ROCK & ROLL: BLUES IN TECHNICOLOR {EPISODE 6} (TV)
Summary
Episode six of this ten-part documentary miniseries which traces the origins and history of rock and roll music from the late 1940s to the present. Interviews with artists and record executives, and performance footage are included throughout the program. Episode six, "Blues in Technicolor," examines the era of psychedelic music and mind-altering drugs. Events covered in this part include: how psychedelic rock evolved in California in the 1960s with burgeoning of hallucinogenic drugs; the Gavin Report, which listed songs that were banned from radio airplay because of drug references; the growth of the drug culture through author Ken Kesey's famous acid tests; how the Grateful Dead made a name for itself as the house band for the acid tests and for their signature rhythm-and-blues jams; why San Francisco became the mecca for psychedelia and the birthplace of many new bands, such as the Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin; how the Beatles moved towards the psychedelic sound and experimented with LSD and Indian music; the "Human Be-In" concert which packed Golden Gate Park with twenty thousand people; how record companies then began looking to sign some of these new artists; the spread of the psychedelic sound to London and the experimentation with this music by bands such as Pink Floyd; how the law began to crack down on the San Francisco scene; the Woodstock Festival in 1969, which attracted approximately five hundred thousand people for three days of music; and how the tragedy at the Altamont Concert marked the end of the psychedelic era. Includes interviews with the following individuals, among others: musicians Roger McGuinn and David Crosby talk about the banning of some of the Byrds' songs; Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh recall what went on during the acid tests besides the music; producer George Martin comments on the evolution of the Beatles' musical style; musician Roger Waters charts the direction Pink Floyd pursued with the psychedelic sound; and Woodstock organizer Mike Lang examines the success and happenings at the festival. (A note at the end of the program dedicates this episode to the memory of Jerry Garcia.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: September 26, 1995 Tuesday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:43082
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Blues (Music); Hallucinagenic drugs; Interviews; LSD (Drug); Music - Analysis, appreciation; Rock music
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Elizabeth Deane … Executive Producer
- David Espar … Senior Producer
- Hugh Thomson … Producer
- Mick Conefrey … Producer, Director
- Ian Pye … Associate Producer
- Big Brother and The Holding Company … Music Group
- Liev Schreiber … Narrator
- Roger McGuinn … Performer, Guest
- David Crosby … Guest
- Ken Kesey … Guest
- Jerry Garcia … Guest
- Phil Lesh … Guest
- Paul Kantner … Guest
- Ron Thelin … Guest
- Allen Cohen … Guest
- Rock Scully … Guest
- George Martin … Guest
- Ravi Shankar … Guest
- Joe McDonald … Guest
- David Rubinson … Guest
- Grace Slick … Guest
- Roger Waters … Guest
- Pete Jenner … Guest
- Mike Lang … Guest
- The Beatles
- Big Brother & the Holding Company
- Grateful Dead, The
- Jefferson Airplane, The
- Janis Joplin
- Pink Floyd