Skip to main content

tv   Tavis Smiley  PBS  August 13, 2013 12:00am-12:31am PDT

12:00 am
tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. withversation tonight legendary singer songwriter stephen stills, the only artist the hall ofed into fame twice in the same night. he is now out with a new cd set caleld "carry on." it chronicles those accomplishments and sell much more. we are glad you have joined us. coming up, right now. >> there is a saying that dr. king had. he said, there is always the right time to do the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only about
12:01 am
halfway to completely eliminate hunger and we have a lot of work to do. walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. cane work together, we stamp hunger out. yourd by contributions to pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: stephen stills' 50-year career has taken him on a formidable solo career and has been written in red the finding and comes, like "for what it's
12:02 am
worth. " a four cd set called "carry on," curated by graham nash. here he is singing the song he wrote, suite judy blue eyes. -- sweet judy blue eyes. ♪ ♪ ♪
12:03 am
tavis: when you look at this box set, you think what about these five decades? >> i focus on what has come next. , we call that i did ourselves the ride. .e have nice elderly rides it's all about the band, name the band. which i hadn't played in many years. buffalo springfield was hard enough.
12:04 am
>> we go over to rehearse at the guy's house and they are working on the street. an enormous steamroller came through. tavis: it was a sign from god, like a bruise brothers moment? -- blues brothers moment? signed atdue to get
12:05 am
any moment, so we had a month or two. tavis: buffalo springfield it became. about the blues project in the second. back, what do you think of all those years later? >> we have the producers found us working in the club. we made this record.
12:06 am
those were the ones that we were there to supervise. at the time, i can still do it. we learned how to tune the echo, equalization.
12:07 am
we are like sponges. tavis: i am moved by the fact that such a young age, you knew what you wanted it to sound like and what it should sound like. andany people are produced, you'll learn to work the board arned to work thed t board. did was ask questions.
12:08 am
you can really concentrate. tavis: how did you hook up? >> said there is a full set hah ontario. they say there is this visiting guy that we have before.
12:09 am
to pick up an electric guitar and start. songs that were not very good. most amazing thing about the first song was recorded in 1962, maybe 1961. at the voice of america radio station. this fellow heard me playing the guitar at a party and i said, i have to get you on tape. i have lots of stuff.
12:10 am
it was a real to rio. there was nothing to do. year in high school, i would have been there back in tampa. that was all that i had. that recording, my style had emerged virtually whole. i was startled when i heard it four years later. appreciative are you that your style emerged whole? >> the chaos of my family and the moving that we did. that tape managed to survive. we were pretty chaotic.
12:11 am
the second thing i am grateful for. i've played lead guitar and grateful somewhat. not wait to get electrified guitar. the music that you're making, could not wait. eric clapton, those boys. tavis: there was a point in time where you had written a couple
12:12 am
songs the you were sure were not that good. i asked you to set your humility aside. what song was it, that you're that's-- you recall good? >> for what it's worth. i had finally gotten the band coming up and we were over the royal canyon. for aere having a funeral bar called pandora's box where you start walking the sunset strip. , it wasoing to close being turned into a shopping center. tavis: funeral for a bar? >> funeral for a bar.
12:13 am
they were closing and opening new ones all the time. this is not an extraordinary event. the mayor of los angeles at the toe decided that it was time with the 200 policemen helmet and the shield and the night sticks. that place was like a bungalow. it hit about 200 people. where did they go? that is destruction of a public thoroughfare. they went back to her wrote a song about 10 minutes.
12:14 am
this whole sequence of events, how mad everybody was getting about people being mad about the war. the civil rights movement. i have been working on this thread and a little shot up to the boys on the line. and so it took as long to write it. this won't surprise you, but i am fascinated by iconic
12:15 am
writers like yourself, i am the times thaty they were living through. it is such a central character. can you imagine being the artists that you would become if you were living in a different era? true of art. when you go to the museum and you look at grecian statues, they all have movement. the roman statues are all static. just the era that they are in. down is a great collection at the center, at the getty. paintings,f the
12:16 am
northern europe at the time before the industrial, so it is a little clearer. is always reflective of the times. if you are not paying attention to your surroundings, what is going to inform you? tavis: i want to talk about one of the next iterations of your brilliance. when you look back on those years, using what? >> they have been hanging out together. was one of the funniest people i ever knew. they watched the tourists go by.
12:17 am
we had seen them a few days before. i did not really put it together. never in a thousand years the realized there was a war going on, he had fallen head over heels for tony mitchell. crosby calls you and tells you to go to your house, you do it. tavis: when the call comes, show up.
12:18 am
>> seeing that one that has only one verse, let me look around the house. they have good acoustics, you sit there. , helayed this little song said to do that again. it was the fourth time that he chimed in. knew the lives had changed. he was really smoothed. and what ever you want to call it can carry a tune.
12:19 am
tavis: you can do more than that. you are being modest. that is howld me you are supposed to be. it just stuck off. -- took off. they left it up to me to what was going to go on. i was a ishy guy in h-- a pretty shy guy in high school. possible.is all ,raham had all of these skills he had a dozen or so.
12:20 am
the radio all the time. tavis: crosby, stills, nash, and -- >> now that i have done this [inaudible] once.ked out on me are you sure? but he was just restless. aboard. and of course, they got really chaotic. the best new artist or something, they cleared the ceiling. are at of a sudden, we
12:21 am
woodstock. what 400 acres of people looks like. from the helicopter. overnight, it was a complete accident. >> there is your solo work. side, i canhe good pick and choose. i wanted to play some more blues. back to theget first place, rolling stones. of course, i hooked up with a country-style band. in the 70's. you know when you look back over
12:22 am
your life, they get compressed. like the four years of college. literally, that is true. i did not know what i was going to do. mentioned the blues project? where wrote five new songs. me and barry come from the chicago el cooper school. and we talkedgs
12:23 am
about about five. shepherd, and i really wanted to have a guitar slung in blues album. album.ging blues it just doesn't let up. tavis: did you choose this title for the box that? >> i chose this title for the song and it seems to me to be apropos of the first two chapters. reckon there is a couple more. gothave a gift and you've to use it. >> really.
12:24 am
withnly, you struggle everything except reading. just getting on and overcoming being shy. you start playing this stuff, don henley tells the same kind of story. you find a set of drumsticks and your mother to save the furniture. comes home with a set of progress radio kings. the rest is history. was off two the races.
12:25 am
tavis: stephen stills has a 4-cd set out covering the best of all of this stuff. called carryiately on, it is great for all of us. at it. on this is what we're doing right now. tavis: i am honored to have you excuse forgram, any you to coming out with us. that is our show for tonight. until next time, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with she has released her first album.
12:26 am
see you then. >> there is a saying that dr. king had. he said, there is always the right time to do the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only about halfway to completely eliminate hunger and we have a lot of work to do. walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. as we work together, we can stamp hunger out. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.
12:27 am
12:28 am
12:29 am
12:30 am
% hello and welcome to this is us. i'm becca king reed. this week we're talking sports. you'll meet a world champion boxer, a hockey player and the jockey who holds the record for the most victories. we'll also take a peek into the world of fencing. on guard. % joining me now is mark wheeler of the fencing center of san jose. mark, i understand there are 2000 competitors here today. no idea fencing

330 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on