Transcripts For CSPAN3 C-SPAN Cities Tour- Music Of A Nation 20240711

We begin with a visit to nashvilles Ryman Auditorium as author david ewing talks about how the venue became a place for political rallies, civil rights events and home to Country Musics grand ole opry. Today were at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown nashville, tennessee. It definitely tells the history of both things 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 inside that was large enough to take the large crowds of the traveling ministers who came to town. So captain ryman built the Ryman Auditorium and it opened at first in 1892 as a tabernacle. So thats the church part of the history. The music part of the history, the Country Music part, deals with the grand ole opry which came here in 1943 after being in many different homes in nashville, and stayed here until 1974 when the new opry house was built. But during the run of the 40s, 50s and early 70s, some of the famous people in all of Country Music history debuted here in the grand ole opry including hank williams, george jones, dolly parton. All these brand names in Country Music got their start in this building. The Ryman Auditorium almost didnt happen because of the 1880 president ial race, Grover Cleveland versus blaine. The democrats had lost six president ial races and had not won since 1856. Tom ryman, who was a riverboat captain in this town, was a very bad gambler. Tefs wa it was a big election and everyone thought blaman was going to w blaine was going to win, and ryman would take bets for blaman to win. Ill take 500 from you, 100 from you, 20 from you, and before he knew it, he had bet his house in the 1880 election. Thank goodness Grover Cleveland won, because if not, ryman would be penniless and broke and probably would not have built this a few years later. He envisioned this building as a hall for all types of religious dom nations and it could be rendered for anybody, so it did not have one particular slant for 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 because this was an incredible indoor space. Around 1925, the grand ole opry started in another building in downtown nashville near our state capital, but during that era, we had fiddling contests here at the Ryman Auditorium. One of the fiddlers, dr. Dave macon, who was later a member of the grand ole opry in that era, competed in the fiddling contest here in ryman. It was probably one of the earlier versions of Country Music. It was interesting that the ryman had been around for about 50 years when the grand ole opry came calling in 1943. And the building had seen better days from a physical standpoint. It didnt have any airconditioning, of course, and it didnt have proper heating at the time. So a lot of then some newer buildings were being built in nashville. The War Memorial Auditorium across from the capital and other venues can now have concerts. So when the grand ole opry moved from the War Memorial Auditorium to the ryman, it was a perfect marriage. We needed weekly events for this building, and the grand ole opry 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 the opry coming in provided new energy to this building and provided a place where literally three or four thousand people a week got to hear the most popular and oldest Country Music show in the world. Interestingly enough, there was a Teddy Roosevelt story related to the assassination attempt in 1912 related to the Ryman Auditorium. Teddy roosevelt was in milwaukee, wisconsin and he was campaigning for president after he had left office, campaigning again. And an assassin shoots him and the bullet enters his chest. Hes got this long speech of about 50 pages. The bullet has slowed down but it still enters the chest. And Teddy Roosevelt, in tough guy fashion, he goes out and gives a speech, anyway. One of the first things he says is, ive just been shot and kind of shows the audience, but then gives this long speech and then goes to the hospital. The person who assassinated him tracked him down and was coming stayed in a hotel a few blocks away from the ryman. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt had been to memphis, chattanooga and knoxville and was supposed to come to nashville. But an antiTeddy Roosevelt group had booked the ryman and only 200 people showed up. So this assassin was down the street thinking that the president would be here, and probably the reason Teddy Roosevelt didnt come to nashville is because this other group had booked the ryman. Only 200 people showed up, including a congressman, but that kept Teddy Roosevelt from nashville. And when at the caught the assassin in milwaukee after they shot him, the plans that he had to shoot Teddy Roosevelt and follow him around were on the back of the hotel stationery from nashville, tennessee two blocks from the ryman. The Ryman Auditorium played a very 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 18th of 1920. Before that, susan b. 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 kind of 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 Womens Suffrage Convention that susan b. Anthony started had their convention right here at the ryman. Many people had been to conventions that had more free time than work time. The women that came here in the fall of 1914, they wanted the right to vote, they were going to work hard. The sessions lasted until 3 00 a. M. In this building when the women got the right to vote. And, interestingly enough, the ryman has always been a place, because its so large, for political conventions of the state parties, the Democratic Party and the republican party. So in 1920, when it was time to select delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention Held in san francisco, they met here at the Ryman Auditorium. And for the first time, tennessee sent two women delegates to that convention, which was historic. That was really months 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 fisk university, tennessee a and i, now tennessee university, including john lewis. They got arrested here. They challenged the system of what was going on in nashville, tennessee in 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 freedom writer students. One of the students who got a check to go to school from Martin Luther king in the southern Leadership Conference was john lewis. So part of the history of the ryman is also Martin Luther king was here and spoke as well. Jackie robinson spoke a few years later here on the Civil Rights Movement as well. And even before that, booker t. Washington came to the ryman and spoke about three different times, sometimes for graduations, and so he had a crowd of about 5,000 people, which was the capacity back then. So if you wanted 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, aretha franklin, the foo fighters, munfort sons. The list goes on and on and on. Some people who normally play arenas of 15,000 to 20,000 play the ryman because it is such an interesting building that people want to perform in. The acoustics in the ryman is so amazing. The reason people like the Ryman Auditorium is because its unique, its a small venue. There is 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 thank their band, they thank their fans. When you walk across the stage of the ryman, you pay homage to the building. Most people, one of the first things out of their mouth, they Say Something about the building and how wonderful it is to be here. I hosted bob shefer during the president ial debates at belmont university. Gaylord entertainment, now the ryman group, has special concerts in this building, and they invited bob shefer, who has a country band, to perform and brad paisley was hosting that night. Interestingly enough, i talked to bob shefer after that, because he was moderating another president ial debate, the cycle of president obama and john mccain. I asked him, were you more nervous moderating a president ial debate or playing at the ryman . That was an easy answer. He said, i was so nervous at the ryman. This was my childhood dream to many pl play the Ryman Auditorium and it was as exciting as i thought it would be. The Ryman Auditorium on a National Level is a venue that has had speeches of president s, organized parties here. We had famous politicians even in the 20th century, al gore sr. And al gore jr. , another name that a lot of people may not know is joe burns, who was speaker of the house during president roosevelts time. He had many debates for congress here in the ryman. And when joe burns died, his funeral was in nashville and fdr came to that. Is to the legacy of the ryman is tied with the legacy of the opry. Today the opry is heard worldwide because of the internet and still because of wsn. The grand ole opry is the oldest radio show in the world, and were fortunate that the although the opry has a new home, it comes back here in the winter for a few months, and you can still see the grand ole opry where it was famous in the Ryman Auditorium. [ applause ] as the Ryman Auditorium reflects 20th century history, in the mid19th century, a Musical Group named the hutchinson family singers became the most famous entertainers in america as they traveled the country singing about freedom for enslaved africanamericans. Their 1844 song get off the track which is a Campaign Song for the Liberty Party, the first antislavery party in the United States history, one of the most popular songs of the hutchinson family singers. Indeed it becomes somewhat the anthem of the Antislavery Movement in the 1840s and anti the 1840s and 1850s. The book is on the hutchinson family singers. This group of answer slavery singers who were born in New Hampshire in the late 10s and early 1820s. They are a family group, thus the name, hutchinson family singers. A group of three brothers and one sister. I they are antislavery singers who are one of the most popular musical acts of the 1840s and 1850s. And i wrote it because the the uniqueness of the hutchinsons and of their story, but also the one really big question, which is 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 three the three brothers, judson, jesse, and Asa Hutchinson are somewhat captivated by this idea of, of music. They come from a large farming family in millford, New Hampshire, which is on the southern border of New Hampshire, the southern board, right, with massachusetts. And large farming family, mainly male children. Its a family of 11 boys and two two girls. One of the things that happens in the hutchinson family, right, the two oldest brothers are going to kind of split whats the family farm or in line to split the family farm. The next line of brothers move out west into ohio and into illinois. Then you have the youngest series of brothers who are going to form three quarters of the hutchinson family singers. They move to massachusetts, these somewhat early industrialized areas n. Lynn, the hutchensons connect their background in music that was developed through the Baptist Church. They had they come from a family that was very active in the Baptist Community in New Hampshire. And 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 mooug at the time, right . It is dangerous. People who are musicians are seen as immoral perhaps in some way. So the Church Provides a moral space for people to be able to sing because they are singing the word of god ask. The hutchinson family as a whole is active in the Musical Community in New Hampshire flew the Baptist Church. One of the brothers is the choreal director for the Baptist Church and provides Music Lessons for the community. The hutchinsons try to run with that while they are in lynn and get this idea that maybe we could become a performing troupe. In 1841 they decide to try their luck as three brothers. They tour new england and upstate new york, and it is a complete flop. They grew up, they claim n the mountains of the old Granite State, the White Mountains, even though the hutchinsons incidentally millford, New Hampshire, i think the highest point is only a couple of hundred feet and they dont visit the White Mountains until 1843. Nonetheless they present themself as coming from the mountains of the old Granite State ask. They try and spirmt, which is they bring their youngest sister, 12yearold abbey hutch. Son on the stage with them. And these two things, connecting to the geographic location of new england generally and the White Mountains in particular, the soil, along with bringing abbey on stage creates a baembased presentation that instantly resonates with audiences. So this quartet creates the foundation for the hutchinson family singers that begins to work. One example. In 1842, the hutchin sons play at dartmouth college. This is one of the early concerts with abbey hutchinson. And the first night they go out, they play to the audience. Its all men. They applaud. Its all great. Next night, they come out, and its a mixed gender audience with children, right . Men, their wives and children have come. The first night, the men are literally checking them out, right . Is this concert going to be acceptable for my wife and for my children to experience . And so this is the kind of gender dynamic that the hutchinsons are kinding playing around with in their stage presentation at this particular moment in time. But in 1842, there is an important event in the fall that starts to pump the hutchinsons in new directions. In october of 1842 a fugitive slave, george latmer and his wife rebecca arrive in boston. Seven years later they are recognized buy 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 fugitive slaves and there is going to be a trial over whether or not the latimers are fugitive slaves and whether or not they should be reenslaved under the fugitive slave clause of 1792. The hutchisons are involved in that by virtue of living in lynn, massachusetts at that time and they begin their kind of steps perhaps towards becoming antislavery singers this. Idea of immediatism which the hutchinsons will pick up on from their own christian background is certainly one of the fact noors play, the idea of social betterment that connects also to a youth movement. Many of the hutchinsons fans from what we can tell were younger, of a younger generation, a generation thats increasingly mobile, socially mobile, and geographically mobile. They are moving to cities from rural areas. The United States at the moment in time is predominantly a rural nation. It is not until the 1890s and afterwards that we consider the United States an urban population. What happened, eye tin rant masters would travel from town to town, stay one or two weeks. Create a revival. People would come in, out for a week, have a variety of celebrations, have personal spiritual awakenings. In many ways these revivals are the earliest examples of kind of a Popular Culture in the United States, these mass entertainments, thousands of people at the largest ones would show up. So these kind of very personal live performances, whether they be of religion or whether they be soon of music are one of the earliest sites of entertainment in the United States. And the hutchinsons, you know, kind of branched the divide, if there is a guide, but branch these two to these two areas, the religious realm and the musical realm. The hutchinsons will bear witness to the great antislavery sensation or of the the sensation of the antislavery circuit of 1842, who is fred lick douglas. Frederick douglass becomes one of the most notable persons through his speeches on antislavery through 191842. Through this moment in 1842, the latimers and deeg fred lick douglas and perhaps hearing him speak, the hutchansons decide to take that step. And they actually perform at the American Antislavery Society meeting in 184. 3 they will perform in boston before that kind of their first for real estate into antislavery singing. They do it brilliantly. The hutchinsons will literally use tunes that other people are using. They often come from revival tents, song 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 face m irk n strals who are creating a variety of popular tunes. The hutchinsons will borrow from the mistral tunes and create their lyrics on top of it. One example that they bore audio from is old dan tucker. Its their 1844 song, get off the track which is a Campaign Song for the Liberty Party the first antislavery party. It becomes somewhat the anthem of the Antislavery Movement in the 1840s and 1850s, is old dan tucker sped up. That is, they used a faster tempo. Again, they are using a tune that everybody could recognize and then putting their own lyrics on too much it. They refused to sing to segregated audiences. Concert spaces in the 1840s and 1850s are and of course certainly throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century are almost always, except at hutchinson family singer shows and a few other examples are almost always segregated. Right . Africanamericans are given the seats in the way back. There is often a special section. But at the very least whites and blacks are not to sit together in the the same rows, certainly not interspersed among one another. The hutchinsons actually try their best to promote a desegregated audience. This gets them a lot of criticism, in boston. It creates a mob situation in 1847 in philadelphia where a mob threatens to shut down a hall where they are playing because they are playing to a desegregated audience and the mob dictates to the theater owners that if they allow the hutchinsons to play to blacks and wheats together that they will literally burn down the hall. This is a somewhat Common Threat that has been played out in pennsylvania, in philadelphia particular on several occasions where halls, buildings have been burnt down for antislavery kind of activism. By the large after the civil war, the hutchenson family singers asa moves out west to minnesota. Asa then moves to colorado. Asa will live out west the rest of his life. John will be in massachusetts. Abbey will remain in new york city, in orange new jersey. She will travel the world, in egypt and a variety of other places. She married ludlow patton, extremely wealthy. The hutchinsons wont be the social voice they were in the 1840s and 1850s and by the large they will be what a lot of the singers from the 1960s are today, right . They make money off of what they once were. They are had beens in many ways. They are note creating new music. They are repeating their old music. They are going on stage as a relic in many ways. People want to remember the older age in many ways and that younger generations are curious about all the stories their parents had about this moment. Oh, we listen to listen to soandso and you go and you share your legacy that way. But they never reached the same and legacy that once had in the 1840s and 1850s. Almost 100 years later bob dylan achieves fame in the 1960s for his music urging political change in america. Names of some famous people. Im sorry . Do you consider yourself a politician . Do i consider myself a politician . Well, i guess so. I have my own party, though. Does have it a name . No. There is no president inside the party. There is no president s or Vice President s or secretaries or anything like that. So it makes it kind of hard to get in. Is there a running of right wing or left wing in that party . No, it is more or less in the center. Kind of uppan uppity scale. Most people think that bob dill san leftist or you know is associated with the Hippie Movement of the 1960s or Something Like that, the 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 antiwar movement. He never went to an antiwar march. In fact, bob dylan is certain not partisan. You cant stick him in democrats or republicans and i would also say that you really cant say that he is exactly left or right. There are certain themes that come through throughout bob dylans life about his politics, and those subjects are social justice, support for the underdog, suspicion of institutions and authority and concern about abuse of power. But those things arent necessarily the domain of the right or the left. So i think most people have a misconception about what bob dylan is. Bob dylan grew up in modern minnesota in a town called hibbing. That is in a portion of minnesota known as the iron range. Thats kind of a special place in minnesota. If a person would have gone to the iron range in the 1800s, early 1900s it would have been a hot bed of ral radical itch. You would have run into socialists, communists. These are folks working deep underground in iron mines. So this is part of the Labor Movement that existed in america at this time. So dylan himself at one point said that, you know, more suspicious of bankers growing up than communists. Then of course bob dylan grew up in a jewish household. So that made him a minority on the iron range as well. So obviously thats going to have an impact too on his you know support for the underdog and that sort of thing how many times must the cannon balls fly the answer, my friend is blowing in the wind the answer is blowing in the wind in the 1960s, early 1960s, 1950s as well, the Folk Movement in america sprung up. And it was certainly by and large a leftist kind of movement. Interest in civil rights, antiwar, that sort of thing. So when you look at the early songs of bob dylan we have got things like of course everyone knows blowing in the wind, masters of war would be another one. About there were more topical songs, a song about emmett till for example, this war is made from tragedy you should all remember well the color of his skin was black and his name was emmett till these types of songs were written by many other folk singers as well. So what happens that dylan sort of progresses beyond that. And by the mid 1960s then hes writing songs that arent exactly songs you can put your finger on, it is all right mom, i am only bleeding, and highway with that louisinatory lyrics. What happens is 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 couldnt say that these songs are necessarily overtly political. You know, diplomat who carries on his souldary siamese cat and people what does this mean . What does this mean . There must be a deeper message. Johnny is in the basement mixes up the medicine i am on the pavement thinking about the government. He doesnt say what he is thinking about the government. You the listener inject your own meaning. He is not offering his opinions throughout this time. Voice of a generations thing you know, he says the answer blowing in the wind. It is a great song. If i were to make a play list of 1960s music that song would be done there, but the answer is blowing in the wind isnt particularly helpful if you are searching for answers. You know, i think thats how we have to understand his political output. Its not again, thats what i mean bee i say that its not exactly what people think. I would i can to know about the meaning of the photograph of you wearing the triumph tshirt. What do you want to know about it . I would like to know if thats an equivalent photograph . It means something . It has a philosophy in it. I would like to know visually what it represents to you. Because you are a part of that. I havent really looked at it that much. I dont i have thought about it a great deal. When people are looking to bob dylan for the answers, it is a great thing to youtube, Bob Dylan Press Conference 1965. No matter which one you hit it is going to be great. To imagine what it is like to have everything you do or say looked at so intently. How many times has someone said whats the meaning of the shirt you are wearing right now . Well, you know, what are you going to do with that . It just had to grate on a person. I mean i think any thinking person that was in his situation would just kind a lot of this inane. So i believe thats a big reason why he really got away from that voice of the generation protest music. He saw it as, in my opinion, anyway, he saw it as a prison. Once he got locked into being this one thing, he could never get out. And so in 1965, he went electric, started playing electric guitar rather than just acoustic and harmonica and people would come to his concert and yell judas and boo him and how dare he . That sort of thing. Once gingrich again i think he looked at all of that and said eh, no thanks. Thank you very much. So you know 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 you know, sort of domestic bliss and that sort of thing. So it is a whole new dylan after 1966. The irony is in the 1970s, when he becomes a born again christian he for the first time is telling his audiences, 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 dylan by the 1980s is we have got to remember now, we are a whole generation from the 1960s. So there is a whole group of kids growing up in the 80s, and i would have been one of them, who are watching mtv. And bob dylan for as great of a songwriter he is, is not maybe the most mtv friendly persona for a 14yearold. And so it really depends on which public at this point because the baby boomers are now adults. They have got mortgages. They have got jobs, et cetera. They are not following music as closely. And so, you know, in some ways dylan is slipping through the cracks a little bit. When we are the world comes out, hes invited. He sings on that. So hes not forgotten, but hes not quite the same public figure that he had been. You know, as a dylan fan, when people find out i am a dylan fan some people will, well his voice, i like his songs but i dont like his voip. Well, listen, listen deeper. By the way, his voice is often very good of its its like a leather coat. You know . Its broken in. And thats when it fits best. And so, you know, its 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 in a motorcycle accident forcing him to decline an invitation to a Music Festival the following summer in Monterey California that would help to define 1967s summer of love in america. We love you all, man, because this is very groovy man. Monterey is very groovy. This is something. Our generation, all you people we are all together, and dig yourselves, because its really groovy. The monterey pop festival was a threeday musical even in june of 1967, sort of kicked off that summer of love. But it really was the first big rock and roll Music Festival to happen here. The city of monterey, a pretty conservative community at that point and there was a lot of concern about what they called then beat knicks. The word hip wee was new at that point. And in the past year or so there was news of this young sort of Hippie Movement. And over the past several of months, the summer of love was happening in san francisco. No one understood what that was all about. Kids boys with long hair, and the drug thing. So they were really concerned about this. But the chief of police felt so confident and so comfortable about this group that were here, these kids who werent going to cause any problems that he released a number of his policemen to go down to cannery row because there was a fire at one of the cold canneries the same night. He sent the police down there to monitor the fire because he felt fine about what was going on here at the festival that particular night. What is great about the monterey pop festival. It wasnt just rock and roll music. They brought in all genres. There was african jazz. There was soul music. Lou rawls played here on friday night. One of the biggest hits of the entire festival was otis redding. Most of the audience honestly had no idea who he was. He had been sing songs many years before that he came here and just blew this whole place away. I have been loving you too long he actually died just a few months after that festival in a plane crash. But, so there was a lot of they brought a lot of different ideas of music here to the festival. And i think it really kinds of opened up peoples eyes. Not just the people that were here but also people in a lived in the monterey area. One of the me sigss that Paul Mccartney suggest was a young africanamerican man that was not wellknown this this country, very well known in london by the name of jimi hendrix. He grew up in seattle. He was in the rmy. He was in the army at 1961 and was stationed here in monterey. He knew monterey. Had been here. He played here in monterey at the monterey festival. And he really no pun intended ignited this place. He takes lighter fluid, pours it on his guitar. Then lights his guitar on fire. Gets on his knees and burns the guitar and then he smashes it and lowes throws it into the audience. People are stunned by this. You can see burn marks on the stage here. It is part of the monterey pop methodolo methodology. The story was that hendricks came down the next day after the festival and carved his name in there. But there was a covering on the stage here. They put a wooden coverage on the floor here which you can see in the film and a few years later somebody came and carved the name underneath it. The monterey pop festival was different. It was a different kind of audience. It opened montereys eyes to we can combine these two together. Although they were very unsure about it. But once they saw there wasnt really a lot of problems, then i think it was really good for monterey. Seven of the ten musicians and bands who played at the 1967 month ray pop festival went on to be inducted into the rock roll hall of fame. Located in cleveland, the museums louder than words exhibit demonstrates musics influence on politics. Were not gonna take it no, we aint gonna take it all i wanna say is they dont really care about us all i wanna say is that they dont really care about us we are very excited to have you here at the rocking politics exhibit. This is a brandnew exhibit here at the rock roll hall of fame that looks at cultural events, hour history and how we process things all through the lens of rock and roll. A lot of what we do here at the rock and roll hall of fame looks at artists and genres and the impact of the music of course. But when you step back and look at rocks ability to shape how we view things, how we process things, how people understand thing, this notion of rock as a very powerful art form that really has a tremendous impact on some of the most important conversations we have in our culture all i wanna say is that they dont really care about us we have been talking about this exhibit a number of years. It is something we felt was a fruitful topic. Now as the rnc comes to cleveland we are partnering the museum in drk to open this in summer of 2016 here in cleveland as the rnc comes into town and have it travel to the museum in dc for the next president ial inauguration. We organized this exhibit to look at topics like lgbt issues, freedom, protest songs, rocks use in political campaigns, rocks ability to help, you know, coalesce and create a movement. Look at those different topics and organize them by president ial administration from eisenhower going through to today with obama and see how our perspectives have changed over time, how issues had evolved through lyrics, through the art form of rock and roll and how our society has reacted as a result. And how music has also reacted as society as changed. A big part what have we are we are doing here at the rock roll hall of fame is telling stories. People come here as the talisman artifacts, just to so that object, an object that has so much power and history embeddedis it is magical. This is a sacred object for us. It is Jimi Hendrixs electric guitar arc 1968 fend der stratocaster. This is also the guitar that hendricks used on stage when he infamously played the star spangled banner at woodstock. You had a lot of people that were considering a rock and roll distorted guitar version of the star spangled 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 hippies. When hendricks gets on the cabbot show and talks about this he says this is a tribute i am a patriot into this hand was in the 101st airborne. So when you send your nasty letters. Nasty letters. When you play the National Anthem in an unot docks way you immediately get hate mail. Thats not unorthodox. It wasnt unorthodox . No, no. I thought it was beautiful. This was a way for him to use his ability to connect that passion of the new sound of rock and roll and demonstrate his patriotism, demonstrate his love for the country. 50 years later you see that it is not uncommon for someone to play an electric guitar version of a spar spangled banner before a basketball game or at a baseball park. It was a moment of controversy. It was also a moment in time where that performance captured the turbulence of the time, the juxtaposition of a patriotism and a love of the country with a change in society that says we are not going to do things the same way. And hendricks did the star spangled banner his own way. We have a couple of artifacts here, including the 45 from st. Barry sadler, the letter to the green berets and letter from vietn vietnam. And this is johnny cashs shirt. When you look at these two artists it is easy to look back 40, 50 years later and think that everyone was against the vietnam war. But there are often surprises we forget about. Like the ballad of the green berets. Men who fight by night and day courage leaks from the green beret so theres a lot of time throughout history where you see it is not just what we remember, its not just what gets elevated in pop culture. Vietnam is a story that it is very clear that we know that rock played a roll there. But when you really dig deep there are some surprise inside there, and there are some alternative perspectives and there are some stories that sometimes get losts. You also have stories of artists like kneel young and southern man criticizing some political views in the south southern change gonna come at last now your processes are burning fast and Lynard Skinnard responding with i hope kneel young will remember. A southern man dont need him around anyhow you have these times when debate doesnt just happen in society with an artist putting out a song. But you have the debate actually happening with the songs and the singles that people release. And compare whats happening now to what has happened in the past. It sometimes provides some insight, some new perspective and some new way of moving forward. We have here some artifacts from Dee Schneider who helped us unveil this exhibit this year. Dee schneider wore these items when he testified in the u. S. Senate committees hearing on censorship. The 1985 pmrc hearings. You say your song under the blade is about surgery. Have you ever had a surgery with your hands tied and your legs strapped . The sopg was written about my guitar player, eddie. He was having polyps removed from his throat and he was fearful for this operation and i said i am going to write a song for you. Congress put together a list of the fely 15 the songs they identified as public enemies number 1 through 15 in terms of may going the case that rock and roll has to be controlled, censored. This led to warning labels being put on cds. And you know these songs, if you talked to artists, werent that outrageous. And when they brought Dee Schneider, it is really easy to understand that why they wanted Dee Schneider there. He was this metal head lug. He wore mascara. He was a character. No, it is not a wild jump. And i think i said at one part was that songs allow a person to put their own imagination, experiences and dreams into the lyric. People can interpret it many ways. Ms. Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage. She found it. Someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well. He was deliberately chosen to be the one to testify in front of the senate. But what they didnt know, this was a sober articulate family man who was very passionate about the subject and really helped make this case about the reason that rock and roll and art forms shouldnt be censored. There are a couple instances in our history where the government starts to get involved. There is the pmrc hearings when allen fried was investigated by government for paola scandal. Hello, everybody. How are you all tonight . This is allen fried. The king of the moon doggers. It is time again for one of your favorite rock and roll segs. On the surface thats a story about a guy who is corrupt according to the government and he has taking money to play music. Enjoy the moon dog show. But it was much more than that. They were operating under the assumption that no one would play what they called at the time race music. No one would play this to our white kids without some sinister motivation behind it. And clearly, there was some financial gain that add alan fried was gaining. And it wasnt about this concern for corruption about what is happening on the radio waves. It was a concern that this you know, this nashent genre of rock and roll is starting to take root and is starting to get into our kids transistor radios and in their airs and starting to introduce new ideas that challenge the status quo and create questions and challenge authority. And that was a threat to the government. Later on, the fbi sends a letter to nwa for their sung the police and say you cant do this. When Martin Luther 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 oooo 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 a riot, you can start one, too. 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 thing, it is promoting illicit sexual activity. It is 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. That happened with frank zappa. 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 got to get involved and control it. This is one of my favorite displays in the rocking politics exhibit. These are the original costumes worn by the Village People. And you know, 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. The song ymca which is in some ways controversial but also part of the american song book. It is played at pep rallies and ball games now and very much accepted, part of our culture, part of our history. But that represents an important time for history because it starts to be where these artists are literally coming out. And they are making it okay. But theres a couple Different Things that are happening in that general time frame. If you think about, you know, the disco sucks movement that was really a passionate powerful Grassroots Movement where people were protesting a type of music. And you know, i you know n hindsight sometimes looked ridiculous. Like why 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 doing whistle from the conservative side saying we are not okay, we are not okay with this studio 54 and the Village People and the gay culture of being out. Throughout history you see examples of artists, you know, especially in Race Relations, making a statement. Sometimes its nina simone, you know, talking about overt and enrage. Picket lines school board cops, they try to say it is a communist plot. All i want is equality for my sister, my brother, my people, and me. But that also, that history connects to today when you at the Race Relations in our country, Janelle Monet is out there writing songs about watter scott, trayvon martin, michael brown, using her popularity and her views to make a at the same time. Hendrick lamar at the b. E. T. Awards, has this politically overt all rights song that really kind of coalesces and uses his celebrity and his popularity to give movement to the black lives matter movement. And you know, still to the day this music and these artists provide a voice to people who might not always be heard otherwise. We are presenting this exhibit not as a look at artists or genres but 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, that help us work through some of the most important conversations in american culture. There are over 700 inductees in the rock and roll hall of fame. When we continue our look at the intersection of music in American History with the story of james brown, a member of the hall of fames first class of inductees. I feel good i knew that i would now i feel good i knew that i would now so good so good i got you we are in the Augusta Museum of history in augusta, georgia. We call this exhibit james brown, the godfather of soul. And it gives a different perspective of him, the man, the music, and his messages in his music. You will see beautiful memorabilia. A beautiful, grand cape that he designed. As well as instruments from his home. And its a great way to learn about godfather of soul, visiting his exhibit at the Augusta Museum of history. I am one the daughters of mr. James brown, got father of soul i am also president of the James Brown Family Foundation and founder of the james Brown Academy of music pupils, also known as jam. Some would call him the native son here. He actually was born across the bridge in South Carolina. This is called csra. Central Savanna River area. It borders the river, South Carolina as well as georgia. He was born across the bridge a little bit down in barnwell county. But he grew up in augusta. So thats why he made the beautiful song georgia linea because he he had a good heart for both areas i am a georgia linea georgia linea i was raised in georgia, born in carolina i am a georgialinea georgialinea my grandmother and my grandfather were poor. So he grew up in the augusta downtown area which at that time was called the terri, for the territory of where the block, low income people, very poor people, lived. And his days were growing up in our aunt honeys place. And it was some things going on in aunt honeys house. It was a prohibition house. The men came to visit the young ladies of the house. As a young boy he got a chance to see some thing. Thats the area, and 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 he uncle bobby was part of a gospel group, the gospel starlighters. They came and they performed in the boys home. And dad was there as an inmate. And they met there. And they became friends because in order for dad to be able to get out of that boys that detention home for boys, he needed a home. He needed a place to go. Somebody had to take him in. And so uncle bobby talked his mom into taking dad in 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. And 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, and a lot of choo choo, hoo hoo songs from back in the day. This was in the early 50s. Very early 50s. And so they began to start doing r b as we know it. The first big hilt was please, please, please in 1956 please dont go please, please please, please dont go darling, please go i love you from the early 50s on to the 90s, 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. And he would call me sometimes when i did radio. And he would be in china. He would be in prague. He would be in these places, and these people didnt even speak english, but they knew so much about him. And they loved his music. And it amazed him how his reach was so far, so deep, to people who didnt even speak english. It amazed him. Especially being where he came from. I think sometimes he wrestled with 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. Never weapon 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 those 13, 14 hours a day and still dont make enough money for their family. You know . But still go and do it each and every day. He wanted to speak for the common man. Because 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 a work for a little bit of money. But a whole lot of time spent. He always spoke with president s, starting with linden b. Johnson all the way up about opportunity for africanamericans, young africanamericans, job opportunity, education opportunity, 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 60s and the early 70s. In bib county in may con, 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 there. You can go to walmart now, you can do just about anything. You can get something to eat, you can shop, you can get your hair done. He was really way ahead of of his time. He even created a system where people could have fo 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. Say it louder say it say it loud say it loud im black and im proud say it loud aaah to make a three minute song, im black and im proud. And that threeminute song has so much power on generations to come, i dont even think that my dad realized what he was doing at the time. I believe he realized the impact that it would take at that time during those days in the 60s during the civil right movement. But have we even came out of that movement to whats going on today, to what has happened today, in ferguson, in new york, with young black men being shot down . So are we have we left that movement . It may have appeared that we really have not, that we are still in a Civil Rights Movement. And still to this day, that song is relevant. And it means a lot because now its introduced to a whole new generation who needs to understand to be black and to be proud. Dad when i did radio, he would always tell me that when i play 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 you come from, be proud of it. If you are woman, be proud. If you are indian, be proud. If you are german, be proud. Whatever it is. Wherever you are from. Whatever your culture, you be proud. James browns legacy for me is the james Brown Academy of music pupils. Jamp. These students are awesome. When dad used to always talk about the importance of Music Education in the schools, his biggest gripe was that students needed to continue learning how to play instruments. Said you put an instrument in a childs hand, you changer life. I have seen that literally happen with these students that i work with. I never in a million years thought that i would be doing it. But what i have seen is the exact thing that my dad told me what i would see. And these children have embraced his music. They learn music theory, music composition. They learn a lot of his songs. They learn a lot of artists music but it is all clean. Because 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. I walk into new orleans i walk into new orleans im gonna when i get through walking when i get back to new orleans people say that jazz is the only original american art form. Im not sure it is the only original one, but he it certainly is the most famous and the most world renowned change the world kind of music i am leaving here today yes i am going back home to stay because i am walking to new orleans it is something the country can be proud of. Its something that has defined america not only for americans but for people outside of america. And it, like any great art has spoken profoundly to you know the truths and the great issues of our time and of humanity. Right now we are on the second floor of the new orleans jazz you people in the u. S. Minute at the Herman Leonard exhibit. Jazz museum has been in this building since 1983. Then after Hurricane Katrina the jazz exhibit was moved out and put into 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 and slowly but surely having the instrument cases right behind me. The pete future to exhibit, the women of note exhibit. The gone alz mural slowly but surely so there is a jazz mus m museum. The plan is to turn the second floor into an 8,000 square foot history of jazz in new orleans exhibit. New orleans jazz brings to mind a kind of collectively improvised dance music influenced by blues and spirituals and ragtime and assorted other thing that have come through the crescent city. Jazz starts new orleans for a lot of different reasons. One is that new orleans is a huge port town. So lots of different cultures. That contributed to jazz came here through the port through people bringing goods either from europe or from the caribbean or, you know, from the northern parts down the mississippi. There also was a very large presence of enslaved africans here. And yet the laws governing how you treated these enslaves 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 can expect. But slaves had it a teeny bit easier here. They had to have a day off. You couldnt 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 in a the kind of thing that that the kind of thing they brought from africa, the cultural tropes stayed around here longer than other places. In terms of all the thing that kind of came together for jazz, you can start seeing it in the early 1890s, and then probably by about the early 1900 hezbollah, 1904 to 1910, somewhere in those neighborhoods you can start hearing something that if you heard it today you would go okay thats jazz. 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 had several opera houses. There are 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. There is always music there at your parades, your parties, y r christening, your funerals. Everything in general, you hire a ban for. So we have the largest collection in the world related to new orleans jazz, the jewel of the collection is this corpso net that was a corpso net that Louis Armstrong basically learned to play on. It wasnt his first, but it was the one provided to hem by the where he was sent after shooting off a pistol on new years eve. Louis armstrong was born in on jane alley, which is now where the Municipal Traffic Court is. And he was born about as poor as you could probably be in this country. And he started out kind of, you know, running the streets, and singing in a Singing Group with his friends and kinds of like being one of those kids kind of that you see with the bottle caps on the bottom of their shoes on bourbon street with a hat in front of him. Very resourceful kid. Played a little bit. Sang. And then he was arrested new years eve when he was about 7 or so for shooting off his moms boyfriends pistol in the air on enough and was sentenced to a year and a half in the colored waves home. Thats kind of where the band leader there saw he might have potential and got him into band. He started playing he had some idea that he wanted to be a musician and started playing music among the other odd jobs that he had and hang out with king oliver and oliver was his mentor and almost kind of like a father figure to him. Oliver and his wife would have louis home for dinner and stuff like this. As you can see, it was played by kids not only during the time that armstrong was there, but for many, many years afterwards. And peter davis, the superintendent of the home presented it to Louis Armstrong as a gift to the New Orleans Jazz Museum back in 1965. And Louis Armstrong confirmed this was the horn by the notches he made in the mouthpiece. You can see the notches today. Louis felt it gave him more of a grip with his lips on the instrument. We moved into another area of the museum. We have a number of instruments on display. And this one is of particular interest. It was a trumpet that was owned by dave bartholomew. Hes still living. Hes in his 90s now. And he was a prolific producer and arranger, writer and band leader. And he was really fundamental in fats dominos career. He helped produce and create arrangements for fats dominos early rock n roll work. And hes one of the earliest in the developments of rock n roll. Dave bartholomew as a jazz music and arranger is a direct link from jazz to rock n roll. This is one of his pianos. Fats, he returned to his home and wanted to live in new orleans. His home was damaged during katrina, flooded heavily. This piano was in there. It floated in about 12 feet of water. Once the water receded, it was heavily damage. The legs have broken off. Basically the entire piano was just in really horrible condition. Its been conserved. Its not playable, but its been conserved and brought back to its original appearance. If we try to make it playable again, it wouldnt have been the same piano. We didnt want to lose the historical nature of the piano. Aint that a shame fats domino was from new orleans and he influenced all of early rock n roll. The beatles were some of his biggest fans. When the beatles came here in 65, they asked if they could meet with fats domino. Theres a photo of the beatles with fats domino. He had many, many friends and many of the musicians he played with stayed with him his whole career and they went onto influence many others and create their own music and their own bands. He had a very Strong Influence on music here in new orleans. But really around the world. Fats passing less than a year ago was a major blow to his city and his family. He left a wonderful legacy. He influenced so many people with his warmth and with his music. Sweet emma barrett was born in 1897. She died in 1983. She was a true new orleans character. She was really well known by the bells that she wore on her ankles. You can see that in this photo here. She was a wonderful musician and in her later years, beginning in the 60s or so, she began playing at preservation hall and was a well soughtout musician. We have a wonderful video of her performing in the first jazz fest in 1968. She was selftaught and its evident in her style. But her style is a true new orleans style. [ applause ] okay, now weve moved into the collection storage area. Come this way. This is a really neat drum set here. This was the drum set of minor ram hall. He was the drummer in his band. And theres some wonderful footage of this drum being played with the band. So this would have been a jazz band that was led of course by kid ory. Were happy to have this. This came to us about six years ago as a donation. Right over here we have speaking of drums, we have a drum snare shell. Thats one of baby dodds drums. Many drummers think of baby dodds as the father of modern drumming. And it came with this full, beautiful white pearl ludwig set that he played in the latter half of his career. It will be one of the prime drum sets in a new exhibit that were doing on drums later this year in september. When folks come to the museum, i would like for them to take away several things, the deep history of the music here, its a living, breathing art form still in new orleans and in most of the country. Its a part of everything that goes on around here. Even people who say they dont like jazz or dont know jazz, know jazz songs. Its a part of your life here, even if you dont realize it. As jazz reflects new orleans and its africanamerican roots, the mountain music archive in North Carolina provides a window into the lives of those living in the Appalachian Mountains through musical and spoken word recordings. Was there a particular time when you learned songs or just here and there . Just here and there. Theyd sing them in the field when they didnt have nothing to do. And i went right to songs with other people too. Its a short life in trouble little girl for a boy with a broken heart these folks were people who were came of age before selfdoubt was invented. These were really wise, knowledgeable people, educated in the natural world, educated in the musical world, in their own folklore. So it was just something deep and wise. So mountain music is a catchall term for the traditional music of the southern appalachians. It would involve oldtime music. It could be ballads and folk songs, it could be bluegrass music. Early Country Music. People used that term generally to refer to the traditional music of the southern appalachians. When all of those things came here in the mountains, we had a hybrid that just busted loose. This is around the banjo kicked things into gear in the mid1800s and that was a black influence. It came from africa. A lot of bluesy notes on the banjo. And that rhythm of the banjo changed the way the music that was played. Thats one of the things it did along with the music and dancing. But that combination made this incredibly powerful hybrid of music that has affected music to this day. The mountain music archives at Warren Wilson college is a part of our special elections housed in the library and it consists of a number of items, recordings, photographs and other items related to music makers of this region, western North Carolina. A lot of the collection was collected in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1969 i came back to the southern mountains. I was going to college at the university of california Santa Barbara and i had fallen in love with the sound of the banjo. I asked where i could go to learn this style, the claw hammer style. He said you need to go back to ashville. I left that summer in 1969 with my buddy. We traveled all through the southern mountains, went from georgia to west virginia, going to fiddlers conventions and i fell in love with the music and the people and the place and culture. To me, it was like it was like stepping into the lost world because at this time, were talking 1969 through 1973 or something, a lot of these oldtimers all of them were born in the late 1800s. These people that were closely connected to our pioneer an ancestors more than modern people, i thought this was fascinating and the music was great and the people were so wonderful. They wouldnt give you lessons, but they would play for you and you would try to figure it out, come back and talk to them the next and build a repertoire. It became important to collect this music in the 1960s and the 18970s. And theres a variety of reasons. In the 1960s, you had a folk music boom you could call it. An explosion of interest in folk music. This manifests itself in performing groups like the kingston trio or peter, paul and mary, bob dylan. But long with that, people who were interested in folk music began exploring the origins, you know, where these songs came from. And some individuals became very fascinated with those origin stories and to the point of tracking down individuals who had originally recorded a lot of this music back in the 20s and 30s which became the source for recordings of these musicians in the 1960s. Folks at Warren Wilson college decided it would be great where the students could learn the instruments. Not just folklore aspects of it, not just talk about, academic view of it, but to actually learn to play the instruments. And i was new in town, really. I 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. And so i had contact with different aspects of the music, the bluegrass players, the oldtime players and they were mad at each other. So i was kind of a perfect person to go in between and bring them all together and have them come out to the college to teach. The collection is about 110 tapes. That was the best equipment we could find in those days. And i collected a lot of it and the students collected a lot of it. At Warren Wilson college, they have a work program, and i have students that worked for me and their job was to collect music from these providers. I came home the other night as drunk as it could be and a saw a horse in the stable where my horse ought to be there became almost a critical need to document and record these people who were at this point entering the Twilight Years of their lives before they passed away. It was really in the 1960s and 70s when you saw an explosive of field recordings of people going to remote 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 be unavailable. David started the Traditional Music Program back here in the 70s and i started teaching here in the 90s after he had left and i was aware that he had recorded concerts back in the 70s and these recordings were all here in the archive and is they were all on reeltoreel tapes and they were not accessible, even if i had a student who wanted to listen to them. Who knew what was on those things . It wasnt a good setup. So i wanted to make them available to our students and i had a student in 2002 who took the reeltoreel tapes and we got a reeltoreel player and digitalized them and then he and i went through and looked at what was on these and picked out appropriate cuts to put to add to this online resource. So now we have these resources. We can let students listen to them in the case of a fiddler, learn their fiddle, learn 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. And so it gives us a way to keep an oral tradition going where the actual culture bearers may not be with us any longer. Shape note singing is a tradition of sacred musicmaking unique to america and it originated in the early 19th century and really what shape note refers to is the 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 School masters would travel around the region and teach Singing Schools where they would actually have a class of 20, 30, 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 master would move on to another community and the community that person left would have a book and they would get together regularly and sing out of this book of shape note tunes. So you really had a blossoming of singing in this region. As a result, there were a number of books that were published. The book that took hold was called the christian harmony. And it was compiled by william walker. He was from South Carolina. Theres a continuous christian harmony singing thats been going on here in western North Carolina for over 100 years. So the ballad singing tradition goes back to the earliest settlers who came from the british isles. Some of these ballads, you can date them back to the 1500s, 1600s. Scotland, ireland and england. In the days before recorded music, this is how you passed music along. So madison county, which is just north of ashville, is still has ballad singers, people who have been singing the ballads for six or seven generations in their families. The ballads have been passed along. Youll find people who are singing about lords and ladies and bloody daggers, even though theyre in the mountains of western carolina. If its the last thing i ever do the lord thomas is waiting ill go ballads are telling a story in song. Theres a narrative going on. And usually something happens and theres a moral to the story at the end of so theyre important for passing along 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, you know, 100 years ago. And so it creates a really critical resource and a sort of window back in time. Recordings offer an Excellent Way to hear the nuance of somebodys playing or the ornaments in someones singing that you really couldnt get otherwise. This music is important. Its American Folk Music. And 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 say, what . We didnt know there was anything other than the commercialized music that we get to hear from america. Every country has a folk music tradition and this is this is American Folk Music. Its important to make it preserve it, document it, make it available because its part of our nations history. These tunes that i was talking about, the old ballads, these are bits of wisdom that are being passed down from other generations that its not an essay, its not a book. Its something that is encapsulated in a tune and i cant be put any other way. But theres 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. And i think its a lot of it is very uplifting and i think it just makes people healthier. Its good medicine. Cspans cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. With the support of local cable providers, we bring you the literary life of a different city on book tv and American History tv. To watch videos of any of the places weve been, go to cspan. Org citiestour. Follow on at twitter at cspan cities. Weeknights this month were featuring American History tv. Tonight we visit Independence National historical park in philadelphia to see congress hall, the u. S. Congress met in the building from 1790 to 1800 and ratified the bill of rights there. Offer guide is matthew eiffel. Enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3, go inside a Different College classroom and hear about topics ranging from the american revolution, civil rights, u. S. President s to 9 11. Thanks for logging into class. With most campuses closed due to the impact of the coronavirus, watch professors transfer teaching to a virtual setting to engage with their students. Gorbachev did most of the work to change the soviet union. But reagan met him halfway, reagan encouraged him, reagan supported him. Madison originally called it freedom of the use of press and its freedom to print things and publish things. Its not a freedom for now what we refer to