There
will be no Pro Tools used to doctor these recordings. Each take is inscribed
directly onto disk. There will also be a hard stop at just under four minutes.
It has been decades (nearly a century) since records were made this way, but
producers T Bone Burnett and Jack White revived the practice for their
three-part PBS-BBC special, American Epic.
They invited some of the biggest names in contemporary Americana music into
their retro-studio to record era-appropriate tunes in The American Epic Sessions (promo here), which premieres this Tuesday on
PBS.
The
Scully recording lathe produced all the hit records of the early 1920s, but
there were no original extant systems left in existence. However, intrepid
recording engineer Nick Bergh managed to assemble one from vintage parts. It is
an awesome spectacle and a rare opportunity for artists like Taj Mahal to
record on the same equipment that immortalized their heroes.
The
system is pulley-driven, powered by gravity and a hundred-and-five-pound
weight. Sound goes in the iconic Western Electric microphone and comes out on
the grooves of the master. It requires entirely different studio practices, but
it is as authentic as it gets.
As
you would hope, many of the artists are inspired by the setting and
circumstances, most definitely Taj Mahal, who lays down a passionately raw
rendition of Charley Patton’s “High Water Everywhere” that reverberates with
recent memories of Katrina and Sandy. Likewise, Beck’s “Fourteen Rivers,
Fourteen Floods” required at least thirteen takes, but the primal power of the
stripped down final was worth the effort.
Easily
the biggest surprise is the contemporary vibe Nas (finally appearing in a good
documentary) and White’s house band give to the Memphis Jug Band’s “On the Road
Again,” bringing out the gangster rap sensibilities in the 1928 classic. Rhiannon
Giddens also connects with all the earthiness of Victoria Spivey’s “One Hour
Mama,” circa 1937. These tunes are ninety-years-old or older, yet they would
carry parental advisory stickers if they were released new today.
A
few artists contributed new simpatico tunes, including Elton John and his
longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin. “Two Fingers of Whiskey,” recorded as a duet
with White, is still completely in keeping with the spirit of the sessions,
incorporating blues licks we never knew John had. He ought to add it to his
regular set list, because it is surprisingly cool.
Ashley
Monroe and the Americans truly sound like they are channeling 1920 Appalachia
during “Jubilee.” The Avett Brothers similarly start a stirring “Just a Closer
Walk with Thee,” but they do not get a chance to properly finish, because the
strap holding the weight breaks. Continuing the inclusiveness of Epic, the sessions also feature very
nice performances of Mexican and Hawaiian standards, as well as the Lost Bayou
Ramblers keeping it real on “Allons à Lafayete.” Even though Willie Nelson and
Merle Haggard are meant to be the big finale, they are almost anti-climactic
compared to some of the stuff that came before them.
