Thank you guys.

(applause)

It's good to be here.

They tell me we got some music
lovers here, I hope.

Y'all love music?

Good, that's good.

That's all it takes, ya know.

First of all, I'd like to thank
Dr. Kerns here and (inaudible)

for getting this together for me.

We just talked about it one day,
and I've always...

I've taught the history of rock n' roll
as a guest here and in San Marcos,

and ACC and other places,
but always wanted to have my

own class because my whole life,
I've researched the history of music.

Ever since I was a kid, you know.
Always to try to find out the history

of - where did it come from?
You know?

And these people are giving me

the chance to do this, and I'm really
honored to be here.

It's something I love.

The history of music.

I love to talk to people young and old
about it because everybody has

different questions and that's
another thing. I'm interested

in hearing what y'all have to say.

Any questions, you know, that
come up about the history of music,

you know, I really enjoy when you
ask questions. I try to answer them.

Anyhow, like I was saying, what I've
always done is study the history

of music and where it came from and
you know, I always like to ask,

if anyone knows where rock n roll
came from, I mean - Was it always here?

What was here before rock n roll?

Have you ever thought about that?
Anybody?

You know what I'm saying though?
When did it start? How did it start?

I mean, what y'all know today as
modern music, you trace it back

and how did the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones and all the ones that

started it, where did they get
that from? You know?

And what was going on before that?

And that's what we're gonna try
to cover here, we're gonna talk about

Sun Records, y'all know Sun Records,
in Memphis?

Anybody ever been to Memphis?
Anybody ever been to Beale Street?

That's where, Beale Street is
alive today in Memphis,

it's like 6th Street.

It's where all this music started
in Memphis. We're gonna cover

the Memphis scene, and Sun Records,
you saw a little bit of that DVD we have.

Then we're going to go to New York
and do Atlantic Records.

That was another really great
place where rock n' roll started,

Atlantic Records. And then,
the people from Atlantic went to

Memphis and worked with a company
called Stax Records, and that's

who had Otis Redding and
Wilson Pickett and all those

great solo performers.

Then, from Memphis, they went down
to Muscle Shoals, Alabama and

took this young lady who was
on CBS Columbia Records.

She had five records,
but never made a hit.

Jerry Wexler and the people
from Atlantic Records took

this young lady down to Muscle Shoals
named Aretha Franklin,

and made a hit record
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the sixties.

And that's really something that
kind of changed the whole world,

especially for women performers
like Aretha. So we're going to cover

the Atlantic, Stax, and Muscle Shoals.
They're all counted together there.

Then we're gonna do Motown,
and most of y'all know Motown.

Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross
and The Supremes, do most of y'all

know them? Yeah?
You gotta help me here.

You gotta let me know.
Okay, we're gonna cover Motown,

which is beautiful. Then, we're gonna
get the real blues and rock n' roll

of Chess Records in Chicago,
the Chess brothers and

how they started Chess Records,
and it brought the great Muddy Waters

and Howlin' Wolf. How many of y'all
have heard of those names?

Alright, hey! (clapping)
That's great, I love that.

Okay, those two were probably
the most famous of the blues guys,

where Eric Clapton and
The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin

and The Doors and all of them
got their first material.

We're gonna talk about-
say, Howlin' Wolf for instance.

So Rolling Stones, when they were
babies in 1964 made their first hit

off of a Howlin' Wolf record,
Little Red Rooster.

And we're going to play
both versions.

We're gonna do that with Elvis today.
We're gonna do the blues songs

by the original guy, and then by Elvis.
And then, later on, we're gonna

show you examples where Led Zeppelin
did it and then Muddy Waters did it,

first, of course. And then,
I'll show you Howlin' Wolf,

The Rolling Stones
or Howlin' Wolf and then

Jim Morrison and The Doors.
How many of y'all know The Doors?

Yeah, I got to see The Doors live
with ZZ Top. (audience laughing)

That was fun.

But anyhow, we'll show The Rolling Stones
or The Doors doing a Howlin' Wolf song

we'll play, and we have a lot of videos
of videos that we're going to play

Luckily nowadays, this DVD,
they're putting out all kinds of stuff.

I think y'all saw a little bit
of the Sun Records thing

we're going to show you.
That just came out.

It has stuff like Paul McCartney
taking Elvis's place with Scotty Moore,

who we'll learn about. He's alive.
He's Elvis's guitar player, Scotty Moore.

D. J. Fontana, his drums,
and Paul McCartney does the song,

'That's Alright, Mama,' but it's really
the number one song in his class,

and you'll see why,
is 'That's Alright, Mama.'

But we'll see Paul McCartney do that
in just a minute up here

with Elvis's band.

Then we're gonna do New Orleans.
I know y'all have been to New Orleans.

Y'all are some drinkers out here.
(audience laughing)

But we're gonna do the
history of New Orleans music,

the rhythm and blues of New Orleans,
like [inaudible] and so many others,

and some great lady singers
like Irma Thomas, who's alive.

She's just as good as anyone
I've ever heard.

She's still in New Orleans.
And there again, when Irma was

just a kid, she had a song called
'Time Is On My Side.'

And this is in like '64.
I'm just giving y'all some

examples of what we're going to
cover here. But this was like in '64.

She went on a tour to England
on a big bus with a bunch of performers,

and there's a kid band called
The Rolling Stones who were

on the tour. And they heard her
do this song, 'Time Is On My Side.'

And the little guitar boy named
Keith Richards, he heard

her guitar player do it,
and they let him record it.

He did the same lead right off of
her record, and nobody really

knows this, you know?
We're going to show how

the blues and the rhythm and blues
and the solo performers influenced

rock n' roll.

There will be a lot of people actually
saying how it happened.

But that's some of the things
we're going to talk to and a lot more.

And we're gonna also talk about,
with Elvis and all these

other entertainers, how the blues and
rock n' roll helped race relationships,

which when this started,
was in a time of segregation.

And so in the sociology part of this,
we're gonna talk about

how that happened, and as you can see,
we've got pictures.

Did everybody get those pictures?
Everybody get them?

You can see here our brother Elvis
in 1956 or '57. This was unheard of.

It just didn't happen.

You didn't have black and white performers
performing together.

It just didn't happen. And our boy Elvis,
you know, he knew better.

Everything that made him
came from the blues,

from these people, see?
And we're gonna show you

how that happened as we go along today.

Sun Records and Sam Phillips,
who just died in his eighties,

he's a little crazy but
you'll get to hear him talk.

He's a much older man,
when he's... Sorry.

Get rid of this, [inaudible]
(audience laughing)

Somebody trying to book their band.

But anyhow, we're gonna talk about
Sun Records and Sam Phillips

and how he made all this happen.
But one of the points is

what was going on before this?
What was missing in America like?

You had the squarest scene
that you could ever imagine.

Before Elvis hit, it was- I mean,
there was some good performers,

and some that y'all know
like maybe Perry Como and

Dean Martin and,

Frank Sinatra and stuff like that,
but it was very, very square.

Now, in the black community,
they had it going on.

They had it going on.

The best music that was ever made
on Earth was going on, from the 1900 on,

the 40's and 50's, they had
the best bands in the world going on.

But you didn't get to hear them.

What you did get to hear is
hip hooray with someone singing

"How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?"
And it was square.

Everything y'all know as music
came from this right here.

This is where it came from.
Before, there wasn't nothing.

But this guy was the first guy
that had the extreme talent

to go in and learn what the blues guys
were doing and put his own thing to it

and bring it to the public.

And that's kind of what
this class is about.

Is that what y'all were thinking
this is about? Did y'all know

what this class was about?

Okay, well that's kind of what
it's about. Any questions?

That's good.
>> I've got a question.

>> Okay.

>> Are we going to have any
live musicians in class?

>> Yes. We just didn't have one today.
Hopefully, on Tuesday,

we're going to do the Jerry Lee Lewis
part of Sun Records. He was [inaudible].

There is a guy here who played
with Jerry Lee Lewis,

played with Johnny Cash.
His name is Earl Poole Ball.

Matter of fact, he's playing
at the Alligator tonight at 8:30.

Hopefully, this old timer is gonna come in
and show you what rock n' roll is.

He can- this guy is unbelievable.
He's gonna try to come on Tuesday.

But we're gonna have everybody
in Austin, is gonna want to

come over here and play.
We just gotta get this thing rolling.

>> Bring them all in.
>> Bring them all in.

>> [inaudible]

>> Old timers like me or like-
>> If that's what you want to call it.

>> Who do you like?

>> I'm actually new to the scene,
I'm new to the material altogether.

>> But I know I (inaudible) the music
but we'll see.

>> Anybody play here in Austin
at the moment?

>> James Cotton.
>> James Cotton, he does live here.

That's pretty good.

So that's why I like the people
who ask questions.

James Cotton is living here in Texas.
He's a harmonica player.

He started at nine years old
with Sonny Boy Williamson,

who was a famous harmonica player,
who was one of the first guys to

go over to England and play.

We'll teach on all that,
but James Cotton is here.

But he was on Sun Records
in the early 50's, '50 or '51 back then

as almost a teenager and he's still
alive and he's still playing.

And a lot of these guys are still alive,
but he lives here in Austin.

I bet he'll come and play.

He can't sing anymore because
he had an operation and

he can't sing anymore.

>> Bo Diddley is still going too,
isn't he?

>> Who?
>> Bo Diddley.

>> Bo Diddley, but he doesn't live here.

(audience laughing)

>> I saw him play in Fort Worth!
>> He did at Billy Bob's.

>> No, he did a song in Richland too.
>> Where?

>> Richland.

>> Yeah, in December,
he just did Billy Bob's.

He probably did more than one place,
that's cool. Well Bo Diddley,

we touch on him when
we go to Chess Records

and I talk about, in Chicago,
with Muddy and Howlin' Wolf.

And then the real rock n' roll
when Chuck Barry went to see

Muddy Waters. Chuck Barry asked
Muddy if he could get heard,

and he sent him to the Chess brothers,
and of course,

that was the biggest of artists,
and the really defining persons of

rock n' roll would be Chuck Barry,
Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Those are the really,
the catch, you know.

And then Bo Diddley came to Chess
right after that and came out with

that rock and 'Hey Bo Diddley.'
It just drove people crazy.

What else?

>> What about Dale Watson?
Can he come in at all?

>> He probably would. Dale Watson,
he's a good country performer.

But I suppose, if he would
be available. I don't know

if we're gonna get into
the country part, yeah.

>> [inaudible] I was wondering
if we were going to talk about

the brass scene?
>> What now?

>> The brass in New Orleans.
>> Yeah, the marching bands

and that kind of stuff?
The second line? Oh yeah.

(laughter)
Oh yeah, we're gonna get on that too.

That's good stuff.

Now if we want maybe Dr. Kurtz
will sponsor a field trip to New Orleans.

(laughter)

What did he say?
Is that in the budget?

>> Oh, I'm sure.

>> I think we need a lot of
field trips.

I'm sure none of y'all drink
but if you did then you (inaudible)

Huh doc? You think you could
work that into our budget?

>> How about Johnny Lane,
or Ian Moore

the next time he comes through?

>> Ian Moore...

I met Ian Moore when he was seven,
the day I opened my club in 1975

his daddy brought him.

>> (inaudible)
>> He does?

>> Yeah.

>> He's good. He would definitely
come to play.

Johnny Lane would have to be
in town.

He's kinda got a little pre-Madonna
now you know that Hollywood thing.

Go ahead brother.

>> What about Hubert Sumlin?

>> Hubert Sumlin, we're gonna have a-

Hubert Sumlin was Howlin' Wolf's
guitar player and that's the guy

that Eric Clapton brought to
England to teach him and

the Rolling Stones in the early 60s
brought Hubert and the Howlin' Wolf

over there.

I got a documentary we're doing
and it's about being in the history

of the blues and it's gonna be
on the South by Southwest in March.

All the old timers that are alive are
coming to that and they're

gonna play two nights at my club.

That's in March 12th.

So we'll probably get some of the
really guys from the real Muddy Waters

band and the Howlin' Wolf band
come here and play.

So we're gonna ask and we have
to ask first.

But they will be in town the
second week in March.

Hubert Sumlin.
Yes ma'am.

>> Could you get Jimmy Barn?
Jimmy Bad Boy Barn?

He'll be here. Yeah, we've been
together since we were little kids.

>> What about Eric Johnson?
>> He would come.

Eric Johnson, we got him at the
club with his other band Alien Love Child

You know that?

And Eric Johnson is different from
blues, he's like the most technical

proficient guy you've ever seen
with a guitar.

He can play blues, but he's
I don't know what you call him.

What would you call him?
>> Virtuoso.

>> Virtuoso, see?

See that's what that college
learning will do. (laughter)

Virtuoso.

That's true, that's what he is.
He's a virtuoso if I ever heard one.

And he will definitely come.
I'm glad y'all are suggesting these names.

We need to take them down,
these names of the people they're

suggesting because it helps
me to think of who to bring.

I saw somebody.

Yes?
>> What about Bob Schneider?

>> Bob Schneider, that's my boy
but that's X-rated...

He'll come, he'd be glad to.

>> Scott Barnes?
>> Scott Barnes, there's a cool one.

Poor guy just got in a wreck
about a year ago,

he's a one man band, and he got hit
in San Marcos by an 18 wheeler.

He's had like ten operations,
but he's still doing it. He's a good kid.

He would come. He's real cool,
Scott Barnes, he's a one man band.

He has quite a following. I can see you,
you know what you're talking about.

Yes sir.

>> I was wondering if we could talk about
country blues.

>> Country blues? Oh, yes sir.
>> (Inaudible)

>> The Deltas.

See there's only so much we can do.
We start out making it kinda easy.

I talked to Dr. Kurts about this
and Kevin and everyone.

I could teach a class that would be
you know a beginner's introduction class

like this one or we could teach one
that's on a Master's degree or I could

teach one on a Doctorate's degree.

I can get down, you know to
the really really obscure

fine points of the country, delta music
and all that.

I just don't know how much time
we're gonna have to cover everything,

but Dr. Kurtz got the Martin Scorsese

Did you play some a little of that?

And on that it shows blind Willie Johnson,
and Son House and those guys.

Is that who you're talking about?

Yeah, I love that music.

We'll touch on it, but you can
from that Scorsese documentary

catch a lot of that too.

>> How about Doyle Bramhall
or Lou Ann Barton.

>> Lou Ann is on Ebay.

I've seen her, that's what
she does all day.

She goes to the junk store
gets stuff and sells them on Ebay.

(audience laughter)

And then she, tours
with Jimmy Vaughan now,

so you know she doesn't
have to worry about too much.

Doyle Bramhall senior or junior?

>> Either one.

>> Either one, they're both,

The Bramhall's, Doyle senior
he's a drummer,

and one of the very best
singers I've ever heard.

And he started with Stevie
Vaughan in the old days, as kids,

and Stevie didn't sing
all of those years.

Doyle did all of the singing,

and when Stevie
did learn how to sing,

he copied Doyle Bramhall's
voice to learn how to sing.

Then, I made a
record on Doyle.

I have a record
label also.

I made a record on Doyle
and sent it to Europe,

and the critics said,
"he's copying Stevie Vaughan." (laughter)

So that's how
life works you know.

But, he's a drummer
and he's extraordinary.

His son, Doyle Junior,
little Doyle we call him,

he's now, I mean he's a left
handed blues guitar player,

that is, as good as any of the old
timers, he has the voice too.

He got hooked up
with Eric Clapton and

B.B. King when they
made a record together.

Now just recently he just
got hired, this kid he asked about,

Doyle Bramhall Junior.

He just got hired by Eric Clapton
to be his guitar player.

I mean just don't get much a,
higher position than that,

and Eric Clapton is good
but Doyle is smokin'.

Doyle has got the real
blues he can play.

Not the British blues, and the British
blues we'll talk about too because

it was the British guys that brought
the blues back over to this country.

It's all, It's all crazy history.

But that's some of the wide subjects
of music that we'll be talking about.

Does that sound
right with y'all? Thinkin?

Alright.

Let's play a little Sun.

We ought to do just a
little bit of this DVD about Sun,

and I'll explain to you
some of the things.

This just came out.

How late does this class go?

>> 6:15

>> Can we get coffee and donuts?

(audience laughs)

>> Nothing? You have to ask.

(video plays inaudibly in background)

(audience laughter and quiet talking)

Now we've got
pictures of all

of these guys that
we're going to talk about.

That one right there
is really good.

Cause it had, it was a great
moment in history when a

Elvis had already gone to RCA but he
came back and they were all in the studio,

They got together,
you'll see what I mean later.

(video plays)
>> Public broadcasting, additional funding

for American Masters has been provided
by Robert E Lee Walker....

♪ (music) ♪