The Sixties (2013) s01e06 Episode Script

1 There's the Beatles! These guys are nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys.
It's not true, it's not true! When the Beatles arrived, from then on, a thousand different things arose.
Is it a sex thing or yes, it's sexual.
Yeah.
Completely.
There is a desire to get power in order to use it for good.
How does it feel Pop musicians in today's generation, they can rule the world.
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is Beatleland, formerly known as Britain, where an epidemic called Beatlemania has seized the teenage population, especially female.
CBS, they do a story on what they probably think is a goofy band from England that's doing quite well.
These four boys from Liverpool with their dish-mop hairstyles are Britain's latest musical, and in fact, sociological phenomenon.
They symbolize the 20th century non-hero, as they make non music, wear non haircuts, give non mercy.
Meanwhile, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is Alexander Kendrick in Beatleland.
Some little girl heard just a hint of what the Beatles were about and starts calling her local djay.
The local djay asks his friend to bring over a Beatles record from England and has the vision to put it on and hear that something's happening.
So, Marcia Albert of Dublin drive of silver spring has the honor of introducing something brand new, an exclusive here at wwdc.
Marcia, the microphone on "the Carol James show," is yours.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time on the air in the United States, here are the Beatles singing "I want to hold your hand.
" Oh, yeah, I'll tell you something I think you'll understand That song really started to take off.
It was impossible to anticipate how much that momentum would continue.
Hi, everybody all over America.
This is the wabc party go go, whoo-hoo! That song was absolutely contagious, and I think the teenager found a voice.
I can't hide Here's what's happening, baby, the Beatles! I can't hide yeah, you got that something There was a moment where you just heard, this is our music now.
It was like hearing the future.
I wanna hold your hand But I have to ask how you first found out about them.
When I first heard about the Beatles, it was at London airport, with an enormous crowd of kids gathered around.
We asked them what was going on and they said the Beatles were here.
We didn't even know who the Beatles were, never heard of them.
And that night, I booked Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon for three shows for $10,000.
You know, for four white guys who are British, to come out of nowhere and be everywhere was quite unbelievable.
The Beatles are a bunch of guys from Liverpool.
I mean, people in London would have looked down at Liverpool back then, but Liverpool was a port town, and these port towns become places where all sorts of contraband gets exchanged, and one of them at that point was great music.
A lot of the sailors and people coming back to America were bringing back these records.
Some were pop records some were called race records because they were by black artists.
Maybelline can't you be true maybelline can't you be true The level of influence that American rock and roll, blues, country and western, Motown had on those kids growing up in England was really amazing.
All my love, all my kisses, you don't know what you've been missing, oh, boy when you're with me, oh, boy So, I would listen to buddy Holly and gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis, fats domino, all of the great rock and rollers.
Blueberry hill It was a new language for us.
The power of the jukebox, there's nothing quite like it.
My dream came true The Beatles took a bunch of those strains, the everly brothers from the '50s, a big influence for them with the harmonies.
Wake up, little Susie, wake up wake up, little Susie, wake up So, the Beatles in Liverpool are taking this pop sound but putting their own spin on it.
What is the sound? How does it differ from other rock and roll and pop? It just happened that, all of a sudden, hundreds of rock groups all from Liverpool made records, and it was a bit more like the original rock and roll than the stuff they've had over the last few months.
Initially, there was no tradition of great British bands conquering America.
That had not happened, but it's that moment where everything turns.
There's no single moment that more embodies the moment when rock and roll became the province of teenagers.
That's something that you would not just love but that you would go crazy for.
There's the Beatles! Can't buy me love, love can't buy me love The Beatles have come to this country that take all the women away and everybody's going crazy about them! It was like aliens landed.
Look at how they look and how they act, and wow! I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love We came at 6:00 in the morning to see them and all they do is push them farther and farther away and then they don't even let you see them! I've got every beatle record at home, and we didn't get to see them! What kind of police protection? I didn't even get to get a piece of the Beatles, at least! The way they got them out of here! Paul, Ringo, George, John.
The reporters had the same attitude that most adults in America had, which was no one took musicians seriously.
They didn't understand anything about youth culture.
Cut that crap out! Cut that crap out! Hey, Murray.
The press had gone into this with the idea that this was a youthful novelty that could be dismissed and maybe even deflated in a press conference.
No, no.
I had one yesterday.
Nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys.
It's not true, it's not true! Will you sing something? No! Sorry! We need money first.
When you saw them sparring with the press it was just another aspect of them that made them even more unique.
Tomorrow night at 7:00, the Beatles read poetry on a documentary "meet the Beatles," all over the world oh, really? I don't get that.
I don't understand this.
If Elvis was the first wave of mega fandom, then the Beatles sort of blew that out of the water, to the point where even Elvis was losing sleep.
The city's never witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles! Ladies and gentlemen one, two, three, four! Well, she was just seventeen, you know what I mean and the way she looked The Beatles showed up with their great sense of humor, their completely infectious pop songs, their "whoo," you know, their everything.
It was just impossible not to fall in love with them.
As soon as they started playing on the "ed Sullivan show," we all knew, they're playing live, because that doesn't sound like the record.
The idea of driving, swinging R&B mixed with imaginative wordplay and lyrics and harmonies and the perfect three-minute record, they defined it.
Whoo, when I saw her standing there The Beatles took this dream of what America represented, the freedom that was in American music, and they brought it back to us with an excitement and a ferocity that we didn't have, and with longer hair.
And the way she looked was way beyond compare 73 million people watched that night.
Since I saw her standing there Yeah! When the Beatles did the Sullivan show, everything at the radio station changed.
There were no more requests other than the Beatles.
Looking back, I believe without ed Sullivan, there wouldn't have been a British invasion.
Gerry and the pacemakers.
It wasn't just the Beatles.
The British invasion had legs because there was more great music to back it up.
A big hello from us.
Rick.
I'm Larry.
I'm Dennis.
I'm Dave.
For the first six months they were singing, they sold over a million records a month.
And in the words of one of their biggest hit songs, we're mighty glad all over to have you with us tonight.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Dave Clark five.
You say that you love me, say that you love me, all of the time, all of the time you say that you need me, say you need me, you'll always be mine, always be mine I'll be glad all over, yes, I'm glad all over, baby, I'm glad all over so glad you're mine They're rivaling the Beatles now as the top singing group in Britain.
How do you feel about that? We're really very pleased, but I don't think you can say we're rivals.
We've got a completely different sound.
We were the first band to tour America.
We did 46 cities.
Then you realized you had made it.
Suddenly, it's like the gates of hell are opened.
Something tells me I'm into something good, something tells me I mean, every transatlantic ocean liner seems to have another British band that rockets up to the top of the American charts.
So, Mary, cross the mercy and always take me there There was this powder keg of energy from the young people in England and it touch the flame to the fuse and boom.
We are walking down the highways and byways Maybe she's not there, but they're here and they're the zombies! But it's too late to say you're sorry how would I know why should I care please don't bother trying to find her, she's not there well, let me tell you about the way she looked, the way she had to have the color of her hair her voice was soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright, but she's not there I loved the zombies, because they were keyboard-oriented.
Rod argent, the first guy to really develop the idea of rock and roll soloing on a keyboard.
A first-time welcome now for the top four with their top hit "you really got me going," the kinks! Girl, you really got me going, you got me so I don't know what I'm doing The kinks were already a very big band in the UK.
But if you break in America, you break big and you sell a lot of records.
Yeah, you really got me now, you got me so I don't know what I'm doing oh, yeah, you really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night you really got me, you really got me, you really got me Before you were called the animals, you had another name.
What made you change it to the animals? Well, because we were a bunch of animals.
The animals were a grittier, R&B-based band with Eric burdon, who wasn't cute like a beatle.
He was a little more dangerous.
Now you're going to do the new record for us? Yeah.
And it's called? "The house of the rising sun.
" That song was a song that Bob Dylan had already recorded a year or two earlier, like a folk traditional song.
Bob came along with his album, "house of the rising sun.
" It was crying out to be rocked.
My mother was a tailor, she sewed my new blue jeans, yeah my father was a gambling man down in New Orleans The English group music thing also arose where groups not only performing their own stuff compact on the stage, they didn't need anyone else.
They just had the four blokes with their amplifiers and guitars and they could the lot.
The who are just sort of in that catalytic converter of rock and roll.
They were maybe the most explosive musical unit.
Yeah, it was interesting.
The Beatles all lock in and play together and help each other.
I'm daddy rolling stone The who is like four different creatures who weren't even, like, noticing each other.
Everyone in the who was like the lead player in the who.
All these great bands created this thirst in music, but the ones who really had the true, true talent have really stood the test of time.
Five singing boys from England who have sold a lot of albums.
Albums.
They're called the rolling stones.
I've been rolled while I was stoned myself.
I don't know what they're singing about, but here they are at.
I don't want you to be no slave, I don't want you to work all day I don't want you to be true I just want to make love to you Here come the stones.
We're the bad boys of this British invasion, and the girls went crazy.
Love you baby Is it a sex thing, or yes, it's sexual, completely.
Love to you, love to you, baby, love to you You've been doing this for how long, how many years is it? Two years.
Two years.
How much longer do you give yourself doing this thing, going around being, sort of I don't know.
I never thought I would be doing it for two years even.
I think we're pretty well set up for at least another year.
When we first started playing together, we started playing because we wanted to play rhythm and blues, and howlin' wolf was one of our idols, and it's great he's being booked on the show, it's a pleasure.
So, I think it's time we shut up and we let howlin' wolf on stage.
How many more years that I have to let you dog me around The rolling stops invite howlin' wolf, who is a 60-year-old black man from the south side of Chicago who never in a million years would have been on "shindig," and there he is.
You don't believe a word I said The stones clearly wore their heart on their sleeve for blues and R&B.
You can hear traces of delta blues inside of Keith's guitar.
They tried to be as authentic to the core as possible, even so much that their first few American recordings were done in Chicago.
The dogs begin to bark, the hounds begin to howl The Chicago kids rhythm and blues, that's where it started.
You know, the white people over there know nothing about rhythm and blues at all.
It's negro music, isn't it? In America, even in the black community, had abandoned certain aspects of black culture.
Even by the mid-'60s.
The blues in particular had been sort of pushed aside by soul music and R&B, which was considered more modern.
Pretty little women stand in a line The stones, the animals, the yardbirds, the British groups picked up the American blues, where the Americans were kind of letting it go.
And in a strange way, we were taking back to America what America had given us, which was American music.
Gonna have a lot of fun, oh, yeah, baby, whoo You and Chuck have kind of taken England by storm.
How do you feel about other people borrowing your material? I'm very grateful to know that my material is the type of material that the entertainers today would like to use.
Long tall Sally oh, baby, yeah, oh, baby, ooh, baby The British invasion played a huge role in not just introducing themselves to America, but reintroducing a lot of black music to mainstream America.
It's gonna be all right, all right, all right, it's gonna be all right get my way, I will stay, to keep you satisfied, all right, all right, it's gonna be all right The same year the Beatles play on "the ed Sullivan show" is the first year that the "t.
A.
M.
I.
Show" comes out as a movie, and "t.
A.
M.
I.
Show's" got everybody.
It was the first rock and roll concert movie.
The stones headlining, and the first time that us white kids got to see James brown and nobody will ever get over it.
Got your high heels on Everyone remembers James brown's performance.
He gave them what black audiences had been seeing for years, but had not really been seen outside of the black community, and people were electrified by it.
James brown just kills the show.
Just, like, what's the phrase they have in gospel music? He wrecks house.
And it really began his journey into becoming a mainstream figure.
Babe, babe, babe, babe The stones then close and they were afraid it was the biggest mistake they ever made following James brown.
What a crazy sound, never stop rockin' until the moon went down We see, you know, Jagger coming alive, you know, doing things that he hadn't done before.
It was great, because you're seeing a seasoned professional with James brown, and a young performer and band figuring out who the hell they are.
When I say staples, I mean staples.
It's okay, mister.
I was led astray.
Oh, shut up, John.
They're waiting for you in the studio.
I'm dying to do better work.
Oh, teacher's pet.
Oh, lay off.
Get a move on.
They're waiting for you.
It's been a hard day's night "Hard day's night" perfectly encapsulated Beatlemania.
It's the most perfect representation of 1964 Beatles.
Brian Epstein said, if the Beatles were going to go, they were going to go big.
And they went big.
The fact that the Beatles were exposed as writers of hit songs, exposed then to the public even more than perhaps just a pop singing idol would.
They made the announcement that they were going to tour America.
The Beatles wanted $25,000.
Well, I didn't have $25,000.
And so, I borrowed $25,000 on the house.
There were no computers, but we sold it out in 3 1/2 hours.
17,000 screaming youngsters have jammed their way into the huge amphitheater.
But they're the lucky ones.
Outside, thousands of others were not so fortunate.
Here they are, the Beatles! Let you down, let you down because I told you before, oh, you can't do that The Beatles' output was phenomenal.
They seemed to always be either touring, making a movie or making a record.
No, you can't do that Hello.
See these little fellows? They're the Beatles.
Inflatable Beatles.
They're yours for just $2.
The best things in life are free They had posters and magazines and stickers and dolls and cartoons.
Like this is the start of where the teenager becomes the most desirable target for the dollar.
I lived in the projects in Brooklyn, you know, in a black community, and the Beatles were everywhere.
So, it wasn't like this was a white phenomenon, they were everywhere.
The Beatles created a rock industry.
They were selling in ways no one had ever sold before, and they were playing venues that were bigger than anyone had ever played before.
Ladies and gentlemen, honored by their country, decorated by their queen and loved here in America, here are the Beatles! Help me if you can, I'm feeling down and I do appreciate you being 'round help me get my feet back on the ground, won't you please, please help me help me, help me, ooh Are you actually planning to spend this money? What money? Doesn't he give any to you? No, no.
We haven't seen a card of it.
The Beatles taught every other band that writing your own music made you more powerful.
That last line's got I think what's really funny about a band like the stones is they did tons of covers on their first couple albums.
It wasn't until they figured out how to write their own songs that they became a real band.
They had to find their own voice.
I can't get no satisfaction I can't get no satisfaction 'cause I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried I can't get no, I can't get no when I'm driving in my car and a man comes on the radio, he's telling me more and more about some useless information supposed to buy my imagination I can't get no, no, no, no There was a dialogue going on between soul music and the British invasion.
A, because this is a way for me to make a nod to the mainstream.
And b, because the songs were good.
I can't get no, oh, no, I can't get no, oh, no "Satisfaction's" fantastic.
He doesn't even know the words even, he doesn't care.
He's just kind of singing the song.
Keep trying to find me somebody, somebody to love me, get me some action I can't find nobody At the time, Motown and the British invasion, they're going hand in hand with sort of redefining what America dances and listens and socializes to.
Motown, it evolved with the rest of the world, but we did have to compete with this British invasion for places on the charts.
Really got a hold on me, I said you really got a hold on me The first time I heard "you really got a hold on me" by the Beatles, I was very, very, very happy.
I don't like you, but I love you The Beatles chose one of my songs, and they wrote great songs! Oh, I, I, I, I did something wrong now I long for yesterday This is called "hey, Mr.
Tambourine man.
" A lot of the stuff that Dylan wrote in '63, '64, '65 was very political.
It wasn't what the Beatles were doing or the stones were doing or the kinks were doing or any of those rock and roll bands.
And for a period of time there was this distinction between the folk culture and the rock and roll culture.
Hey, Mr.
tambourine man, play a song for me, I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to In 1964, during that first tour, the Beatles had the opportunity to meet Bob Dylan.
He understood what they were doing musically and they were awakened by the more personal perspective of his songs.
Dylan was a huge influence on John Lennon.
He inspired them to write more serious songs, deeper songs and be more experimental lyrically.
I once had a girl or should I say she once had me Bob Dylan going electric is another one of those big, seismic changes in the pop music era in the '60s.
He was bold enough to leave his comfort zone.
I ain't going to work on Maggie's farm no more It's not just about Dylan going electric, but it's also about the fusion of an emerging tradition in popular music that was really political with rock and roll, which had largely not been overtly political.
Thank you very much.
There's nothing like the feeling of your audience not being with you and walking out on you.
People took it personal.
You know, who needs him anymore? He's part of your establishment and forget him.
They're all my friends.
They felt betrayed, like you're supposed to be our Woody Guthrie, you know, you sold out.
How does it feel, how does it feel to be on your own with no direction home Not only did he take it, but he managed to just choke hold them all and make them see his vision.
Like a rolling stone Other musicians started bringing poetry and politics and soul-searching to popular music.
Men shall know and men shall see we all are brothers and we all are free It was obvious to me and the hollies that we had a responsibility as artists to reflect our world around us, and we utilized our music to be able to reach people.
Pop musicians in today's generation are in a fantastic position.
They can rule the world.
Well, I don't argue they could rule the world, so why don't we do more of it? We can stop world wars before they ever started.
I disagree.
You know who starts world wars? People that are over 40.
Really? That conversation was unstoppable.
You couldn't shut it down.
He's oh so good and he's oh so fine and he's oh so healthy in his body and his mind he's a well respected man about town I think ray Davies from the kinks and Pete townshend from the who were the two social commentators.
People try to put us down, talking about my generation just because we get around, talking about my generation things they do look awful cold talking about my generation hope I die before I get old talking about my generation it's my generation, baby, don't you all fade away, talking about my generation you don't try to dig what we all say, talking about my generation not trying to cause a big sensation Every political move, nation to nation, is really to try and break down these barriers between people.
My generation All of them were obsessively listening to one another.
And what became the game was, who can take rock and roll someplace more interesting? If I needed someone to love, you're the one that I'd be thinking of if I needed someone You know, records had been two or three of your singles, some covers of some other artists' songs and just a bunch of filler.
"Rubber soul" basically started the idea of the record as a complete statement.
That's really a game-changer.
In my life I love you more I think that Brian and the beach boys felt that he didn't fit into this new British invasion thing that was happening.
Round round I get around, I get around round, round, round, round, I get around When the beach boys heard "rubber soul," Brian Wilson was inspired to try to create something as pure and beautiful and this album of everything was great.
I remember going over to Brian's house, and I looked into the living room and I saw that everything had been taken out except the piano.
And the living room was completely filled with sand.
He said, "I'm going to write the greatest album ever recorded.
" It's getting light.
Nice, nice.
In the mid-'60s, you see Brian Wilson retreating into the studio, and he's concentrating on writing and producing these amazing songs.
I may not always love you, but as long as there are stars above you The recording studio had been a rigid place where there were engineers literally in like suits and ties and lab coats.
When all of the sudden there were these crazy young geniuses who reinvented the studio as an instrument to be played with.
God only knows what I would be without you Technology is evolving for how to record, and Brian Wilson was absolutely on the cutting edge of that.
Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long Music in the '60s was like any great art movement.
The greatest practitioners of it pushed one another to be better.
It's quite low, the tone.
In the studio, the Beatles' natural creativity was sort of brimming over, and George Martin was a brilliant collaborator and champion of that.
Run back the tape, please, would you? You can slow down or speed up the tape, you can put in backwards stuff, you can put in electronic sounds, or you can just be live.
Something happens on air, I couldn't tell you what because we have a special man who sits here and goes like this, and the guitar turns into a piano or something, you know.
And then you may say, why don't you use a piano, because the piano sounds like a guitar.
We're sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club band There were radio stations that did nothing but play "sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club band" after it first came out because that's all anybody wanted to listen to.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds "Sergeant pepper's" became the thing.
You dropped the needle on it, you'd hear a little crackle and then you'd be taken away on this journey.
I read the news today, oh, boy "Sergeant pepper" was our opera.
It sounded unlike anything we were used to.
The '60s, lyrics are generally infantile and it's noise, not music.
But the "sergeant pepper" album was a brilliant album, signifying a break from the old ways of being entertained.
It really caught the moment.
Pop music is crucial to today's art, and it's crucial that it should remain art, and it is crucial that it should progress as art.
Pleased to meet ya, hope you guessed my name The British invasion changed pretty much everything.
It was not just a sound or a band or a phenomenon, but it was the beginning of the most powerful decade in popular music.
Children danced night and day, religion was being born down in monterey Rock and roll music was very important in the growth of the society.
We were able to speak our minds.
We did shake up the world.
There's no desire in any of our heads to sort of take over the world, you know.
There is, however, a desire to get power in order to use it for good.
Love, love, love How many people that you started loving in 1964 do you still love? The Beatles and the British invasion may be the greatest love story, in a cultural sense, that's ever been.
All you need is love All together now! All you need is love Everybody! All you need is love, love, love is all you need love is all you need, love is all you need Love is all you need, love is all you need