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[ U2's "Pride" plays ]

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LANOIS: I never thought
of myself as a record producer.

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Somebody else named me that.

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I was just a guy
who was making records

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and was good at helping people.

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♪ One man come
in the name of love ♪

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♪ One man come and go ♪

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LANOIS: When you're at
the front end of a medium,

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you get this adrenaline rush,

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or you think, "Oh, my goodness,
I think we've touched

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on something here
that's never been heard before."

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[ David Bowie's "Fame" plays ]

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♪ Fame ♪

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♪ Makes a man take things over ♪

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NARRATOR: When it comes to
making a hit record,

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one of the biggest mysteries
is the role of the producer.

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IOVINE:
I've heard of Phil Spector.

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I heard of Andrew Loog Oldham.

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I heard of Jimmy Miller
with the Stones.

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I didn't know what they did.

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♪ Fame, fame ♪

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PERRY: When I would see
old footage of George Martin,

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I knew that guy was
the important guy to watch.

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Nobody wants his autograph,
but he's the guy in charge.

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♪ Fame ♪

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ENO: Producers were people who
understood how recording worked.

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They were the people who said,

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"Here's this whole new set
of possibilities.

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We're gonna find out
what they can do."

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♪ Fame, fame, fame, fame ♪

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RZA:
The digital wave of music

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gave us a whole orchestra
of instrumentation

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in front of our hands.

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[ Johnny Cash's "One" plays ]

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NARRATOR: But technical skill
is only part of the job.

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The real challenge is to bring
out the best in a performer.

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♪ Is it getting better? ♪

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♪ Or do you feel the same? ♪

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JONES: There's a connection
you have to make in producing,

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and it's got to be love
and respect.

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♪ You've got someone to blame ♪

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WAS: I think the most important
thing a producer can do

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is to create a vibe of safety
in the room,

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like, it's okay
to go out on a limb.

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♪ In the night ♪

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♪ One life ♪

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WAS: That it's cool to go
to a very vulnerable space

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where, if it doesn't work right,
it could be embarrassing.

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♪ Carry each other ♪

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Don't be afraid to fail.

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[ Music ends ]

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[ Guitar strumming ]

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HARRISON: What key is it in?
What key is it in?

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McCARTNEY:
It'll be in F for you.

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SPECTOR: Here we go.
Just one more time.

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FRANKLIN: Right after I say,
"Are you sure?"

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♪ Yes yes yes ♪

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‐Yeah.
‐MAN: Oh.

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WILSON:
Hal, here's how I want to do it.

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Takes like this.

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BOWIE: All right.
It's fun time. Fun time.

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MAN
Here we go.

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MAN
had a different title.

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MAN
Seventeen, take one.

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MAN
This will be a keeper, I think.

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[ Laughs ]

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Here we go.

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One time, everybody, please.

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[ The Rolling Stones'
"Start Me Up" plays ]

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WAS: My first meeting
with the Rolling Stones

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was I ended up on a sofa
with Mick Jagger sitting here

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and Keith sitting here,

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and they were both talking
at the same time.

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♪ If you start me up ♪

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♪ If you start me up,
I'll never stop ♪

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WAS:
Mick was suggesting things

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that a producer could do
for the Stones,

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and Keith was telling me
why he didn't need a producer.

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And Keith said, "You sure
you want to be the meat

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in this sandwich?"

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[ Laughs ]

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HARRIES: The producer
has got to be able to say

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to somebody like Mick Jagger,
"Can you just do that again?"

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He should have tact.
He should have diplomacy.

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He should know
how to handle an artist.

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Even if it means saying that
song's not as good as that one.

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This melody needs to be better.

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And it's hard, man, 'cause
it's very intimate, you know?

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Very, very intimate.

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And you're going straight
from your heart,

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and you're saying,
"We're not there yet."

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Or, "That's perfect.
Perfect take. One more time."

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[ Laughs ]

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JAM: Plenty of great songs have
gotten lost in bad production,

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so you have to appreciate
when you have those pairings

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of a Michael Jackson
and a Quincy Jones,

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when you have a great songwriter
and a great producer.

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EPWORTH: The two of you together
are making music

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completely from scratch,

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and it's your job to try
and help find the right sounds

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that makes everybody's hair
stand on end.

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[ Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'"
plays ]

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It might take many weeks
of just sitting and playing

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with nothing happening.

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And then one day,
something happens.

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[ Crowd cheering ]

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♪ She's a good girl ♪

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♪ Loves her mama ♪

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♪ Loves Jesus ♪

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♪ And America too ♪

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I sat down and played a lick,
like...

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♪ Dunh, dunh ♪

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♪ Dunh, dunh, dunh ♪

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♪ Dunh, dunh, dunh ♪

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And Jeff Lynne,

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who's one of the greatest
record makers ever, I think,

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went, "Wait, wait, wait,
wait, wait.

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Don't put that bit
on the end there."

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"What?
What do you mean?"

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"Just go...

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♪ Dunh, dunh ♪

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♪ Dunh, dunh, dunh ♪

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... and start the phrase again,

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but don't put
that other bit in."

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And I hadn't even really thought
it was a song, you know?

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But he was excited by it.

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♪ She's a good girl ♪

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♪ Loves her mama ♪

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The first two verses
were ad‐libbed.

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You know, "She's a good girl,
loves her mama,

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loves Jesus and America too."

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I was just kind of trying
to make Jeff smile.

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He goes..."free falling."

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That's all he said, you know?

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♪ Now I'm free ♪

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♪ I'm free fallin' ♪

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♪ Yeah, I'm free ♪

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♪ I'm free fallin' ♪

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JOHN: That's the whole point
of having someone

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that will sit in the booth,

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hearing something
that you might play

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that you would just discard.

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And he'll say,
"Hang on a minute.

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That was really good.
Go back to that."

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ST. VINCENT: Ultimately,
what being a producer is

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is having a point of view.

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It's easy to make sound.

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Really, anybody can make sound.

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But not everybody
can make music.

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[ Up‐tempo rock music plays ]

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Well, hello and welcome
to the cradle of rock 'n' roll.

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GURALNICK: Sam Phillips
was three days short of 27

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when he opened the doors to
the Memphis Recording Service.

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He started the label Sun
three years later.

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KING: So many earlier producers,
like Sam Phillips,

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they're basically operating
in an Aandamp;R capacity,

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looking for promising talent,
bringing them into the studio,

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and crafting a unique sound
for them.

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GURALNICK: From Sam Phillips'
point of view,

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if you weren't doing
something different,

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you weren't doing anything.

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He was looking for individualism
in the extreme, as he would say.

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PHILLIPS: When I wanted to
open up my recording studio,

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I didn't tell too many people
about what I had in mind

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because I didn't know whether
I'd be able to pull it off.

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I didn't have enough money to
buy the equipment that I wanted,

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and I didn't know whether
I could pay the rent.

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But I knew that I was gonna
get me some black folks

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in that studio
one way or the other.

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I recorded Roscoe Gordon,
BB King,

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the Howlin' Wolf,
Little Junior Parker.

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[ Music continues ]

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STUART: Memphis in the mid‐'50s
was a black cat's town.

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It was about soul.

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Nashville didn't rock.
Memphis did.

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BECK:
Sam Phillips was so smitten

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with the sound of black music
and black blues,

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but he knew that he'd need
a white guy to put it out there.

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And he found a guy
called Elvis Presley.

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PRESLEY: ♪ Evening shadows
make me blue ♪

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♪ When each weary day
is through ♪

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With Elvis, I knew when
he walked in the door, baby.

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If anybody can do this,

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I believe this is the person
who can do it.

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♪ My happiness ♪

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GURALNICK: There was something
he heard in this kid,

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something that was unique
about him.

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JORGENSEN:
But as the session begins,

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Elvis starts singing all these
country songs and pop standards.

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And Sam realizes,
"Hey, this is not gonna work."

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00:10:06,058 --> 00:10:10,224
He has a wonderful voice,
but it's so insecure.

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♪ Just as long
as I'm with you ♪

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♪ My happiness ♪

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PHILLIPS: So I went in and
talked to him and said, "Hey.

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We still are not where I believe
we should be,

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and I think we all agree
on this."

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And so I turned around,
went back in the control room,

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and the next thing I know,

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Elvis cut out
on "That's All Right Mama."

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[ Up‐tempo introduction plays ]

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♪ Well, that's all right, Mama ♪

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♪ That's all right for you ♪

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♪ That's all right now, Mama ♪

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♪ Just any way you do ♪

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♪ That's all right ♪

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PHILLIPS: And, man,
the minute I heard that thing,

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I said, "Lord, hey, if we aren't
gonna make it on that, honey,

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00:11:00,591 --> 00:11:02,258
there was nothing
I could do ever."

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00:11:02,291 --> 00:11:05,224
[ Music continues ]

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00:11:05,258 --> 00:11:07,824
KING:
I used to hear Elvis,

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00:11:07,858 --> 00:11:10,558
and they would be singing and
playing, and they sounded good,

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00:11:10,591 --> 00:11:13,958
but they was playing
white music.

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00:11:13,991 --> 00:11:17,191
"That's all right, Mama.
That's all right for you."

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When he did that,
I said, "Oh, wait a minute."

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00:11:19,991 --> 00:11:23,491
[ Laughs ]
"This is all right."

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00:11:23,524 --> 00:11:24,991
How do you categorize
"That's All Right"?

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It's just a magic moment,

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and it's truly original
in that it doesn't sound

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like anything else
in the marketplace.

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00:11:32,024 --> 00:11:34,491
♪ I'm leaving town, baby ♪

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♪ I'm leaving town for sure ♪

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♪ Well, then you won't
be bothered ♪

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♪ With me hanging 'round
your door ♪

224
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♪ But that's all right ♪

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00:11:43,091 --> 00:11:45,491
♪ That's all right ♪

226
00:11:45,524 --> 00:11:48,558
♪ That's all right now, Mama ♪

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00:11:48,591 --> 00:11:51,824
♪ Any way you do ♪

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JORGENSEN: To Sam Phillips,
it was always about freeing ‐‐

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00:11:57,624 --> 00:12:00,824
freeing the soul
of his singers.

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00:12:00,858 --> 00:12:02,991
Most of these people
who came to him ‐‐

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00:12:03,024 --> 00:12:05,924
like Johnny Cash
and Carl Perkins,

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00:12:05,958 --> 00:12:09,724
Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis,
Roy Orbison ‐‐

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00:12:09,758 --> 00:12:12,758
they all shared
this enormous insecurity.

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00:12:12,791 --> 00:12:14,891
His magic was to pull it out

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00:12:14,924 --> 00:12:17,991
of whatever it was
that they had inside.

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♪ I believe you're doing
me wrong, and now I know ♪

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00:12:22,691 --> 00:12:25,658
♪ I believe you're doing
me wrong, and now I know ♪

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GURALNICK: The qualities
Sam Phillips first saw in him,

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00:12:28,058 --> 00:12:30,258
he continued to show
till the end of his career.

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00:12:30,291 --> 00:12:32,091
♪ Well ♪

241
00:12:32,124 --> 00:12:33,824
♪ I said shake, rattle,
and roll ♪

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00:12:33,858 --> 00:12:35,891
♪ I said shake, rattle,
and roll ♪

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00:12:35,924 --> 00:12:38,158
♪ I said shake, rattle,
and roll ♪

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00:12:38,191 --> 00:12:39,991
♪ I said shake, rattle,
and roll ♪

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PHILLIPS: When you know
that you have been able

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00:12:43,991 --> 00:12:49,758
to give these people
the inspiration

247
00:12:49,791 --> 00:12:54,691
to display their God‐given
talent and to be proud of it...

248
00:12:56,924 --> 00:13:00,258
...I think that is the essence
of Sun Records.

249
00:13:00,291 --> 00:13:02,558
♪ I don't care if I die ♪

250
00:13:02,591 --> 00:13:04,824
♪ I said flip, flop, and fly ♪

251
00:13:04,858 --> 00:13:06,791
♪ I don't care if I die ♪

252
00:13:06,824 --> 00:13:08,124
♪ I won't ever leave ♪

253
00:13:08,158 --> 00:13:09,991
♪ Don't ever say goodbye ♪

254
00:13:11,591 --> 00:13:13,091
[ Cheers and applause ]

255
00:13:21,938 --> 00:13:24,338
We formally present
The Beatles!

256
00:13:24,371 --> 00:13:26,871
[ Cheers and applause,
mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

257
00:13:33,438 --> 00:13:36,771
GEORGE MARTIN: I didn't realize
when I signed the Beatles

258
00:13:36,804 --> 00:13:39,004
that they'd already been to
every record company

259
00:13:39,038 --> 00:13:41,404
in the country
and they'd been turned down

260
00:13:41,438 --> 00:13:43,204
by every record company
in the country.

261
00:13:45,038 --> 00:13:46,838
♪ Some other guy now ♪

262
00:13:46,871 --> 00:13:50,038
♪ Has taken my love
away from me ♪

263
00:13:50,071 --> 00:13:51,371
♪ Some other guy now ♪

264
00:13:51,404 --> 00:13:53,204
STARR:
When we first met George,

265
00:13:53,238 --> 00:13:55,171
we loved him because
he took a chance on us.

266
00:13:55,204 --> 00:13:57,138
No one else would take
a chance.

267
00:13:57,171 --> 00:13:58,871
With a name like that,
you come from Liverpool ‐‐

268
00:13:58,904 --> 00:14:00,204
not a chance in hell.

269
00:14:00,238 --> 00:14:02,204
[ Music continues ]

270
00:14:02,238 --> 00:14:05,204
GEORGE MARTIN: I think it was
a gut feeling I had about them.

271
00:14:05,238 --> 00:14:07,171
I think it was their charisma.

272
00:14:07,204 --> 00:14:09,071
Does the continuous living
and working together

273
00:14:09,104 --> 00:14:11,871
impose any temperamental
stress upon you?

274
00:14:11,904 --> 00:14:13,938
You know, we all have been mates
for quite a long time,

275
00:14:13,971 --> 00:14:17,204
so we don't get on each other's
nerves as much as we could.

276
00:14:17,238 --> 00:14:18,738
‐Get off!
‐[ Grunts ]

277
00:14:18,771 --> 00:14:20,104
[ Laughs ]

278
00:14:20,138 --> 00:14:21,671
We're quite friendly.

279
00:14:21,704 --> 00:14:23,004
Yeah. So I see.
[ Chuckles ]

280
00:14:23,038 --> 00:14:24,638
[ Music continues ]

281
00:14:26,204 --> 00:14:27,771
GEORGE MARTIN:
When I first met them,

282
00:14:27,804 --> 00:14:30,804
The Beatles knew nothing
about a recording studio.

283
00:14:30,838 --> 00:14:33,738
Their experience had been
performing in front of people

284
00:14:33,771 --> 00:14:37,104
at the Cavern and in Hamburg
and that kind of thing.

285
00:14:37,138 --> 00:14:40,138
LENNON: George had done no
rock 'n' roll when we met him,

286
00:14:40,171 --> 00:14:41,438
and we'd never been
in the studio.

287
00:14:41,471 --> 00:14:43,971
So we did a lot of learning
together.

288
00:14:44,004 --> 00:14:46,204
GEORGE MARTIN: I think
The Beatles would have made it

289
00:14:46,238 --> 00:14:49,438
as great musicians
whether I was there or not.

290
00:14:49,471 --> 00:14:52,138
I think the fact
that I was there helped out.

291
00:14:52,171 --> 00:14:54,671
I think they probably got there
more quickly.

292
00:14:54,704 --> 00:14:58,271
♪ Last night I said these words
to my girl ♪

293
00:15:00,971 --> 00:15:04,904
♪ I know you never even try,
girl ♪

294
00:15:07,004 --> 00:15:09,204
‐♪ Come on ♪
‐♪ Come on ♪

295
00:15:09,238 --> 00:15:10,404
‐♪ Come on ♪
‐♪ Come on ♪

296
00:15:10,438 --> 00:15:12,138
‐♪ Come on ♪
‐♪ Come on ♪

297
00:15:12,171 --> 00:15:14,004
‐♪ Come on ♪
‐♪ Come on ♪

298
00:15:14,038 --> 00:15:18,704
♪ Please please me, oh, yeah,
like I please you ♪

299
00:15:18,738 --> 00:15:21,304
[ Girls screaming ]

300
00:15:21,338 --> 00:15:22,838
GODRICH:
What happens

301
00:15:22,871 --> 00:15:24,671
with George Martin's work
with The Beatles

302
00:15:24,704 --> 00:15:29,404
is that he added himself
into the picture.

303
00:15:29,438 --> 00:15:31,838
He was an arranger.
He was a musician.

304
00:15:31,871 --> 00:15:34,404
He had some technical knowledge
that he could use

305
00:15:34,438 --> 00:15:37,171
to augment what they were doing

306
00:15:37,204 --> 00:15:40,938
and took control
of the overall sonic picture.

307
00:15:42,438 --> 00:15:44,404
VISCONTI: I kept seeing
George Martin's name

308
00:15:44,438 --> 00:15:46,104
on the records.

309
00:15:46,138 --> 00:15:48,671
And when I saw a picture of him,
I thought, "My God.

310
00:15:48,704 --> 00:15:50,671
He's about twice their age,"
you know?

311
00:15:50,704 --> 00:15:54,004
He looked like he was a director
in a bank, you know?

312
00:15:54,038 --> 00:15:55,838
He had a suit and tie
all the time.

313
00:15:55,871 --> 00:15:57,271
His hair was swept back.

314
00:15:57,304 --> 00:15:59,738
It was like "Wow.
These people work together.

315
00:15:59,771 --> 00:16:00,738
That's crazy."

316
00:16:01,871 --> 00:16:04,771
RUBIN:
He was older and wiser,

317
00:16:04,804 --> 00:16:08,204
and he brought
a deep musicality.

318
00:16:08,238 --> 00:16:14,038
They had it intuitively,
and he had it intellectually.

319
00:16:14,071 --> 00:16:17,904
So he could help them
execute ideas

320
00:16:17,938 --> 00:16:22,338
that a less skilled producer
could not do.

321
00:16:22,371 --> 00:16:24,338
[ Cheers and applause ]

322
00:16:27,404 --> 00:16:30,071
GEORGE MARTIN: It wasn't until
a couple of years later

323
00:16:30,104 --> 00:16:32,771
that they started doing
more sophisticated songwriting.

324
00:16:34,138 --> 00:16:36,671
And they wrote
most touching material.

325
00:16:36,704 --> 00:16:38,771
MAN: What key is it in?
What key is it in?

326
00:16:38,804 --> 00:16:41,338
McCARTNEY:
It'll be in F for you.

327
00:16:41,371 --> 00:16:43,238
♪ Yesterday ♪

328
00:16:43,271 --> 00:16:46,338
[ Guitar strums ]

329
00:16:46,371 --> 00:16:49,171
I'm in G.
But it'll be in F.

330
00:16:49,204 --> 00:16:53,138
It goes...E minor to A seventh
to D minor.

331
00:16:54,771 --> 00:16:55,938
Ready.

332
00:16:55,971 --> 00:16:57,304
MAN:
Here we go.

333
00:16:57,338 --> 00:16:59,304
GEORGE MARTIN: When Paul
first wrote "Yesterday,"

334
00:16:59,338 --> 00:17:02,771
he came to me and said,
"Have you heard this one before?

335
00:17:02,804 --> 00:17:05,138
Because I dreamt about it
last night,

336
00:17:05,171 --> 00:17:09,404
and I'm sure in my subconscious
I'm pinching it from someone."

337
00:17:09,438 --> 00:17:11,971
I said, "No. I'm sure it's
an original piece of music.

338
00:17:12,004 --> 00:17:13,204
Stick to it.
It's great."

339
00:17:13,238 --> 00:17:14,404
McCARTNEY:
Okay, man.

340
00:17:14,438 --> 00:17:15,938
[ Mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

341
00:17:19,238 --> 00:17:22,338
♪ Yesterday ♪

342
00:17:22,371 --> 00:17:27,104
♪ All my troubles seemed
so far away ♪

343
00:17:27,138 --> 00:17:30,371
♪ Now it looks as though
they're here to stay ♪

344
00:17:30,404 --> 00:17:32,671
GEORGE MARTIN:
He said, "What do you think?"

345
00:17:32,704 --> 00:17:35,771
I said, "Well, there's nothing
we can do to put on top of this

346
00:17:35,804 --> 00:17:37,671
that's gonna make it
more beautiful

347
00:17:37,704 --> 00:17:40,104
except perhaps some strings."

348
00:17:40,138 --> 00:17:43,438
♪ There's a shadow
hanging over me ♪

349
00:17:43,471 --> 00:17:45,771
GILES MARTIN: With my dad being
the posh bloke in the studio

350
00:17:45,804 --> 00:17:47,904
as the classically trained
musician,

351
00:17:47,938 --> 00:17:51,704
there was an initial reluctance
from Paul

352
00:17:51,738 --> 00:17:53,204
to have a string quartet
on "Yesterday."

353
00:17:54,271 --> 00:17:56,304
McCARTNEY: I was always
frightened of classical music,

354
00:17:56,338 --> 00:17:58,971
and I never wanted to listen
to it because it was Beethoven

355
00:17:59,004 --> 00:18:00,838
and Tchaikovsky and sort of
big words like that ‐‐

356
00:18:00,871 --> 00:18:02,938
and Schoenberg.

357
00:18:02,971 --> 00:18:04,738
And I always thought, you know,
it's high class, that.

358
00:18:04,771 --> 00:18:06,804
It's very highbrow.

359
00:18:06,838 --> 00:18:09,104
GEORGE MARTIN:
I was rehearsing musicians

360
00:18:09,138 --> 00:18:11,404
when he walked into the studio,

361
00:18:11,438 --> 00:18:13,771
and he saw the score
that I had written.

362
00:18:13,804 --> 00:18:15,771
And he came up to me and said,
"What's this?"

363
00:18:15,804 --> 00:18:17,938
I said, "It's all the music
that the musicians are playing.

364
00:18:17,971 --> 00:18:20,704
He said, "You haven't
got my name on it."

365
00:18:20,738 --> 00:18:22,071
I said, "I'm sorry.

366
00:18:22,104 --> 00:18:24,038
Here's a pencil.
Put your name on it."

367
00:18:24,071 --> 00:18:29,371
So he wrote on it, "'Yesterday'
by Paul McCartney, John Lennon,"

368
00:18:29,404 --> 00:18:33,671
looked at me ‐‐
"George Martin, Esquire,"

369
00:18:33,704 --> 00:18:36,238
and then giggled
and put down "and Mozart."

370
00:18:36,271 --> 00:18:39,904
♪ Yesterday ♪

371
00:18:39,938 --> 00:18:44,871
♪ Love was such an easy game
to play ♪

372
00:18:44,904 --> 00:18:48,904
♪ Now I need a place
to hide away ♪

373
00:18:48,938 --> 00:18:54,804
♪ Oh, I believe in yesterday ♪

374
00:18:54,838 --> 00:18:56,704
GEORGE MARTIN:
"Yesterday" showed Paul

375
00:18:56,738 --> 00:18:59,404
how a string quartet
could be quite effective

376
00:18:59,438 --> 00:19:01,738
on a really good song.

377
00:19:01,771 --> 00:19:04,838
And then he came to me
with "Eleanor Rigby,"

378
00:19:04,871 --> 00:19:07,304
which cried out for strings ‐‐

379
00:19:07,338 --> 00:19:11,371
not the smooth, legato stuff
of "Yesterday,"

380
00:19:11,404 --> 00:19:13,304
but something that was
very biting,

381
00:19:13,338 --> 00:19:15,738
very rhythmic, very edgy.

382
00:19:15,771 --> 00:19:17,271
[ Dramatic string music
playing ]

383
00:19:20,071 --> 00:19:23,304
It suggested to me
the stuff that Bernard Herrmann

384
00:19:23,338 --> 00:19:27,038
had been writing for "Psycho,"
for example.

385
00:19:27,071 --> 00:19:28,371
[ Music continues ]

386
00:19:31,038 --> 00:19:33,671
GILES MARTIN: "Eleanor Rigby"
is the first time

387
00:19:33,704 --> 00:19:35,671
that The Beatles weren't playing
any instruments

388
00:19:35,704 --> 00:19:36,838
on one of their records.

389
00:19:36,871 --> 00:19:38,938
It is just a string octet.

390
00:19:40,104 --> 00:19:42,871
The octet was recorded
onto four‐track.

391
00:19:42,904 --> 00:19:44,304
On track one here...

392
00:19:44,338 --> 00:19:46,138
[ Violins play ]

393
00:19:46,171 --> 00:19:48,304
... we have the first violins.

394
00:19:48,338 --> 00:19:50,404
[ Music continues ]

395
00:19:50,438 --> 00:19:53,004
And here are the second violins.

396
00:19:53,038 --> 00:19:54,738
[ Music continues ]

397
00:19:54,771 --> 00:19:56,304
You can hear bleed

398
00:19:56,338 --> 00:19:58,104
'cause they're all
in the same room together.

399
00:20:01,071 --> 00:20:02,871
VISCONTI:
Oh, my gosh.

400
00:20:02,904 --> 00:20:04,671
I played that over and over
and over and over again.

401
00:20:04,704 --> 00:20:07,804
It was just so smart.

402
00:20:07,838 --> 00:20:09,871
George Martin obviously knew
his stuff,

403
00:20:09,904 --> 00:20:12,771
and he knew how to put it
on a Beatles record.

404
00:20:12,804 --> 00:20:14,704
That's the trick.

405
00:20:14,738 --> 00:20:16,704
[ "Eleanor Rigby" continues ]

406
00:20:19,004 --> 00:20:21,071
For the first time
you're hearing a string octet

407
00:20:21,104 --> 00:20:23,271
and you're tapping your foot.

408
00:20:23,304 --> 00:20:25,371
George Martin made strings cool,
you know?

409
00:20:27,871 --> 00:20:31,204
He used strings in a way
that was so innovative,

410
00:20:31,238 --> 00:20:34,204
I don't think anyone
had thought of before.

411
00:20:34,238 --> 00:20:37,871
In that way,
The Beatles educated all of us.

412
00:20:37,904 --> 00:20:41,204
♪ Ah, look at
all the lonely people ♪

413
00:20:44,238 --> 00:20:48,004
♪ Ah, look at
all the lonely people ♪

414
00:20:51,138 --> 00:20:53,338
♪ Eleanor Rigby... ♪

415
00:20:53,371 --> 00:20:55,404
Until then, I thought,
"I can be a rock star.

416
00:20:55,438 --> 00:20:57,738
I want to be a rock star.
I want to be onstage.

417
00:20:57,771 --> 00:20:59,138
I want to have the girls
screaming at me.

418
00:20:59,171 --> 00:21:01,904
I want all that stuff.
I want a limo, everything."

419
00:21:01,938 --> 00:21:04,271
But now I wanted to be
George Martin.

420
00:21:04,304 --> 00:21:05,871
That was more important.

421
00:21:05,904 --> 00:21:08,338
To be in the studio,
to do that kind of stuff,

422
00:21:08,371 --> 00:21:10,738
to be able to experiment
that way

423
00:21:10,771 --> 00:21:14,704
and to make great works of art
that only exist on tape.

424
00:21:14,738 --> 00:21:16,404
That's very important.

425
00:21:16,438 --> 00:21:19,404
It's a very different art
from performing live.

426
00:21:19,438 --> 00:21:21,871
That's what I wanted to be ‐‐
I wanted to be George Martin.

427
00:21:23,071 --> 00:21:26,171
♪ All the lonely people ♪

428
00:21:26,204 --> 00:21:29,238
♪ Do they all belong? ♪

429
00:21:32,138 --> 00:21:36,804
TITELMAN: George Martin ‐‐
His influence was so mighty,

430
00:21:36,838 --> 00:21:41,104
But he wasn't there
to put his stamp on it.

431
00:21:41,138 --> 00:21:45,171
Someone like a Phil Spector ‐‐
He was the opposite of that.

432
00:21:45,204 --> 00:21:46,804
I don't know
if he said it himself,

433
00:21:46,838 --> 00:21:48,404
but, you know, he was the artist
on the record.

434
00:21:53,071 --> 00:21:55,838
[ "Be My Baby" plays ]

435
00:22:01,004 --> 00:22:02,438
♪ The night we met ♪

436
00:22:02,471 --> 00:22:06,638
♪ I knew I needed you so ♪

437
00:22:08,071 --> 00:22:11,971
VISCONTI: The enormous orchestra
he got on "Be My Baby" ‐‐

438
00:22:12,004 --> 00:22:14,671
There was nothing before
Phil Spector

439
00:22:14,704 --> 00:22:16,704
that was ever done
on such a level

440
00:22:16,738 --> 00:22:18,771
except maybe
a symphonic recording ‐‐

441
00:22:18,804 --> 00:22:21,204
you know, Beethoven's 9th
or something like that.

442
00:22:21,238 --> 00:22:26,204
Boom, boom‐boom, bang.
Boom, boom‐boom, bang.

443
00:22:26,238 --> 00:22:28,971
Those are huge, big, noisy,
rock 'n' roll ‐‐

444
00:22:29,004 --> 00:22:32,938
♪ Be my, be my little baby ♪

445
00:22:32,971 --> 00:22:35,404
‐♪ Be my darling ♪
‐♪ Be my, be my baby ♪

446
00:22:35,438 --> 00:22:38,338
♪ Be my baby now ♪

447
00:22:38,371 --> 00:22:41,771
♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, oh ♪

448
00:22:41,804 --> 00:22:44,838
GRANATA: What one really hears
in Phil Spector's work

449
00:22:44,871 --> 00:22:46,804
is the possibility
of production.

450
00:22:46,838 --> 00:22:51,804
He had a unique way of building
the sound of his recordings.

451
00:22:51,838 --> 00:22:53,404
It's now known
as the Wall of Sound.

452
00:22:55,471 --> 00:22:58,071
IOVINE: He was the first
rock‐star producer.

453
00:22:59,304 --> 00:23:01,938
And if you wanted to be
a record producer,

454
00:23:01,971 --> 00:23:05,671
he was somebody you had to study
or just know a lot about.

455
00:23:05,704 --> 00:23:06,938
[ Applause ]

456
00:23:09,771 --> 00:23:13,338
♪ To know, know, know him ♪

457
00:23:13,371 --> 00:23:17,938
♪ Is to love, love, love him ♪

458
00:23:17,971 --> 00:23:20,104
STANLEY: It's easy to forget
how young Phil Spector was

459
00:23:20,138 --> 00:23:21,671
when he started.

460
00:23:21,704 --> 00:23:23,804
The Teddy Bears
was his first band.

461
00:23:23,838 --> 00:23:26,771
And it was just him
and his schoolmates,

462
00:23:26,804 --> 00:23:30,738
the three of them doing this
very mournful harmony record.

463
00:23:30,771 --> 00:23:33,904
♪ Is to love, love, love him ♪

464
00:23:33,938 --> 00:23:37,104
TITELMAN:
My older sister's boyfriend

465
00:23:37,138 --> 00:23:39,871
was the other guy
in the Teddy Bears.

466
00:23:39,904 --> 00:23:42,338
They'd rehearse
in my living room,

467
00:23:42,371 --> 00:23:44,704
so I heard
"Wonderful Lovable You"

468
00:23:44,738 --> 00:23:46,071
and "Don't You Worry
My Little Pet"

469
00:23:46,104 --> 00:23:48,104
and "To Know Him
Is To Love Him."

470
00:23:48,138 --> 00:23:51,671
♪ Love, love, love him ♪

471
00:23:51,704 --> 00:23:53,404
TITELMAN: It's a magical
little teen record.

472
00:23:55,004 --> 00:23:57,971
That was the first record
he ever made.

473
00:23:58,004 --> 00:24:00,338
He emerged fully formed.

474
00:24:00,371 --> 00:24:04,004
♪ And I do ♪

475
00:24:04,038 --> 00:24:05,971
[ Up‐tempo music plays ]

476
00:24:09,804 --> 00:24:11,404
STANLEY:
Right from the beginning,

477
00:24:11,438 --> 00:24:13,904
Phil Spector was into the sound
of records

478
00:24:13,938 --> 00:24:15,138
and not just songwriting.

479
00:24:16,838 --> 00:24:18,204
And he was very ambitious.

480
00:24:18,238 --> 00:24:20,404
He started his own record label.

481
00:24:20,438 --> 00:24:22,371
And at that point,
what you think of

482
00:24:22,404 --> 00:24:24,071
as the Phil Spector
Wall of Sound really starts.

483
00:24:29,771 --> 00:24:34,071
MEDLEY: ♪ You never close
your eyes anymore ♪

484
00:24:34,104 --> 00:24:37,371
♪ When I kiss your lips ♪

485
00:24:40,138 --> 00:24:42,771
♪ And there's no tenderness... ♪

486
00:24:42,804 --> 00:24:44,204
STANLEY:
When you're a teenager,

487
00:24:44,238 --> 00:24:46,371
your emotions
are really heightened.

488
00:24:46,404 --> 00:24:49,171
Phil Spector's records
really encapsulated that.

489
00:24:49,204 --> 00:24:50,704
You listen to something like

490
00:24:50,738 --> 00:24:52,104
"You've Lost
That Loving Feeling,"

491
00:24:52,138 --> 00:24:53,438
and it sounds like the end
of the world

492
00:24:53,471 --> 00:24:55,271
more than the end
of a love affair.

493
00:24:55,304 --> 00:24:56,371
It's incredible.

494
00:24:56,404 --> 00:24:57,971
♪ But, baby ♪

495
00:24:59,271 --> 00:25:02,438
♪ Baby, I know it ♪

496
00:25:02,471 --> 00:25:05,938
♪ You've lost
that lovin' feeling ♪

497
00:25:08,004 --> 00:25:12,904
♪ Whoa, that lovin' feeling ♪

498
00:25:12,938 --> 00:25:16,104
♪ You've lost
that lovin' feeling ♪

499
00:25:16,138 --> 00:25:20,704
♪ Now it's gone, gone, gone ♪

500
00:25:20,738 --> 00:25:23,104
♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪

501
00:25:23,138 --> 00:25:26,304
Phil Spector used three keyboard
players, two drummers...

502
00:25:26,338 --> 00:25:28,838
MAN: ...three bass players,
three organ players...

503
00:25:28,871 --> 00:25:31,671
MAN: ...five keyboard players,
three guitar players...

504
00:25:31,704 --> 00:25:33,738
MAN:
... three woodwinds, three saxes.

505
00:25:33,771 --> 00:25:35,304
MAN:
... the Los Angeles Choir...

506
00:25:35,338 --> 00:25:38,304
He was like, "How can I make
these four tracks sound bigger?

507
00:25:38,338 --> 00:25:40,671
Well, I'll hire
double the musicians

508
00:25:40,704 --> 00:25:42,838
and have them play exactly the
same thing at the same time."

509
00:25:44,171 --> 00:25:46,838
WATERS: Phil Spector
intuitively understood

510
00:25:46,871 --> 00:25:49,271
that a rock‐'n'‐roll ensemble
or a pop group

511
00:25:49,304 --> 00:25:50,704
is no different
than an orchestra.

512
00:25:50,738 --> 00:25:52,904
There's absolutely a reason

513
00:25:52,938 --> 00:25:56,171
why you have 16 or 18 or 20
first violins in an orchestra.

514
00:25:56,204 --> 00:26:00,104
It's because one violin
sounds like shit, you know?

515
00:26:00,138 --> 00:26:02,371
If you get ‐‐
And even eight sound crappy.

516
00:26:02,404 --> 00:26:04,971
But when they're all playing
together,

517
00:26:05,004 --> 00:26:07,104
suddenly it homogenizes,

518
00:26:07,138 --> 00:26:10,738
and it creates
that extraordinary sound.

519
00:26:10,771 --> 00:26:14,271
♪ Bring back
that lovin' feeling ♪

520
00:26:16,304 --> 00:26:19,871
♪ Whoa, that lovin' feeling ♪

521
00:26:21,938 --> 00:26:24,738
HUFF: After the track was laid
and you go in the control room

522
00:26:24,771 --> 00:26:26,404
and you could listen
to the playback,

523
00:26:26,438 --> 00:26:28,904
you couldn't believe
what you was hearing.

524
00:26:28,938 --> 00:26:30,371
You didn't even believe
that you just played that,

525
00:26:30,404 --> 00:26:32,304
to listen to the track,

526
00:26:32,338 --> 00:26:35,404
the way he just stacked
those sounds together.

527
00:26:37,038 --> 00:26:38,304
And he knew what he was doing.

528
00:26:40,304 --> 00:26:43,304
LIPUMA: So he had this huge hit
with the Righteous Brothers,

529
00:26:43,338 --> 00:26:45,804
and then he followed it up
not that much later

530
00:26:45,838 --> 00:26:47,704
with "River Deep Mountain High."

531
00:26:47,738 --> 00:26:49,738
SPECTOR.
Okay. Here we go. From the top.

532
00:26:49,771 --> 00:26:51,271
MAN:
Take 3.

533
00:26:51,304 --> 00:26:54,238
One. Two.
One, two, three.

534
00:26:54,271 --> 00:26:56,271
[ Mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

535
00:26:59,304 --> 00:27:01,004
SPECTOR:
Jack, you don't have

536
00:27:01,038 --> 00:27:03,404
a more substantial tambourine
out there, do you?

537
00:27:03,438 --> 00:27:04,938
Take 11.

538
00:27:04,971 --> 00:27:06,304
BLAINE:
It wasn't just once in a while

539
00:27:06,338 --> 00:27:09,671
that we'd do 29, 30, 31 takes
on a song.

540
00:27:09,704 --> 00:27:13,304
And maybe he would go back
to take 4.

541
00:27:13,338 --> 00:27:16,038
But that's the way it was
with Phil.

542
00:27:16,071 --> 00:27:17,138
MAN:
Take 15.

543
00:27:17,171 --> 00:27:19,038
♪ Do I love you? ♪

544
00:27:19,071 --> 00:27:22,071
♪ My, oh, my ♪

545
00:27:22,104 --> 00:27:26,204
♪ Yeah, river deep,
mountain high ♪

546
00:27:26,238 --> 00:27:27,371
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

547
00:27:27,404 --> 00:27:29,071
SPECTOR:
Hold it, hold it, hold it.

548
00:27:29,104 --> 00:27:30,971
It was a little fast.
You were ahead.

549
00:27:31,004 --> 00:27:34,738
He abused the technology.
He abused the musicians.

550
00:27:34,771 --> 00:27:36,938
TURNER: The day that we did
the session,

551
00:27:36,971 --> 00:27:38,804
the room was full of people.

552
00:27:38,838 --> 00:27:40,438
Eons of musicians.

553
00:27:40,471 --> 00:27:41,938
And he was a little bitty
something out there, screaming,

554
00:27:41,971 --> 00:27:43,704
"I want this!"
You know?

555
00:27:43,738 --> 00:27:45,838
I mean, he's very persistent
in what he wants.

556
00:27:45,871 --> 00:27:47,738
And the result is fantastic,

557
00:27:47,771 --> 00:27:51,071
but he's a very, very,
very strong personality

558
00:27:51,104 --> 00:27:52,904
to sort of work for.

559
00:27:52,938 --> 00:27:55,871
I wouldn't say he's easy at all.
[ Laughs ]

560
00:27:55,904 --> 00:27:59,371
[ "River Deep Mountain High"
plays

561
00:27:59,404 --> 00:28:02,738
♪ When I was a little girl ♪

562
00:28:02,771 --> 00:28:05,304
♪ I had a ragdoll ♪

563
00:28:05,338 --> 00:28:08,238
And I don't know who gave
that title, Wall of Sound,

564
00:28:08,271 --> 00:28:09,838
but it was a brilliant title.

565
00:28:09,871 --> 00:28:11,704
And they just put it
on everything.

566
00:28:11,738 --> 00:28:14,771
DION: Every rock 'n' roller
or any serious recordmaker

567
00:28:14,804 --> 00:28:17,004
wanted to grab on
to a bit of that sound.

568
00:28:17,038 --> 00:28:19,704
♪ And do I love you? ♪

569
00:28:19,738 --> 00:28:22,904
♪ My, oh, my ♪

570
00:28:22,938 --> 00:28:26,771
♪ Yeah, river deep,
mountain high ♪

571
00:28:26,804 --> 00:28:28,771
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

572
00:28:28,804 --> 00:28:30,738
A lot of people
don't want to credit Phil

573
00:28:30,771 --> 00:28:34,138
because he's too crazy,
he had too much of a reputation.

574
00:28:34,171 --> 00:28:36,038
But from my point of view,

575
00:28:36,071 --> 00:28:38,704
I was working
with Phil Spector, man.

576
00:28:38,738 --> 00:28:39,738
I knew it was gonna be good.

577
00:28:48,964 --> 00:28:50,964
[ Mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

578
00:28:59,030 --> 00:29:02,530
♪ Up at 8:00,
you can't be late ♪

579
00:29:02,564 --> 00:29:05,864
♪ For Matthew and son,
he won't wait ♪

580
00:29:05,897 --> 00:29:08,930
[ Horns play ]

581
00:29:08,964 --> 00:29:11,530
STEVENS: I was actually making
very, very brassy,

582
00:29:11,564 --> 00:29:14,530
very fully arranged pop records

583
00:29:14,564 --> 00:29:17,430
back in the early '60s
or late '60s.

584
00:29:17,464 --> 00:29:20,064
[ Music continues ]

585
00:29:20,097 --> 00:29:22,497
♪ Matthew and son,
the work's never done ♪

586
00:29:22,530 --> 00:29:24,830
♪ There's always something new ♪

587
00:29:24,864 --> 00:29:26,930
I wanted to have a hit.

588
00:29:26,964 --> 00:29:29,997
But most of the times, I was not
in control of my songs.

589
00:29:30,030 --> 00:29:31,597
♪ ...never, ever through ♪

590
00:29:31,630 --> 00:29:33,730
And everybody was writing
these notes for me,

591
00:29:33,764 --> 00:29:35,430
and they were recording them.

592
00:29:35,464 --> 00:29:37,864
I was always rather intimidated
by the studio.

593
00:29:37,897 --> 00:29:40,764
And there's all these, like,
engineers, and they all knew

594
00:29:40,797 --> 00:29:42,664
what the buttons meant
and where the wires were going.

595
00:29:42,697 --> 00:29:44,064
I couldn't understand
what that was.

596
00:29:44,097 --> 00:29:45,664
It was a spaceship.

597
00:29:45,697 --> 00:29:48,297
[ Music continues ]

598
00:29:48,330 --> 00:29:51,597
And I didn't quite recognize
my music when it came out.

599
00:29:54,064 --> 00:29:57,564
I just wanted to get shod
of the record industry

600
00:29:57,597 --> 00:29:58,930
being, you know,
the boss of everybody

601
00:29:58,964 --> 00:29:59,997
and telling everybody
what to do.

602
00:30:01,930 --> 00:30:05,497
And I wanted to get control
of my sound.

603
00:30:05,530 --> 00:30:07,497
[ Introduction to
"Father and Son" plays ]

604
00:30:11,764 --> 00:30:15,997
♪ It's not time
to make a change ♪

605
00:30:16,030 --> 00:30:18,997
♪ Just relax, take it easy ♪

606
00:30:19,030 --> 00:30:20,930
♪ You're still young ♪

607
00:30:20,964 --> 00:30:22,664
♪ That's your fault ♪

608
00:30:22,697 --> 00:30:25,697
♪ There's so much
you have to know ♪

609
00:30:25,730 --> 00:30:28,997
♪ Find a girl, settle down ♪

610
00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:32,764
♪ If you want, you can marry ♪

611
00:30:32,797 --> 00:30:34,764
♪ Look at me ♪

612
00:30:34,797 --> 00:30:37,697
♪ I am old, but I'm happy ♪

613
00:30:40,330 --> 00:30:43,564
And so you'll hear
from my first records

614
00:30:43,597 --> 00:30:45,764
to my later records,
there's a change.

615
00:30:45,797 --> 00:30:48,697
And the big change was
when I said, "You know what?

616
00:30:48,730 --> 00:30:51,930
My little demos on my little
Grundig tape recorder

617
00:30:51,964 --> 00:30:53,930
sound better than what
I finally ended up with.

618
00:30:53,964 --> 00:30:56,497
All that brass
and all those strings."

619
00:30:56,530 --> 00:31:00,497
♪ Think of everything
you've got ♪

620
00:31:00,530 --> 00:31:03,797
♪ For you will still be here
tomorrow ♪

621
00:31:03,830 --> 00:31:06,464
♪ But your dreams may not ♪

622
00:31:11,030 --> 00:31:14,764
♪ How can I try to explain? ♪

623
00:31:14,797 --> 00:31:18,330
♪ 'Cause when I do,
he turns away again ♪

624
00:31:18,364 --> 00:31:23,364
♪ It's always been the same,
same old story ♪

625
00:31:25,697 --> 00:31:27,830
And so when we finally
started making those records ‐‐

626
00:31:27,864 --> 00:31:29,830
you know,
"Tea for the Tillerman" ‐‐

627
00:31:29,864 --> 00:31:32,030
it was stripping
everything down.

628
00:31:33,330 --> 00:31:37,864
And I looked for a new producer
who could capture

629
00:31:37,897 --> 00:31:42,297
that raw kind of song
that was within me

630
00:31:42,330 --> 00:31:46,464
in the purest way
without interfering.

631
00:31:46,497 --> 00:31:49,864
♪ All the times
that I've cried ♪

632
00:31:49,897 --> 00:31:53,430
♪ Keeping all the things
I knew inside ♪

633
00:31:53,464 --> 00:31:54,897
♪ It's hard ♪

634
00:31:54,930 --> 00:31:57,830
♪ But it's harder
to ignore it ♪

635
00:31:59,064 --> 00:32:02,597
♪ If they were right,
I'd agree ♪

636
00:32:02,630 --> 00:32:05,864
♪ But it's them they know,
not me ♪

637
00:32:05,897 --> 00:32:07,664
♪ Now there's a way ♪

638
00:32:07,697 --> 00:32:13,030
♪ And I know
that I have to go away ♪

639
00:32:13,064 --> 00:32:17,564
♪ I know I have to go ♪

640
00:32:17,597 --> 00:32:19,730
[ Music continues ]

641
00:32:24,797 --> 00:32:26,930
ASHER: The essence of
the singer/songwriter movement,

642
00:32:26,964 --> 00:32:28,697
one of its tenets was,

643
00:32:28,730 --> 00:32:31,597
you were trying to really
make sure the song told a story.

644
00:32:31,630 --> 00:32:33,364
And that's why we tried
to keep it simple,

645
00:32:33,397 --> 00:32:35,597
was because the songs
and the lyrics

646
00:32:35,630 --> 00:32:39,497
were among the most important
stars on the record.

647
00:32:39,530 --> 00:32:42,297
[ "California" plays ]

648
00:32:44,964 --> 00:32:47,697
Joni's always made
her own records.

649
00:32:47,730 --> 00:32:50,897
She has a very clear idea
of what she wants.

650
00:32:50,930 --> 00:32:53,764
Joni is an inventor.

651
00:32:53,797 --> 00:32:55,597
You know,
she invents guitar tunings

652
00:32:55,630 --> 00:32:57,030
the way she invents songs.

653
00:32:57,064 --> 00:32:59,630
[ Music continues ]

654
00:32:59,664 --> 00:33:04,630
And I don't think producing her
is realistically possible.

655
00:33:04,664 --> 00:33:07,397
♪ Sitting in a park
in Paris, France ♪

656
00:33:07,430 --> 00:33:09,597
♪ Reading the news,
and it's all bad ♪

657
00:33:09,630 --> 00:33:11,497
♪ They won't give peace
a chance ♪

658
00:33:11,530 --> 00:33:14,430
♪ That was just a dream
some of us had ♪

659
00:33:14,464 --> 00:33:17,297
♪ Still a lot of lands to see ♪

660
00:33:17,330 --> 00:33:19,530
♪ But I wouldn't want
to stay here ♪

661
00:33:19,564 --> 00:33:23,597
♪ It's too old and cold
and settled in its ways here ♪

662
00:33:23,630 --> 00:33:26,397
♪ Oh, but California ♪

663
00:33:26,430 --> 00:33:31,630
♪ California, I'm coming home ♪

664
00:33:31,664 --> 00:33:33,830
♪ I'm gonna see
the folks I dig ♪

665
00:33:33,864 --> 00:33:36,630
♪ I'll even kiss a sunset pig ♪

666
00:33:36,664 --> 00:33:40,797
♪ California, when I get home ♪

667
00:33:40,830 --> 00:33:42,764
MITCHELL:
Most of the men at that time

668
00:33:42,797 --> 00:33:44,864
were very resistant to taking
instruction from a woman.

669
00:33:46,364 --> 00:33:49,697
They were very pompous,
overlording.

670
00:33:49,730 --> 00:33:52,997
I thought, "If I have to
subordinate myself

671
00:33:53,030 --> 00:33:57,297
to this, you know, person,
it'll kill my love of music."

672
00:33:57,330 --> 00:33:58,830
So I had to put in my contract

673
00:33:58,864 --> 00:34:00,430
that I never had to have
a producer.

674
00:34:00,464 --> 00:34:02,530
♪ And I might have stayed on
with him there ♪

675
00:34:02,564 --> 00:34:05,964
♪ But my heart cried out
for you ♪

676
00:34:05,997 --> 00:34:09,030
QUESTLOVE:
Geniuses, they're stubborn

677
00:34:09,064 --> 00:34:12,330
and they're hell‐bent
on executing their vision

678
00:34:12,364 --> 00:34:13,997
the way that they see fit.

679
00:34:14,030 --> 00:34:16,964
♪ Oh, make me feel good,
rock‐'n'‐roll band ♪

680
00:34:16,997 --> 00:34:18,564
♪ I'm your biggest fan ♪

681
00:34:18,597 --> 00:34:20,964
♪ California, I'm coming home ♪

682
00:34:20,997 --> 00:34:22,764
QUESTLOVE:
You know, talent is one thing,

683
00:34:22,797 --> 00:34:26,497
but you have to have the drive
and the will

684
00:34:26,530 --> 00:34:29,630
to make people see your vision.

685
00:34:29,664 --> 00:34:33,564
[ Introduction to
"Everyday People" plays ]

686
00:34:33,597 --> 00:34:37,530
♪ Sometimes I'm right,
and I can be wrong ♪

687
00:34:37,564 --> 00:34:41,697
♪ My own beliefs
are in my song ♪

688
00:34:41,730 --> 00:34:46,364
♪ The butcher, the banker,
the drummer, and then ♪

689
00:34:46,397 --> 00:34:50,497
♪ Makes no difference
what group I'm in ♪

690
00:34:50,530 --> 00:34:55,964
♪ I am everyday people ♪

691
00:34:55,997 --> 00:34:57,930
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

692
00:34:57,964 --> 00:35:00,930
Just as the rise of female
singer/songwriters in the 1970s

693
00:35:00,964 --> 00:35:02,930
meant that people
like Joni Mitchell

694
00:35:02,964 --> 00:35:05,730
were able to produce their own
vision of who they were

695
00:35:05,764 --> 00:35:07,497
in the recording studio,

696
00:35:07,530 --> 00:35:09,630
you also have the rise
of African‐American artists

697
00:35:09,664 --> 00:35:11,764
who start to empower themselves

698
00:35:11,797 --> 00:35:13,897
and start to use
the recording studio in a way

699
00:35:13,930 --> 00:35:15,697
that's incredibly creative and
very different than the past.

700
00:35:16,864 --> 00:35:18,397
People like Stevie Wonder,

701
00:35:18,430 --> 00:35:20,730
Marvin Gaye,
and Curtis Mayfield,

702
00:35:20,764 --> 00:35:22,964
and particularly, I think, Sly
from Sly and the Family Stone.

703
00:35:25,464 --> 00:35:28,597
These artists became
the producers themselves.

704
00:35:28,630 --> 00:35:32,597
♪ We got to live together ♪

705
00:35:32,630 --> 00:35:36,997
♪ I am no better
and neither are you ♪

706
00:35:37,030 --> 00:35:40,797
♪ We are the same
whatever we do ♪

707
00:35:40,830 --> 00:35:43,964
He was taking a stand
politically, musically.

708
00:35:43,997 --> 00:35:45,797
He was his own boss.

709
00:35:45,830 --> 00:35:47,564
You couldn't think of anyone

710
00:35:47,597 --> 00:35:49,497
telling Sly what to do
in the studio.

711
00:35:49,530 --> 00:35:57,030
♪ I am everyday people ♪

712
00:35:57,064 --> 00:35:59,364
I can talk about
Sly and the Family Stone

713
00:35:59,397 --> 00:36:00,664
for a very long time.

714
00:36:00,697 --> 00:36:02,430
Okay.
Play it.

715
00:36:02,464 --> 00:36:03,964
[ Vocalizing ]

716
00:36:05,730 --> 00:36:07,930
[ Mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

717
00:36:11,664 --> 00:36:17,664
Sly Stone brought in
a song craftsmanship to funk

718
00:36:17,697 --> 00:36:18,864
that wasn't there.

719
00:36:18,897 --> 00:36:21,930
He put his own spin on it,

720
00:36:21,964 --> 00:36:27,030
and out came something really
unique and bold and just fresh.

721
00:36:27,064 --> 00:36:29,297
[ Music continues ]

722
00:36:33,430 --> 00:36:35,764
QUESTLOVE: Because
of the ongoing conflicts

723
00:36:35,797 --> 00:36:38,530
between Sly
and his Family Stone,

724
00:36:38,564 --> 00:36:41,297
he wound up doing
his fifth record,

725
00:36:41,330 --> 00:36:44,464
"There's a Riot Goin' On,"
by himself.

726
00:36:44,497 --> 00:36:45,864
[ "Family Affair" playing ]

727
00:36:48,764 --> 00:36:53,497
♪ It's a family affair ♪

728
00:36:53,530 --> 00:36:56,930
♪ It's a family affair ♪

729
00:36:58,964 --> 00:37:01,964
WANG: Sly Stone was such a huge
musical experimenter.

730
00:37:01,997 --> 00:37:03,964
He would try playing with things

731
00:37:03,997 --> 00:37:06,930
that most other people
hadn't thought about.

732
00:37:06,964 --> 00:37:10,864
QUESTLOVE: He did it at, like ‐‐
Now we'd call it a home studio.

733
00:37:10,897 --> 00:37:12,697
That's Sly playing bass,
Sly playing guitar,

734
00:37:12,730 --> 00:37:14,597
Sly playing keyboards.

735
00:37:14,630 --> 00:37:18,664
Of course he's programming ‐‐
drum programming on there,

736
00:37:18,697 --> 00:37:22,530
which is like...
early kind of hip‐hop.

737
00:37:22,564 --> 00:37:24,964
Some uptight producer would go,
"No, I don't want that.

738
00:37:24,997 --> 00:37:26,830
That doesn't sound like
real drums."

739
00:37:26,864 --> 00:37:28,397
That was the point.

740
00:37:28,430 --> 00:37:29,530
It didn't,
but it was something funkier.

741
00:37:29,564 --> 00:37:31,997
[ Music continues ]

742
00:37:32,030 --> 00:37:35,564
QUESTLOVE: What he did in 1971
will be the gold standard

743
00:37:35,597 --> 00:37:39,997
for how musicians will create
their music 10 years later.

744
00:37:40,030 --> 00:37:42,819
[ Run‐DMC's "Hard Times" plays ]

745
00:37:49,371 --> 00:37:53,505
The significance
of the black musician,

746
00:37:53,538 --> 00:37:58,338
songwriter, singer, producer,
whatever ‐‐

747
00:37:58,371 --> 00:38:00,871
To me it all boils down

748
00:38:00,905 --> 00:38:03,805
to communicating
the lives we live.

749
00:38:06,838 --> 00:38:10,538
♪ Unemployment
at a record high ♪

750
00:38:10,571 --> 00:38:14,671
♪ People coming, people going,
people born to die ♪

751
00:38:14,705 --> 00:38:17,838
♪ Don't ask me
because I don't know why ♪

752
00:38:17,871 --> 00:38:19,871
‐♪ But it's like that ♪
‐♪ What? ♪

753
00:38:19,905 --> 00:38:21,705
♪ And that's the way it is ♪

754
00:38:21,738 --> 00:38:23,605
♪ Huh, huh, huh, huh ♪

755
00:38:23,638 --> 00:38:25,105
BOYD:
It's a generation of people

756
00:38:25,138 --> 00:38:28,405
who don't have access
to musical instruments...

757
00:38:28,438 --> 00:38:30,605
Scratch it out. Scratch ‐‐
Scratch it ‐‐ Scratch it.

758
00:38:30,638 --> 00:38:32,705
... who don't have
musical training.

759
00:38:32,738 --> 00:38:35,838
They're using music
to create new music.

760
00:38:35,871 --> 00:38:38,605
We took what was available
and created hip‐hop.

761
00:38:38,638 --> 00:38:40,438
♪ ... why you search ♪

762
00:38:40,471 --> 00:38:42,371
♪ Take the train to the plane ♪

763
00:38:42,405 --> 00:38:44,438
♪ Drive to school
or the church ♪

764
00:38:44,471 --> 00:38:46,738
‐♪ It's like that ♪
‐♪ And that's the way it is ♪

765
00:38:46,771 --> 00:38:50,471
KING: With hip‐hop, the role of
the producer changes completely.

766
00:38:50,505 --> 00:38:53,538
You have producers sampling
and using drum machines.

767
00:38:55,071 --> 00:38:57,105
HADLEY: The best producers,
they have this ability

768
00:38:57,138 --> 00:39:00,071
to create a signature tapestry

769
00:39:00,105 --> 00:39:03,705
that makes all of these bits
and pieces

770
00:39:03,738 --> 00:39:06,471
actually sound
like an original composition.

771
00:39:06,505 --> 00:39:08,838
[ Siren wails ]

772
00:39:08,871 --> 00:39:10,838
You are now about to witness
the strength

773
00:39:10,871 --> 00:39:12,671
of street knowledge.

774
00:39:12,705 --> 00:39:14,871
[ Introduction to
"Straight Outta Compton" plays ]

775
00:39:16,605 --> 00:39:17,938
♪ Straight outta Compton ♪

776
00:39:17,971 --> 00:39:19,838
♪ Crazy motherfucker
named Ice Cube ♪

777
00:39:19,871 --> 00:39:22,105
♪ From the gang called
Niggaz Wit' Attitudes ♪

778
00:39:22,138 --> 00:39:23,938
KING:
In the early 1990s,

779
00:39:23,971 --> 00:39:27,805
Dr. Dre basically put
West Coast hip‐hop on the map.

780
00:39:27,838 --> 00:39:29,671
He was notorious
for having this sound

781
00:39:29,705 --> 00:39:31,038
that was unlike anything else.

782
00:39:31,071 --> 00:39:32,771
♪ But when I come back, boy ♪

783
00:39:32,805 --> 00:39:34,971
♪ I'm coming
straight outta Compton ♪

784
00:39:39,038 --> 00:39:43,738
Gangsta rap, that music took on
a life of its own,

785
00:39:43,771 --> 00:39:48,605
and it gave the West Coast
and L. A. scene its own voice.

786
00:39:48,638 --> 00:39:53,105
[ "Express Yourself" plays ]

787
00:39:53,138 --> 00:39:54,505
STEWART:
I remember the shift

788
00:39:54,538 --> 00:39:57,005
when NWA and Dre
came into the scene.

789
00:39:57,038 --> 00:39:59,105
Sonically, it was polished.

790
00:39:59,138 --> 00:40:01,105
But at the same time,

791
00:40:01,138 --> 00:40:04,638
it was like this super hard
West Coast sound.

792
00:40:04,671 --> 00:40:05,771
♪ I'm dropping flavor ♪

793
00:40:05,805 --> 00:40:07,638
♪ My behavior is hereditary ♪

794
00:40:07,671 --> 00:40:09,638
♪ But my technique
is very necessary ♪

795
00:40:09,671 --> 00:40:11,038
♪ Blame it on Ice Cube ♪

796
00:40:11,071 --> 00:40:12,905
♪ Because he said
it gets funky ♪

797
00:40:12,938 --> 00:40:14,438
♪ When you got a subject
and a predicate ♪

798
00:40:14,471 --> 00:40:16,505
STEWART:
And you felt Dre's presence

799
00:40:16,538 --> 00:40:19,105
as one of the greatest
hip‐hop producers of all time,

800
00:40:19,138 --> 00:40:21,605
if not the greatest.

801
00:40:21,638 --> 00:40:23,105
‐♪ Don't be another sequel ♪
‐♪ Express yourself ♪

802
00:40:23,138 --> 00:40:24,838
♪ Do it ♪

803
00:40:24,871 --> 00:40:25,871
IOVINE:
When we started Interscope,

804
00:40:25,905 --> 00:40:28,371
I didn't know anything
about running a business,

805
00:40:28,405 --> 00:40:30,071
and I knew even less
about hip‐hop.

806
00:40:30,105 --> 00:40:33,805
So this fella John McClain,
who was an Aandamp;R guy,

807
00:40:33,838 --> 00:40:35,971
brought this tape in and said,
"We have to sign these guys."

808
00:40:37,471 --> 00:40:39,738
I said, "Who is he?"
He goes, "It's Dr. Dre.

809
00:40:39,771 --> 00:40:42,338
It's his solo record.
He used to be in NWA."

810
00:40:42,371 --> 00:40:44,538
I said, "Okay, I don't really
know a lot about it,

811
00:40:44,571 --> 00:40:45,938
but play it for me."

812
00:40:45,971 --> 00:40:48,705
♪ One, two, three,
and to the four ♪

813
00:40:48,738 --> 00:40:51,338
♪ Snoop Doggy Dogg
and Dr. Dre is at the door ♪

814
00:40:51,371 --> 00:40:53,538
♪ Ready to make an entrance,
so back on up ♪

815
00:40:53,571 --> 00:40:55,638
♪ 'Cause you know
we're 'bout to rip shit up ♪

816
00:40:55,671 --> 00:40:57,871
♪ Give me the microphone first
so I can bust like a bubble ♪

817
00:40:57,905 --> 00:40:59,705
♪ Compton and Long Beach
together ♪

818
00:40:59,738 --> 00:41:01,105
♪ Now you know you in trouble ♪

819
00:41:01,138 --> 00:41:03,738
♪ Ain't nothing
but a G thang, baby ♪

820
00:41:03,771 --> 00:41:06,038
♪ Two loc'ed out niggas,
so we're crazy ♪

821
00:41:06,071 --> 00:41:08,005
IOVINE: And I didn't know
a lot about it.

822
00:41:08,038 --> 00:41:11,405
I didn't understand the music,
but I understood the sound.

823
00:41:11,438 --> 00:41:13,905
♪ Dre, creep to the mike
like a phantom ♪

824
00:41:13,938 --> 00:41:15,838
♪ Well, I'm peepin' and I'm
creepin' and I'm creepin' ♪

825
00:41:15,871 --> 00:41:17,371
IOVINE:
So Dre comes in.

826
00:41:17,405 --> 00:41:19,338
I said, "Dre, who recorded
this record?

827
00:41:19,371 --> 00:41:20,805
He said, "I did."

828
00:41:20,838 --> 00:41:22,105
I said, "No,
not who produced it.

829
00:41:22,138 --> 00:41:24,538
Who engineered it?
He said, "I did."

830
00:41:24,571 --> 00:41:26,671
I said, "Wow.
This guy's onto something."

831
00:41:26,705 --> 00:41:29,338
♪ With a producer who can rap
and control the maestro ♪

832
00:41:29,371 --> 00:41:31,938
♪ At the same time with
the dope rhyme that I kick ♪

833
00:41:31,971 --> 00:41:34,905
♪ You know and I know,
I flow some old funky shit ♪

834
00:41:34,938 --> 00:41:37,938
DR. DRE: Everybody has to have
their own sound.

835
00:41:37,971 --> 00:41:39,838
That's what makes it different,
you know?

836
00:41:39,871 --> 00:41:41,638
And I'm a perfectionist.

837
00:41:41,671 --> 00:41:44,338
'Cause no matter how hard
you work in the studio,

838
00:41:44,371 --> 00:41:45,738
no matter what you do,

839
00:41:45,771 --> 00:41:48,505
you don't know
if people are gonna dig it.

840
00:41:48,538 --> 00:41:50,105
♪ It's like this ♪

841
00:41:50,138 --> 00:41:51,905
♪ And who gives a fuck
about those? ♪

842
00:41:51,938 --> 00:41:54,805
It's very easy to make
a hip‐hop record.

843
00:41:54,838 --> 00:41:57,738
It's not easy to make
a good hip‐hop record.

844
00:41:57,771 --> 00:42:00,571
IOVINE: When Dre came in
with "The Chronic,"

845
00:42:00,605 --> 00:42:05,105
he was using live musicians
and recording it very sparse.

846
00:42:05,138 --> 00:42:08,038
RZA: He was finding samples
that we all overlooked,

847
00:42:08,071 --> 00:42:10,471
pulling from funk and G‐funk.

848
00:42:10,505 --> 00:42:12,571
You know, you listen
to the sample on "G Thang" ‐‐

849
00:42:12,605 --> 00:42:14,671
♪ Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo ♪

850
00:42:14,705 --> 00:42:17,405
♪ It's like this and like that
and like this and, uh ♪

851
00:42:17,438 --> 00:42:19,638
♪ It's like that and like this
and like that and, uh ♪

852
00:42:19,671 --> 00:42:22,371
He's hearing things

853
00:42:22,405 --> 00:42:24,871
that the average ear
will never encounter in a song.

854
00:42:24,905 --> 00:42:27,705
And then when he hears it,
he'll pull it out.

855
00:42:27,738 --> 00:42:29,538
He will pull it out.

856
00:42:29,571 --> 00:42:32,071
[ Music continues ]

857
00:42:32,105 --> 00:42:34,071
QUESTLOVE:
I'll admit something to you.

858
00:42:34,105 --> 00:42:37,905
I was one of the initial
naysayers

859
00:42:37,938 --> 00:42:39,771
of Dr. Dre's "The Chronic."

860
00:42:41,571 --> 00:42:45,605
It was like everything
I didn't want hip‐hop to be.

861
00:42:45,638 --> 00:42:49,071
It was clean, louder, bigger.

862
00:42:49,105 --> 00:42:52,371
I wanted my hip‐hop dirty.

863
00:42:52,405 --> 00:42:55,805
This DIY approach,
this very low‐budget,

864
00:42:55,838 --> 00:42:58,671
lo‐fi approach
to making music ‐‐

865
00:42:58,705 --> 00:43:02,405
That's what I felt hip‐hop
should and always be.

866
00:43:02,438 --> 00:43:04,571
♪ Creeping down
the back street on D's ♪

867
00:43:04,605 --> 00:43:06,671
It took me 10 years

868
00:43:06,705 --> 00:43:09,105
to really understand
where Dr. Dre was going.

869
00:43:09,138 --> 00:43:12,505
And now that I make records,

870
00:43:12,538 --> 00:43:16,905
now I understand why this album
is so important.

871
00:43:16,938 --> 00:43:19,571
RZA: What he did for hip‐hop
and for sampling

872
00:43:19,605 --> 00:43:22,938
is that he proved
that you can make a record

873
00:43:22,971 --> 00:43:25,605
of the highest quality
as a hip‐hop producer.

874
00:43:25,638 --> 00:43:27,338
♪ When they hear me
beating up the street ♪

875
00:43:27,371 --> 00:43:29,071
♪ "Is it Dre? Is it Dre?" ♪

876
00:43:29,105 --> 00:43:30,971
♪ That's what they say ♪

877
00:43:31,005 --> 00:43:33,038
ROSEN: People kind of
scorned hip‐hop producers

878
00:43:33,071 --> 00:43:35,538
for not being real musicians.

879
00:43:35,571 --> 00:43:37,538
‐♪ With all the niggas sayin' ♪
‐♪ Swing down... ♪

880
00:43:37,571 --> 00:43:40,471
Today, playing around
with sampling technology,

881
00:43:40,505 --> 00:43:42,505
it's become completely accepted.

882
00:43:42,538 --> 00:43:45,071
This is the way
that most people make records.

883
00:43:45,105 --> 00:43:48,538
RZA:
The digital wave of music

884
00:43:48,571 --> 00:43:52,105
gave us a whole orchestra
of instrumentation

885
00:43:52,138 --> 00:43:54,471
in front of our hands,
you know what I mean?

886
00:43:54,505 --> 00:43:56,038
That's one of the greatest
things we could have.

887
00:43:56,071 --> 00:43:58,038
If Mozart had this, imagine.

888
00:43:58,071 --> 00:44:00,971
DR. LUKE: The ability
to re‐record something 10 times,

889
00:44:01,005 --> 00:44:04,071
comp it, the ability to have
so many tracks

890
00:44:04,105 --> 00:44:07,071
where you can sort of do
crazy layers, you know,

891
00:44:07,105 --> 00:44:09,038
more than Phil Spector did.

892
00:44:09,071 --> 00:44:12,738
You can have 300 tracks
on something now.

893
00:44:12,771 --> 00:44:14,605
You can set up in your room

894
00:44:14,638 --> 00:44:16,471
and just have a microphone
and your laptop,

895
00:44:16,505 --> 00:44:19,905
and you can make something
that's formidable and dope

896
00:44:19,938 --> 00:44:21,471
and that rocks.

897
00:44:21,505 --> 00:44:22,671
Like, you can.

898
00:44:22,705 --> 00:44:24,971
That's just where
the technology is.

899
00:44:26,371 --> 00:44:30,338
But all technology does
is provide you with paints.

900
00:44:30,371 --> 00:44:34,005
A producer is somebody who can
take the color and make it.

901
00:44:34,038 --> 00:44:35,938
You didn't have to have a drop.

902
00:44:35,971 --> 00:44:38,538
I just felt like it was staying
exciting, and then...

903
00:44:38,571 --> 00:44:40,371
RUBIN: I think everyone benefits
from having a producer

904
00:44:40,405 --> 00:44:45,505
just because it really helps
having sort of an impartial jury

905
00:44:45,538 --> 00:44:47,905
to make sense of it all.

906
00:44:47,938 --> 00:44:49,871
But there's no right
or wrong way to do this.

907
00:44:49,905 --> 00:44:51,905
It's like any way you find
the inspiration works.

908
00:44:58,505 --> 00:45:00,105
"Jam" means "record."

909
00:45:00,138 --> 00:45:02,271
"Def" is short for "definitive."

910
00:45:02,305 --> 00:45:05,138
Definitely the best records
you could buy today.

911
00:45:05,171 --> 00:45:07,205
♪ Brass monkey ♪

912
00:45:07,238 --> 00:45:09,438
♪ That funky monkey ♪

913
00:45:09,471 --> 00:45:11,338
HOROVITZ:
When we first met Rick Rubin,

914
00:45:11,371 --> 00:45:13,271
I didn't know anything
about production.

915
00:45:13,305 --> 00:45:16,071
I didn't think about production.
I didn't know it even existed.

916
00:45:16,105 --> 00:45:18,138
Rick definitely was into that.

917
00:45:18,171 --> 00:45:21,105
Luckily, he was good at it.
You know what I mean?

918
00:45:21,138 --> 00:45:24,205
He could've sucked, and that
would've been the end of it ‐‐

919
00:45:24,238 --> 00:45:25,605
for all of us.

920
00:45:25,638 --> 00:45:27,405
♪ Come on, y'all,
it's time to get nice ♪

921
00:45:27,438 --> 00:45:29,238
♪ Coolin' by the lockers,
gettin' kind of funky ♪

922
00:45:29,271 --> 00:45:31,338
KING:
Rick Rubin started Def Jam,

923
00:45:31,371 --> 00:45:34,405
the massive,
multimillion‐dollar enterprise,

924
00:45:34,438 --> 00:45:36,305
in his dorm room at NYU.

925
00:45:36,338 --> 00:45:39,205
And he went on to produce
Run‐DMC,

926
00:45:39,238 --> 00:45:42,305
Beastie Boys, Metallica,
and Slayer.

927
00:45:42,338 --> 00:45:44,371
He's produced
The Red Hot Chili Peppers,

928
00:45:44,405 --> 00:45:46,471
The Dixie Chicks.

929
00:45:46,505 --> 00:45:48,905
He's an incredibly diverse
and wide‐ranging producer.

930
00:45:50,371 --> 00:45:55,105
The reason that the artists
might not all fit into one genre

931
00:45:55,138 --> 00:45:57,338
is it's not really the way
I listen to music.

932
00:45:57,371 --> 00:45:58,971
I just like good music,

933
00:45:59,005 --> 00:46:02,838
and I try not to categorize it
too much.

934
00:46:02,871 --> 00:46:04,905
KING:
In the early 1990s,

935
00:46:04,938 --> 00:46:08,171
Rick Rubin started a new
record label, Def American,

936
00:46:08,205 --> 00:46:12,571
and he was really interested in
testing himself as a producer.

937
00:46:12,605 --> 00:46:14,571
RUBIN: By that time, most
of the artists I had worked with

938
00:46:14,605 --> 00:46:16,538
were new and young artists.

939
00:46:16,571 --> 00:46:20,871
And it felt like it would be
a really interesting challenge

940
00:46:20,905 --> 00:46:24,371
to find a great older artist
who'd been through a lot

941
00:46:24,405 --> 00:46:27,138
and maybe wasn't doing
their best work at the time.

942
00:46:27,171 --> 00:46:29,571
And the first person
I thought of was Johnny Cash.

943
00:46:29,605 --> 00:46:31,438
[ Down‐tempo music playing ]

944
00:46:35,938 --> 00:46:38,405
He'd been dropped by two labels.

945
00:46:38,438 --> 00:46:41,005
He had already had a comeback,

946
00:46:41,038 --> 00:46:43,805
and that was probably
25 years earlier.

947
00:46:45,338 --> 00:46:47,071
ROSEANNE CASH:
He thought people didn't care

948
00:46:47,105 --> 00:46:48,971
about his work anymore.

949
00:46:49,005 --> 00:46:51,871
He didn't feel the support
from the label.

950
00:46:51,905 --> 00:46:53,238
He was floundering a bit.

951
00:46:56,505 --> 00:46:58,571
STUART: Country music would have
nothing to do with him.

952
00:46:58,605 --> 00:47:01,138
In the '80s,
when I was in his band,

953
00:47:01,171 --> 00:47:04,338
we recorded album after album
after album.

954
00:47:04,371 --> 00:47:05,838
And nothing happened.

955
00:47:08,138 --> 00:47:11,105
JOHNNY CASH:
Somebody stole all the magic,

956
00:47:11,138 --> 00:47:14,505
Like in the '70s,
some of the '80s,

957
00:47:14,538 --> 00:47:17,371
when the magic for the music
was gone.

958
00:47:17,405 --> 00:47:19,505
And I was just doing it
because I do it.

959
00:47:19,538 --> 00:47:21,471
I was just doing it
'cause that's what I do.

960
00:47:21,505 --> 00:47:22,838
And I hate that.

961
00:47:22,871 --> 00:47:24,338
[ Music continues ]

962
00:47:26,471 --> 00:47:29,038
RUBIN: A friend of mine set up
a meeting for us.

963
00:47:29,071 --> 00:47:31,471
He was playing at a
dinner theater in Orange County.

964
00:47:31,505 --> 00:47:34,238
It didn't feel like a place
that was appropriate

965
00:47:34,271 --> 00:47:36,838
for someone of his importance
to be playing.

966
00:47:39,071 --> 00:47:41,505
It just was sad.

967
00:47:41,538 --> 00:47:43,238
JOHNNY CASH:
My contract was running out

968
00:47:43,271 --> 00:47:44,871
with the other record company,

969
00:47:44,905 --> 00:47:48,371
and Rick Rubin came down
to see me.

970
00:47:48,405 --> 00:47:51,171
And I liked the way he talked.

971
00:47:51,205 --> 00:47:55,038
He talked like ‐‐
He reminded me of Sam Phillips.

972
00:47:58,238 --> 00:48:00,305
And I said,
"What would you do with me

973
00:48:00,338 --> 00:48:04,171
that everybody else has tried
to do, you know, and couldn't?"

974
00:48:04,205 --> 00:48:05,538
And he said, "Well,
what would you like to do?

975
00:48:10,571 --> 00:48:14,338
RUBIN: We always started
in my living room

976
00:48:14,371 --> 00:48:17,438
just with a guitar
and talking about songs.

977
00:48:17,471 --> 00:48:20,905
♪ Back about 18 and 25 ♪

978
00:48:20,938 --> 00:48:24,205
♪ I left Tennessee
very much alive ♪

979
00:48:24,238 --> 00:48:26,305
And I would have him sing me
songs from his childhood.

980
00:48:26,338 --> 00:48:28,438
♪ ...through the Arkansas mud ♪

981
00:48:28,471 --> 00:48:30,605
He played me songs they would
sing on the cotton fields

982
00:48:30,638 --> 00:48:32,305
when he used to pick cotton.

983
00:48:32,338 --> 00:48:35,338
♪ The Tennessee stud
was long and lean ♪

984
00:48:35,371 --> 00:48:37,871
♪ The color of the sun
and his eyes were green ♪

985
00:48:40,571 --> 00:48:44,971
He really gave me a tremendous
education in this lost music

986
00:48:45,005 --> 00:48:46,838
that I didn't know anything
about.

987
00:48:46,871 --> 00:48:48,371
And I loved it.

988
00:48:48,405 --> 00:48:51,138
♪ Pretty little baby
on the cabin floor ♪

989
00:48:51,171 --> 00:48:54,071
♪ Little hoss colt
playing 'round the door ♪

990
00:48:54,105 --> 00:48:58,071
From the first time that we met,
we recorded everything,

991
00:48:58,105 --> 00:48:59,505
just had the machine going
all the time.

992
00:49:00,638 --> 00:49:03,971
It becomes second nature.

993
00:49:04,005 --> 00:49:06,505
People forget they're recording
and just sort of be themselves.

994
00:49:06,538 --> 00:49:08,271
That's the goal ‐‐
to get to that point.

995
00:49:13,105 --> 00:49:14,805
[ Music slows, ends ]

996
00:49:23,371 --> 00:49:25,038
That was great.

997
00:49:25,071 --> 00:49:28,405
The first album we made
was mostly solo acoustic.

998
00:49:28,438 --> 00:49:31,938
And then it came time
to do the next one, and he had

999
00:49:31,971 --> 00:49:33,971
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
as the backing band.

1000
00:49:34,005 --> 00:49:37,938
[ Introduction to
"I Never Picked Cotton" plays ]

1001
00:49:37,971 --> 00:49:40,138
♪ I never picked cotton ♪

1002
00:49:40,171 --> 00:49:43,971
PETTY: Rick's idea was to set
John free

1003
00:49:44,005 --> 00:49:46,205
and let that artist live.

1004
00:49:46,238 --> 00:49:48,171
♪ And my daddy died young ♪

1005
00:49:48,205 --> 00:49:51,571
♪ Working in a coal mine ♪

1006
00:49:51,605 --> 00:49:54,138
John would start to sing,

1007
00:49:54,171 --> 00:49:57,871
and we'd get kind of a feel for
how the arrangement might go,

1008
00:49:57,905 --> 00:49:59,938
and then, woof ‐‐

1009
00:49:59,971 --> 00:50:04,171
everybody would jump onto
their respective instruments.

1010
00:50:04,205 --> 00:50:07,438
♪ And it was fast cars
and whiskey ♪

1011
00:50:07,471 --> 00:50:09,538
♪ Long‐legged girls and fun ♪

1012
00:50:09,571 --> 00:50:13,005
I mean, it was raw,
and at times it wasn't musical,

1013
00:50:13,038 --> 00:50:15,005
but it was so real
and so heartfelt

1014
00:50:15,038 --> 00:50:17,371
that it almost brought me
to tears.

1015
00:50:17,405 --> 00:50:20,171
But then Rick would really try
to push Johnny

1016
00:50:20,205 --> 00:50:23,105
to do things that he would
never think of doing.

1017
00:50:23,138 --> 00:50:27,171
RUBIN: I played Johnny Cash the
Soundgarden song "Rusty Cage,"

1018
00:50:27,205 --> 00:50:29,871
which is a heavy‐metal song

1019
00:50:29,905 --> 00:50:32,971
with Chris Cornell singing
in a very high‐pitched scream.

1020
00:50:33,005 --> 00:50:36,505
♪ I'm gonna break
my rusty cage ♪

1021
00:50:36,538 --> 00:50:38,405
Johnny listened to it
and just shook his head,

1022
00:50:38,438 --> 00:50:40,471
like, "I don't really know
what you're thinking.

1023
00:50:40,505 --> 00:50:43,271
I can't imagine myself
doing that."

1024
00:50:45,038 --> 00:50:48,571
And then I made
an acoustic demo of it.

1025
00:50:48,605 --> 00:50:50,371
[ Mid‐tempo introduction plays ]

1026
00:50:50,405 --> 00:50:52,138
PETTY:
And bit by bit,

1027
00:50:52,171 --> 00:50:54,538
Rick guided us through
the arrangement,

1028
00:50:54,571 --> 00:50:56,905
and there it was, you know?

1029
00:50:56,938 --> 00:50:58,971
♪ You wired me awake ♪

1030
00:50:59,005 --> 00:51:01,538
♪ And hit me with a hand
of broken nails ♪

1031
00:51:03,171 --> 00:51:07,971
Johnny was really happy,
and he said, "I love this.

1032
00:51:08,005 --> 00:51:09,338
This is great."

1033
00:51:09,371 --> 00:51:12,205
He goes, "This is gonna piss off
so many people."

1034
00:51:12,238 --> 00:51:14,538
♪ I'm gonna break ♪

1035
00:51:14,571 --> 00:51:17,105
♪ I'm gonna break my ♪

1036
00:51:17,138 --> 00:51:20,038
♪ Gonna break my rusty cage ♪

1037
00:51:22,538 --> 00:51:23,871
And run.

1038
00:51:29,438 --> 00:51:32,571
♪ It don't hurt anymore ♪

1039
00:51:32,605 --> 00:51:35,171
RUBIN: A lot of the job
is that of being a therapist,

1040
00:51:35,205 --> 00:51:40,138
of being there
and really hearing the artist

1041
00:51:40,171 --> 00:51:42,105
and hearing what their vision is

1042
00:51:42,138 --> 00:51:46,205
and really setting up a place
where they feel they're safe

1043
00:51:46,238 --> 00:51:51,205
and can be vulnerable
and show themselves completely.

1044
00:51:51,238 --> 00:51:53,605
♪ And at last I am free ♪

1045
00:51:53,638 --> 00:51:55,871
ROSEANNE CASH:
The infusion he gave my dad

1046
00:51:55,905 --> 00:51:58,405
of the old confidence
and passion,

1047
00:51:58,438 --> 00:52:00,471
it was so powerful.

1048
00:52:00,505 --> 00:52:04,905
Rick was like an angel
that came in saying,

1049
00:52:04,938 --> 00:52:06,171
"Remember,
this is who you are."

1050
00:52:07,971 --> 00:52:09,538
I mean,
it was as simple as that.

1051
00:52:09,571 --> 00:52:11,238
Remember.

1052
00:52:11,271 --> 00:52:14,071
♪ And it's wonderful now ♪

1053
00:52:15,605 --> 00:52:18,805
♪ I don't hurt anymore ♪