American Epic – BBC Arena

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Coming to BBC ‘Arena’ in October I believe.
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The 1920s are an almost mythical time for the American recording industry, when record labels scoured the map and recorded a huge variety of folk, blues, country and ethnic songs by now-legendary acts like the Carter Family. But who were the people involved, and how did the technology work?

Those questions are at the heart of “American Epic,” a three-part documentary series coming to PBS and BBC Arena in October. It is the result of some eight years of research by two British filmmakers, Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty, into the methods of the record companies. Faced with plunging sales after the arrival of radio, the labels pursued new audiences by exploring rural America.

“These recordings were the first time America heard itself,” Mr. MacMahon said in an interview. “It is like the DNA of America, its raw expression.”

The series, whose executive producers are T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford and Jack White, traces the stories of the musicians involved, with rare photographs and films, like footage of 1920s folk festivals.

The filmmakers have also reconstructed an elaborate recording machine from the era — it involves weights and pulleys — and made new records on it, with contemporary performers like Willie Nelson, Elton John, Nas and Mr. White. These performances will be featured in a separate feature-length special, “American Epic Sessions,” also on PBS stations and BBC Arena; Sony will release the soundtrack.

Despite being made on a recreated machine from the 1920s, the new recordings were strikingly clear in a preview. Mr. MacMahon attributed that to the ingenuity of the machine’s design and the immediacy of recording methods of the time, which cut sounds directly to disc without editing.

“This period,” Mr. MacMahon said, “represents an apex of American technological innovation.”
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Trailer here:

Should be interesting.
h

• This topic was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by  hms.

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