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Speaker 1: And now a special presentation of the Road to the

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Speaker 1: Kennedy Center Honors with your host Bo Davidson.

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Speaker 2: I will survive. I want a rock and roll all

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Speaker 2: night and party every day. I was a young troubadour.

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Speaker 2: The music of the night youo, Adrian, I did it.

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Speaker 2: These are all indelible, unforgettable lines from art that has

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Speaker 2: inspired us and withstood the test of time. These lines

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Speaker 2: come from the five artists who comprised the forty eighth

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Speaker 2: Annual Kennedy Center Honors for twenty twenty five. They are

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Speaker 2: Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Michael Crawford, and the

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Speaker 2: rock band Kiss. In this special presentation, I will take

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Speaker 2: you down the road to the Kennedy Center Honors and

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Speaker 2: showcase the multifaceted paths that led to these five honorees recognition.

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Speaker 2: For many of them, that road has been paved with

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Speaker 2: much triumph, but also a signific degree of tribulation and heartache.

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Speaker 2: Most Kennedy Center Honorees have not led easy lives. The

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Speaker 2: life of an artist is a difficult one where pursuit

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Speaker 2: of craft often creates many personal sacrifices. You'll hear how

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Speaker 2: Sylvester Stallone was a troubled youth who studied the craft

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Speaker 2: of film by becoming an usher at a movie theater.

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Speaker 2: You'll learn how Gloria Gaynor sustained a major back injury

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Speaker 2: before her recording of I Will Survive. You'll get to

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Speaker 2: know a youth stunt actor who used his imagination to

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Speaker 2: create characters in his head, which led to portraying perhaps

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Speaker 2: the most iconic Broadway role of all time. You'll hear

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Speaker 2: how every label in Nashville turned down the artist with

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Speaker 2: the most number one songs of all time. And something

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Speaker 2: you may already know that a beloved member of a

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Speaker 2: rock and roll band passed on before receiving his Kennedy

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Speaker 2: Center Honoree Medal. All this and more on the Road

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Speaker 2: to the Kennedy Center Honors.

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Speaker 1: Tonight on Real America's Voy, joint host Bo Davidson, as

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Speaker 1: we began, The Road to the Kennedy Center honors a

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Speaker 1: journey through legacy, patriotism, and the artist who shaped America's

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Speaker 1: cultural soul. This is where honor meets history.

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Speaker 2: This is the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors. I'm

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Speaker 2: Bo Davidson. The Kennedy Center has a storied history leading

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Speaker 2: back to the leadership of President John F. Kennedy. The

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Speaker 2: year was nineteen fifty eight. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed

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Speaker 2: bipartisan legislation establishing a National Cultural Center in our nation's capital.

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Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty two, President Kennedy and his wife Jackie

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Speaker 2: launched a thirty million dollar campaign for the center's construction.

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Speaker 2: This Eisenhower and Kennedy collaboration, if you will, marked the

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Speaker 2: bipartisan nature of the center's inception. After President Kennedy was assassinated,

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Speaker 2: Congress passed a law to make this National Cultural Center

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Speaker 2: a living memorial to the late President Kennedy, recognizing his

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Speaker 2: devotion to the performing arts. Its mission is the following

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Speaker 2: to present classical and contemporary music, opera, drama, dance, and

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Speaker 2: other performing arts from the United States and other countries.

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Speaker 2: To promote and maintain the John F. Kennedy Center for

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Speaker 2: the Performing Arts as the National Center for the Performing Arts.

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Speaker 2: To strive to ensure that the education and outreach programs

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Speaker 2: and policies of the John F. Kennedy Center for the

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Speaker 2: Performing Arts meet the highest level of excellence and reflect

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Speaker 2: the cultural diversity of the United States. And to provide

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Speaker 2: a suitable memorial in honor of the late President, culture, education, outreach,

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Speaker 2: and maintaining excellence. As a living memorial to the beloved President,

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Speaker 2: that is what the Kennedy Center stands for. Each year,

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Speaker 2: the Center hosts two million visitors, boasts over twenty two

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Speaker 2: hundred performances and exhibits, and over four hundred free performances

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Speaker 2: and events. The Kennedy Center stands as both a microcosm

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Speaker 2: and a promise of American performance arts and a lasting legacy.

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Speaker 2: In this program, we will explore the history, the leadership,

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Speaker 2: the trajectory, and the legacy of this outstanding center that

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Speaker 2: represents the best of the best. We will also profile

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Speaker 2: the five esteemed artists who will be honored this year,

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Speaker 2: which include the band Kiss, Phantom of the Opera's Michael Crawford,

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Speaker 2: singer Gloria Gaynor, country singer George Strait, and actor Sylvester Stallone.

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Speaker 2: Words inscribed in marble at the Kennedy Center read, there

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Speaker 2: is a connection hard to explain logically, but easy to feel,

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Speaker 2: between achievement in public life and progress in the arts.

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Speaker 2: Under the new chairman of the Kennedy Center, President Donald J. Trump,

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Speaker 2: new measures have been taken to beautify and refurbish part

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Speaker 2: of the building and also to bring it to financial solvency.

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Speaker 2: Trump appointed former Ambassador to Germany Rick Grennell to lead

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Speaker 2: these efforts, and on the red carpet, I asked the

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Speaker 2: ambassador what kind of mark he wants to make as

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Speaker 2: he it leads the first Kennedy Center Honors event. He

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Speaker 2: said that when he arrived, the Kennedy Center was in

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Speaker 2: tremendous debt, paying staff from reserves. Grinnell said that fringe

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Speaker 2: programming was a major reason for arts institutions being in

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Speaker 2: the red. He needed to make the Center fiscally responsible,

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Speaker 2: and since then corporations have come to the table and

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Speaker 2: donated and believed in the programming of the Center. Grennell

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Speaker 2: is an avid lover of the arts, which is why

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Speaker 2: President Trump appointed him. Grenell is also a fan of

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Speaker 2: arts education and wants to continue introducing new art to

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Speaker 2: the Kennedy Center. It was confirmed that the Kennedy Center

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Speaker 2: Honors gala raised twenty three million dollars, so Grennell and

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Speaker 2: his team are certainly bringing the Center back to fiscal responsibility.

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Speaker 2: This forty eighth Kennedy Center Honors is historic and that

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Speaker 2: it is the first time that an American President has

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Speaker 2: hosted the event, and as President Trump made some time

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Speaker 2: for press, I asked him how the artist that he

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Speaker 2: helped select, many of whom are on his personal playlist

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Speaker 2: that he regularly spends at his home for guests, have

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Speaker 2: had an impact on his own personal enjoyment of the arts.

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Speaker 2: Most of these honorees are on your personal playlist, and

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Speaker 2: I'm just curious to know how they have impacted your

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Speaker 2: own personal enjoyment of art.

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Speaker 3: Well, are you talking about the five honorees? Is there

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Speaker 3: five good? The group and the five honorees, they are

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Speaker 3: outstanding people. I had to approve them all and every

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Speaker 3: one of them very different, I said last night, totally different,

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Speaker 3: totally different audience. But when you add them up, they're

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Speaker 3: one hundred percent of our country and a big percentage

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Speaker 3: of the world. So we have great honorees. Is gonna

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Speaker 3: be a lot of fun. You gonna have a good

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Speaker 3: time tonight.

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Speaker 2: Roman de Ravi leads the Center's public relations team, and

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Speaker 2: she has a background as a ballerina. Given the Center's

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Speaker 2: platform for ballet, I wanted to ask her about how

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Speaker 2: an arts education provides a springboard for what could be

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Speaker 2: the trajectory of a future Kennedy Center honoree.

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Speaker 4: Performing art is one of the most beautiful things you

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Speaker 4: can ever experience as a child. That teaches you discipline,

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Speaker 4: It teaches you love for something that you can str've towards,

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Speaker 4: and love for yourself. So I truly believe in the

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Speaker 4: power of the performing arts. I hope that families come

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Speaker 4: to the Kennedy Center and see that firsthand and inspire themselves.

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Speaker 4: We actually have an opera on our stage that is

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Speaker 4: called The Little Prince, and there are children in that performance.

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Speaker 4: So families are going to come here. Kids are going

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Speaker 4: to sit in the audience and see kids their own

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Speaker 4: age on stage. That will inspire them to dream big

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Speaker 4: and the Kennedy Center is the perfect place to do that.

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Speaker 4: So we're just thrilled to host the honors tonight and

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Speaker 4: showcase the best of the best that they're is well.

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Speaker 4: The institution as a whole was really struggling before we

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Speaker 4: got here ten months ago, but there's been a lot

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Speaker 4: of good work. We've raised a lot of money, We've

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Speaker 4: writ the ship in terms of our programming. It is

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Speaker 4: common sense business decisions that are good for the whole nation,

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Speaker 4: and we are excited that the building has funding from

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Speaker 4: President Trump, who is also our chairman. So you'll see

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Speaker 4: a lot of physical renovations that'll be great for our

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Speaker 4: patrons and just make this place more exciting and more alive.

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Speaker 2: I'll see. Grammar, perhaps best known for the hit series Fraser,

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Speaker 2: was on hand to honor Michael Crawford and Grammar dealt

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Speaker 2: with a number of personal tragedies as a child, but

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Speaker 2: arts became a refuge for him, which is why arts

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Speaker 2: can be a saving grace a struggling child.

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Speaker 5: It's interesting art sort of was a refuge for me.

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Speaker 5: I mean in the midst of losing my granddad who

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Speaker 5: had raised me. That was the first thing when I

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Speaker 5: was twelve, That was very tough. But then we actually

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Speaker 5: turned to the arts as a result of that, both

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Speaker 5: my sister and I and then of course Karen was killed.

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Speaker 5: And I mean I just wrote a book about that.

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Speaker 5: That's fifty years after the fact. I mean it's been

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Speaker 5: that's been a lifelong recovery, but a lifelong of simply

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Speaker 5: honoring someone I loved that much and never letting them

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Speaker 5: be forgotten.

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Speaker 2: What about these five hundrees in this class do you

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Speaker 2: like and what you put your own personal impression upon?

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Speaker 6: For the selection.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I just we all just got on the

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Speaker 5: phone started talking about who we thought was great, and

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Speaker 5: there were a lot of people that came up. And

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Speaker 5: then this group Slide was always like sort of like

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Speaker 5: right in the pocket signed John Voyd, you know, I mean,

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Speaker 5: there was a couple other guys, you know, come on,

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Speaker 5: So we're gonna start with Slide. Maybe we'll get John

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Speaker 5: next year. You know, he's amazing. We've Gloria Gaynor and

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Speaker 5: I've actually known each other a long time. I've seen

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Speaker 5: her in Jersey a few times and she sang at

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Speaker 5: a party I gave you years ago. I mean, she's

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Speaker 5: just a magnificent I talked about it to her last night,

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Speaker 5: about one hundred monkey theory, and she said, I've never

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Speaker 5: heard of that, and I said, well, it's basically the

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Speaker 5: theory that learned behavior after one hundred generations becomes instinctual behavior.

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Speaker 5: So it's just they just do it, and it's a

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Speaker 5: fascinating thing, so that every young woman born sings that

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Speaker 5: song fresh out of the room.

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Speaker 1: I will survive when.

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Speaker 2: We come back. I interviewed the disco queen herself, Gloria Gaynor,

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Speaker 2: who speaks from the heart about her legacy in a

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Speaker 2: very faith focused way. We'll be right back.

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Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. The Road to the Kennedy Center Honors

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Speaker 1: will be right back, only here on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors.

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Speaker 1: The journey continues on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 2: At first, I was afraid. I was petrified, thinking I

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Speaker 2: could live without you by my side. And after spending

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Speaker 2: nights thinking how you did me wrong, I grew strong

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Speaker 2: and I learned how to get along. Welcome back to

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Speaker 2: the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors. Certainly, anyone with

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Speaker 2: good hearing knows these first few lines to a song

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Speaker 2: that lit the torch of the disco era. But it

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Speaker 2: wasn't just a groove that made you unable to sit still. No, no,

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Speaker 2: this was an anthem. This melody had accompanying lyrics that

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Speaker 2: would become the heartbeat of anyone who had overcome a

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Speaker 2: personal struggle, financial, emotional health relationships. This was a song

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Speaker 2: with real meaning. But the song almost wasn't even recorded,

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Speaker 2: not just because Gloria Gaynor's record label didn't believe in it,

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Speaker 2: but because she was in a back brace from a

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Speaker 2: significant injury she had sustained on stage. This is Gloria Gaynor. Gloria.

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Speaker 2: I understand that there was always music in your house

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Speaker 2: growing up. What was your first musical memory, If you

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Speaker 2: can recall basical.

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Speaker 7: Musical memory, my mother's singing to me. I think there's

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Speaker 7: probably every child's first musical memory. Yeah, my mother singing

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Speaker 7: to me, the songs that she used to sing around

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Speaker 7: the house all the time.

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Speaker 2: Well, I read in your autobiography that you always wanted

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Speaker 2: to sing, but nobody in your family knew it. Talk

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Speaker 2: about how important it can be to recognize a child's

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Speaker 2: musical abilities and ambitions, since you had to kind of

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Speaker 2: forge your own path.

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Speaker 7: I did at the bone asolute right, It is important

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Speaker 7: that parents and siblings recognize another siblings or child's musical

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Speaker 7: or whatever kind of talents that they have, their hopes

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Speaker 7: and dreams and desires to forge their weight in life

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Speaker 7: with whatever gifts they've been given, because I mean, that's

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Speaker 7: what we're all meant to do. That's why giving these gifts,

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Speaker 7: and so we all need that support and encouragement to

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Speaker 7: follow through.

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Speaker 2: Now, Honeybee seemed to be your first real hit, and

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Speaker 2: I'm curious if when you recorded it, if you thought

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Speaker 2: it would be the hit that it became.

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Speaker 7: First when I recorded honeybe As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 7: I didn't even want to record Honeybee. I wanted to

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Speaker 7: record at that time. I was interested in jazz music

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Speaker 7: and that was what I wanted to record. Clive Davis

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Speaker 7: had that song written for me by Mervin and Marvin Steel,

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Speaker 7: a couple of brothers who were songwriters, and that was

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Speaker 7: why that was my first recording. After it was recorded

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Speaker 7: and people began to like it and it began a hit,

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Speaker 7: of course, then I liked it as well, and it

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Speaker 7: was pleased that I had done it and realized that

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Speaker 7: Clive probably knew better than I did.

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Speaker 2: Well, Gloria, You've had a tremendous career, but often, you know,

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Speaker 2: we don't really hear about the struggle and tribulations that

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Speaker 2: artists go through. What dark days did you have to

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Speaker 2: personally overcome.

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Speaker 8: Whenever I recorded.

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Speaker 7: At that time, I think it was the same with

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Speaker 7: all artists, especially female artists, that you were an instrument

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Speaker 7: that was used by the record company. You recorded a

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Speaker 7: song and they did what they thought should be done

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Speaker 7: with it, whether you agreed with it or not. So

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Speaker 7: I'm glad to be at the forefront of that and

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Speaker 7: having had to struggle through that and make my own way,

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Speaker 7: make my own voice heard, because I found it very

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Speaker 7: difficult at times.

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Speaker 8: I mean I had many songs even.

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Speaker 7: After that that record companies either didn't like or didn't

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Speaker 7: care about and didn't promote, and people never heard of them.

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Speaker 7: So it can be quite a struggle if you don't

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Speaker 7: have people in your corner to help you push through

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Speaker 7: the things that you think are valuable and the things

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Speaker 7: that you believe represent and want to represent you and

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Speaker 7: your talent.

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Speaker 2: Well, Lrie, I think this story is so interesting. You know,

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Speaker 2: many might not know that I Will Survive was a

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Speaker 2: B side song because the A side song was a

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Speaker 2: song called Substitute, which took up most of the recordings session.

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Speaker 2: You recorded it with a backbrace song and in only

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Speaker 2: about thirty minutes. I understand the record label didn't really

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Speaker 2: believe in it. So it seems that you had to

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Speaker 2: live the very lyrics of the song for it to

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Speaker 2: become the hit that it is today. Is that true?

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Speaker 7: Well, yeah, I had had to forge my way with that,

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Speaker 7: and the first thing that we did was take it

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Speaker 7: back to the record company and ask them that if

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Speaker 7: they would change their minds if they would switch it

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Speaker 7: and make that the A side, and they would not

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Speaker 7: listen because nobody wanted to go against the song that

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Speaker 7: the President had chosen, which was the other song.

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Speaker 8: We call it aptly named Substitute.

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Speaker 7: So then we took it to Studio fifty four where

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Speaker 7: they had this great, well known DJ, and we asked

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Speaker 7: him to play it. He very graciously played this song,

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Speaker 7: and when this jaded New York audience stormed the dance

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Speaker 7: floor on the first time of hearing this.

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Speaker 8: Song, there was no doubt in my mind that we

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Speaker 8: were right. This was a hit song.

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Speaker 7: So we gave him the a box of twenty five

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Speaker 7: CDs to give to his DJ friends around New York.

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Speaker 7: He did that and they began to play it. People

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Speaker 7: began to request it, not only in the clubs but

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Speaker 7: on radio, and well, the rest is history.

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Speaker 2: Lauria, I understand that in nineteen eighty two that you

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Speaker 2: became a Christian and often we see artists turn away

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Speaker 2: from Christianity in pursuit of self rather than turn to it.

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Speaker 2: Talk to me about this decision in your life and

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Speaker 2: what changed for you.

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Speaker 8: Well, when I first.

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Speaker 7: Started to look into Christianity, it was because of what

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Speaker 7: had happened to me with my spine surgery. I was

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Speaker 7: in the hospital, laying on my back, not knowing when

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Speaker 7: I was ever going to be able to get up

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Speaker 7: and walk again and not only pursue my career, but

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Speaker 7: pursue life. And so I was calling out to God,

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Speaker 7: as we often do when we get in.

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Speaker 8: Trouble, and he answered me.

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Speaker 7: He answered me so many times and in so many ways,

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Speaker 7: and gave me so much hope and encouraged me, and

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Speaker 7: just with things and people that were saying things in

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Speaker 7: my life, and how my life began to turn around.

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Speaker 7: And it's incredible, It truly is incredible.

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Speaker 2: Well, your nomination places you among previous honorees such as Elphitzgerald,

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Speaker 2: Leon Tine Price, Mary and Williams, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner,

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Speaker 2: Diana Ross, and Dion Warwick. Who would you say had

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Speaker 2: the most profound impact upon you and your music career.

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Speaker 7: Well, Elphis Jael was one of them. And in the

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Speaker 7: beginning of my career, I did listen to Dion Warwick,

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Speaker 7: and I listened to Barbis Dreisan, and I listened to

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Speaker 7: all of these great artists who already had great recordings

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Speaker 7: and great success and great voices, and I listened to

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Speaker 7: them uh and to to help me with my diction

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Speaker 7: and and and and phrasing and vocal uh acrobatics so

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Speaker 7: to speak, which doesn't seem to be very prominent among

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Speaker 7: singers today. But those are the things that were at

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Speaker 7: that time, were important at that time, still are important

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Speaker 7: to me and still are a part.

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Speaker 8: Of my recordings and my vocals.

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Speaker 7: But those are the people who are uplifted and encouraged

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Speaker 7: me without even knowing it, just from what they did

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Speaker 7: with their careers.

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Speaker 2: Well, Gloria, you became a Grammy winner forty years after

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Speaker 2: I Will Survive for your gospel roots album Testimony, and

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Speaker 2: you have a new EP called Happy Tears. It seems

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Speaker 2: that you are not just surviving but thriving. You think

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Speaker 2: you'll keep making music as long as God allows you to.

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Speaker 8: Absolutely will.

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Speaker 7: I absolutely will. I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

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Speaker 7: And I often say that I'm like a spinning top.

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Speaker 7: If I stop, I will drop.

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Speaker 2: Well, Gloria, congratulations on this tremendous honor, and thank you

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Speaker 2: for being such an inspiration so much because I will

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Speaker 2: survive as a song that will likely survive for years

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Speaker 2: and years to come. I wanted to know what kind

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Speaker 2: of a legacy she wants to leave prior to receiving

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Speaker 2: her award at the gala. Her answer was profound.

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Speaker 8: I want it to be that Eyeshine, the light that

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Speaker 8: led them to Christ.

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Speaker 2: This testimony should not be lost on anyone who enters

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Speaker 2: the entertainment industry for having rock solid beliefs and principles

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Speaker 2: can sustain the person in times of great tribulation. When

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Speaker 2: we come back, I profile the man behind the mask,

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Speaker 2: Michael Crawford.

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Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. The road to the Kennedy Center Honors

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Speaker 1: will be right back only here on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors.

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Speaker 1: The journey continues on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 2: Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams. Leave

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Speaker 2: your thoughts of the life you knew before. Let your

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Speaker 2: soul take you where you long to be. Only then

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Speaker 2: can you belong to me. These iconic lyrics come from

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Speaker 2: Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which has

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Speaker 2: led an extraordinary run on Broadway. The man behind the

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Speaker 2: Mask was Michael Crawford, a British child actor and stunt

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Speaker 2: actor who had a wild imagination. I asked him how

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Speaker 2: having such a vivid imagination paved the way for playing

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Speaker 2: such an iconic character.

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Speaker 9: My favorite people were Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laura and Hardy,

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Speaker 9: all those people, because that was drama. It was drama

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Speaker 9: that they played with comedic physicality, and that introduced me

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Speaker 9: to I loved making people laugh and I love doing

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Speaker 9: I mean, I did a stunt sequence on roller skates

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Speaker 9: that went under in between the front and the back

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Speaker 9: wheels of a moving truck and people say, oh my god,

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Speaker 9: you're so brave, and I said, as a kid, you

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Speaker 9: would give anything to be able to do things like

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Speaker 9: this on roller skates, but you'd be arrested. And I

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Speaker 9: was doing it like and I was getting paid for it,

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Speaker 9: so I was really it was a great career playing comedy.

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Speaker 9: I loved playing Gombell.

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Speaker 2: My last question is did you ever think as a

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Speaker 2: boy you would wind up on a president's playlist?

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Speaker 9: I still can't believe that.

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Speaker 2: Growing up, I volunteered at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee,

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Speaker 2: so that I could see Phantom as many times as

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Speaker 2: I wanted. Theater tickets were expensive, and this allowed me

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Speaker 2: to explore my own imagination of what kind of art

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Speaker 2: that I wanted to explore. The Phantom perhaps began a

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Speaker 2: series of downtrodden creatures that audiences fell in love with.

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Speaker 2: He was the man who loved but was never loved.

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Speaker 2: In return, people found compassion for the Phantom and his

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Speaker 2: loneliness and understood his rage. Michael Crawford gave this lonesome

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Speaker 2: gargoyle creature a heart and a soul and a voice,

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Speaker 2: a magnificent voice. Because Crawford had already achieved a certain

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Speaker 2: level of career notoriety by the time he was cast,

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Speaker 2: I wanted to know what it was about the role

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Speaker 2: of the Phantom that created such a global impression.

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Speaker 9: It was a beautiful piece of music. It was I

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Speaker 9: found a drama in the in the in when I

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Speaker 9: heard it. It wasn't demonic, it was and they had

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Speaker 9: recorded it as a rock thing, and it was I

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Speaker 9: saw it as a drama rather than anything else. And

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Speaker 9: so I wanted to delve into the man that had

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Speaker 9: never been loved, never been held, never been touched by

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Speaker 9: a mother, And and so to imagine that and to

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Speaker 9: find the truth in it. It became a very plaintive,

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Speaker 9: plaintive sound, a message that you could be tender and

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Speaker 9: then ferocious. It had the temper because he became very violent.

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Speaker 9: I have to look at that side too. But the

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Speaker 9: main thing was that he loved. He was he discovered love.

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Speaker 9: And if you sing that from deep inside you, you

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Speaker 9: find that love and it makes you.

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Speaker 8: Weep every night.

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Speaker 9: I would, it would, and when when the thing is over,

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Speaker 9: and you we We were when we were designing it,

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Speaker 9: Sarah Brightman in rehears so she just dropped the veil

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Speaker 9: one night and I picked it up and I just

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Speaker 9: stuffed it on my face and I sang the last

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Speaker 9: three lines into it, and they kept it in because

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Speaker 9: it was if you've ever lost somebody and you you

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Speaker 9: can smell the the people themselves in a piece of clothing, and.

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Speaker 8: It just is is, it's it's you.

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Speaker 9: You've got to convey that. And to do that with

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Speaker 9: the character.

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Speaker 2: In spite of Michael Crawford's stardom, it is perhaps his graceful,

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Speaker 2: humility and passion for the craft of creating this iconic role.

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Speaker 2: It places him in a class all by himself. His

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Speaker 2: music of the night will continue to play in our

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Speaker 2: hearts forever When we return, we learn about how the

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Speaker 2: movie Rocky got made and how a misfit boy who

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Speaker 2: was kicked out of a number of schools found his

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Speaker 2: Niche will be right back with more of the Road

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Speaker 2: to the Kennedy Center Honors.

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Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. The Road to the Kennedy Center Honors

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Speaker 1: will be right back only here on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors.

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Speaker 1: The journey continues on Real America's voice.

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Speaker 2: This unforgettable theme song has become etched in our souls

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Speaker 2: as Rocky's theme The boxer who tuffed it out and

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Speaker 2: overcame all odds. But how did Rocky get made? So?

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Speaker 2: Lester Stallone was a kid born with facial paralysis who

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Speaker 2: was expelled from dozens of schools. He worked odd jobs,

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Speaker 2: including cleaning the line cages at Central Park Zoo. For

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Speaker 2: young Stallone, he said he looked like a villain, so

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Speaker 2: he played one on screen. But Stallone wanted to know

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Speaker 2: why great movies were truly great. He needed to see

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Speaker 2: why some script dialogue lines landed nowthers did not now.

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00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:17,959
Speaker 2: The only way he knew to study this was by

438
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 2: going to see films in the theaters. So he did

439
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 2: what I did as a kid. He became an usher

440
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 2: and got to see as many films as he wanted

441
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 2: to for free, and he took pen to paper to

442
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,720
Speaker 2: start his craft of writing. When he auditioned for one

443
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 2: particular film, the producers passed on him for the part,

444
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 2: and Stallone mentioned that he was a writer, and in

445
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 2: that moment of serendipity, the producers asked what he had written.

446
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 2: He said he had a script. That script was rocky,

447
00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 2: and those producers made that very film.

448
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 6: Let me tell you something you already know. The world

449
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 6: ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and

450
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,639
Speaker 6: nasty place. And I don't care how tough you are.

451
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 6: It will beat you to your knees and ki keep

452
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:01,360
Speaker 6: you there permanently.

453
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 10: If you let it.

454
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 6: You me or Nobody's gonna hit as hard as life.

455
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 6: But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about

456
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 6: how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

457
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 6: How much you get take and keep moving forward. That's

458
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 6: how wit it has done. Now, if you know what

459
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,160
Speaker 6: you're worth, now go out to deal what's you're worth.

460
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 6: But you gotta be willing to take the hits and

461
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 6: not pointing fingers say.

462
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 10: You ain't where you want to be because of him

463
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 10: or her or anybody. Cowards do that, and that ain't you.

464
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 10: You're better than that.

465
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 2: Stallone said that he never intended to become an action

466
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,639
Speaker 2: star with unforgettable roles such as Rambo, but it was

467
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 2: Stallone's internal fortitude and physical strength that enabled him to

468
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 2: embody these roles and become the action hero that we

469
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 2: all wanted to be. Stallone now continues to put pen

470
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,960
Speaker 2: to paper with the hit show Tulsa King, where he

471
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,280
Speaker 2: insists that he is merely playing himself.

472
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 6: I've always thought of life as like this one way

473
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 6: street and your head down and as you do, is

474
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 6: sort of disappears behind you, so you can only go

475
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 6: one direction forward. And looking way down there you see

476
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 6: a city, but it's on fire and it's red hot.

477
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 6: And like I said before, you can't go back. Once

478
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 6: you started this damn journey, you could only go forward.

479
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,200
Speaker 2: Even cabinet secretaries like Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik have

480
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:28,479
Speaker 2: been affected by Stalloan.

481
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,960
Speaker 10: You know, Rocky was in all of our lives.

482
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,440
Speaker 11: If you're my age sixty four, you know Rocky and

483
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:34,359
Speaker 11: Rambo were.

484
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 2: There all the time Stlane was honored by his brother Frank,

485
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 2: who tearfully remarked that it was he and his brother

486
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,280
Speaker 2: who came from nowhere and through grit and courage, wound

487
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 2: up somewhere. When we come back, I highlight the legendary

488
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 2: career of the King of Country music, George Strait. We'll

489
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 2: be right back.

490
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. The road to the Kennedy Center Honors

491
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: will be right back only here on Real America's voice.

492
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,400
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Road to the Kennedy Center Honors.

493
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,960
Speaker 1: The journey continues on Real America's Voice.

494
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,719
Speaker 2: Sometimes I feel like Jesse James, still trying to make

495
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 2: a name, knowing nothing's going to change what I am.

496
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,200
Speaker 2: I was a young troubadour when I wrote in on

497
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 2: a song. I'll be an old troubadour when I'm gone.

498
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,680
Speaker 2: Welcome back, another Kennedy Center honoree is the Great George Strait.

499
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 2: He has come to be known as the King of

500
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,119
Speaker 2: country music by critics and writers, or to many in

501
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,640
Speaker 2: the music world simply as King. George Straight has sold

502
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 2: over one hundred and twenty million records worldwide, making him

503
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 2: one of the best selling artists of all time. He

504
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 2: holds the Recording Industry Association record for most certified albums

505
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,159
Speaker 2: by any artist. Straight is credited for his traditional approach

506
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 2: to country music and noted for his authentic cowboy image.

507
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,880
Speaker 2: Straight's career began while working as a rancher by day

508
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 2: and performing with his band Ace in the Hole at

509
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,320
Speaker 2: Hockey TNKS by night. Many may not know that Straight

510
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,040
Speaker 2: enlisted in the US Army in nineteen seventy one, was

511
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,360
Speaker 2: stationed in Hawaii, became a corporal, and then was honorably

512
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,400
Speaker 2: discharged in nineteen seventy five. Straight very rarely gives interviews,

513
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 2: so I have asked his longtime producer, Tony Brown to

514
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 2: give us some intimate insight into George's musical career in

515
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 2: a way that only a true musician can do. Tony,

516
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,160
Speaker 2: thanks a million for joining me today.

517
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 12: My pleasure anything for George.

518
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 2: Strait absolutely well. Tony. You know you've been the architect

519
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 2: of over one hundred number one hits. That's a ton

520
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,960
Speaker 2: But growing up, you were a gospel music piano player

521
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,240
Speaker 2: who came to Nashville knowing very little about country music,

522
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 2: but because Elvis Presley loved gospel, you would go over

523
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 2: and play in the gospel band at his house and

524
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 2: then in the TCB band. Some might call that luck,

525
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 2: others might call it a god thing. How do you

526
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 2: view your early days in music that transitioned from gospel

527
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 2: to country music?

528
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 12: It has to be a god thing. I mean, I

529
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 12: would have never in a million years think that I

530
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 12: would be the press up a record company, and much

531
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 12: less producing the biggest country music starl there was, or

532
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 12: even playing with Elvis Presley? Is that before they go?

533
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 2: It's incredible, honestly that you came from performing in his

534
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 2: house band and then eventually you became an A and

535
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 2: R man at MCA Records. So at what point, Tony,

536
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,200
Speaker 2: did you hear about George Strait? And then how did

537
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 2: you come to be his producer?

538
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 12: When I came to Nashville in sixty nine, I was

539
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 12: still in gospel music. Now, I really wasn't into country

540
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,480
Speaker 12: music at all. After touring with Emmy Lou Harris for

541
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 12: a couple of years, she turned me on to country music.

542
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 12: Then when I got back to Nashville, I decided to

543
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 12: quit playing piano and get into the record business. And

544
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 12: George has just started to break then. And it's pretty

545
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 12: much a phenomenon because they would go, what's the deal

546
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:49,480
Speaker 12: with this guy? He just walks on stage and the

547
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 12: people go crazy. Like Elvis, he just walks around stage

548
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 12: and does nothing, you know. And so I've always been

549
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 12: kind of analytical, So I started studying this guy was

550
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 12: and I first went to a session he was doing

551
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 12: McDonald's commercial, and I was going, I don't get what

552
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 12: dill is with this guy. But he knew that maybe

553
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 12: five years later it would be his producer, which I

554
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,880
Speaker 12: consider myself very lucky that happened.

555
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 5: Yeah.

556
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 2: Again, that's why, as I mentioned, some people might call

557
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 2: it happenstance, others a true godwink in many ways, or

558
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 2: a divine providence. As I reviewed George Strake's career Tony,

559
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 2: it was interesting to me to learn that his bar owner,

560
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,960
Speaker 2: palell IRV woolves he tried to get Nashville interested in George,

561
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 2: but it seems that everyone on music road turned him down.

562
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 2: And this is a very common thing that you hear

563
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 2: about sometimes in stories of incredible artists. So he was

564
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 2: about to take a job offer designing cattle pins, but

565
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 2: his wife said, just give it one more year, and

566
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 2: he got a one song deal with MCA. Walk me

567
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,080
Speaker 2: through the early part of his career career where many

568
00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 2: would be legends might simply give up and probably have Well.

569
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 12: I was at RCA Records at that time when he

570
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,240
Speaker 12: first signed the mc A, So I only heard about

571
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 12: him just just from the from the news and the

572
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,520
Speaker 12: the noise he was making as an artist. And you know,

573
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 12: and I know they didn't try to get him to

574
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,960
Speaker 12: take his hat off, and he wouldn't do it, and

575
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 12: he sort of created what we call the hat acts,

576
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 12: you know, like Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Clinton, Clint Black

577
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 12: and so and so forth. So all of a sudden,

578
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,800
Speaker 12: all these hat acts appeared. Now there's like cap acts.

579
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:31,240
Speaker 12: Everybody wears a baseball cap backwards. But uh, George, But

580
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 12: George stunt to his guns. And you know, me being

581
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 12: in the business as long as I have, I just

582
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 12: I'm an analytical person. I think the thing about him

583
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 12: that's so amazing that he's never tried to reinvent himself.

584
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 12: Most artists seem to try to do that. They think

585
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 12: it's trying to create a new image or a new brand.

586
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 12: George stayed the same consistently. I think that's I think

587
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 12: that's the magic to his career.

588
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, Tony I, eventually I do want to get into

589
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 2: some of his MW trajectory and how he stayed true

590
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 2: to everything that he always was. But in nineteen ninety

591
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,560
Speaker 2: two you became his longtime producer and your first album

592
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 2: together is Pure Country. Now, Tony, I have a great

593
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 2: professional relationship with Steve Dwarf, the writer of the song

594
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,960
Speaker 2: I crossed my Heart. It's near and dear to my heart.

595
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 2: But because I know the story behind this song that

596
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 2: had been pitched boys to men who didn't like it,

597
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,360
Speaker 2: Bett Middler recorded it, who did, according to them, not

598
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 2: a great rendition of the song, and then ultimately played

599
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,320
Speaker 2: for George, who commented that it was a nice song,

600
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 2: but not one of Steve Dwarf's best. Is this a

601
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 2: great example of the kismet that only happens when a

602
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,200
Speaker 2: great song gets married to a great artist and the

603
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 2: providential road that leads to that.

604
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 12: Yeah, you know, I'm learning things about the son I

605
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 12: never even knew. I know when I was asked to

606
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,240
Speaker 12: do Pure Country. It was my first album with George.

607
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 12: After that point, he had been selling platinum, which is

608
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 12: the million records, and that record sold eight million copies.

609
00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 12: So my first show George was a good way to start. Yeah.

610
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And when it comes to I Crossed my Heart,

611
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 2: did when you had George record that again? Because it

612
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 2: sounds like he wasn't too all that crazy about the song.

613
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 2: Did you know, just your ear, your musical ear, that

614
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,760
Speaker 2: that song would become one of the greatest country ballads

615
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:16,200
Speaker 2: of all time.

616
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 12: No, I've got several songs with George that I realized

617
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 12: would be big, Like Troubadour was a big song. I

618
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,760
Speaker 12: thought it would be big. I Crossed my Heart. I

619
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 12: had no idea how big that song would be because

620
00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 12: it's a ballad for one thing, a real pop, lush ballad,

621
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:34,959
Speaker 12: and it became the biggest song on the record. I mean,

622
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,120
Speaker 12: Heartland was the first single was a big hit, but

623
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,240
Speaker 12: Cross my Heart was so big. And also it was

624
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,000
Speaker 12: a big part of the movie too, the love sing

625
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:45,000
Speaker 12: with the girl in there.

626
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 13: Yeah.

627
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I got a credit, you know, getting my

628
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 2: buddy Steve Dorf for writing Heartland in I Cross my Heart.

629
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 2: Just an amazing songwriter. Well, you produce seventeen studio albums

630
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,720
Speaker 2: I believe was straight and thirty seven number ones.

631
00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 12: I'd like I've done twenty albums with George.

632
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 2: Okay, even even more, even better twenty and thirty and

633
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 2: thirty seven number one? Is that right?

634
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 12: Correct? Okay? I like that, And I think that's That's

635
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,960
Speaker 12: the thing that I'm proud of is because you know,

636
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,320
Speaker 12: I could have maybe cut four or five in a

637
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:18,279
Speaker 12: row and then lost my my magic, but I kept

638
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:18,760
Speaker 12: it going.

639
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:19,319
Speaker 8: To the very end.

640
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,120
Speaker 2: So, yeah, You've had an incredible career with him, and

641
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 2: I'd love for you to just give our viewers just

642
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 2: a glimpse of what it's like to work with him

643
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,240
Speaker 2: and make that magic in studio.

644
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,040
Speaker 12: But you know, if you know anything about the recording

645
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:39,359
Speaker 12: uh business in Nashville, most artists use session players. There's

646
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,239
Speaker 12: a musicians who live in town, and you create a

647
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 12: band to play on records. Most most artists don't use

648
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 12: their road band on the records. That we hire musicians,

649
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 12: and George has has a certain group of people He's

650
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:58,279
Speaker 12: hired for every every session that I did, the same

651
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 12: exact band and they become his band for that record

652
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 12: and uh and they just we go in the studio.

653
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 12: It's just like second nature. Everything just sort of falls

654
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:10,360
Speaker 12: into place so easy.

655
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it seems like he's very faithful to those guys. Too,

656
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 2: and I'm sure that those those musicians appreciated it.

657
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,719
Speaker 12: One of the musicians, a piano player, had moved to

658
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 12: la and we cut him Key West. When I was

659
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 12: cutting him Key West, Florida, it's hard to get a

660
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,920
Speaker 12: flight into Key West. The piano player had had just

661
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 12: gotten married and it was his wife was expecting the

662
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 12: day of the first day of his sessions. So he

663
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,680
Speaker 12: called and said, Hey, I can't make the session. My

664
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 12: wife is expecting today. I can't make it. I told

665
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 12: George I had to hire a replacement for this guy.

666
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,240
Speaker 12: And George says, does he's not enjoyed playing on my records?

667
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,359
Speaker 12: I said, George is his first baby. My God, give

668
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 12: it break. But George has been like he likes, he

669
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 12: likes his comforts up as the same players, same engineer,

670
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,560
Speaker 12: same studio, and we pretty much cater to the same

671
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:03,920
Speaker 12: riders to Dean Dillon with the majority of the songs,

672
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 12: and I sort of knew what kind of sounds fit George.

673
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 12: George pretty much saw out of allan sound that fit

674
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:13,799
Speaker 12: him really good.

675
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, what seems like he values the consistency of those

676
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:19,759
Speaker 2: players and then who's around, in which I think a

677
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,839
Speaker 2: lot of those musicians in Nashville certainly appreciate you know, Tony,

678
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,520
Speaker 2: because you've worn both the producer and the A and

679
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,840
Speaker 2: R hats in your career. You've seen the ebbs and

680
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 2: flows and changes in country music. But George straight to

681
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,000
Speaker 2: borrow his name, was always straight as an arrow when

682
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,439
Speaker 2: it came to the music. It didn't waiver or fall

683
00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 2: privy to fads. You mentioned this earlier, So talk about

684
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 2: the artist George Strait and why his music has just

685
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 2: been always authentically George.

686
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:46,680
Speaker 12: Well, you know, I don't think you know, he's I

687
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:50,440
Speaker 12: don't consider himself. He's always been called the Frank Sinatra

688
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,360
Speaker 12: of country music, and when you think of Frank Sinatra,

689
00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:55,800
Speaker 12: you don't think about Frank Sinatra has been a singer

690
00:36:55,880 --> 00:37:01,359
Speaker 12: as this as much has been a star celebrity. I mean,

691
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 12: Celine Dion's a singer, right, uh, But George is he's

692
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,320
Speaker 12: just when he sings the song, it's it sounds like

693
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 12: he's every man's voice. I think every man thinks I

694
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 12: could sing like that, but they can't. Georgia, he's just

695
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,960
Speaker 12: so natural for him. We would find songs that fit him.

696
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,040
Speaker 12: I remember one time when John Michael Montgomery had I Swear,

697
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,479
Speaker 12: which was a big pop crossover. The writer who wrote

698
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,239
Speaker 12: that song sent me a song for George which would

699
00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 12: have been a great song for John Michael Montgomery. So

700
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,440
Speaker 12: I showed it to George because I thought it was

701
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 12: a hit. And George says, this is a great song

702
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,800
Speaker 12: of what are you thinking? I think John Michael Montgomery

703
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,080
Speaker 12: should cut this? And I said, you know, forgive me, sorry,

704
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:48,200
Speaker 12: sorry about that, but uh, I sort of story of

705
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,759
Speaker 12: learning what was in his comfort zone, what fit him.

706
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 12: He never tried to push the envelope, but it didn't

707
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:55,600
Speaker 12: it didn't play safe. He just never tried to push

708
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,960
Speaker 12: the envelope because he thought I needed to change. He

709
00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 12: just was soaking a sistance and making records with him

710
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 12: is absolutely the easiest production things I've done in my life,

711
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 12: So unnatural.

712
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting to me you say this because I

713
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 2: think it takes a true artist to recognize what their

714
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 2: capabilities are, what they're comfortable with, what they're willing to do,

715
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,600
Speaker 2: what they're not willing to do, and what ultimately will

716
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 2: make a better record and a better song. And it

717
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 2: sounds like George. I mean, how many artists would have

718
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:25,359
Speaker 2: listened to I Swear and been like, I don't care

719
00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 2: whether I can sing or not. I'm going to sing

720
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 2: it because it's an amazing song. It's been a hit

721
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,320
Speaker 2: for obviously many, many different people. So that's interesting that

722
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:34,840
Speaker 2: it takes a true artist like George to recognize this

723
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:36,800
Speaker 2: isn't for me, but it is for someone else. I

724
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,759
Speaker 2: think that humility is incredible too.

725
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,240
Speaker 12: That's the thing I love about George. He was pretty

726
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,800
Speaker 12: much knew pretty quickly whether it would fit him or not.

727
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,320
Speaker 12: Of course, as the A and R person, I just

728
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 12: looked for hit songs and a hit song he used

729
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 12: to have a hood chorus or whatever. But after that

730
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:58,200
Speaker 12: little experience, I was a little shy about pitching him

731
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,640
Speaker 12: sound that We did a John Crime song call I

732
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 12: Want to Dance with You, and I would have never

733
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 12: in a million years, so George shaving to do a

734
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 12: John Prime song, but it seemed to fit him as

735
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,320
Speaker 12: one of his biggest hits, the number one song. But

736
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 12: it just seems so natural. And I remember playing for

737
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,719
Speaker 12: George and George, what are you thinking? I said, I

738
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 12: think that's a number one song for you, George, and

739
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 12: he was number one.

740
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,439
Speaker 2: Well, Tony, you've got the You've got the golden ears,

741
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,440
Speaker 2: when it comes to that, that's for sure. You were

742
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:27,320
Speaker 2: in to speak to that. You were just inducted in

743
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 2: the Country Music Hall of Fame in twenty twenty five,

744
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:31,480
Speaker 2: which is such a big honor, and we salute you

745
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,000
Speaker 2: for that. And George has said that you will leave

746
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:37,200
Speaker 2: a big footprint in the music world. If there's one

747
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,439
Speaker 2: album or even one song with George that you feel

748
00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 2: like defines your career with him, what would it be?

749
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:46,960
Speaker 12: And that's the only album we want to Grammy with.

750
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,239
Speaker 12: We won a Country CMA Award Album of the Year.

751
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 12: They want to Grammy for that album as well. But

752
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 12: the song was such such a magic George Strait song,

753
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:58,880
Speaker 12: and he's singing at my induction.

754
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:00,480
Speaker 13: I didn't know.

755
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:02,320
Speaker 12: I didn't know he was going to be there, so

756
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 12: as a pride and get about and saying tribute or

757
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 12: and needlessly made me feel like somebody.

758
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,440
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Tony, you have a lot of humility

759
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:12,759
Speaker 2: to yourself too, And I've read several articles about you

760
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,680
Speaker 2: where it just seems like you you know again, people

761
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 2: could say right place, right time. But obviously it took

762
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 2: a certain amount of your own talents as an ar man,

763
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 2: as a producer, as a gospel player to get you

764
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:25,760
Speaker 2: to work with two amazing legends, Elvis Presley and George

765
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 2: Straight when you think about the annals of time and

766
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:30,560
Speaker 2: the chronology of music, you know. I was at the

767
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 2: ACM Artist of the Decade honors years ago when many

768
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,200
Speaker 2: artists came out to perform George's songs for him, and

769
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,440
Speaker 2: the one that blew me away, I gotta say, was

770
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:40,920
Speaker 2: Jamie Fox singing you look so good in love in

771
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 2: this R and B way that I think really struck George.

772
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:44,920
Speaker 2: Let's take a look at it real.

773
00:40:44,920 --> 00:41:10,440
Speaker 10: Quick, you know, I just want to say, well, you

774
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:11,560
Speaker 10: just did the world.

775
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 2: Do you think I looked at his at George's face.

776
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 2: Was he as surprised as he seemed? And what does

777
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: he think of other artists covering his music?

778
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:34,719
Speaker 12: We know, we never we never really talked about those

779
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 12: kind of things, but I think he was surprised that

780
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 12: Jamie could sing that song. I mean, I didn't know

781
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:43,480
Speaker 12: that Jamie. Of course, Jamie had that film about Ray Charles,

782
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,320
Speaker 12: which proved he could sing. But uh, that night was

783
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 12: totally a surprise for everybody in the audience, including me

784
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:50,680
Speaker 12: and George.

785
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:53,839
Speaker 2: Not that Jamie did a killer job on that oh

786
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:56,400
Speaker 2: he did. He did? It was and did you suggest

787
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:57,480
Speaker 2: this to Jamie?

788
00:41:57,560 --> 00:41:58,000
Speaker 12: Did he do this?

789
00:41:58,880 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 9: No?

790
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:01,799
Speaker 12: None of us, None of us know what. I don't

791
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 12: think that artists sang songs as attribute to George on

792
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 12: that shows surprised to the artists. So I don't think

793
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 12: anyone knew that was going to happen. It was except

794
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,040
Speaker 12: the people the ACMs.

795
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,200
Speaker 2: Well, I think what's so cool about that is that

796
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,080
Speaker 2: Jamie talked about being in Texas and being inspired by

797
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 2: George and how sexy his music was, and then just

798
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:22,920
Speaker 2: this magic cap and I was floored. I was just

799
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 2: flabbergasted about how great it was and the spin he

800
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:27,719
Speaker 2: took on it, the originality and the artistry he brought

801
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:29,719
Speaker 2: to it, and as you mentioned, his performance in Ray

802
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,239
Speaker 2: was incredible too. You know, George is going to be honored,

803
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:35,319
Speaker 2: of course, that why we're doing this for the Kennedy Center.

804
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 2: But I feel like George is not really a guy

805
00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,600
Speaker 2: who rests on his laurels or values high praise. So

806
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,640
Speaker 2: as you look back, it's so much great music with George,

807
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 2: I bet no honor could really encapsulate that for you

808
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,520
Speaker 2: or for him. So tell me what's been meaningful to

809
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:51,360
Speaker 2: your life and what George's legacy will be.

810
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,279
Speaker 12: I just think that that he was true to his

811
00:42:56,719 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 12: own artistry, and I was happy to join him in

812
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 12: that in that mission because I never wanted to change

813
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,160
Speaker 12: what he was because it was it was so magic.

814
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 12: I remember people saying, what is it about George Straight?

815
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:13,120
Speaker 12: He just walks on stage and people go crazy. It's

816
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:18,279
Speaker 12: called when You're good, You're just good. Of all the

817
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:19,920
Speaker 12: songs I've cut with George, my favorite, one of my

818
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,839
Speaker 12: favorite things was a song called Run real contemporary thing,

819
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 12: but a very cool song. If you haven't heard that song,

820
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:31,160
Speaker 12: chake it out. But man, my time in the studio

821
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:35,120
Speaker 12: is George has been totally fun and rewarding to say

822
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 12: that they.

823
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,719
Speaker 2: Well, twenty albums and so many hits later, Tony, You've

824
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,640
Speaker 2: just been part of a musical legacy that I think

825
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:46,200
Speaker 2: is so worthy of adulation and emulation. And I appreciate

826
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 2: your kindness and your humility and of course your your

827
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:52,320
Speaker 2: time here today. So thank you so much, Tony Honor,

828
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,480
Speaker 2: thank you very much. When we come back, we profiled

829
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 2: the band that had us rocking and rolling all night

830
00:43:57,920 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 2: and every day.

831
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,600
Speaker 1: Don't go any the road to the Kennedy Center Honors

832
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 1: will be right back, only here on Real America's Voice.

833
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:11,440
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the road to the Kennedy Center Honors.

834
00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 1: The journey continues on Real America's Voice.

835
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,560
Speaker 2: I want to rock and roll all night and party

836
00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:23,680
Speaker 2: every day. These are the lyrics that come from Paul

837
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:27,240
Speaker 2: Stanley when he approached Gene Simmons about merging that idea

838
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,840
Speaker 2: with a tune Gene Simmons had called drive me Wild.

839
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,680
Speaker 2: That collaboration would become an anthem. It was the music

840
00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:37,520
Speaker 2: of Kiss, a band comprised of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons,

841
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:41,440
Speaker 2: Ace Frayley, and Peter Criss, a quartet of musicians who

842
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:43,719
Speaker 2: put on face pain and costumes to stand out in

843
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,839
Speaker 2: the crowd. That band, that formed in nineteen seventy three

844
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 2: in New York City, became legendary and their music has

845
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:54,080
Speaker 2: withstood the test of time. Sadly, lead guitarist Ace Frayley

846
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:56,839
Speaker 2: passed away in October before the band could accept their

847
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,719
Speaker 2: prestigious Kennedy Center honor. Now on the red carpet, I

848
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,320
Speaker 2: spoke to all three remaining members of the band, beginning

849
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:04,920
Speaker 2: with Paul Stanley reflecting on the band's legacy.

850
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:10,360
Speaker 11: My mother fled Germany to avoid the concentration camps with

851
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:16,280
Speaker 11: hours to spare, and came to America. Saw the Statue

852
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:20,120
Speaker 11: of Liberty, saw the American Flag. Had parents who didn't

853
00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:24,760
Speaker 11: abuse the system, but used the system to help elevate

854
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,439
Speaker 11: their children to what they didn't have. My father the same.

855
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:30,600
Speaker 5: It's humbling.

856
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:33,520
Speaker 11: I'm the result of the American dream and that it

857
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 11: is alive and well. The playing field is not always even.

858
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:40,520
Speaker 11: People don't always have it the same advantages. Some have

859
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 11: more disadvantages. But you find out how much something is

860
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,840
Speaker 11: worth by how much you're willing to work to achieve it.

861
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,400
Speaker 10: What's the one moment about all that makes you smiles?

862
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:55,200
Speaker 11: That he was looking forward to this and that doesn't

863
00:45:55,360 --> 00:46:00,120
Speaker 11: change even with his demise. He's here in spirit. I

864
00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:04,000
Speaker 11: believe very much that spirits live on through us.

865
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:06,360
Speaker 2: Paul, would you like for the legacy of kiss to

866
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:08,520
Speaker 2: be as you think back on your illustrious career?

867
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 11: That we are about I have always been about self empowerment.

868
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,000
Speaker 11: We're about believing in yourself, hard work and what that

869
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:20,320
Speaker 11: hard work can give you. If something's easy, it's probably

870
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:21,359
Speaker 11: not worth the time.

871
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,319
Speaker 2: Bass guitarist Gene Simmons has been more vocal in recent

872
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:29,040
Speaker 2: days advocating with President Trump for the American Music Fairness Act,

873
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,920
Speaker 2: which aims to compensate recording artists for radio airplay. He

874
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,799
Speaker 2: spoke firstly about the privilege of being American and then

875
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:37,040
Speaker 2: about his recent advocacy.

876
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:41,680
Speaker 13: Every every day has been for him, just amazing. And

877
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,759
Speaker 13: you know, we have the Hollywood star Walk of Fame

878
00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 13: and this award and that award, and they got you know,

879
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:47,200
Speaker 13: it's appreciated.

880
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:48,279
Speaker 12: You really got it.

881
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:53,959
Speaker 13: Got the first and biggest prizes living in America. People,

882
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,640
Speaker 13: you know, people who are born here have a problem

883
00:46:56,719 --> 00:47:01,480
Speaker 13: with that. They think patriotism and love of America is cornball.

884
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:04,319
Speaker 13: Pay what I'm going to do to you, buddy. I'm

885
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,680
Speaker 13: going to give you a free round trip ticket, maybe

886
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:10,800
Speaker 13: one way ticket to Iran, North Korea, anywhere in Africa,

887
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:14,919
Speaker 13: Southeast As, all these places. Let me know how fast

888
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,200
Speaker 13: you want to come back cry out to America. We

889
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:22,640
Speaker 13: have more illegal immigrants in America approaching twenty million than

890
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 13: most of the countries in the world have populations. For

891
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,880
Speaker 13: one reason, because America is the best country on the planet.

892
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:32,240
Speaker 13: There's just no way else to do it. That's exactly

893
00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:36,560
Speaker 13: what it's about. Then the American fair music will get

894
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:41,760
Speaker 13: past and you take into consideration that the Elvis Presley estate,

895
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:46,480
Speaker 13: Frank Sinatra estate, the largest artists of all time, have

896
00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:48,720
Speaker 13: never gotten paid when you heard them on the radio.

897
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,720
Speaker 13: Think about this for a second. Writers, producers, record company,

898
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:55,360
Speaker 13: everybody got paid when you hear Elvis. I turn on

899
00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:59,440
Speaker 13: my radio station to hear my favorite artists their performance.

900
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 13: They get paid zero for We have to change that

901
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 13: because it's just not fair. You go to see a

902
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:08,000
Speaker 13: Brad Pitt movie because Brad's in it, the studio gets paid,

903
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,200
Speaker 13: the distributor, the exhibitor. Brad doesn't get paid. Well, I'm

904
00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:14,200
Speaker 13: going to see the movie because of Brad. I spoke

905
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:17,440
Speaker 13: briefly with the President. It will get passed. It's a

906
00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:22,280
Speaker 13: bipartisan hearing and I'm proud to be there to represent

907
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:25,560
Speaker 13: not just artists of the past, but the future artists

908
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:26,080
Speaker 13: of America.

909
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:28,279
Speaker 5: We invented this thing called rock and.

910
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,359
Speaker 13: Roll, blues rap. You know, all that stuff came from here.

911
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:33,680
Speaker 13: How about giving our artists what they're due.

912
00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:36,840
Speaker 2: Drummer Peter Chris is known for the band's sweeter side

913
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,839
Speaker 2: with his beautiful ballad Beth, which was the B side

914
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:43,560
Speaker 2: to Detroit Rock City. The band did not do ballads. However,

915
00:48:44,239 --> 00:48:46,360
Speaker 2: many men can relate if they can't be home with

916
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,759
Speaker 2: their wives because they were working. So once again, Kiss

917
00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:53,920
Speaker 2: produced another relatable hit. This time they went straight to

918
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 2: the heart. So this is Kiss, a band that has

919
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 2: been entertaining audiences since nineteen seventy three. And this is

920
00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:04,759
Speaker 2: the story of many legends whose passion, courage, and tenacity

921
00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:09,359
Speaker 2: persevered through many tribulations to attain ultimate success. And whether

922
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:14,680
Speaker 2: it was Michael Crawford's vivid imagination, George Strait's authenticity, Kisses

923
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 2: perfect musical mixture and connection with their audience, Sylvester Stallone's

924
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:23,360
Speaker 2: rocky and rambo like courage, or Gloria Gaynor's spiritual fortitude,

925
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,920
Speaker 2: all five honorees represent something magical and pure about the

926
00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:32,759
Speaker 2: arts and American culture. They also represent excellence. To be

927
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,840
Speaker 2: an artist, you must have a certain type of courage

928
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:38,600
Speaker 2: and self confidence that few have in order to weather

929
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 2: the storms of a tumultuous business and the ebbs and

930
00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:45,480
Speaker 2: flows of career tides. When I think about every single

931
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:49,839
Speaker 2: music label ignoring George Strait, Gloria Gaynor singing, I will

932
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:53,440
Speaker 2: survive in a back brace, Sylvester Stallone walking out and

933
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:56,520
Speaker 2: saying to producers, well, you know all right too, want

934
00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:59,040
Speaker 2: to read this new script of mine. I realized that

935
00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:03,359
Speaker 2: to be an ARTI means to have tremendous courage. Their

936
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:08,200
Speaker 2: music and films don't just entertain us, inspire us. How

937
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,239
Speaker 2: often have you heard the theme to Rocky and thought

938
00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,120
Speaker 2: I can do this, or heard George Strait's Heartland and

939
00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:17,080
Speaker 2: it made you remember where you came from, or listen

940
00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:20,160
Speaker 2: to I Will Survive in that moment of desolation or

941
00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:24,919
Speaker 2: personal breakup. The artists and their art move us. That's

942
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:28,440
Speaker 2: exactly what they intended to do. It is a transcendence,

943
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:33,200
Speaker 2: a transfer of emotion between storyteller and audience. So to

944
00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:36,440
Speaker 2: these five Kennedy Center Honorees for twenty twenty five, we

945
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:40,759
Speaker 2: salute you, we commend you, We honor you from the

946
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:43,680
Speaker 2: highest office in the land to the unknown person in

947
00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:47,279
Speaker 2: the heartland whose life was changed by your art. John F.

948
00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:49,040
Speaker 2: Kennedy would be proud.

949
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:53,480
Speaker 1: You're watching the road to the Kennedy Center Honors. Thank

950
00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:57,000
Speaker 1: you for joining us here on Real America's Voice