Anybody watching this? I read about it in the inflight magazine on the way home yesterday and watched the first chapter last night.
If you like American history done right like Ken Burns can do it, this thing looks good. The first chapter was all background with some cool stories, commentary by Waylon, Dolly, and others, and history of the genre I did not know. Some really interesting photos of the early 1900s. From there it looks like it goes through Hank Williams then Elvis, Cash, all the way up into the 90s over 8 episodes.
I'm not a country music guy but I'll be watching chapter two next. I loaded the PBS app Roku to be able to watch the whole thing on demand for free.
I plan on binging this at some time. Not a fan of country music either. But I love the history of music and musicians. And I respect the influence of country music throughout all other types. [Reply]
I plan on binging this at some time. Not a fan of country music either. But I love the history of music and musicians. And I respect the influence of country music throughout all other types.
Like any documentary there are some slow spots but overall the first episode was good. Showed how the guitar was invented which I did not know. [Reply]
Ken Burns doesn't dive deep into Elvis, but he's important because his rise to stardom and the rockabilly genre he was associated with was a direct threat to traditional country and western music in the 1950s.
Elvis' roots were in gospel, blues and country, and his cover of bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" got him his only invite to the Grand Ole Opry. The Nashville establishment rejected him.
Elvis and rockabilly took off afterwards. The style of country, popularized by Hank Williams in the early 1950s, waned in the ensuing years and it took a while for Nashville to reinvent itself. [Reply]
Love country music and do start back in the 20's with Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family. Bob Wills in the 30's, along with Ernest Tubb,
Prince Albert Hunt***, Gene Autry, Patsy Montana, Milton Brown, the amazing Darby & Tarlton, The Skillet Lickers, Dock Boggs B,F.Shelton all must listens if talking the history of country music.
Obviously ya can't talk country and not talk Hank Wiliams. He is in my opinion on that Mount Rushmore of American music, his songs as good as it can get.
Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, great stuff.
David Allen Coe’s son, Tyler Mahan Coe has a podcast called “Cocaine and Rhinestones” about the history of country music that I like a lot despite not being a country music guy myself.
I saw Marty Stuart at the Folly Theater about six months ago. He's from Philadelphia, MS, and has opened a museum of various C&W memorabilia he has collected over the years. He's a real historian and a great musician to boot. [Reply]
There was an animated documentary series made by Mike Judge on Cinemax a couple years ago called "Tales from the Tour Bus" that covered a lot of wild stories about various outlaw country artists as well as James Brown, Rick James, P-Funk, etc. It was great; unfortunately the full episodes that used to be on youtube were taken down.
Originally Posted by FlorentinePogen:
There was an animated documentary series made by Mike Judge on Cinemax a couple years ago called "Tales from the Tour Bus" that covered a lot of wild stories about various outlaw country artists as well as James Brown, Rick James, P-Funk, etc. It was great; unfortunately the full episodes that used to be on youtube were taken down.
Tales from the Tour Bus is excellent in its own right, but it's not a scholarly documentary in the vein of Ken Burns.
It's an interesting format that fuses animation and Charlie Murphy's storytelling style to entertainingly relate tales of debauchery and heartache straight from the mouths of eyewitnesses such as bandmembers or siblings of the star.
It's more focused, anecdotal, humorous, and personal than Country Music, and less historical and comprehensive. Both are great watches. [Reply]
Originally Posted by FlorentinePogen:
There was an animated documentary series made by Mike Judge on Cinemax a couple years ago called "Tales from the Tour Bus" that covered a lot of wild stories about various outlaw country artists as well as James Brown, Rick James, P-Funk, etc. It was great; unfortunately the full episodes that used to be on youtube were taken down.