Ken Burns’ Country Music on PBS

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by fenderesq, Sep 15, 2019.

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  1. PRW94

    PRW94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Southeast
    I'm glad they gave Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys extensive screen time ... am a big fan of them, if that band doesn't make you move they need to check your pulse ... but it was a little out of context in a way because Wills never claimed to be country music in any shape, form or fashion. In fact some of his best musicians resented to the point of anger being labeled "country," Leon McAuliffe was quoted as saying the Playboys didn't consider any country artists their peers, they considered Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Stan Kenton (in the early days when he actually led a swing/dance band), etc., to be their peers.
     
  2. PRW94

    PRW94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Southeast
    It's the MO for the way Burns has always presented his work. Why expect him to do any differently just because it's country music?
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  3. marigoldilemma

    marigoldilemma Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa
    Did Burns interview Frank Fairfield for the documentary?
     
  4. gpalz

    gpalz Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    weekendtoy likes this.
  5. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Geez, that's a lot of editing. Not just for commercials is it?

    BTW, the BBC did a pretty good 4 part history of country music themselves awhile back. I think it might have been called Lost Highway. I'm guessing it was well over 5 years ago now though.

    They also did a special with Emmylou Harris, called Emmylou Harris's 10 Commandments of Country, back in 2007.

    Both worth keeping an eye out for.
     
    audiotom likes this.
  6. xdawg

    xdawg in labyrinths of coral caves

    Location:
    Roswell, GA, USA
    ConnieGuitar and CWillman like this.
  7. Roosevelt Sykes

    Roosevelt Sykes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis
    There isn't a record store in the world that has Bob Wills in its jazz section.

    I found the inclusion of Wynton Marsalis' commentary on Wills completely gratuitous. I guarantee Burns never considered including Merle Haggard's thoughts on "swing" in his jazz doc.
     
    Kyhl, nstza, PhantomStranger and 2 others like this.
  8. Boswell

    Boswell Forum Resident

    Burns is very uncomfortable with the mostly white story of Country music so I think we're seeing that. He's not a fan of the music
     
  9. PRW94

    PRW94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Southeast
    I understand that, I'm telling you what Wills and his musicians thought they were.

    Charlie Parker was a big fan of Wills' music.
     
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  10. ceddy10165

    ceddy10165 My life was saved by rock n roll

    Location:
    Avon, CT
    As always, it’s excellent film making from Burns, however so far theres’s very little actual music in it - just tiny snippets - so you don’t get any feeling for the art actually being referred to.
     
    melstapler likes this.
  11. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Oh, good lord. Wills’ music clearly has swing/jazz elements, and I found Marsalis’s commentary on that to be spot on.

    There was an anecdote in Jazz which described Charlie Parker listening to country records on a jukebox in NYC, for which he was teased by his fellow jazz musicians, to which Parker replied “listen to the stories.”
     
  12. jimac51

    jimac51 A mythical beast.

    Location:
    Allentown,pa.
    And,as usual,there is a coffee table book. But even PBS knows that all that physical stuff is less important everyday. Their website will be showing Country Music for a while on the website,but know that the future money for PBS is for streaming via Passport. In fact,you can binge the entire series now;just pony up the $60 for local membership to join the service. It takes the "public" out of PBS 'cause if you can't afford it,you're excluded. Maybe rename Public Broadcasting Service as Eligible Donor Streaming Service.
     
    Spencer R likes this.
  13. PRW94

    PRW94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Southeast
    A spoiler alert for everyone who’s spazzing about Burns acknowledging the very real African American influences on country music ... a guy named TeeTot is going to be quite prominent in the Hank Williams episode.
     
  14. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    I pay $5 a month for Passport and it's absolutely worth it. Assuming you mean $60 for a year?
     
  15. ceddy10165

    ceddy10165 My life was saved by rock n roll

    Location:
    Avon, CT
    I was so pleased to see Jerry Garcia get a nod when his photo was shown in episode one as someone who carried Jimmie Rodger’s songs forward in future generations.
     
  16. ceddy10165

    ceddy10165 My life was saved by rock n roll

    Location:
    Avon, CT
    The soundtrack box track listing looks instructive to answering these questions.
     
    Quincy likes this.
  17. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    Hahaha. Ok.
    :--)
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  18. Finchingfield

    Finchingfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Henrico, Va
    Has Whoopi Goldberg weighed in yet? Ah ha ha ha...

    But seriously, I'm liking the series so far, and am getting some education as well. Who knew the impact of country music all over the USA, including way up north in Chicago-land prior to 1945? I knew the music trades had country record charts, but had no idea of the overwhelming reach of it all...
     
    The Beave, BeatleJWOL and Spencer R like this.
  19. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Yes, he made a 16-hour documentary about music he doesn’t like.
     
  20. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    Does anyone know when this is airing in the UK?
     
  21. Boswell

    Boswell Forum Resident

    He's even said he wasn't a fan of the music. He's an R&B and Jazz guy. When asked why he did the documentary he said because of the "stories".
    I didn't say he hates the music but Ken Burns didn't listen to country music before he made the doc.
     
  22. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    While there may be a little hyperbole in Burns’s quote below, he’s clearly become a fan of country music. And, on a forum where people constantly bemoan how Garth Brooks or Shania Twain or Taylor Swift or Florida Georgia Line or whoever has ruined country music, I cannot believe that the “real country” snobs are upset that Ken Burns is putting Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, etc. on national TV and using his celebrity and reach to spark a national conversation on artists like that. Contemporary country radio pretends those artists don’t exist, and Burns is shining a light on them, yet he’s the bad guy. Give me a break.

    Ken Burns on 'Country Music' documentary: 'This is as good if not the best we've ever done'

    Burns grew up in Michigan and considered himself a child of rock ‘n' roll. Before making the documentary, his relationship with country music was nearly nonexistent. After spending close to a decade excavating its history, meeting its people, listening to their stories and hearing its songs, Burns said country music is now all that plays on his radio.

    Again, while I don’t quite buy that country is the only genre Burns now listens to, I do buy that he’s come to love it, and his documentary can only help expose the giants of the genre to modern audiences.
     
  23. Dr Mike

    Dr Mike Forum Resident

    He wasn't a fan of jazz music before he made Jazz, either—that's why he allowed Marsalis and Crouch to dictate the creative direction, which ended up compromising that production due to their outright dismissal of non-traditional jazz forms.
     
  24. Bradd

    Bradd Now’s The Time

    Location:
    Chester, NJ
    It's deja vu all over again!
     
    The Beave likes this.
  25. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Apparently in the autumn...

    Ken Burns’ Country Music on PBS

    But apparently it's going to be heavily edited.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2019
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