Country Music's new Ken Burns docs scramble between reality and reality

The musician Rosanne Cash has the habit of talking about her father, Johnny Cash. After all, she has lived in her shadow all her life and even wrote a memoir in 2010 that examines in part her stormy relationship with him. But for Ken Burns' new mini-series "Country Music," which details the creation of modern country music, she was not prepared for the emotional journey of returning to the past.

"Well, some places they went were painful:" What did you sing on your father's death bed? "Said Rosanne Cash to IndieWire. "I think it was the first time I told that."

"Country Music" is interested in these details – not to undermine a personal tragedy – but to highlight the often complex and tumultuous lives conducted by these legends of the industry. So much sorrow of love, loneliness and, of course, drama, made the headlines and simultaneously fueled the art.

Straight from the musician's mouth

There is another advantage to telling a story, however, that Cash chose to sing "The Winding Stream" for his father's last moments. The Carter family song brings the eight-part docuseries to the nascent country music circle, which is detailed in the first episodes. This song choice highlights all the influence of the Carters, their music continues to make its appearance and the way the family touched Cash, beyond the simple fact of having a mother-in-law Carter Cash.

Related, connected, related

This is what Cash calls "basic" music, the foundation of so much country music. And it is this innate knowledge and respect for the melodies and fundamental musical styles that prompted the producers of Country Music to rely so heavily on the use of big names in the music industry as heads. talking. The docuseries are filled with dozens of singers, songwriters, session musicians and producers, but only one historian, Bill Malone.

"It was a process of realizing that there were probably a lot of historians we were going to interview, and then realizing that you did not really need it because everybody, at every age, in every type of country music, seemed to possess the photo album of their story, "Burns said. "They had examined the situation and felt that they could react to these things … We did not need the scaffolding that could be represented by scholarly research. In fact, it's best to get players who have played [the songs or venues] or meet the person and talk to them about the way they did it. "

"[The history] Since 1968, I speak of family. This is the world I wanted to be part of, "said Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Marty Stuart. "I started with Lester Flatt at the age of 13, so everything we talked about was almost like family stories I brought. I mean, I lived it. These people are still alive for me in my heart, as they were when they were here. "

Facts against Lore

Rahul Ghose / PBS

Of course, this is the documentary player's endless struggle: the balance between documented facts and personal accounts. And while Cash lent a note of authenticity to the proceedings, she wanted to make sure that "Country Music" was addressed to all the right people.

"I was booked early. I was a little suspicious because I did not know if they had the knowledge or understanding of what they were going to do, "she said. "I completely underestimated their dedication for their own research and skills, their time and effort invested and their desire to hear music people, musicians and music professionals to know who they are. ; address. even talk to. I have therefore been more and more impressed over time. "

Dayton Duncan, author of "Country Music" and the reference book, first addressed scholars before attempting to summarize the history of this American genre. But they also offered critical comments.

"If you look at the end of this book [at the bibliography]you'll see a few hundred books that are an integral part of our work, not to mention the newspaper articles and interviews that have taken place, "he said. "We also had about 15 film advisers who are experts in the field. They were reading a first version of the script, sending us their comments, what we were messing up with and what they thought they were getting. Then, when we started making the film, we invite them to watch and follow the same process. You do your best. "

Burns added, "In the end, they said things like," You know, I learned a lot of things that I did not know. And could you just say that this [song] was co-written by Tim Dubois? 'Make sure the co-authors are credited.' We were happy to do so. "

The narrative lie: subjectivity and failing memories

Bill Thorup, courtesy Grand Ole Opry Archives

The musicians who participated in the project were also able to help bridge the gap between these facts and tradition. Country music is legendary, and it is natural that some stories become more important than the way events unfold. The composer Harland Howard once said, "Country music is three chords and the truth. In the series, the Texas-based songwriter Rodney Crowell said, "Country music at its best says the truth even when it comes to a big lie."

Embracing country music means embracing fairy tales, and thus paying tribute to colorful yarns and larger-than-life characters.

"I listened to Sam [Phillips] tells how he discovered Elvis. The truth was better than anything Sam had ever said, but no one was going to go, "Sam, that's not how things went," Stuart said. "One thing I love in country music, probably more than any other culture – maybe blues rivals it – there are so many American folk heroes. There is the coal miner's daughter, the black man, the red-headed foreigner, and so on. They did not become folk heroes by pure myth; What I like is that all these people were elected by the people.

"Most people in this country music movie were that kind of people. They represented their families, their communities, their crops, their farms, their jobs as blue-collar workers. These people elected them and they trusted them. "

The personal memory may, however, be defective, and sometimes even the storyteller has been convinced of his own story. In the series, Stuart reveals that as a pre-adolescent, he had attended a concert by Connie Smith, had met her briefly and had sworn to marry him one day. Twenty-five years later, these words have become reality. It's a beautiful story, and especially true, except a fact.

"I've always said that I was 12 years old [at the concert]. We were there and they said I was 11 years old. I said, "I think you're wrong. I was 12 years old. They watched me and said, "No, you're wrong. We did the math and you were 11 years old. They taught me about my own life and I appreciated that. I was wrong. "

Burns, however, recognizes the temptation and pitfalls of believing in tradition, no matter how well established.

"Time Magazine used to have a phrase: it's a fact too good to check. We have learned over the years that it is much better to check even if it destabilizes a good scene and adds complexity to what is true, "he said. "We have been working for eight and a half years because we do not want to continue to promote superficial or factually inaccurate things.

"Now, are there any mistakes? I bet you there is some. But we worked very well in all our films not to do it, "he continued. "In 'Baseball', for example, we promoted a trope that turned out to be wrong, which took us 20 years to understand. But Pee-Wee Reese did not put his arm around Jackie Robinson on his famous first trip to Cincinnati, where racists were everywhere. It's not in his autobiography, it's not in the black press. In our biography on Jackie, we had the opportunity to correct it by saying, "You know, it's just the whites who want skin … in the game," and this myth is growing. We have therefore tried to free ourselves from the tyranny of transmitting only the apocryphal.

"You learn and sometimes you have to say, 'We do not agree. It's not a scholarly text, "said Burns. "At the same time, our inclination pushes us in this direction and we think it's worthwhile to devote a six-minute section to" Long Black Veil ", excluding some other great ballad topics."

The black influence and the presence

PBS

The origins of country music can not ignore the black influence, and the first episode is even titled "The Rub", referring to the friction or friction between black and white America. For example, the banjo is considered a classical country musical instrument and it comes from the African lute made from gourds. "Country music comes from the south because that's where slavery took place," says the series.

In the series, only a handful of black country music artists are showcased and the common denominator to these stories is that race has become a problem of their success and how they have been perceived. Of course, stars such as Rhannon Giddens, the front singer of Charley Pride and Carolina Chocolate Drops, have been admired in the field, but there is always the impression that inclusion is always the only way to go. exception. Although the series has not been around since 1996, one wonders how she could have managed the importance of Lil Nas X, a proud and proud black gay rapper who dominated the charts with her remix of her song "Old Town Road. "With Billy Ray Cyrus.

Cash recognizes that personal accounts can color the story, but points out that some facts simply can not be ignored, even by those who would like the opposite.

"My own experience can only help me color what I have published. They were very generous and respected the desire to see through this prism, but everyone was doing it through their own prism, "she said. "The facts are facts of course – although today we are told they are not – but they are. Seeing these facts through their influence on different musicians and the cohesion of their way of telling the story – by bringing together the music of the Appalachians and Bob Wills and Bakersfield and the African banjo and ancient folk music – have all been incorporated into the room. "

The first setbacks for black artists receive a passing mention, before the beginning of the series. The African-American musician DeFord Bailey was the first musician to be featured at the Grand Ole Opry radio show and his first black performer when it became a stage show. When he went on tour, many of his fellow white performers had to stay by his side when he was denied service because of his race. But in 1941, at the height of the license war, he refused to learn non-ASCAP songs and was quickly fired. Judge George Hay, who had first hired Bailey, struck out his long-time colleague and said, "Like many members of his race, he was lazy."

"One thing we also wanted to avoid, is to be always didactic, as if we had an underlying political agenda, or at least that we go from narrative to the presentation" you will do or you will not do it. In the genre of documentary, these are ruts hard to avoid, "said Burns.

"[We wanted to avoid] put your thumb on the scale and point to a neon sign saying what is a racist Hay. We hope that our audience will be able to fight against himself, the affection that he develops for him if he had one, and then the repulsion we hope to have for this statement. "

Although "Country Music" does not address more deeply the daily racism in music and its biggest stars, the truth is today. The mix of cultures has brought this new genre, yet it has evolved to forget and exclude African Americans. Or maybe black America has decided to leave the country music behind it.

Can the circle remain intact?

Carter Family Museum, Sony

It can not be denied that the history of country music is complicated and messy, but the series offers the genre a legitimacy that had never been offered. These are not just sad songs about a woman leaving a man and taking his van, a barbecue stain on a white t-shirt, or any other casual typing line on his subject.

"[Everyone] ended up feeling convinced that a music they loved, which had been their life as a scholar or performer, singer or journalist, suddenly received a kind of legitimate justification for their work. They had never seen this before, "Burns said. "Being a disciple of country music, it is inviting the worst kind of stigma to true scholars who would never dare to downgrade to something as common or out of place. lower."

Stuart appreciates the fact that the series legitimizes country music for the community ("This film must be a victory for them.") And the general culture of country music. But as much as the past influences, he hopes the series will revive the same stories for the next generation.

"It informs new country artists who probably do not know why they are there and thinks that country music started with anyone in 1990. It gives them a glimpse into the world. I always wanted to know if it was Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers or the Carter family, Jimmie Rogers or Luke Combs or Chris Stapleton or Taylor Swift – it does not matter.

"Go up and start looking around and find something that will apply to your life. If it is not now, wait until your first divorce arrives or the first train crushes you or something. It really speaks to the human condition. "

Watch a trailer for the docuseries:

Country Music is broadcast at 8pm. HE on eight nights, from Sunday, September 15 to Wednesday, September 18 and the following week to Sunday, September 22 to Wednesday, September 25.

Additional report by Steve Greene.

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