Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Last updated
Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music from The American Epic Sessions 312x312.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedJune 9, 2017
Genre Cajun, country, blues, folk, Hawaiian, Hispanic, Mexican, rock, Tex-Mex
Length89:35 (deluxe), 36:47 (standard)
Label Lo-Max, Columbia, Third Man
Producer T Bone Burnett, Jack White, Duke Erikson, Bernard MacMahon
American Epic chronology
American Epic: The Soundtrack
(2017)		Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2017)		 American Epic: The Best Of Blues
(2017)

Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the official 2017 soundtrack album of the award-winning film The American Epic Sessions . The album features twenty-three music acts recording songs live on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. [1] The artists participating include Nas, Alabama Shakes, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack White, Taj Mahal, Ana Gabriel, Pokey LaFarge, Beck, Ashley Monroe, and Steve Martin. [2] The album won a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance for the Alabama Shakes' performance of "Killer Diller". [3] [4]

Contents

Background

"Our original idea was to film a typical 1920s recording session, so I got in touch with Frank Fairfield and the Americans—who play very much in the style and spirit of that period—and with T Bone Burnett providing production advice, we filmed a number of songs. It was like a séance, communing with the musical ghosts of the past through this equipment that had not been used in almost ninety years—it felt like the echoes of Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Jimmie Rodgers were still flowing through the wires. And the sound was amazing: clear and punchy, but utterly different from a modern recording." [5]

– Bernard MacMahon

The American Epic Sessions film and soundtrack was conceived by director Bernard MacMahon as a practical implementation of the music and technology explored in the first three American Epic films which focused on the first recordings of roots music in the USA in the 1920s. [6] Film producer Allison McGourty explained, "if the first three American Epic films are like the story of the Apollo [first crewed Moon landing] mission, with unseen film footage, interviews with the astronauts and scientists, then…The American Epic Sessions, is where we rebuild the rocket and go to the moon ourselves." [6] MacMahon added that the idea for The American Epic Sessions film and the soundtrack album was born out of a desire to understand on a practical level how the first electrical recordings in the 1920s were made, "you can only truly appreciate history, and understand why things were done the way they were done, by actually going out and doing them yourself." [7] The soundtrack album involved replicating a 1920s recording session, down to the smallest detail, with twenty-three contemporary music acts recording live on the original 1920s equipment in back to back sessions just as the original rural performers would have done over 80 years ago. [8] The film and soundtrack involved a decade of work restoring the machine, which was pieced together from spare parts scattered across the globe. [9] MacMahon invited Jack White and T Bone Burnett to produce the sessions, [10] and secured the use of Vox studios in Hollywood, [11] purportedly the oldest private recording studio in the world, built in 1936, to film and record the live performances. [12]

Content

The musicians were encouraged to record both a vintage song and a song they had written. [13] MacMahon and Duke Erikson created a list of vintage songs that they wanted to feature in the film and specifically chose songs for particular performers; "Mal Hombre" for Ana Gabriel, [14] "On the Road Again" for Nas, "Tomi Tomi" for the Hawaiians and "Nobody's Dirty Business" for Bettye LaVette. [15] Other performers researched the period and selected their own vintage songs; Jack White unearthed "Matrimonial Intentions", The Avett Brothers chose "Jordan Am a Hard Road" and Rhiannon Giddens covered Ida Cox's "One Hour Mama". [15] Most of the performers recorded two songs, although the duration of the film precluded all these performances appearing in the finished film. [16] Some performers wrote songs specifically for the film - Merle Haggard composed "The Only Man Wilder Than Me" as a duet for him and Willie Nelson to perform. [17] Elton John arrived at the studio with a lyric entitled "Two Fingers of Whiskey" that Bernie Taupin had written specifically for the film. Elton proceeded to write the melody live on camera and arrange the song with Jack White and recorded the song live direct to disc without leaving the room during the whole process. [18] [19] The soundtrack included twelve additional songs not featured in the film, [20] including "One Mic" by Nas, "Mama's Angel Child" by Jack White, "Come On In My Kitchen" by Stephen Stills, and "Josephine" by Pokey Lafarge.

Recording

Western Electric recording system

In 1925, Western Electric launched a new electronic recording system. [21] The machine revolutionized the recording of music because it could record every type of instrument and voice whereas the acoustic horn recordings that predated it were severely limited in what they could record effectively. [22] [23] [24] The new system consisted of an electrical microphone whose signal was amplified by a 6' amplifier rack. The amplified signal was then sent to a cutting head that cut a wax disc on a Scully cutting lathe that was pulley powered by a 100Ib brass weight. [25] In the 1920s as radio took over the pop music business, record companies were forced to expand their markets and leave their studios in major cities in search of new musical styles and markets. [26] They organized field recording sessions across America and recorded blues, gospel, Cajun, country, Hawaiian, Native American, and many other hitherto unrecorded types of music. The Western Electric system technologically made these recordings possible. [2] These recordings would go on to have vast cultural impact in North America and the rest of the world. [1] [6] [21] The recording system was leased out to the major record labels who had to pay a royalty, on every record sold, to Western Electric. [1] The success of these music recordings led to the system being leased by the major Hollywood studios for talking pictures after initial resistance. [27] [28] Although there are no records of how many of these machines were leased out to the record companies, estimates range from a dozen to two dozen. [21] Prior to the release of The American Epic Sessions, the recording system was mysterious and had not been seen in almost 80 years. [29] [30] American Epic engineer Nicholas Bergh explained, "I had two mentors when I was getting into audio who started their careers in the late 1930s in America and both of them told me that even by the late '30s this system was basically mythical and they had never seen any components of it or even pictures. So even in ten years it had basically disappeared off the face of the earth." [25]

Restoring the recording system

At the outset of the pre-production of the American Epic documentary series there were no known photos or film footage of the Western Electric system. [30] [31] Midway through the research on the film, MacMahon was introduced to sound engineer Nicholas Bergh as a possible collaborator. Bergh revealed that he had spent almost a decade attempting to restore the Western Electric system, [32] scavenging spare parts from around the world in places as far away as Japan and Europe in his quest to complete the system. [1] "All the individual items had to come from different places, often thousands of miles apart" he explained, "I was able to confirm my progress by studying the few crude music studio pictures that started to show up." [32] However, Bergh was missing a vital part of the set up – the pulley driven Scully lathe. On an exploratory trip to the Scully family looking for photographs, MacMahon discovered in the family's basement perhaps the only surviving 1924 Scully lathe and persuaded them to loan it to the production. [33] [34] MacMahon then set about persuading Bergh to engineer a session with contemporary artists recording on the system. Bergh was nervous about doing this as "moving that [the recording system] into a production environment, that was a major change." [20] MacMahon persuaded Bergh to participate in a test session with two new artists so as to limit the pressure. Frank Fairfield and The Americans were the first musicians to record on the system in over 80 years. [8] [26] [35] "The results were satisfactory" MacMahon explained, "but Nick wanted to operate the machine more effectively". [16] Producer and co-writer Allison McGourty gained access to the AT&T archive which kept the research documents for Western Electric. Within the archive they located engineers' casebooks and accounting forms that gave some more clues as to how to operate the machine. They also managed to locate 1920s photographs of the recording system being used in the Western Electric laboratory. [16] [36] Armed with this new information, Bergh agreed to MacMahon's plan to attempt a full recording session with twenty-three artists. [10]

Recording process

The Western Electric system was a live Direct-to-disc recording recording method. The earliest condenser microphone was wired into a six-foot amplifier rack comprising a preamplifier, a first level meter, a monitor amplifier, a line amplifier to drive the cutting head which etched the grooves onto a wax disc on the turntable of a Scully cutting lathe that was rotated by a pulley system and a 100 pounds (45 kg) weight. [25] The performers gathered around the microphone and carefully positioned themselves to achieve the correct balance. [37] The performers were cued into when they needed to start and stop playing by a light system operated by the sound engineer that hung in the live room. [7] The pulley allowed approximately three and a half minutes to record before the weight hit the floor. The calibration of the lathe has determined the length of the pop single to this day. [1] [38]

The Western Electric recording system favored small vocal-led groups, and this had a fundamental influence on them being the dominant musical aggregation to this day. [24] The recording system does not allow for any changes to be made to the live recording. [39]

Release

Music from the American Epic Sessions was released on June 9, 2017, three days after the US broadcast of The American Epic Sessions. It was released in a standard and deluxe format. The standard edition contained 13 tracks, and was released as a download. The deluxe format contained 32 tracks and was released on double CD, digital download and triple vinyl. [40] The vinyl release was launched with American Epic film screenings at Third Man Records in Detroit and Nashville. The albums sold at both these events were an exclusive white vinyl pressing. [41]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Australian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [42]
The Herald Very favorable [43]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [44]

The album was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many publications praising the performances and the quality of the sound. Iain Shedden in The Australian awarded it five stars and wrote that "this double album features the highlights of those sessions and it's an exquisite representation of the primitive power of American roots music and its enduring charm – music that stirs soul." [45] Greil Marcus in The Village Voice praised "performances so good you can hardly listen without thinking of how close each recording is to not existing at all." [46] Andy Gill in The Independent praised "Nas's hip-hop adaptation of the Memphis Jug Band's "On The Road Again" reflecting timeless themes and vocabulary of the black experience" adding that "Alabama Shakes' terrific version of "Killer Diller Blues" is brimful of the bounce and sass." [47] In France, Dominique Boulay in Paris Move wrote "for this beautiful soundtrack, Nicholas Bergh is the brilliant engineer who has collected the original parts of the recording system and it is therefore thanks to him (and the artists of course) that we now have this gem!" [48] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the Financial Times noted that "New York Rapper Nas does a superb cover of the Memphis Jug Band's "On the Road Again", exposing the hip-hop blueprint within the 1928 stomper." [49] Jerobear in Review Corner wrote that "It's impressive, and it contains enough of the antique feel to be quaint, and just enough studio engineering to sound good to modern ears. Producers T Bone Burnett and (predictably) Jack White line up a roster of stars in front of the mic to sing the old songs, and it works a treat." [50] Keith Bruce in The Herald concluded that the album "resulted in a slew of recording sessions, far beyond what was used on the programmes, where musicians old and young responded to the challenge of one-take recording to a disc-cutting lathe operated by clock-work and pulleys, that time-limited your performance. "You feel like your soul is coming out of the speaker," says Rhiannon Giddens. She is one of the younger contributors to this wonderful double album, along with Pokey LaFarge and Nas (Nasir Jones), who is a revelation." [51]

The album won a Grammy Award for the Alabama Shakes' performance of "Killer Diller". [3] [4]

Track listing

Deluxe edition CD

Disc one

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Killer Diller" Memphis Minnie Alabama Shakes 2:12
2."On The Road Again"J.B. Jones and Will Shade Nas 2:00
3."Candy Man" Rev. Gary Davis Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton 2:53
4."2 Fingers Of Whiskey" Elton John and Bernie Taupin Elton John and Jack White 2:52
5."The Coo Coo Bird"Traditional Steve Martin and Edie Brickell 3:19
6."Like A Rose" Ashley Monroe, Guy Clark, Jon Randall Ashley Monroe 3:06
7."The Only Man Wilder Than Me" Merle Haggard Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard 2:03
8."Matrimonial Intentions"Traditional Jack White 3:08
9."One Hour Mama" Porter Grainger Rhiannon Giddens 3:06
10."Mal Hombre"Lydia Mendoza Ana Gabriel 3:35
11."El Cascabel" Lorenzo Barcelata Los Lobos 2:24
12."Closer Walk With Thee"Traditional The Avett Brothers 3:28
13."Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods" Beck Hansen Beck 2:41
Total length:34:47

Disc two

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Nobody's Dirty Business" Frank Stokes Bettye LaVette 2:15
2."St. Louis Blues" W.C. Handy Pokey Lafarge 3:30
3."High Water Everywhere, Part 2" Charley Patton Taj Mahal 3:12
4."One Mic" Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson Nas 3:18
5."Pretty Saro"Traditional Rhiannon Giddens 2:41
6."Jubilee" Jean Ritchie Ashley Monroe and The Americans 2:43
7."Tous les Matins"Louis Michot The Lost Bayou Ramblers 2:46
8."When I Woke Up this Morning" Jim Jackson Bettye LaVette 2:29
9."If The River Was Whiskey" Charlie Poole Frank Fairfield2:05
10."Stealin Stealin" Will Shade Raphael Saadiq 2:40
11."Jordan am a Hard Road to Travel" Daniel Emmett The Avett Brothers 2:47
12."Sail Away Ladies"Traditional The Americans 2:04
13."Tomi Tomi"TraditionalThe Hawaiians2:29
14."Last Kind Words" Geeshie Wiley Christine Pizzuti2:50
15."Come On In My Kitchen" Robert Johnson Stephen Stills 2:21
16."Mama's Angel Child" Sweet Papa Stovepipe Jack White 3:01
17."Josephine" Pokey Lafarge Pokey Lafarge 3:12
18."Hilo Hanakahi"Keola NaliumThe Hawaiians3:44
19."Old Fashioned Love" James P. Johnson, Cecil Mack Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard 2:41
Total length:52:48

Vinyl

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Killer Diller"" Memphis Minnie Alabama Shakes 2:12
2."On The Road Again"J.B. Jones and Will Shade Nas 2:00
3."Candy Man" Rev. Gary Davis Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton 2:53
4."2 Fingers Of Whiskey" Elton John and Bernie Taupin Elton John and Jack White 2:52
5."The Coo Coo Bird"Traditional Steve Martin and Edie Brickell 3:19
6."Like A Rose" Ashley Monroe, Guy Clark, Jon Randall Ashley Monroe 3:06
Total length:16:22

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."The Only Man Wilder Than Me" Merle Haggard Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard 2:03
2."Matrimonial Intentions"Traditional Jack White 3:08
3."One Hour Mama" Porter Grainger Rhiannon Giddens 3:06
4."Mal Hombre"Lydia Mendoza Ana Gabriel 3:35
5."El Cascabel" Lorenzo Barcelata Los Lobos 2:24
Total length:14:16

Side three

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Closer Walk With Thee"Traditional The Avett Brothers 3:28
2."Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods" Beck Hansen Beck 2:41
3."Nobody's Dirty Business" Frank Stokes Bettye LaVette 2:15
4."St. Louis Blues" W.C. Handy Pokey Lafarge 3:30
5."High Water Everywhere, Part 2" Charley Patton Taj Mahal 3:12
Total length:15:06

Side four

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."One Mic" Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson Nas 3:18
2."Pretty Saro"Traditional Rhiannon Giddens 2:41
3."Jubilee" Jean Ritchie Ashley Monroe and The Americans 2:43
4."Tous les Matins"Louis Michot The Lost Bayou Ramblers 2:46
5."When I Woke Up this Morning" Jim Jackson Bettye LaVette 2:29
Total length:16:02

Side five

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Stealin Stealin" Will Shade Raphael Saadiq 2:40
2."Jordan am a Hard Road to Travel" Daniel Emmett The Avett Brothers 2:47
3."Sail Away Ladies"Traditional The Americans 2:04
4."Tomi Tomi"TraditionalThe Hawaiians2:29
5."Last Kind Words" Geeshie Wiley Christine Pizzuti2:50
Total length:12:50

Side six

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Come On In My Kitchen" Robert Johnson Stephen Stills 2:21
2."Mama's Angel Child" Sweet Papa Stovepipe Jack White 3:01
3."Josephine" Pokey LaFarge Pokey LaFarge 3:12
4."Hilo Hanakahi"Keola NaliumThe Hawaiians3:44
5."Old Fashioned Love" James P. Johnson, Cecil Mack Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard 2:41
Total length:14:59

Standard edition digital

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Killer Diller" Memphis Minnie Alabama Shakes 2:12
2."On The Road Again"J.B. Jones and Will Shade Nas 2:00
3."Candy Man" Rev. Gary Davis Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton 2:53
4."2 Fingers Of Whiskey" Elton John and Bernie Taupin Elton John and Jack White 2:52
5."The Coo Coo Bird"Traditional Steve Martin and Edie Brickell 3:19
6."Like A Rose" Ashley Monroe, Guy Clark, Jon Randall Ashley Monroe 3:06
7."The Only Man Wilder Than Me" Merle Haggard Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard 2:03
8."Matrimonial Intentions"Traditional Jack White 3:08
9."One Hour Mama" Porter Grainger Rhiannon Giddens 3:06
10."Mal Hombre"Lydia Mendoza Ana Gabriel 3:35
11."El Cascabel" Lorenzo Barcelata Los Lobos 2:24
12."Closer Walk With Thee"Traditional The Avett Brothers 3:28
13."Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods" Beck Hansen Beck 2:41
Total length:34:47

Performers

Groups

Other musicians

Production personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carter Family</span> Traditional American folk music group

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound influence on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock music, as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s.

Ralph Sylvester Peer was an American talent scout, recording engineer, record producer and music publisher in the 1920s and 1930s. Peer pioneered field recording of music when in June 1923 he took remote recording equipment south to Atlanta, Georgia, to record regional music outside the recording studio in such places as hotel rooms, ballrooms, or empty warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Patton</span> American Delta blues musician (1891–1934)

Charlie Patton, more often spelled Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American music and inspired most Delta blues musicians. The musicologist Robert Palmer considered him one of the most important American musicians of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Erikson</span> American musician, screenwriter, and film producer

Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 17 million albums worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Bayou Ramblers</span> Cajun music band from Louisiana

Lost Bayou Ramblers is a Cajun music band from Pilette, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison McGourty</span>

Allison McGourty is a British film producer and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard MacMahon (filmmaker)</span> British-American film director and screenwriter

Bernard MacMahon is an Irish-British filmmaker. His American Epic films are widely considered as the definitive portrait of a musical era, and one of the best music documentaries ever made.

<i>American Epic</i>

American Epic is a documentary media franchise based upon the first recordings of roots music in the United States during the 1920s and their cultural, social and technological impact on North America and the world. The franchise comprises a three-part award-winning documentary film series directed by Bernard MacMahon, a feature-length musical documentary film, a book, ten album releases and an educational program. American Epic is widely considered as the definitive portrait of the musical era, and one of the best music documentaries ever made.

<i>American Epic: The Collection</i> 2017 compilation album by Various artists

American Epic: The Collection is a 100-track, 5-CD box set of American roots music performances from the 1920s and 1930s. It was compiled by film director Bernard MacMahon to accompany the release of his American Epic documentary film series. The box features 100 songs by 100 different artists and has been acclaimed by many critics as a worthy successor to the Anthology of American Folk Music and one of the best box sets to ever be released. The box set won particular acclaim for the song selection and the sound quality of the transfers of vintage 78rpm records.

<i>American Epic: The First Time America Heard Itself</i> Book by Bernard MacMahon

American Epic: The First Time America Heard Itself is a collaborative memoir written by film director Bernard MacMahon, producer Allison McGourty, and music historian Elijah Wald. The book chronicles the 10-year odyssey researching and making the American Epic documentary series and The American Epic Sessions. It features interviews with subjects of the films and contains large amounts of supplementary information not featured in the documentary films or the music releases. The book and an audiobook was released on May 2, 2017.

<i>The American Epic Sessions</i> 2017 American film

The American Epic Sessions is a documentary film in which an engineer restores the fabled long-lost first electrical sound recording system from 1925, and twenty contemporary artists pay tribute to the momentous machine by attempting to record songs on it for the first time in 80 years. The film was directed and co-written by Bernard MacMahon and stars Nas, Alabama Shakes, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack White, Taj Mahal, Ana Gabriel, Pokey LaFarge, Beck, Ashley Monroe, Los Lobos, The Avett Brothers, Bettye LaVette, Rhiannon Giddens, Raphael Saadiq, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin, and others.

<i>American Epic: The Best of Blues</i> 2017 compilation album by Various artists

American Epic: The Best of Blues is a compilation of early blues songs recorded between 1927 and 1936 and released to accompany the American Epic films in 2017. The album was released as a 17-track download and a 13-track vinyl LP. The album was praised by critics as the definitive pre-war blues compilation.

<i>American Epic</i> (film series) 2017 American film

American Epic is a documentary film series about the first recordings of roots music in the United States during the 1920s and their cultural, social and technological impact on North America and the world. Directed and co-written by Bernard MacMahon, the story is told through twelve ethnically and musically diverse musicians who auditioned for and participated in these pioneering recording sessions: The Carter Family, the Memphis Jug Band, Elder J.E. Burch, The Williamson Brothers, Dick Justice, Charley Patton, The Hopi Indian Chanters, Joseph Kekuku, Lydia Mendoza, the Breaux Family, Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Willie Johnson. The film series is the core of the American Epic media franchise, which includes several related works.

<i>American Epic: The Soundtrack</i> 2017 soundtrack album by Various artists

American Epic: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the 2017 documentary film American Epic. The album features the 15 musical highlights from the documentary series recorded between 1927 and 2014.

<i>American Epic: The Best of Country</i> 2017 compilation album by Various artists

American Epic: The Best of Country is a compilation of early country and folk songs recorded between 1922 and 1934 and released in 2017 to accompany the award-winning American Epic documentary film series. The album was released as a 16-track download and a 12-track vinyl LP.

<i>American Epic: The Best of Mississippi John Hurt</i> 2017 compilation album by Mississippi John Hurt

American Epic: The Best of Mississippi John Hurt is a compilation album released to accompany the American Epic documentary films in 2017. It collects all the surviving performances from Mississippi John Hurt's first two recording sessions for OKeh Records in Memphis and New York City in 1928. The performances are cited as some of the greatest recordings of the 1920s.

<i>American Epic: The Best of The Carter Family</i> 2017 compilation album by The Carter Family

American Epic: The Best of The Carter Family is a compilation of Carter Family songs recorded between 1927 and 1933 and released in 2017 to accompany the award-winning American Epic documentary film series. The album was released as a 15-track download and a vinyl LP.

<i>American Epic: The Best of Lead Belly</i> 2017 compilation album by Lead Belly

American Epic: The Best of Lead Belly is a compilation of Lead Belly's first commercial recordings made in 1935 and released in 2017 to accompany the award-winning American Epic documentary film series. The album was released as a 14-track download and a vinyl LP.

<i>American Epic: The Best of Blind Willie Johnson</i> 2017 compilation album by Blind Willie Johnson

American Epic: The Best of Blind Willie Johnson is a compilation album released to accompany the award-winning American Epic documentary film series. It collects performances from Blind Willie Johnson's five recording sessions for Columbia Records in Dallas, Atlanta, and New Orleans between 1927 and 1930. The album was released as a 16-track download and a vinyl LP.

<i>American Epic: The Best of the Memphis Jug Band</i> 2017 compilation album by Memphis Jug Band

American Epic: The Best of the Memphis Jug Band is a compilation album released to accompany the award-winning American Epic documentary film series. It collects performances from the Memphis Jug Band's career-spanning recording sessions for Victor Records and OKeh Records between 1927 and 1934. The album was released as a 15-track download and a vinyl LP.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Long-Lost, Rebuilt Recording Equipment That First Captured the Sound of America". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  2. 1 2 "BBC - Arena: American Epic - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  3. 1 2 "60th Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  4. 1 2 "Watch Alabama Shakes Travel Back In Time With Cover Of 'Killer Diller'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  5. ↑ Bibliography| Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 241
  6. 1 2 3 Lewis, Randy (21 July 2017). "Reinventing the machine that let America hear itself on the PBS-BBC doc 'American Epic'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  7. 1 2 [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 255
  8. 1 2 "AMERICAN EPIC - A Journey Through the Music that Transformed America | PBS About". AMERICAN EPIC - A Journey Through the Music that Transformed America | PBS About. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  9. ↑ "'American Epic': Inside Jack White and Friends' New Roots-Music Doc". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  10. 1 2 [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, pp. 241-243
  11. ↑ "An 'Epic' Journey | MaxTheTrax". maxthetrax.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  12. ↑ "Vox Recording Studios, Los Angeles |". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  13. ↑ Willman, Chris (2017-06-07). "TV Review: 'The American Epic Sessions'". Variety. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  14. ↑ [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 243
  15. 1 2 Amstrong, Nikki (February–March 2018). "American Epic". Big City Rhythm & Blues. p. 31.
  16. 1 2 3 MacMahon, Bernard (September 28, 2016). "An Interview with Bernard MacMahon". Breakfast Television (Interview). Interview with Jill Belland. Calgary: City
  17. ↑ "The Performers in 'The American Epic Sessions'". WTTW Chicago Public Media - Television and Interactive. 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  18. ↑ "Watch Elton John and Jack White Duet on "Two Fingers of Whiskey"". Spin. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  19. ↑ Eccleston, Danny (June 2017). "American Epic". mojo.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  20. 1 2 Savage, Adam (June 9, 2017). "Stars recorded using restored 1920s system in new film". audiomediainternational.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  21. 1 2 3 Wald, Elijah; McGourty, Allison; MacMahon, Bernard; Bergh, Nicholas (2017). American Epic: The Collection . Legacy / Lo-Max. pp. liner notes essay. ASIN   B071RHDMB8.
  22. ↑ "WAMS - Acoustical Recording". www.shellac.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  23. ↑ [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 15
  24. 1 2 "America Hears Itself". WTTW Chicago Public Media - Television and Interactive. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  25. 1 2 3 "Restoring a vintage 1920s recording system for 'American Epic'" . Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  26. 1 2 MacMahon, Bernard; McGourty, Allison; Wald, Elijah (2017-05-02). American Epic. ISBN   9781501135606.
  27. ↑ "SXSW review: 'The American Epic Sessions' | Austin Movie Blog" . Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  28. ↑ Lewis, Randy (14 May 2017). "'American Epic' explores how a business crisis ignited a musical revolution". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  29. ↑ "And the Winners are… | Calgary International Film Festival". www.calgaryfilm.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  30. 1 2 [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, pp. 235-237
  31. ↑ "PBS's American Epic chronicles America's early, raw expression on record - The Vinyl District". The Vinyl District. 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  32. 1 2 [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, pp. 238-239
  33. ↑ "American Epic: How Jack White helped piece together the story of a nation's musical roots - Uncut". Uncut. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  34. ↑ [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 240
  35. ↑ [1] Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, pp. 240-241
  36. ↑ "On PBS: American Epic - FAR-West". www.far-west.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  37. ↑ Boyd, Joe (2017-05-19). "How the record industry crisis of 1925 shaped our musical world". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  38. ↑ "American Epic Sessions: In conversation with the director of a truly one of a kind music documentary". www.gigwise.com. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  39. ↑ "SXSW '16: Reviving recording history in "American Epic"" . Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  40. ↑ "American Epic: The Collection & The Soundtrack Out May 12th | Legacy Recordings". Legacy Recordings. 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  41. ↑ "THIRD MAN RECORDS TO SCREEN THE AMERICAN EPIC SERIES IN BOTH LOCATIONS". Third Man Records. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  42. ↑ Shedden, Iain (July 15, 2017). "Reviews: American Epic: The Sessions". The Australian .
  43. ↑ Keith, Keith (June 8, 2017). "Album review: Various Artists, American Epic: The Sessions (Columbia/Lo-Max)". The Herald .
  44. ↑ Gill, Andy (June 7, 2017). "American Epic". The Independent .
  45. ↑ Shedden, Iain (July 15, 2017). "Reviews: American Epic: The Session" . The Australian.
  46. ↑ "Greil Marcus' Real Life Rock Top 10: The Epic Tradition" . Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  47. ↑ "Album reviews: Sufjan Stevens, London Grammar, Katy Perry, and more". The Independent. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  48. ↑ "AMERICAN EPIC - The Sessions - Paris Move". Paris Move. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  49. ↑ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (May 19, 2017). "American Epic". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  50. ↑ "Various: Music from The American Epic Sessions". Review Corner. 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  51. ↑ "Album review: Various Artists, American Epic: The Sessions (Columbia/Lo-Max)". HeraldScotland. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-16.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.