Rock and roll is arguably the American art form, born out of the folk music of both black and white Americans. 'American Epic' explores its primitive forebears, through the first recordings made of its sounds; and as a bonus, we get to see a distinguished array of modern musicians attempt to record with a reconstructed version of the very recording instruments that were used to capture the music heard earlier in the series. It's worth noting just how ancient this music is; the foundational legend of the blues lies in the story of Robert Johnson, for example, but here we learn of (and hear) Charlie Patton, from whom Johnson learnt. Some of the pioneers, like Patton, died young; others, like Mississippi John Hurt, were remarkably rediscovered after decades of obscurity. The series is slow, and reverent, and the music perhaps unsophisticated for modern tastes, but at the same time, the roots of what came after are clear, and it is interesting to think about the context (of rural poverty) within which this music was made. And it's nice to see the moderns appreciating the past.
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paul2001sw-12 July 2017
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Robert Redford narrates as this four part PBS series takes a look at the very earliest musical recordings of ordinary folks, that is to say, singers and musicians who were not professionals but simply played for the enjoyment of themselves, and their families and local communities. When record companies began to experience a downturn in sales in the 1920's, they sent their scouts into non-traditional areas of the South and West in an attempt to discover new and different forms of music that had the potential to appeal to the masses. What they found was a vast array of musical sights and sounds that would have remained forever unknown had their efforts never been undertaken. I think the series would probably most appeal to fans of the blues, with a very good exposition of the Mississippi Delta Blues in the second chapter, "Blood and Soil". A particular highlight of the third chapter mentions the invention of the steel guitar under rather unlikely circumstances and it's an amazing story. Wrapping up the series is a lengthy tribute to the original artists from the 1920's, recorded on components pieced together from original equipment made by the Western Electric Recording Company.
As a couple of other reviewers have mentioned, this may not appeal to all tastes as the episodes take their time elaborating on names from the past, most of whom one has never heard of before. However as links from the past are brought forward to demonstrate their influences on modern musicians, the effort becomes much more appreciated. I enjoyed the series personally, and it was thrilling to see early performers in archive footage that I'd never seen before, folks like Son House and Honey Boy Edwards, names I was familiar with but never expected to actually see in any form of media. If the reader would care to explore further, I've posted a review of each of the individual episodes in the series. Enjoy. -
sinny_koshka9 June 2017Watching tonight on BBC 4 and really appreciating this movie. Clean, clear and uncluttered tunes produced in a no nonsense documentary.
As well as the classy music, the insight into old recording technologies is spot on.
The only thing missing is Nick Cave but you can"t have everything :-) -
tomtpcarpe12 February 2020American Epic (the full series on Amazon Prime) chronicles the discovery and preservation of all types of American music, from Hillbilly to the Blues to Native American to Hawaiian to Cajun. It's all there. The most compelling is the final episode wherein musicians from all genres record their songs using original recording technology. A must for historians, musicians, and techies.
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cherold5 January 2018I expected to like this more than I did. There are interesting moments and some really interesting music, but there's an odd shapelessness about it all.
The choice of talking heads doesn't help. Some are pretty knowledgeable, but others like Jack White seem to be there more for name recognition than because they can actually add anything. I have no interest in talking heads if what they're going to say is, well, I've never heard of this before but it sure is cool.
I watched the first two episodes, and I just could not get into the series. I mean, it's fine, though a bit on the slow side, but there's no real sense that there's any sort of vision behind the thing. It's just, here's some music, here are some facts, isn't that neat.