SONGMAKERS, THE (TV)
Summary
This televised documentary special, narrated by Joel Crager, examines the behind-the-scenes aspects of the creation of popular music. The program opens as, in a series of brief clips, Judy Collins performs Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," Smokey and the Miracles perform "The Tracks of My Tears," Dionne Warwick performs "Somewhere" from "West Side Story," and Simon and Garfunkel perform "I Am A Rock." Crager explains that many current successful groups create their own music by "writing what they feel" and improvising, as seen in a Byrds jam session. "Veteran tunesmiths" Johnny Mercer and Sammy Fain comment on the stages of the songwriting process, and Fain plays his song "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing." Burt Bacharach and Hal David talk about their "happy marriage" and collaborative process through which they create popular numbers for films, such as "Alfie," and explain how they frequently alter the common 32-bar style to create new sounds, as heard in "Anyone Who Had A Heart," which features a frequently-changing time signature. Fain discusses his contributions to the 1951 Disney film "Alice in Wonderland," noting the music's "pixie quality." Warwick rehearses "I Say A Little Prayer For You" with Bacharach, adding to and tweaking the song's composition, and later goes on to perform it live at a Boston nightclub.
Turning to folk music, Collins performs Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", based on a quote from the Bible, which later became a trendsetting rock song when perform by The Byrds. Tom Paxton performs "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation," highlighting the cultural importance of the protest song within the category of folk. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel work on a song together, with Simon explaining that he was "on an existential kick for a while," and they perform "The Dangling Conversation" for an audience of undergraduate students. The Mamas and the Papas work on a new piece as well, "Boys and Girls," written by band member John Phillips, and producer Lou Adler observes as the group creates the song together and then works at a studio with back-up musicians, recording the song in stages, with much "overdubbing" and trial and error. Elsewhere, in Chicago, artists like Buddy Guy play the blues, which features the "universal language" of human experience, both joyful and sorrowful. Smokey Robinson explains how his experience with black gospel music has affected his style and writing, and on Chicago's famous Maxwell Street, the classic deep Southern music style is updated and transformed into an "electronic hard-driving" sound containing "the ruthlessness of the ghetto."
Danny Kalb of The Blues Project demonstrates the different sound and style of acoustic guitars versus electric, and the mixed-race Paul Butterfield Blues Band performs at Columbia College, bringing a combination of styles together for new audiences. Johnny Mercer discusses the evolution of upbeat "foot-stomper" songs, and Robinson performs with the Miracles in Ohio. Award-winning composer Henry Mancini explains how the current songs' popularity grows and wanes much more quickly than in the past, observing that young people are always looking for something new and are making it happen themselves. The Blues Project closes the program with a performance of their collaborative instrumental piece, "Flute Thing." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: February 24, 1967 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:47141
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Music - Analysis, appreciation; Specials
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1968
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - 3M Company
CREDITS
- Stephen Fleischman … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Frederic Ramsey Jr. … Associate Producer, Writer
- Joel Crager … Narrator
- Judy Collins … Performer, Interviewee
- Burt Bacharach … Performer, Interviewee
- The Byrds … Performer, Interviewee
- Hal David … Performer, Interviewee
- Sammy Fain … Performer, Interviewee
- Art Garfunkel … Performer, Interviewee
- The Mamas and the Papas … Performer, Interviewee
- Johnny Mercer … Performer, Interviewee
- The Miracles … Performer, Interviewee
- Tom Paxton … Performer, Interviewee
- Smokey Robinson … Performer, Interviewee
- Paul Simon … Performer, Interviewee
- Dionne Warwick … Performer, Interviewee
- Danny Kalb … Performer, Interviewee
- Buddy Guy … Performer
- The Blues Project … Performer
- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band … Performer
- John Phillips … Performer
- Henry Mancini … Interviewee
- Lou Adler
- Bob Dylan
- Pete Seeger