BBC - Born to be Wild The Golden Age of American Rock (2013) Part 1 Riders on the Storm

Born To Be Wild is a three-part series telling the story of the rise and fall of the golden age of American rock from the late 60s to the early 90s. This was a time when singers were gods, guitarists were axe men and songs were anthems, forging the soundtrack to the nation one stadium at a time. Born out of revolution, it initially scared the hell out of the establishment but ended up becoming a multi-billion dollar industry and the sound of Middle America. It’s a tale of classic songs and big riffs through to spandex pants and huge hair. The series is set against a back-drop of three decades of seismic political and social change which American rock both reflected and ignored. The story is told by the people who were there, who lived it.

Part 1 Riders on the Storm

During the era of flower power, Vietnam and LSD, bands such as the Doors, Jefferson Airplane and MC5 not only sang about the revolution, they were the revolution. This episode explores the artists that made the soundtrack to the peace and love generation. The culmination of this era was when half a million people descended on a field in the small hamlet of Woodstock. At that moment rock music seemed a beacon of hope for those who believed in the ideals of equality and freedom. But instead of inspiring a new generation of artists to lead the revolution through political songs the festival proved to be a watershed moment for rock music's reactionary era. The marketing men lined up ready to sign and keen to turn this music from protest into profit. Features interviews with Alice Cooper, Tom Petty, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Doug Clifford, Martin Balin of Jefferson Airplane, MC5’s Wayne Kramer and Steppenwolf’s John Kay.

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