BBC Radio 2, the Radio Academy Station of the Year 2014, has today (Thursday 15 May) announced a season of shows celebrating the guitar. The season will include a number of documentaries and features across the schedule, including live music performances, an audience vote for the all-time favourite guitar riff, and a variety of additional online content.
Bob Shennan, Controller BBC Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and Director of BBC Music said:
“These programmes will provide an in-depth and fascinating look at the guitar as only Radio 2 can. Over the next few months, we will explore its impact on popular culture and its importance to all music genres - from folk to country, rock to classical and beyond.”
The season starts with Scotty Moore Story (Monday 19 May, 10pm-11pm). Scotty Moore was Elvis Presley’s right hand man on stage and in the studio. Scotty pioneered the role of guitar in pop music with solos that inspired and influenced generations of guitar heroes. To mark the 60th anniversary of the first time Scotty recorded with Elvis at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, American musician Chris Isaak - who has been a fan of Elvis’s singing and Scotty’s playing since he bought his first Sun Records single - journeys to Memphis to meet Scotty and find out more about him.
Ken Bruce hosts a special guitar-themed edition of Friday Night is Music Night (recorded at the Hackney Empire, and broadcast on Friday 23 May, 8pm-10pm). Guests include jazz guitarist Martin Taylor, folk guitarist Martin Simpson and classical guitarist Miloš Karadagliæ. The BBC Concert Orchestra will perform iconic guitar themes including Monty Norman's 007 theme, Apache by Jerry Lordan, and the theme to the BBC drama Edge of Darkness written by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen. Folk meets jazz in a guitar collaboration between Martin Taylor and Martin Simpson and the evening ends with a performance by Miloš of the only classical guitar concerto to make the UK top ten - Rodrigo's Adagio from his Concierto d'Aranjuez.
In Bert Weedon: The Teacher of Rock and Roll (Monday 26 May, 10pm-11pm) Richard Hawley tells the story of how Bert Weedon, one of Britain's most important, and yet, least celebrated guitar heroes, taught a nation to fall in love with the guitar. Not only had he been one of Britain's first rock n roll guitarists, but through his 'Play In A Day' tutor book he taught millions of people how to play. Rock n roll devotee and fellow guitar obsessive Hawley charts Bert's story - from buying his first guitar for about 75p to recording hits like 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle' and 'Apache' and working with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Richard explores how Bert helped put the guitar centre stage in British music.
Johnnie Walker presents The Carol Kaye Story (Monday 2 June, 10pm-11pm) in which he meets the legendary session guitar player herself. He hears her incredible story which has seen her partake in over 10,000 recording sessions throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, first on guitar and then on bass. The programme provides a glimpse into the recordings of some of the biggest hits of all time. Carol tells the story of the early hits with Sam Cooke, and also talks about working with Phil Spector and the intense recording schedule of the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds. Listeners will hear how she became renowned for her creative flair and invention of memorable bass lines to hits like Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman and Sonny and Cher’s Beat Goes On. The programme celebrates Carol Kaye’s story and the influence her playing has had on the way we hear the bass guitar in popular music today.
