American Epic

TV-PG2015DocumentaryMusicHistory
80%

In the 1920s, ordinary Americans' music was recorded for the first time; this series revisits that revolution and the forgotten artists behind it.

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  1. 57m
    Episode 1

    The Big Bang

    In 1920s Tennessee, a portable recording machine captures the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and the Memphis Jug Band, cutting the first country and R&B records.

  2. 57m
    Episode 2

    Blood and Soil

    Across the rural South, Elder Burch, Charley Patton and others record early Delta blues, gospel and protest songs, and the 1927 flood drives migration north.

  3. 1h 27m
    Episode 3

    Out of the Many, the One

    American music drawn from many cultures: the Hopi, Hawaii's Joseph Kekuku, Lydia Mendoza and the Cajun Breaux family, and Mississippi John Hurt's enduring blues.

  4. 1h 59m
    Episode 4

    The American Epic Sessions

    Jack White and T Bone Burnett bring today's artists to the last surviving 1920s recording machine, cutting live sessions in tribute to the musicians of the first three episodes.