Show: American Masters
Episode: (#2001) “Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built”
Network: (PBS) Public Broadcasting Service
Date: Wednesday – May 2, 2007
Time: 9/8c PM
Duration: 2 Hours
About: American Masters: (#2001) “Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built”
Photo: Alan Light
Ahmet Ertegun, a young Turk — literally — had a passion for the African-American music he heard in segregated clubs in Washington, DC, in the 1940s. He sent these sounds to England, where they merged with the European sensibility, and he brought this revolutionary new genre back across the ocean. He found Ray Charles, he introduced Eric Clapton to Aretha Franklin, he signed the Rolling Stones. He created talent and taste, he defined careers, he changed lives — Ertegun and his small Atlantic Records label determined the course of what we have listened to for decades.
“Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built” follows Ertegun’s remarkable career and its impact on the evolution of the world’s most popular musical genre. The film, produced by Thirteen/WNET New York and Warner Music Group, features rare, private and classic clips, performances and studio sessions of Atlantic recording artists.
Includes 1938 Ertegun Family home movies and performance clips from the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival’s Tribute to Atlantic Records and Ahmet Ertegun.
Features interviews with James Blunt, Solomon Burke, Chris Blackwell, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, David Geffen, Taylor Hackford, Mick Jagger, Mick Jones, Leiber and Stoller, Kid Rock, Ben E. King, Henry Kissinger, Wynton Marsalis, Sergio Mendes, Bette Midler, Paolo Nutini, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Percy Sledge, Jann Wenner, Jerry Wexler and family members.
About: American Masters
AMERICAN MASTERS, which pioneered the television biography genre, continues to offer insightful profiles of important figures in America’s artistic and cultural life.
PBS SERIES PAGE: American Masters
