- 2 months ago
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00:00Many US states call themselves the American South, some more justifiably than others perhaps,
00:25but I'm right on the edge of what has been called the southernmost place in the world.
00:34Welcome to Arkansas.
00:38It's the 29th largest state in the United States.
00:41It's got a population of about 3 million and, uh, oh, well, we've just passed back into Tennessee.
00:48And the reason for that is because I'm on a bridge and I'm crossing over one of the greatest border markers in the entire world, the mighty Mississippi.
01:08The Great American South.
01:17From the Atlantic to the Gulf and a few points in between in a runabout sort of way.
01:24Come with me, exploring its rich, its wondrous and, let's face it, its sometimes troubled history.
01:32Rejoicing in the spiritual.
01:34And the creative.
01:37Now I have faith in welding.
01:39Wrapping myself in legend and myth.
01:42It's like a sort of American Gothic novel.
01:44Stuffing myself with southern food.
01:47And what is your secret?
01:50Me.
01:55I want to explore America where the crawdads sit.
02:00By land, by air, by water.
02:02It promises to be uplifting, exciting, and very beautiful.
02:08I'm going with Griff.
02:10Yes, ma'am.
02:10The Great American South.
02:12I've changed my mind!
02:14Ours for the taking.
02:15Safe travels.
02:16Look at that.
02:29Glistening in the sunshine.
02:32Memphis.
02:33And of course, you can tell it's Memphis because it's got a great big pyramid.
02:36The town was created in honour of the ancient city on the Nile.
02:44And that's because this river was considered to be as important as the Nile.
02:52At this point on the river, three southern states converge.
02:59Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
03:04I'm going to be heading down the father of waters pretty soon.
03:08But I'm going to stop to say hello to Frankie.
03:12And I get more than directions for my road ahead.
03:14I get some pretty sound advice.
03:18Griff.
03:19Yeah?
03:19Griffin.
03:20Do not sell your soul to the devil.
03:22Oh.
03:24I'll try to avoid that.
03:25There'll be a lot of temptations along the way for me.
03:28There's no doubt about that.
03:32So, don't sell my soul to the devil.
03:35Well, that's quite a challenge because according to some songs,
03:38old Nick hangs around in this place.
03:44Memphis is the largest city bordering the Mississippi River.
03:48It's sat on rising ground overlooking the Delta since 1819.
03:53But most of us know about it because of its sound.
03:58Memphis, Tennessee is mentioned in more than a thousand song lyrics and titles.
04:03This is where Elvis found a voice.
04:05Many claim it's the birthplace of not only the blues,
04:09but of gospel rock and roll and soul itself.
04:15This is the site of Stax Records.
04:19This was the powerhouse that got me actually onto the dance floor when I was 16.
04:29Because the house band at Stax was Booker T and the MGs.
04:33This was the place where Albert King recorded.
04:38Where Otis Redding recorded.
04:41And where that quintessential New York theme,
04:46the theme from Shaft, was actually made.
04:51Between 1958 and 1965,
04:54this truly southern music conquered the world.
04:57Guitar sales, for example, went from $300,000 to $1.5 million a year.
05:04Blame it on Memphis.
05:07Fender, Gibson and National might have become musical household names.
05:10But I've decided a more bespoke approach could help my blues education.
05:16Hello.
05:20Oh, hey, hey, hey.
05:21Hold on.
05:22Pete will get out.
05:22Let me grab him.
05:23Okay.
05:24Let me grab him here.
05:27Come in here.
05:27Okay.
05:28Have a look.
05:28This is where generally people come and relax.
05:32All right.
05:32So, now, Jonathan, I've come here because,
05:37and I've been told to bring with me a plank of wood,
05:41because I believe that you make guitars starting with planks of wood.
05:46Is that right?
05:47If you love this piece of wood, we can turn it into a guitar for you, yes.
05:52And is that what you've done for other people?
05:54Yeah.
05:55I mean, basically, like, the guitars in this room,
05:59they're not really shaped like anyone else's guitars.
06:02You make them by hand and the individual guitar.
06:05You never reproduce the same guitar twice.
06:06No, no.
06:07They're never exactly the same.
06:09Okay.
06:09So, if you were starting with my piece of wood,
06:12can you show me the various stages of that?
06:15I think we can take you through that.
06:17Why don't we hand it out?
06:19Yeah.
06:20My lump of indeterminate Mississippi driftwood.
06:24We're going to have to cut this out.
06:26It's about to become a blues weapon.
06:30I'll do that.
06:31I was just going to do this for the benefit of those who are wondering what it is.
06:40Yeah, you see?
06:46And that's basically the guitar there.
06:49Do you have a particular name for this guitar that you've made
06:52with the sort of salvaged wood and the deco finishes?
06:57I mean, these are called crossroads after Robert Johnson.
07:01Of course.
07:02Robert Johnson is the Delta blues legend from the 1930s
07:07who famously sold his soul to the devil to play intricate blues guitar.
07:12He was the first person to really do three parts by himself.
07:17He'd be doing the bass, the rhythm, and the lead with his hands.
07:20Wow.
07:21I can only aspire to Robert Johnson's playing style.
07:24Jonathan tells me my new guitar will still take another week or so
07:28to fit out and string up.
07:30I've got to ask you now, let's quickly go and have a look at some that you made earlier.
07:35Yeah, let's have a strum.
07:36Yeah.
07:38It's an image of the South as being slow and sort of, you know, laid back.
07:43But then you come here and you think of another side to the South
07:47and you go, you have to be in awe of it
07:49because it produced some of the greatest music
07:51which has transformed the 20th century
07:53and transformed world music everywhere.
07:55So, what is it that makes that happen?
07:59It's, you really can't say it's one.
08:01I mean, clearly, the black field hands.
08:05The blues doesn't exist without the black field hands.
08:09The blues doesn't exist without, in a sense, it's a misery
08:12of the way they were worked
08:13because it was the rhythm of how they worked
08:16that kept them going and that rhythm became the blues.
08:22I've got one final question for you, though.
08:26If I, you know, I thought it's my birthday quite soon,
08:31what sort of level of investment would I be making?
08:37Generally, between, like, $2,000 to $3,500 at this point.
08:41Okay.
08:42But if you wanted, let's say, the guitar you were working on.
08:46No, no, no, I'm just saying that because that's not...
08:49I don't have to sell my soul to the devil to get one of your guitars.
08:54No, no, no, it's...
08:55And I said, brother, I'd rather want one.
08:59Yeah, there you go.
09:00The centre of Memphis blues is in Beale Street.
09:11That's going to be my spiritual home for a few days.
09:14But before we get there, there is a Memphis tradition
09:18that I want to explore.
09:20I'm in the Peabody Hotel now,
09:25which they call themselves the Ritz of Memphis.
09:31And about 100 years ago,
09:34the managing director and a mate
09:36had been off duck hunting in Arkansas.
09:39And they brought some of their live decoys,
09:43their pet ducks, back here,
09:45and they thought it might be fun
09:47to release them in the centre of the hotel.
09:52So they did.
09:54And they've sort of been here ever since.
09:57Here at the Peabody,
10:03Keenan is the duck master,
10:05and today I'm going to be his waddling assistant.
10:08What I'm going to do is in about 20 minutes,
10:11I'm going to have the red carpet out here.
10:13All right.
10:14We're going to unroll the carpet,
10:15but then I'm going to kind of welcome everyone.
10:17Everybody up top on the mezzanine,
10:20how are we feeling this evening?
10:21Good.
10:22But then I'm going to call your name.
10:24And put your hands together for today's honorary duck master,
10:28Griff Rhys Jones.
10:31All right.
10:31Then you and I,
10:33we're going to march these ducks up the red carpet
10:35all the way into the elevator
10:36and take them all back upstairs to the duck palace
10:39for the rest of the evening.
10:41Okay, great.
10:42I'll tell you what,
10:42I'll just settle myself down
10:44and wait until the ceremony.
10:45If you need me to do anything,
10:47don't hesitate to poke me with your duck master stick.
10:51Well, there's a lot of people here.
10:53What do they say about working with animals?
10:56Okay.
10:57Up, up, up, up.
10:58Here come the ducks.
10:59Good job, duckies.
11:01Watch your step on the way down.
11:03Yes, they seem to know where to waddle.
11:07All right.
11:08Now, duckies,
11:09I bet we've got some first timers over here
11:12by the red carpet.
11:13Let's see if we can get them to stop
11:14and strike a couple poses.
11:15Hey, duckies,
11:17everybody strike a good pose on the red carpet.
11:19Is that what they call a duck pout?
11:26Looking good, y'all.
11:28How you feeling, my friend?
11:29I'm feeling good.
11:29Yeah, you're doing a perfect job.
11:31I like the whole business of just coming along.
11:34Man, I appreciate you.
11:34At a duck's pace.
11:37There's one.
11:38There's two.
11:39There's three, four, and five.
11:42Come on, let's take them home.
11:43There we go.
12:00Good job, duckies.
12:02Now, I wonder if these ducks
12:03have sold their souls for their penthouse suite.
12:07Fantastic job.
12:10Good job.
12:11Hey, man, same to you.
12:12As duck herding goes,
12:15that was both a surprise and a delight.
12:18But I think I'm on steadier ground
12:20back on Beale Street.
12:26From the 1920s to the 1940s,
12:29Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters,
12:31B.B. King
12:32and other legends
12:33played right here.
12:36Alongside the jug band style
12:38known as Memphis Blues.
12:42Well, it's all kicked off now
12:44on Beale Street.
12:48Every door you pass
12:50has blues, soul,
12:55rhythm and blues
12:56coming out of it.
12:58And what's odd
13:01is the way that it's
13:04it's all part
13:05of the same root.
13:08And so
13:08some of it's
13:09even in the same key.
13:14It was here
13:15that Elvis heard the music
13:16of Sister Loretta Tharp.
13:18She blended gospel music
13:20with electric guitars
13:21and is credited
13:22with inventing rock and roll.
13:24He befriended B.B. King,
13:26the king of the blues
13:27and was deeply influenced
13:29by the soul music he heard.
13:34But it wasn't just
13:36Elvis' sound
13:37that developed here.
13:41At Lansky's
13:43on Beale Street
13:44he found his signature style.
13:47Elvis was working
13:48as an usher
13:49around the corner
13:49from the store
13:50and on Fridays
13:51he'd come in
13:52and maybe one Friday
13:53he'd come in
13:54and buy a cap
13:5450 cents.
13:56Next week
13:57he might come in
13:57and get some pants
13:58for $1.95
13:59and he kept coming
14:00and coming
14:00and coming in.
14:01And then one day
14:02he came in
14:03and he said
14:03Mr. Lansky,
14:04Mr. Lansky
14:05I'm going to be
14:06on national TV.
14:08My dad said
14:08that's great Elvis.
14:09He said
14:09what television show?
14:11And he said
14:12the Ed Sullivan show.
14:13My dad said whoa!
14:14Because back then
14:15Ed Sullivan's show
14:16was like the voice.
14:17Yeah, yeah.
14:18It was
14:18when the Beatles
14:19broke America.
14:20Yeah.
14:21So he said
14:22I'm going to need
14:23some clothes
14:23Mr. Lansky
14:24so my dad
14:25was showing him around
14:26and he was putting
14:27the coats
14:27with the pants
14:28and the jackets
14:29and what do you
14:30think about this?
14:31And Elvis looked up
14:31and he said
14:32Mr. Lansky
14:32I got a problem.
14:34What's your problem Elvis?
14:36He said
14:36Mr. Lansky
14:37I don't have any money.
14:39He said
14:39Elvis you do have a problem.
14:41I tell you
14:41what I'm going to do.
14:42I'm going to give you
14:43some credit.
14:45My dad
14:46showed
14:47this young kid
14:49a little kindness
14:50and respect
14:50and they became
14:52lifelong friends
14:53for three decades
14:5450s, 60s
14:55and 70s.
14:58Elvis
14:58took me
14:59to make deals
15:00with the devil
15:01he found Lansky.
15:04As for me
15:05in this shirt
15:06I just look
15:07just a little bit
15:08like my mother's curtains
15:10so not the really bright one
15:12but it's beautiful
15:14but not for me.
15:15the southern state
15:27can be competitive
15:28about quite a few things
15:30music
15:30college football
15:31cars
15:32but when it comes
15:33to barbecue
15:34they're mad for it
15:36it's normal behaviour
15:38around here
15:39to just arrive
15:40in a field
15:40and start
15:41a broiling competition
15:43Bach?
15:44How are you sir?
15:45I'm good
15:46I'm very pleased
15:47to see you
15:48so now
15:49first of all
15:50you've got to tell me
15:51what is happening here
15:53what have I arrived at?
15:55It's a local barbecue competition
15:57however
15:57it's a sanctioned
15:59barbecue competition
15:59meaning
16:00it has
16:01standardised rules
16:02and regulations
16:03of how you're supposed
16:04to turn
16:05your product
16:06in to the judges
16:07so that it's
16:08judged fairly.
16:09OK
16:09let's walk
16:10and you can explain
16:11in a little bit
16:12what's going on
16:13as we have a look
16:13at some of the stores
16:14where do all
16:17these barbecues
16:18come from?
16:20Well
16:20it's a culture
16:21it's not just a culture
16:22really I should say
16:23in this area
16:23it's a lifestyle
16:24so people barbecue here
16:26it's just part of
16:26who they are
16:27and what they do
16:27You're a bit of
16:29a barbecue man yourself
16:31Yes
16:31I have a barbecue background
16:32I've been competing
16:34since 1996
16:35Oh my goodness
16:36and so we have
16:37seven world championships
16:38in different parts
16:40of the country
16:40Really?
16:41And have you taken
16:42your barbecue recipe
16:43right still alike
16:44across the south?
16:45Absolutely
16:45But what makes
16:47a Memphis barbecue?
16:49Memphis style
16:50is usually pork
16:51Yeah
16:51And it usually has
16:53some sort of
16:53sweet and tangy sauce
16:54and a savoury
16:56blend of spices
16:56some type of hickory
16:58or pecan smoke
16:59The distinct
17:01Memphis mix
17:02stems from its history
17:03as a major
17:04Mississippi port
17:05spices
17:06and molasses
17:08float in
17:09on the river
17:10God
17:12that looks good
17:13I'm dying
17:14to get eating
17:14Everyone who turns up
17:17here gets to
17:18pass judgment
17:19in the important
17:20people's choice
17:22award
17:22This guy needs
17:24some nickels
17:25for people's choice
17:26Thank you very much
17:28But
17:28can I ask this
17:29I only get one nickel
17:31for my person's choice
17:32Yes
17:32So in order
17:33I have to go and try
17:34everything
17:35As many as you want
17:36As many as I want to
17:37or I like the look of
17:38Yeah
17:38And then I throw it in
17:40and that
17:40Throw it in the one
17:41you like the best
17:41Extra spicy sausages
17:46Molasses
17:48Molasses smeared ribs
17:50They're very sticky
17:51Finger licking goo
17:53Just being greedy now
17:55See how it's true
17:55This stuff
17:58looks like it could be dessert
18:00This your chicken lollipop?
18:02This is
18:03Grab one in boats
18:04So what's the ingredient
18:05in the sauce?
18:07Well
18:07Secret
18:08It starts with apple jelly
18:10Does it?
18:11Start with apple jelly
18:12All right
18:12Let me just have a taste
18:13of this
18:14Yep
18:14See what you think about
18:15So the judges are
18:15going to taste this
18:16in a little while
18:17Mmm
18:18Okay
18:19Mmm
18:20It's really good
18:24You like it?
18:25I like it a lot
18:26Yeah
18:26It's good
18:26And just like that
18:29my decision
18:30is made
18:31There it is
18:33Right there
18:34There it is
18:35All right
18:36Thank you brother
18:37Thank you
18:38Thank you
18:39Can I back a winner?
18:41Thank y'all for coming out
18:43to the Bahia Barbecue Fest
18:44All right
18:45Everyone that participated
18:47in People's Choice
18:49All right
18:50The winner is
18:52Chris Blankenship
18:54Yes
18:57I think so
18:58My southern taste buds
18:59have clearly developed
19:00on this trip
19:01I got the lollipop
19:04Good luck mate
19:05Good luck mate
19:06Good luck mate
19:07Everybody
19:08Listen to me
19:09Tell me about a car
19:10you've got to see
19:11The other day
19:12I was down
19:13I just braced
19:14So a bright red Cadillac
19:15staring at my face
19:16Want that Cadillac?
19:18The bright red Cadillac
19:20I've come here
19:21to Elvis Presley Plaza
19:23to meet with someone
19:24who's going to take me
19:25on a tour of Memphis
19:27to see another side
19:29I don't know that car
19:30Ha
19:31Ha
19:32Carolyn
19:35Yes
19:36Hi
19:37Thank you for picking me up
19:38Absolutely
19:39Welcome
19:40So when I say Memphis
19:44what do you think of?
19:45Barbecue
19:46Elvis
19:47You know
19:48Music
19:49Beale Street
19:50Yeah I'm guilty
19:51I'm guilty
19:52All of it
19:53But that's how
19:54What?
19:55Carolyn has a different
19:57Memphis history to tell
19:59Just as valid as music
20:00and barbecue
20:01Perhaps more so
20:03And when I started learning
20:04about the role that
20:05African Americans played
20:07in the development of this city
20:09I just knew that there was a
20:11deeper richness
20:12out of some real horrific incidents
20:15June 6, 1862 to kind of set the stage
20:20That's when the Union soldiers won
20:23what's known as the Battle of Memphis
20:25Once they won that battle
20:27that's when the demographics of this city
20:30changed dramatically
20:31because African Americans who were living in the rural areas
20:35started flooding into the city
20:38looking for employment
20:40Mm-hmm
20:41Looking for education
20:43Memphis became a city where former enslaved people
20:46could freely prosper
20:48But they did so well, so quickly
20:50that some of the white population
20:52began to fear a perceived rising power
20:56And that's why the whole voting rights issue
20:59I mean all of that came about
21:01Basically they said
21:02let's control the way that voting is done
21:06There was a whole sequence of laws
21:08that made it impossible
21:10for black people to prosper
21:13And they still did it
21:14in spite of the fear
21:16From the 1870s
21:18the so-called Jim Crow laws
21:20prohibited black people
21:22from sharing spaces such as schools
21:24and water fountains with white people
21:27They enshrined segregation
21:30Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
21:32was part of a movement for change
21:36In 1968, he came to Memphis
21:39and an event that took place
21:41altered the course of history
21:45Dr. King was staying here at the Lorraine
21:48It was a union concern that he was supporting here, wasn't he?
21:53Yeah, it was really dangerous for him to come
21:57As you can imagine, anywhere Dr. King went was dangerous
22:00But he came to support men
22:02who really probably wouldn't have a voice any other way
22:06And as he steps out that night
22:09to go to dinner and prepare to go to the rally
22:12he's right at the balcony edge
22:14and he looks down
22:15and he sees one of Memphis' favorite saxophonist
22:18and his name was Ben Branch
22:20and he said, Ben
22:22when we get to that rally tonight
22:24I want you to play my favorite piece
22:26I want you to play it as sweet
22:29as sweet as you've ever played it
22:31and moments after he makes that request
22:33that's when the shot rings out
22:35and that's when Dr. King was shot where he stood
22:38right there in the balcony
22:40and he was pronounced dead an hour later at the hospital
22:43It's difficult to digest sometimes
22:57but also just being here
22:59I mean, you're walking in his footsteps
23:01Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s work and sacrifice were monumental
23:07but change could also occur in humble, unexpected places
23:12like a cafe
23:17Tell me now about Four Way
23:20Thank you
23:21You're welcome
23:22This started as a great soul food restaurant
23:25was one of the best
23:27still is one of the best
23:28but what made this significant is the owner, Mr. Cleves
23:32was the chauffeur of Mayor Crump here in Memphis
23:36the fact that Mayor Crump ate here
23:39he encouraged many of his friends to eat here
23:41so when you think about blacks and whites eating in the same place in the 40s in Memphis
23:46you shake your head
23:47but that's what this place was
23:49and then it became the place where everyday people came
23:53and some very well-known people came
23:56so I always say that this is where they served kings and queens
23:59Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
24:02BB King
24:04Elvis, the king of rock and roll
24:06They all came here?
24:07Don King, the fighting promoter
24:09Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul
24:11Wow!
24:12Yeah, so you're sitting steeped in history
24:15And now I'm having my first southern sweet tea
24:20First?
24:21Well, I don't usually drink sweet things
24:24Oh, okay
24:25But this is, how can I describe it?
24:28Sweet
24:29Yes, it'll make things tingle
24:34That may not all normally tingle
24:38It's time to face down temptation again because I want to get on the river
24:52and I need some equipment to do it
24:54And this little boat will only set me back $71,000
25:01But if I want to buy it, I have to enter the Great Pyramid
25:12When this place was originally opened in 1991, it was an arena
25:16And it's been turned subsequently into a giant emporium
25:20Where they sell absolutely everything for people who want to get to grips with the muddy outdoors
25:31I'm not sure if the alligators are for sale or just decoration
25:40Is there a march of the alligators here in the pyramid?
25:43From the top of the pyramid here you get the most incredible view
25:55Of what made Memphis such a successful city
26:00The Mississippi
26:02And I'm longing to go down it
26:05This is an emotional moment for me
26:14It's a really important point in this great journey across the southern states
26:20Because I'm about to get afloat on the Mississippi
26:26Danny?
26:27Hello
26:28Hi
26:29There's plenty of opportunity to get afloat
26:31The river is 2,340 miles long
26:34It's to me too
26:35It acts as a drainage ditch for one-eighth of the entire country
26:40Over a million square miles
26:42All right
26:43Yeah, let's go have a good time
26:44Danny is a local fisherman who knows this water like a 70-pound catfish
26:50And he's following in some serious footsteps
26:52If you want a reliable guide
26:55To the Mississippi
26:58The best one is still someone who was writing about 200 years ago
27:02And that's Mark Twain
27:05What's really called Mark Twain
27:07Mark Twain means two fathoms deep
27:10It's the thing that somebody on a river steamboat used to shout out
27:15When the boat was just about able still to float
27:20He'd throw a lead out and go Mark Twain
27:24And that was the name that Mark Twain borrowed
27:28Because he had been a riverboat pilot
27:34His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens
27:38And his characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
27:41Put the Mississippi on the world's literary map
27:48I'm gonna stand back a bit
27:50And watch
27:51With...
27:52With bated breath
27:55I just want to say, Danny, that was fantastic
28:08That was balletic
28:15Got him
28:16Oh!
28:25Oh, my goodness
28:28Dude, if I'd known fishing was this easy
28:31I'd have done it myself
28:33So, what fish have we got here?
28:35Silver carp
28:36A silver carp
28:38Hey, I just want to point out
28:40That this is really important
28:42This was not a set-up
28:44This is not a tame carp
28:46That we sort of kept there
28:48And this actually happened in front of us
28:50Well done
28:51Congratulations
28:52Yes
28:53The river is still full of fish
28:55It is
28:56In fact, 260 species of fish
28:59A quarter of the species in North America
29:02Live in the Mississippi
29:05But despite these numbers
29:06I failed to catch a single one
29:11Yeah
29:12I need to keep going south into the state of Mississippi anyway
29:15Danny has taken me as far as he can
29:17So I've hitched a ride on with Robert
29:20And we're heading down to Cleveland
29:23The Mississippi River runs through ten states
29:26From Minnesota to Louisiana
29:28This is a working river
29:31Originally for Native Americans
29:32And then massively expanded by European settlement
29:36It's the original American liquid freeway
29:42This is still
29:44In the 21st century
29:46A major artery
29:48For the United States of America
29:51Absolutely, absolutely
29:52Well, it's the most economical
29:54The most efficient
29:55The most green
29:57Method of transportation still
29:59Because one of these barges can hold as many as 65 to 70 truckloads
30:05You know, so you're taking that many trucks off the road
30:08And then when you put them on the Mississippi
30:10You're pushing around 45 barges
30:12And so you multiply that out
30:14That's a lot of trucks you're taking off the road
30:17Billions of dollars' worth of commodities
30:20Grain, oil and gas move along it
30:22But the commerce passes through the Mississippi
30:25And the wealth doesn't stay here
30:28Workers are transient
30:30They don't spend money in these towns
30:32And as a result
30:34The towns died
30:36When I was younger, like I said
30:37I spent a lot of time on the river, around the river
30:40And we hunt nearby
30:43I remember then
30:44There were still commercial fishermen
30:46That actually lived on houseboats on the river
30:49Year round
30:50And they fished
30:51And their families lived there
30:53And they grew up
30:54That's pretty much gone away now
30:56You don't ever see that anymore
30:58So, unfortunately
31:01Just me in the open road
31:05We're about a hundred miles south of Memphis now
31:07And all around me is what's known as the Mississippi Delta
31:12But it's not actually a Delta at all
31:15This is actually an alluvial flood
31:19Flood plain
31:20But when it comes to the blues
31:22The alluvial flood plain blues
31:25Are not as good as the Delta blues
31:28The Delta blues
31:29Just me in the open road
31:30Got it going on
31:31Got it going on
31:32Yeah
31:33Going on
31:34Going on
31:35Going on
31:36All right?
31:37Okay
31:38This flat land is made of deep mud
31:55Deposited over millions of years
31:57It was discovered to be the most fertile cotton growing soil in the US
32:01And it resulted in a bad history of the worst exploitation of enslaved people in the US too
32:08Keith is taking me into the Delta
32:10One of the reasons I came to Mississippi to begin with is because as you know we're on Highway 61
32:15And I'm a big fan of blues music
32:18So the first time I came to Mississippi was really just to kind of come and investigate where these guys were born
32:23Where did they grow up? What was it like here?
32:25And hopefully find some authentic details left over from those days
32:29Keith has been documenting the demise of towns in Mississippi
32:33And that's so often in human history
32:36From hardship comes creativity
32:39So what's the name of this place we've come to, Keith?
32:42Uh, this is a little community called Hushpuckana, Mississippi
32:45It's a Choctaw word, um, that supposedly means place of plentiful sunflowers
32:54And how did you discover this place?
32:57Found it by accident, looking on Google
32:59Yeah
33:00Came here to find it, hoping it was still standing
33:02Because a lot of times those things are missing
33:04As happened with abandoned buildings
33:05And when I got here I found this treasure
33:07Which I think is really fascinating
33:09I took a lot of photographs
33:11Not knowing really what anything was
33:13And it looked like a store
33:14But I really wasn't sure
33:15So I went home, did my research
33:17Learned that this is in fact a store
33:19That was also a store
33:20This was a house with a post office attached
33:22So I wrote this up in a blog
33:24Published a video about it
33:26Put my photos out there
33:27And almost immediately I began hearing from
33:29People who knew about this place
33:31Believe it or not
33:33Who could imagine this is actually a place
33:35That people are familiar with across the country
33:41The buildings have so much story
33:43It's just a question of
33:45Can you find out what the story is?
33:50There's a record here
33:51Correct
33:52Being made of a change in the community
33:58In the whole community
33:59Yes, absolutely
34:00The passing of time and things going bad
34:04A town like Hushpukkina
34:06Which right now is still standing
34:08This will not be here forever
34:10In fact I was kind of hoping it was still here
34:12When we came tonight
34:13And luckily it was
34:14But it won't be long until these buildings are gone
34:16And when they're gone
34:18All we'll have is the photographs we made
34:24Small town southern America
34:26Is still fading into black and white
34:28People left to escape their own devils
34:32New farming practices
34:34Better regulation
34:35Better mechanisation
34:36More efficient transport
34:38Spelt their end
34:40And as the blues reminds us
34:42The devil is never very far away
34:46I'm crossing
34:48The state now
34:50Through Mississippi
34:52And I'm heading
34:54To Tupelo
34:56And I wanted to come out this way
34:58Because
34:59This is where Elvis Presley was born
35:02He came from
35:04A very poor background
35:07And in Tupelo
35:09I hope we'll be able to see
35:11Some of the way
35:13That
35:14That
35:15Even for the king
35:17The story
35:19Is about
35:20Roots
35:23It's about
35:24Poverty
35:25It's about
35:27Being
35:28In
35:29Demanding circumstances
35:31And this
35:33Modest
35:34Shotgun house
35:35Set now
35:36In a well-tended park
35:38Is where
35:39He was born
35:40So
35:43A shotgun house
35:44Was so called
35:45Because
35:47Legend has it
35:50You could fire a shotgun
35:52Through
35:53The front door
35:54And it would
35:55Go straight through the house
35:57It was just one room
35:58After another
35:59After another
36:02This
36:03Area
36:04Was
36:05Known
36:06As the
36:07Other
36:08Side
36:09Of the tracks
36:10The whole of Mississippi
36:12Was
36:13Dominated
36:14By
36:15A sort of
36:16Class system
36:17With
36:18With
36:19Rich
36:20Aristocratic
36:21Farmers
36:22And poor whites
36:23And poor blacks
36:24And
36:26Seeing this house
36:27And understanding
36:28This was the place
36:29Where Elvis Presley
36:31Was born
36:32Brought up in
36:33Gives you some idea
36:34Of how important
36:35That mix
36:36Of
36:37Poor
36:39People
36:40People
36:41Without much
36:42Singing
36:43Singing
36:44And making music
36:45Was vital
36:46To the growth
36:47Of
36:48The blues
36:49And rock and roll
36:51I do believe
36:52That this area
36:53Was the cradle of rock and roll
36:55But
36:56Why
36:57Was it so strong
36:59In
37:00In
37:01In this
37:02In this state
37:03Was it that people needed
37:04To make their own music
37:05As much as anything else
37:06Oh that was a lot of it
37:07I mean
37:08Music
37:09And church life
37:11Was the main forms of entertainment
37:12I've often said that church
37:16And
37:18Especially your
37:19Middle class
37:20To lower
37:21Class
37:22It was the gathering point
37:24Where they would
37:25Share meals together
37:27Have singings together
37:29He learned
37:30White
37:31Pentecostal gospel
37:32Which is a very distinct sound
37:34Well one guy had a radio
37:36And in those days
37:37You hooked a car battery up
37:38To the radio
37:39And he'd put it on his front porch
37:41On Saturday night
37:42And all the neighbors
37:43Would gather around
37:44Well that exposed him
37:45To bluegrass
37:46And country
37:47So you could say
37:49That the music
37:50Was a form of escape
37:51Oh absolutely
37:52From extreme poverty around here
37:53Absolutely
37:54It was a way of fantasizing
37:55It was a way of
37:56Letting yourself go
37:57Which was legally allowed
37:59When you were sort of
38:00Restricted from what you could do
38:01Yeah
38:02But did you know
38:03This park was a gift from Elvis
38:05We were not welcome
38:06On the other side of town
38:08And he knew that
38:09Because he hadn't been welcome
38:10And he wanted to do
38:11Something about it
38:12I'm satisfied I've seen
38:15The cradle of rock and roll
38:17But rock and roll
38:18Would not have existed
38:19Without the blues
38:21Further along the Mississippi
38:23I finally get
38:24To a small town
38:25Called Cleveland
38:27This is Bolivar County Courthouse
38:31Cleveland, Mississippi
38:33And this place
38:34Was the site of
38:36Quite a momentous happening
38:39In popular music
38:41In 1905
38:43W.C. Handy
38:45The father of the blues
38:47Brought his band here to play
38:49And he had a very conventional band
38:51And they asked him
38:53If he could play some proper southern music
38:56And he thought
38:57Oh, they want one of those
38:58Sentimental ballads
38:59So he played that
39:00And they said
39:01No, no, not like that
39:02Do you mind if our guys
39:03Play some music just for the crowd?
39:04And he said
39:05No, fine
39:06And three guys got up
39:07One of them had a guitar
39:08One of them had a mandolin
39:10And one of them
39:11Had an old beat-up bass
39:13He said
39:15They started
39:16A sort of monotonous
39:18Foot-tapping
39:20Repetitive
39:21Beat
39:23A riff
39:25And the crowd went wild
39:31What he saw was
39:33Beautiful
39:34Primitive
39:35Music
39:36It was the blues
39:38So
39:39Where was this incredible sound coming from?
39:42I'm told I can get a feel for its origins here
39:45Dockery Farms
39:47This was a cotton plantation that was founded late in 1895
39:51And its owner earned a reputation for his fair treatment of the thousands who worked here
40:04Newspaper of the African American community reported on the Dockery Farm in 1938
40:14When asked how he was treated by Mr. Dockery he yelled in a great clear voice
40:23A slot machine couldn't pay off any better than Mr. Joe Dockery unless you would tear the door off and turn it upside down
40:32He's the best white man on earth
40:37This was rare in this area but it made for an extraordinary community
40:44This was an entirely self-contained community
40:49This was an entirely self-contained community
40:52People lived and worked here
40:54And as well as all this machinery
40:57There was a shop, a commissary to provide goods
41:01And there was a place of entertainment
41:06It was called the Frolic House
41:09And people started to make a particular kind of music
41:17The days were searingly hot
41:19The labour was hard
41:21The African American community found expression through the blues
41:26Bill, who helped restore this place, is an expert on those legendary early masters
41:33B.B. King says it's the birthplace of the blues
41:36And that's because Sun House played here
41:38Robert Johnson played here
41:39Yeah, Robert Johnson played here
41:41They played here, they all came here to play
41:43Because they could make all the money here at Dockery
41:45Charlie Patton was the only black man that wore white man Sunday school clothes
41:49And drove a brand new car
41:51And so if Charlie Patton played here at Dockery and played at the Frolicking House
41:55He might pocket $250
41:57When most people were making 50 cents a day
41:59And so he made a lot of money
42:01But these are the ones that all the bluesmen turned to
42:04Because they're all metal
42:06The great thing about playing from the very earliest times
42:10Right
42:11Your problem as an acoustic guitar player was
42:15That you went to the Frolic House
42:17And presumably with 4,000 people working here
42:19You had a big audience
42:20A big audience
42:21A thousand or more
42:22And you're thinking how can I
42:24How can I be heard?
42:25How can I get my
42:26Right, right
42:27There was no electricity, remember?
42:28Sure
42:29Couldn't plug them up
42:30I'm just gonna
42:31I just wanna hear a little bit
42:32Yeah, hear it
42:33I wanna hear it
42:34Let's hear this
42:35Just think how long it's been since that music came from here
42:46Over a hundred years ago
42:48That sound would have been here any afternoon
42:50On Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon
42:52That you're making right there
42:53Been exactly like that
42:55And made from the same guitar probably
42:57You know how clean it is and how clear it sounds
43:09That's amazing
43:10That's that guitar on those fingers
43:12That's fantastic
43:13Yeah
43:14Yeah
43:15But why don't you learn to play the guitar?
43:16After all these years
43:17Well
43:18Sitting in the home of the blues
43:19Look, look, look, look
43:20I've been to the Crossroads several times at night
43:22My hair's not black
43:23And I can't play the guitar
43:25But anyway
43:26It worked out for Robert Johnson, didn't it?
43:28Tell me the Crossroads story
43:30Well, Robert Johnson was playing with Willie Brown and Charlie Patton
43:33Well, they'd been playing for 15 years
43:35So they knew what they were doing
43:37Robert couldn't handle it
43:38So they ran him off
43:39That happened right over there at the commissary
43:41They ran him off
43:42He went to the train station
43:43Stayed there all night
43:44The next morning got on the train
43:46Rode to Chicago
43:47But before he went to Chicago
43:48They say he went down to the Crossroads
43:50Which was right down there
43:51And sold his soul to the devil
43:52And he could play everything perfect in three minutes
43:54When he got back from that
43:55But it took him a year in Hazlehurst
43:57To actually do that
43:58But
43:59That was a long meeting with the devil
44:00It was a long meeting with the devil
44:01But the Crossroads are right down there
44:03But thank you
44:04Thank you
44:05That was a really great story
44:06And a really great
44:07A really great image for me
44:08Well helped you
44:09My Mississippi journey has brought me to the very apex of the blues mythology
44:24Robert Johnson came here to get help
44:30So this is the very Crossroads by repute
44:35Where Robert Johnson stood and sold his soul to the devil
44:40The Crossroads, in fact, where he sang about trying desperately to get a ride
44:45Nobody seemed to know me
44:47Everybody passed me by
44:52Unlike him, I'm actually not that keen to get a lift out of here
44:56Because I've been fascinated by the Delta
45:00And everything to do with it
45:02It's got an extraordinary history
45:05But it also has an amazing world-beating legacy
45:10On my trip I didn't get much chance to sell my soul
45:14Nobody dragged me under
45:15I didn't have to say no
45:17But this guy isn't passing me by
45:20Okay, well, this appears to be a lift
45:30Of course, I've no idea who's sitting in that cab
45:33But it may be the devil
45:42But, let's face it
45:43I don't think even he can improve my guitar playing
45:46Next stop, New Orleans
45:54The Big Easy
46:00Most bizarre thing I've ever done
46:16品 extra
46:36And we'll try to get this man
Recommended
46:33
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