Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The American Epic Sessions film and soundtrack was conceived by director Bernard MacMahon as a practical implementation of the music and technology explored in the first three American Epic films which focused on the first recordings of roots music in the USA in the 1920s.[6] Film producer Allison McGourty explained, "if the first three American Epic films are like the story of the Apollo [first manned moon landing] mission, with unseen film footage, interviews with the astronauts and scientists, then…The American Epic Sessions, is where we rebuild the rocket and go to the moon ourselves."[6] MacMahon added that the idea for The American Epic Sessions film and the soundtrack album was born out of a desire to understand on a practical level how the first electrical recordings in the 1920s were made, “you can only truly appreciate history, and understand why things were done the way they were done, by actually going out and doing them yourself.”[7] The soundtrack album involved replicating a 1920s recording session, down to the smallest detail, with twenty-three contemporary music acts recording live on the original 1920s equipment in back to back sessions just as the original rural performers would have done over 80 years ago.[8] The film and soundtrack involved a decade of work restoring the machine, which was pieced together from spare parts scattered across the globe.[9] MacMahon invited Jack White and T Bone Burnett to produce the sessions,[10] and secured the use of Vox studios in Hollywood,[11] purportedly the oldest private recording studio in the world, built in 1936, to film and record the live performances.[12]

The musicians were encouraged to record both a vintage song and a song they had written.[13] MacMahon and Duke Erikson created a list of vintage songs that they wanted to feature in the film and specifically chose songs for particular performers; “Mal Hombre” for Ana Gabriel,[14] “On the Road Again” for Nas, “Tomi Tomi” for the Hawaiians and “Nobody's Dirty Business” for Bettye LaVette.[15] Other performers researched the period and selected their own vintage songs; Jack White unearthed “Matrimonial Intentions”, The Avett Brothers chose “Jordan Am a Hard Road” and Rhiannon Giddens covered Ida Cox’s “One Hour Mama”.[15] Most of the performers recorded two songs, although the duration of the film precluded all these performances appearing in the finished film.[16] Some performers wrote songs specifically for the film - Merle Haggard composed “The Only Man Wilder Than Me” as a duet for him and Willie Nelson to perform.[17] Elton John arrived at the studio with a lyric entitled “Two Fingers of Whiskey” that Bernie Taupin had written specifically for the film. Elton proceeded to write the melody live on camera and arrange the song with Jack White and recorded the song live direct to disc without leaving the room during the whole process.[18][19] The soundtrack included twelve additional songs not featured in the film,[20] including "One Mic" by Nas, “Mama's Angel Child" by Jack White, "Come On In My Kitchen" by Stephen Stills, and "Josephine" by Pokey Lafarge.

Music from the American Epic Sessions was released on June 9, 2017, three days after the US broadcast of The American Epic Sessions. It was released in a standard and deluxe format. The standard edition contained 13 tracks, and was released as a download. The deluxe format contained 32 tracks and was released on double CD, digital download and triple vinyl.[40] The vinyl release was launched with American Epic film screenings at Third Man Records in Detroit and Nashville. The albums sold at both these events were an exclusive white vinyl pressing.[41]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Australian	[42]
The Herald	Very favorable[43]
The Independent	[44]

The album was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many publications praising the performances and the quality of the sound. Iain Shedden in The Australian awarded it five stars and wrote that “this double album features the highlights of those sessions and it’s an exquisite representation of the primitive power of American roots music and its enduring charm – music that stirs soul.”[45] Greil Marcus in The Village Voice praised “performances so good you can hardly listen without thinking of how close each recording is to not existing at all.”[46] Andy Gill in The Independent praised “Nas’s hip-hop adaptation of the Memphis Jug Band’s “On The Road Again” reflecting timeless themes and vocabulary of the black experience” adding that “Alabama Shakes’ terrific version of “Killer Diller Blues” is brimful of the bounce and sass.”[47] In France, Dominique Boulay in Paris Move wrote “for this beautiful soundtrack, Nicholas Bergh is the brilliant engineer who has collected the original parts of the recording system and it is therefore thanks to him (and the artists of course) that we now have this gem!”[48] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the Financial Times noted that “New York Rapper Nas does a superb cover of the Memphis Jug Band’s “On the Road Again”, exposing the hip-hop blueprint within the 1928 stomper.”[49] Jerobear in Review Corner wrote that “It’s impressive, and it contains enough of the antique feel to be quaint, and just enough studio engineering to sound good to modern ears. Producers T Bone Burnett and (predictably) Jack White line up a roster of stars in front of the mic to sing the old songs, and it works a treat.”[50] Keith Bruce in The Herald concluded that the album “resulted in a slew of recording sessions, far beyond what was used on the programmes, where musicians old and young responded to the challenge of one-take recording to a disc-cutting lathe operated by clock-work and pulleys, that time-limited your performance. "You feel like your soul is coming out of the speaker," says Rhiannon Giddens. She is one of the younger contributors to this wonderful double album, along with Pokey LaFarge and Nas (Nasir Jones), who is a revelation.”[51]

The album won a Grammy Award for the Alabama Shakes’ performance of “Killer Diller”.[3][4]

• Nicholas Bergh - Engineer, transfers, mastering
• Jack White - producer
• T Bone Burnett - producer
• Bernard MacMahon - producer
• Allison McGourty- conceived by, executive producer, music supervisor
• Duke Erikson - restoration, mastering, producer
• John Polito - mastering
• Ellis Burman - mastering
• Patrick Ferris - associate producer
• Jack McLean - associate producer
• Nat Strimpopulos: artwork

• Official website
• The American Epic Sessions at IMDb