 80, in the hospital when red is on for you. Congress put together this list of filthy 15, the songs they identified as public enemys number one through 15 in terms of making the case that rock and roll has to be controlled censored its led to warning labels being put on cds, these songs, if you talk to artists, werent that outrageous. And when they brought snyder its really easy to understand why they wanted him there he was this metal head log. He wore mascara, he was a character. No its not a wild jump and i think when i said at one point that songs allow person to put their own imagination, experiences and dreams into the lyrics. People can interpret it many ways. Miss gore was looking for masochism and bondage, she founded. Someone looking for surgical references wouldve found it as well. He was deliberately chosen to be the one to testify in front of the senate but what they didnt know is that this was a sober, articulate family man who was very passionate about the subject and really helped make his case about the reason that rock and roll shouldnt be censored. There were a couple of instances in our history where the government starts to get involved. There is the pm our hearings when ill was investigated by government for appeal us candle. Hello everybody, how are you all tonight. Yeah its allen freed. Its time again for another your favorite rock and roll sessions with records and all the gang. On the surface, that is a story about a guy who is corrupt and according to the government, he has taken money to play music. Enjoy the moon dog show. But it was much more than that. They were operating under this assumption that no one would play with a called at the time race music. No one would play this to a white kids without some sinister motivation behind it. And clearly, there was some financial gain that allen freed and it wasnt about this concern for corruption about what is happening on the radio waves, it was a concern that this nascent genre rock and roll, is starting to take root and is starting to get into trends easter radios and their ears, the challenges status quo and create questions and challenge authority. That was a threat to the government, later on, the fbi sent a letter to nwa for their song for the police, and they say you cant do this. When martin the third king was assassinated, the day after that, james brown had a concert in boston. Sometimes i do the james brown. I want you to know and boston was one of the few cities that didnt have riots after kings assassination, because james brown kept it cool. And other artists came in after him and said, be careful. You may be a target now. Because now the government knows that if you can stop right, you can start one to. Several times in our history you have situations where the status quo looks at rock and roll and says, its making our kids do bad things, its promoting illicit sexual activity, its advocating drug use, its not really music. It should be stopped. That happens with elvis, that happens with the beatles, that happens with twisted sister, it happens with frank zap a, it happens with nwa and it still happens because the status quo has the understanding that this music has a power to create tremendous unrest or to calm people and therefore they have to get involved in control it. This is one of my favorite displays and rocket politics, these are the original costumes worn by the Village People. Really, when you think about the Village People, they represent a time when our society is starting to change how they view homosexuality and the gay culture. You have the song ymca, which is in some ways very controversial. But its also a part of the american songbook, its plate a pep rallies, ball games now, and very much accepted. A part of our culture, part of our history, but that represents an important time for history because it starts to be, these artists are literally coming out and they are making it okay. But theres a couple of Different Things that are happening in that general timeframe. If you think about the disco sex movement, that was really a passionate powerful Grassroots Movement where people were protesting what type of music. And in hindsight sometimes its ridiculous, why do you need to protest what someone listens to . But if you look at that, that might have been not always understood at the time, but in some ways a dog whistle from the conservative side who said we are not okay, were not okay with this studio 54 and the Village People and the gay culture being out. The threats history you see are examples of artists, especially in Race Relations, making a statement, sometimes its nina simone and were talking about overt and rage. They try to say its a communist plot. All i want is a quality my sister, my brother, my people and me. But that also, the history connects today, when were talking about Race Relations in our country, Janelle Monet is out the writing songs about walter scott, eric garner, trey juan martin, michael brown. Using her popularity and her voice to make a statement. Will be all right. Kendrick lamar, at the beauty awards has is politically overt altright song that really coalesced and uses his celebrity in his popularity to give movement to the black lives matter movement. Still today, this music and these artists provide a voice to people who might not always be heard, otherwise. Were presenting this exhibit not as a look at artists or genre is but as a look at our culture. Through the lens of rock and roll so you want people to understand that this is a very powerful art form that has the ability to help us process things. To bring a voice to people that might not have otherwise been heard. To help us work through some of the most important conversations in american culture. I feel good. So good. So good. I got you. We are in the Augusta Museum of history, in augusta, j. A. We call this the exhibit james brown, the godfather of soul. And it gives a different perspective of him, the man, the music, and his messages and his music. Youll see beautiful memorabilia, a beautiful grand cape. That he designed as well as instruments from his home. Its a great way to learn about godfather of soul, visiting his exhibit. And the at the accustom using him of history. I am one of the daughters of mr. James brown. The godfather of soul. I am also president of the james brown family foundation, and founder of the james Brown Academy of music peoples. Also known as jim someone calling the native son here. He actually was born across the bridge in South Carolina, this area is called the cbs are a, central Savannah River area. And it borders the Savannah River, South Carolina as well as georgia. So he was born right across the bridge a little bit down in barn well, county. But he grew up in augusta. So thats why he made this beautiful song georgia line a, he had a good heart for both areas. Georgia line a. I was raised in georgia. Born in carolina. My grandmother and my grandfather were poor. And so he grew up in the augusta downtown area which at that time, was called the terry for the territory of where the black low income people, very poor people lift. And his days were growing up in our anthonys place and it was something is going on and honeys house and it was a pro bush house so the military gentlemen came down to visit the ladies of the evening and on honeys place. As a young boy, he got a chance to see some things but that is the area with the surroundings that he grew up in. He met bobby bird, which i call uncle bobby. He met uncle bobby in a detention home in rome, georgia. And uncle bobby was part of a gospel group. Gospel star letters. They came in they performed in the boys home. And dad was there as an inmate. They met their. And they became friends because, in order for dad to be able to get out of that detention home, for voice, he needed a home, he needed a place to go. Somebody had to take him in. So uncle bobby talked his mom into taking debt and as a young boy, so he could get out of the detention home that he was in. And from that point on, they started to make music together. They started of course doing gospel music, but dad kind of changed that a little bit when he started bringing in some of his favorite songs at that time like caledonia, a lot of true to who who songs, from back in the day, this was in the early fifties. And so they began to start doing it r b as we know it. The first big hit was please, please, please. In 1956. Please, please, please dont go. I love you. From the early fifties on to the nineties, late 90s, dad used to always be really amazed by how people were so into him and into his music. And he would be so amazed, especially when he traveled around the country. He would call me sometimes when i did radio and he would be in china, hed be in prague, hed be in these places and these people didnt even speak english. But they knew so much about him. And they love his music, and it amazed him how his reach was so far, so deep to people who didnt even speak english. And it amazed him, especially being where he came from. I think sometimes he wrestled was trying to understand that. It was baffling to him, like, how could a poor young boy from South Carolina come into such, such grace . Such favor from god . To be able to make this music never went to school,. Never finished high school. He never went to college. Never went to a music school. It just came to him. He always wanted to be for the common man. Somebody who would go and work these 13 or 14 hours a day and still doesnt make enough money for the family. But still go and do it each and every day. He wanted to speak for the common man. He did not forget being in that position when my grandfather had to walk from South Carolina to augusta just to find a little bit of work for a little bit of money. But it was a whole lot of time spent. He always spoke with president s starting from london be johnson, about opportunity for Young African americans. Job opportunities and education opportunities. And then of course, housing in the inner cities for families to be able to live in. Dad did some things that was way ahead of his time back in the late sixties and early seventies. In macon, georgia, he had a restaurant called the gold platter. It would be like a walmart today. Not maybe as big, but you could go grocery shopping, but you could also have a meal there. You could also eat. There was a restaurant in their. So you go to walmart and you can do just about anything. You can get something to eat, you can shop, you can get your hair done, so he was really way ahead of his time. He even created a system where people could have food stamps so that they could be able to purchase the food in the stores. He was so far ahead of his time in trying to help his community. To make a threeminute song on im black and im proud. And that three minutes song has so much power for generations to come. I dont even think that my dad realized what he was doing at the time. I believe he realized the impact during those days in the Civil Rights Movement. But have we even come out of that movement to what is going on today . To what has happened today in ferguson and new york, with young black men being shut down. So have we left that movement . It may have appeared that we really have not. That we are still in a Civil Rights Movement. Still to this day, that song is relevant. It means a lot because now its introduced to a whole new generation who needs to understand to be black and to be proud. When i did radio, dad would always tell me that when i played that song, to expand it because we are in a different day and time now. At that time he made it for that purpose. But he would always say, come back behind that with reminding people that whatever it is you are or where you come from, be proud of it. If you are a woman, the proud. If you are indian, the proud. If you are german, the proud. Whatever it is, wherever your from, whatever your culture, you be proud. James browns legacy for me is the james Brown Academy of music peoples jamming. These students are awesome. That used to always talk about Music Education in schools. His biggest gripe was that students needed to continue learning how to play instruments. You put an instrument in a childs hand and it changes their life. Ive seen that literally happen with these students that i work with. I never in 1 million years thought that i would be doing it. But what i have seen is the exact thing that my dad told me i would see. These children have embraced his music. They learn music theory and composition. They learn a lot of his songs. They learned a lot of artists music, but it is all clean. That was very important to my dad. From the georgia home of the godfather of soul, we now travel further south where the New Orleans Jazz Museum features this unique american form of music. People say that jazz is the only original american art form. Im not sure its the only original one, but it certainly is the most famous and most world renowned. It changed the world kind of music. Im leaving here today, yes im going back home to stay. New orleans. You its something the country can be proud up. Its something that has defined america, not only for americans, but for people outside of america. And like any great art, it has spoken profoundly to the truths and the great issues of our time. Right now, we are on the second floor of the u. S. Jazz museum. The jazz museum has been in this building since 1983. After hurricane katrina, it was moved out and put in storage until basically now. We have slowly but surely started taking the instruments and the artifacts out of the archive and putting them back here. Slowly but surely, having the instrument cases right behind me. The gonzales mural. Slowly but surely, they have been getting them out. The eventual plan is to turn the entire second floor into a 8000 square foot history of jazz in new orleans exhibit. New orleans jazz brings to mind a kind of collectively improvised dance music. It is influenced by blues and spirituals and ragtime and assorted kind of other things that have come through. Jazz starts in new orleans from a lot of different reasons. One is that new orleans is a huge port town. Lots of different cultures that contributed to jazz came here through the port. People bringing good either from europe or from the caribbean or from the northern parts down the mississippi. Theres also a very large presence of enslaved africans here. And yet, the laws governing how you treated these insulate africans were much more lenient than any other place in the country. I am not at all saying that it was easy to be a slave here. It was as difficult as you could expect, but slaves had it a little bit easier here. They had to have a day off. You could not split up families when you sold slaves. They could own their own property. They could have their own businesses. So it was a little more lenient for them and that meant the kind of things that they brought from africa, the cultural tropes, stayed around here longer than other places. In terms of all the things that came together for jazz, you can start seeing it in the early 1890s and then probably by the early 1900s. 1914, 1910, somewhere around there, you can start hearing something that, if you heard it today, you would say that was just. In new orleans, music has always been an essential part of the culture. They say the first opera ever performed in america was performed here. We have several opera houses. Theres also lots of dance halls. Lots of places to hear music. So music has always been an inherent part of the culture. And because of that, music is a part of every kind of cultural tradition. Theres always music there at your parades and your parties. Your christenings and funerals. Everything, you generally hire a ban for. So we have the largest collection in the world, the goal of the collection is this cornet that Louis Armstrong basically learn to play on. It wasnt his first cornet but it was the core knit that was provided to him by the waves on where he was sent after shooting off a pistol on years eve. Louis armstrong was born on jane aly which is now where the municipal traffic ortiz. And he was born about as poor as you could probably be in this country. He started out kind of running the streets and singing in a Singing Group of his friends, kind of being one of those kids that you see kind of with a bottle caps on the bottom of their shoes with the hat in front of him. Very resourceful, very resourceful kid and played a little bit, saying and then he was arrested new years eve when he was about seven or so, for shooting off his moms boyfriends pistol in the air and new years eve. And was sentenced to a year and a half. That is where the band leader there saw that he might have gotten him in the band and by the time we get out of there, he had some idea that he wanted to be a musician and he started playing other our jobs that you have and all of it was his mentor and it was a father figure to him and he and his wife would have lewis home for dinner and stuff like that. So as you can see, this is pretty beat up and it was played by kids not at the time that armstrong was there but for many many years after peter davis the, superintendent presented to luis arms armstrong and is a gift to new orleans jack back in 1965 and Louis Armstrong confirmed that this was the horn but the notch is that he made in the mouthpiece and you can see the not just till today. There was felt that he gave him more of a grip with his mouth with his lips on the instrument. We have moved into another area of the museum, this is an area where we have a number of instruments on display. And this one is a particular interest, its a trumpet that was owned by day birth alam you. He still living, whos in his 90s now. He was a prolific producer and arranger, writer. And ventilator. But he was really fundamental in dominance career, he helped produce and create arrangements for fits dominoes early rock and will work in as many people know, feds dominoes as one of the earliest in the development of rock and roll so dave for home you has a jazz musician arranger, is directly going from just a rock and roll. This is one of dominoes pianos. It was in the death of his home on catherine street. Fats despite being internationally known, one of the creators of rock and roll, he returned to his home and wanted to live in new orleans. His home was damaged during katrina flooded heavily. His piano is in there and it floated about 12 feet of water and once the water receded, it was heavily damaged, the legs it broken off and basically, the entire piano was just and horrible condition. Its been conserved, its not playable but its been conserved and brought back to its close to its original appearance. The conservatives and repair folks, tried to make it playable again it wouldve been the same piano. We didnt want to lose the historical nature of the piano. You make me cry when you say goodbye. Fats domino was from new orleans and he influenced really olive early rock and roll, beatles fog for some of his biggest fans and actually when the beatles came here, i believe it was in 65, they asked if they could meet with fats and there is kind of a famous photo of the beatles with fats domino. He had many, many friends and many of the musicians that he performed with stay with him in his whole career. They went on to influence many others and create their own music and their own vance. He had a very Strong Influence on music here in new orleans, but around the world. Fats is passing not so long ago, less than a year ago, was a major blow to the city and of course to his family. But he left a wonderful legacy and he influenced so many people with his warmth, with his music. Sweet emma barry it was born in 1897 and died in 1983, she was a true new orleans character. She was really wellknown by the bells that she wore on her ankles, you can see that here in this photo right here. She was a wonderful musician. And in her later years, in the beginning i want to see in the sixties or so, she began playing the preservation hall and it was a well sought out musician. We have a wonderful video of sweet emma performing in the first just fest in 1968. So you have a self taught and its evident turnstile but her style was veteran or lisa. Now weve moved into the collection of storage areas to come this way. This is a really neat drum said here, this was a drum set of monte ram hollen as you can see, he was a longtime drummer for the cradle dixie lent band. There are some wonderful footage of this drum being plate with kid already spent. This would have been a jazz band that was led of course by kid already. Were happy to have this, this came to us about six years ago as a donation. Right over here, we have speaking of drums the drum snare shill, that is one of baby dodges drones. Many drivers think of davie dots as the father of modern drumming. It came with this full, beautiful white pearl lovely set that davey dogs played in the little half of his career. It would be one of the prime trump sets in the new exhibit that were doing on the drums later this year. When folks come to the museum, i would like for them to take away several things. I would like for them to take away the deep history of the music here, it is a living breathing art form ceiling orleans. And in most of the country, it is a part of everything that goes all around here, even people who say they dont like jazz, or dont know just know jazz songs. Its a part of your life here even if you dont realize it. Doug i learned lots of songs from other people to. I like to say these folks were people who were came of age before self doubt was invented. These were really wise or, knowledgeable people. Educated in the natural world, educated in the musical world, and their own folklore. So it was just something deep and wise mountain music is sort of a catchall term for the traditional music of the southern appalachians. We and it would involve alltime music which could be dance music, banjo and fiddle music, it could be battle ballads and folksongs. It could also be bluegrass music by the early Country Music, people use that term generally to refer to the traditional music of the southern appalachians. So matt music is this combination of english, scott, irish and African American all woven together. All those things came here in the mountains and we really had a hybrid that just busted loose. This is around im going to say in a way the banjo kick things into gear, that was in the late 1800s. Mid 18 hundreds and that was a black influence, it came from africa. A lot of blues you notes on the banjo. And that rhythm of the banjo sort of change the way the music was plate, that is one of the things it did along with the dancing and other things. That combination of english scotch irish and African American made this incredible, incredibly powerful hybrid of music that affected music to this day. The mountain music archives at morrison college is part of our special collection. Its housed in the library and it consists of a number of items recordings, but also photographs another if amara. Related to musicmakers of this region, Western North carolina. A lot of the collection was collected in the 1970s and early 19 eighties. And i think 69, i came back to the southern mountains, i was going to college at the university of california and sent to barbara. I had fallen in love with the sound of the banjo, the alltime climber stuff. I meant ralph stanley, the great bluegrass and alltime player. He was doing a concert out there and asked him, where i could go to learn these oldtime eventually style the climbers to. He said, you need to go back to asheville theres lots of music, so i left that summer 1969, with my buddy. We traveled all through the southern mountains from georgia to West Virginia going into Fiddlers Convention to every weekend. I just fell in love with the music, the people and the place in the culture. To me, look it was like stepping into the lost world. Because at this time, in 1969, 1973, a lot of these old timers all of them, were born in the late 1800s. These people that were closely connected to our pioneer ancestors, more than modern people, i thought this is absolutely fascinating. The music was so great. People were so wonderful. They wouldnt give you a lesson but they would play for you and you would try to figure out and come back and talk to them the next time. And bill repertoire. It became important for individuals to start collecting mountain music and then the 1960s 1970s, and there is a variety of reasons. One is in the 1960s, you had a folk music boom, you could call it. Or sort of explosion of interest in folk music. And this manifests itself and performing groups, like the kingston trio or peter paul and mary or bob dylan. But along with that with people who were interested in folk music began exploring the origins. Where the songs came from. And some individuals became very fascinated with those origin stories. To the point of tracking down individuals who had originally recorded a lot of this music back in the twenties and thirties. Which became the source recordings for these folk musicians from the 1960s. The folks at Warren Wilson college decided that it would be great to have a program where the students could actually learn the instruments. Not just folklorist aspects of it, not just talk about it or academic view of it, but to actually learn to play the instruments. Our and i was new in town, really, i had moved here in 73, were talking about 1975. When they wanted to start this program, and i was a guy from the outside. And pretty much the only guy in town from the outside collecting music. How and so i had contact with all these different aspects of the music, the balancing are, as the bluegrass players, the alltime players. And they were all sort of mattered each other, so i was kind of a perfect person to go in between and all bring them all together. Havent come out of the college and teach. The collection is about 110 reel to reel and cassette tapes. That was the best equipment we could find in those days. I collected a lot of it and the students collected a lot of it. They have a work program at wilson college, and i had students whose job was to collect music from these old timers. I came home the other night as drunk as i could be. And i saw a horse in the stable where my horse ought to be. There became almost a kind of critical need to document and recorded these people who were, at this point, entering the Twilight Years of their lives, before they passed away. Or lord im down to go. It was really in the 1960s and seventies where you saw a explosion a field recordings. With people going to rip wont parts of the country and tracking down musicians and recording them as a way to preserve their music and document it for the Public Record before they may pass away and it would become unavailable. David holt started a Traditional Music Program back here in the seventies. I started teaching here in the nineties. After he had left. I was aware that he had recorded concerts back in the seventies. These recordings were all here in the archives and were on reel to reel tapes. I realized that they were not accessible. Even if i had a student who wanted to listen to them, who knew what was on those things . It was not a good set up. So i wanted to make them available to our students and i had a student in 2002 who took the reel to reel tapes and we got a reel to reel player and digitized them and we went through what was on these and picked out appropriate cuts to foot and add to this online resource. So now we have these resources, we can let students listen to them. In the case of a fiddler, they can learn their fiddle repertoire, the nuance of their playing. In the case of a Singing Group, we can hear what types of songs were popular at that point in time, but also hear the nuance in their singing styles. Babylon is calling to rise no more. And so it gives us a way to keep an oral tradition going where the actual culture fares may not be with us any longer. Shape note singing is a tradition of sacred music making. It originated in the early 19th century. What it refers to is the literal note of shape of the notes that appear on a page. What individuals were experimenting with around 1800 were developing a system of notation that could make it easier for people to learn how to read music. In the 19th century, it became so popular as a way for individuals to learn how to sing that Singing Schoolmasters would travel around the region and teach Singing Schools. They would actually have a class of 20 or 30 or 40 individuals in a community, and everyone would get together and for two weeks learn how to read shape note notation. After the Singing School was over, the seaming School Master would move on to a northern Rural Community and the community that that person left would have a book and get together regularly and sing out of this book of shape note tunes. So you had a blossoming in this region of shape note singing. There was a number of books that were published. Here in north carolina, theres a book called christian harmony that really stayed. It was compiled by a gentleman called William Walker who is from spartanburg, South Carolina. Theres a continuous christian harmony singing its been going on here in western california carolina for over 100 years. The ballad singing tradition here goes way back to the early settlers who came from the british isles. Some of these ballots that are still some here in the mountains, you can date them back to the 15 and 16 hundreds in scotland and ireland. Laura thomas is wedding or stay at home and mourn. In the days before recorded music, this is how you would pass music along. So madison county, which is just north north of asheville, still has ballad singers. People have been singing these ballots for six or seven generations and their families and they have been passed along. So you will find people who are still singing about lords and ladies and milk white states and buddy castles and things, even though they are in the mountains of western carolina. But if its the last thing i ever do, lord thomas is wedding ill go. To lower thomas is lending wedding i will go. Ballots are basically telling a story in song. There is some kind of narrative going on and usually something happens and there is some kind of moral to the story at the end. So they are important for passing along of the customs and beliefs and fears of a culture. We use the mountain music archive to help us show current students the way that certain types of mountain music were performed and presented by individuals who were really doing it 100 years ago. So it creates a Critical Resources and a window back in time. Recordings offer an Excellent Way to hear the nuance of someones playing or the ornaments in someones singing that you really could not get otherwise. This music is important. Its American Folk Music. When ive traveled to other parts of the world and i tell people that i play American Folk Music and sing american folk songs, they didnt know there was anything else aside from the mainstream music. Even though this is western carolina, this is American Folk Music. So its important to preserve it, documented, and make it available because it is part of our nations history. These tunes, the fiddle tunes im talking about, the old ballads, these are little bits of wisdom that are being passed down from other generations. It is not an essay, it is not a book, it is something that is encapsuled encapsulated in a tune. It cannot be put any other way, but there is power in that tune and wisdom in that tune. When you run it through your body or a group of people like here at the college, it informs them in a little different way. I think a lot of it is very uplifting. I think it just makes people healthier. It is good medicine. Suspense city tour travels the country. With the help of local cable providers, we bring you the history and literary life of a different city unhooked v. And American History tv. To watch videos of any of the places weve been, go to cspan. Org slash cities tour. You can follow us on twitter at cspan cities. Weeknights this month, were featuring author and former