1
00:00:06,082 --> 00:00:08,959
Now, here's a fella
who's been here a lot.
2
00:00:09,094 --> 00:00:11,185
I like him a lot.
[WOMEN CHEERING]
3
00:00:11,321 --> 00:00:12,790
He is...
4
00:00:12,925 --> 00:00:16,299
He's not only-- Yes, he's sexy,
you don't have to...
5
00:00:16,434 --> 00:00:18,998
Not only good-looking,
he has about that much talent
6
00:00:19,134 --> 00:00:20,401
and he spreads it a lot.
7
00:00:20,536 --> 00:00:23,003
I mean, for a man
with minimal talents,
8
00:00:23,138 --> 00:00:24,332
he's gone a long way.
9
00:00:24,467 --> 00:00:26,209
[ALL LAUGH]
10
00:00:26,344 --> 00:00:29,410
No, you know, seriously,
he writes, he produces,
11
00:00:29,545 --> 00:00:31,875
he engineers,
plays all the instruments.
12
00:00:32,010 --> 00:00:34,915
He sings, he does it all,
he is a one-man band.
13
00:00:35,051 --> 00:00:36,915
He is Ray Parker Jr.
14
00:00:37,051 --> 00:00:41,314
♪ If there's something strange
In your neighborhood ♪
15
00:00:41,450 --> 00:00:45,420
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
16
00:00:45,555 --> 00:00:49,762
♪ If there's something weird
And it don't look good ♪
17
00:00:49,898 --> 00:00:53,962
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
18
00:01:00,212 --> 00:01:02,377
♪ I ain't 'fraid of no ghost ♪
19
00:01:08,583 --> 00:01:11,588
♪ I ain't 'fraid of no ghost ♪
20
00:01:11,723 --> 00:01:14,017
PARKER JR.:
People think I woke up
in the morning,
21
00:01:14,152 --> 00:01:16,120
wrote "Ghostbusters,"
and went back to bed.
22
00:01:16,255 --> 00:01:19,755
Let me tell you, a lot more
happened before that moment.
23
00:01:19,890 --> 00:01:22,299
Let's just start
at the beginning.
24
00:01:22,434 --> 00:01:25,235
[JANICE DEMPSEY & STEVE SECHI'S
"STONED SOUL" PLAYING]
25
00:01:30,003 --> 00:01:33,571
I grew up in Detroit, Michigan,
which I'm very proud of,
26
00:01:33,707 --> 00:01:36,374
because Detroit
in the '60s and '70s
27
00:01:36,509 --> 00:01:38,271
was the land of opportunity.
28
00:01:38,407 --> 00:01:40,876
Motown cast a shadow
over our neighborhood
29
00:01:41,012 --> 00:01:42,681
that just
couldn't be erased.
30
00:01:44,419 --> 00:01:45,882
♪ Spread the word ♪
31
00:01:46,017 --> 00:01:47,650
All of the parents
in the neighborhood--
32
00:01:47,785 --> 00:01:49,590
Our neighborhood
was like one.
33
00:01:49,725 --> 00:01:52,394
You could get a spanking
from any mother
34
00:01:52,529 --> 00:01:53,621
or any father
in the neighborhood
35
00:01:53,756 --> 00:01:55,156
if you were wrong.
36
00:01:55,291 --> 00:01:57,167
Seemed like all the parents
were good.
37
00:01:57,302 --> 00:01:59,160
All the people
were good people.
38
00:01:59,295 --> 00:02:01,770
I happened to have
the greatest parents.
39
00:02:01,905 --> 00:02:05,338
My father was a blue-collar
worker, does the manual labor.
40
00:02:05,473 --> 00:02:07,168
Working on the factory floor.
41
00:02:07,303 --> 00:02:10,679
He really wanted me
to graduate college
42
00:02:10,815 --> 00:02:15,149
and be the first white-collar
worker in the family.
43
00:02:15,285 --> 00:02:16,952
That was his dream for me.
44
00:02:17,087 --> 00:02:18,317
That wasn't my dream.
45
00:02:18,453 --> 00:02:20,789
Around about 10 years old,
46
00:02:20,924 --> 00:02:24,393
I saw the Lovin' Spoonful
on The Ed Sullivan Show.
47
00:02:25,889 --> 00:02:28,460
♪ Do you believe in magic ♪
48
00:02:28,595 --> 00:02:30,166
♪ In a young girl's heart ♪
49
00:02:30,302 --> 00:02:31,994
Something about
the electric guitar.
50
00:02:32,130 --> 00:02:34,470
I thought it was the most
amazing thing.
51
00:02:34,606 --> 00:02:36,806
It fascinated me,
I liked the sound of it.
52
00:02:36,942 --> 00:02:38,607
It was electric,
53
00:02:38,743 --> 00:02:41,303
and it was just moving
into the new century for me.
54
00:02:41,439 --> 00:02:44,611
Man, did that turn me on.
I said, "Man, I can get loud."
55
00:02:46,443 --> 00:02:49,044
Ever since then,
I've been playing the guitar.
56
00:02:49,180 --> 00:02:51,549
The mentor
who would change my life.
57
00:02:51,684 --> 00:02:53,854
My teacher Alfred T. Kirby.
58
00:02:53,989 --> 00:02:57,159
Alfred T. Kirby was a tall
white guy in the ghetto.
59
00:02:57,294 --> 00:02:58,791
I don't know how he got there.
60
00:02:58,926 --> 00:03:00,958
But he was in the inner city
at the school.
61
00:03:01,093 --> 00:03:05,700
Mr. Kirby named the band
"The Stingrays" after me.
62
00:03:05,835 --> 00:03:08,566
In this band, there was already
my best friends,
63
00:03:08,701 --> 00:03:10,530
Nathan Watts and Ollie Brown.
64
00:03:10,665 --> 00:03:13,542
Ollie played the drums,
Nathan played the trumpet.
65
00:03:13,677 --> 00:03:16,472
Ollie and Nathan had no idea
they'd been screwed.
66
00:03:16,608 --> 00:03:19,850
[CHUCKLING]
You know what I mean,
so I was the leader. My band.
67
00:03:19,985 --> 00:03:21,342
Called The Stingrays.
68
00:03:21,478 --> 00:03:23,214
[LAUGHS]
69
00:03:23,350 --> 00:03:24,850
The Stingrays.
70
00:03:24,986 --> 00:03:27,748
I didn't realize that
he had snuck his name in there.
71
00:03:27,883 --> 00:03:29,492
But that's my brother.
72
00:03:29,627 --> 00:03:32,153
PARKER JR.:
Well, we played PTA meetings,
73
00:03:33,327 --> 00:03:35,224
orphanages,
74
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,729
and we'd do local shows,
and we were the hot band.
75
00:03:38,865 --> 00:03:41,262
People thought
we were so cute.
76
00:03:41,397 --> 00:03:43,698
Shortly thereafter,
I was riding a bike
77
00:03:43,834 --> 00:03:46,269
and going kind of fast.
78
00:03:46,404 --> 00:03:48,704
I think it was in one
of those five banana seats.
79
00:03:48,839 --> 00:03:51,412
Five-speed shifting Huffys.
80
00:03:51,548 --> 00:03:53,846
I'm riding this thing,
and I look cool,
81
00:03:53,982 --> 00:03:56,881
and I put my foot out
and it hit the curb,
82
00:03:57,016 --> 00:03:58,881
twisted it all the way around,
broke it,
83
00:03:59,017 --> 00:04:01,023
and I had to have a cast
up from my waist
84
00:04:01,159 --> 00:04:02,524
all the way down to my toes.
85
00:04:02,659 --> 00:04:05,760
So I practiced my guitar
at least 12 hours a day
86
00:04:05,896 --> 00:04:08,057
every single day
for the next year and a half,
87
00:04:08,192 --> 00:04:10,626
and that's where I got
my 10,000 hours
88
00:04:10,761 --> 00:04:12,160
at playing the guitar.
89
00:04:14,103 --> 00:04:16,936
RIVERS:
When I met Ray,
I already had a band together
90
00:04:17,072 --> 00:04:20,777
called the Dynasonics, and Ollie
Brown was our new drummer.
91
00:04:20,912 --> 00:04:23,743
He says, "I got this friend,
he's great. You gotta get him."
92
00:04:23,878 --> 00:04:25,477
I said, "Sure, I'll go over
and listen."
93
00:04:25,612 --> 00:04:27,813
He says, "Listen on the phone."
94
00:04:27,948 --> 00:04:30,918
"I'm Losing You" was out
by The Temptations,
95
00:04:31,053 --> 00:04:34,050
and Ray played it on the phone
and played all the guitar parts.
96
00:04:34,186 --> 00:04:37,255
[THE TEMPTATIONS'
"I'M LOSING YOU" PLAYING]
97
00:04:37,390 --> 00:04:42,597
♪ Your love is fading
I can feel your love fading ♪
98
00:04:42,733 --> 00:04:45,226
It's so good,
I said, "Tell him he's hired."
99
00:04:45,361 --> 00:04:47,167
And Sylvester's band
was more sophisticated.
100
00:04:47,303 --> 00:04:49,166
His band had chords,
101
00:04:49,302 --> 00:04:52,238
an electric Wurlitzer piano
like Ray Charles would play.
102
00:04:52,373 --> 00:04:54,940
It was just devastating, we'd
never heard a sound like that,
103
00:04:55,075 --> 00:04:57,771
and I was like,
"They sound like a record."
104
00:04:57,906 --> 00:05:00,414
Now, let me tell you the thing
about the band I did not like.
105
00:05:00,549 --> 00:05:01,946
Sylvester, he'd make us wear
106
00:05:02,082 --> 00:05:04,616
these silver suits
with white shirts,
107
00:05:04,751 --> 00:05:06,587
and we're like 14 years old,
108
00:05:06,723 --> 00:05:08,348
what are we doing
in silver suits?
109
00:05:08,484 --> 00:05:10,626
That was his look
that he thought was great.
110
00:05:10,762 --> 00:05:13,597
When you see him today,
he's still like that.
111
00:05:13,732 --> 00:05:16,533
By the way, he was Michael
Jackson's band leader,
112
00:05:16,668 --> 00:05:19,331
until Michael saw him
in a suit and tie,
113
00:05:19,466 --> 00:05:21,004
fired him on the spot.
114
00:05:21,139 --> 00:05:22,372
The music was perfect,
115
00:05:22,508 --> 00:05:23,933
he just didn't like him
in a suit and tie.
116
00:05:24,069 --> 00:05:26,274
And that's how Ray and I
got started.
117
00:05:26,410 --> 00:05:28,875
Even all of these years later,
118
00:05:29,010 --> 00:05:32,213
having worked with some
outstanding guitar players
119
00:05:32,349 --> 00:05:33,717
for many, many decades...
120
00:05:33,852 --> 00:05:34,711
Uh...
121
00:05:34,846 --> 00:05:36,682
Ray is still my first call.
122
00:05:36,818 --> 00:05:40,149
[STEVE SECHI'S
"LOVE JONES" PLAYING]
123
00:05:41,659 --> 00:05:43,286
PARKER JR.:
When I was 13 years old,
124
00:05:43,422 --> 00:05:46,663
Billy Henderson called me
to audition for The Spinners.
125
00:05:46,798 --> 00:05:51,027
♪ It's a shame, the way
You mess around with your man ♪
126
00:05:51,163 --> 00:05:52,898
PARKER JR.:
Motown, there you go.
127
00:05:53,033 --> 00:05:55,505
[STEVE SECHI'S
"GOT TO KEEP ON MOVING" PLAYING]
128
00:06:00,470 --> 00:06:03,312
The opportunities,
we had Motown, we had Stax,
129
00:06:03,447 --> 00:06:05,144
we had Holland-Dozier-Holland.
130
00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,877
We had the clubs that
you could go to at any night.
131
00:06:08,012 --> 00:06:09,686
If you're 14, 15 years old,
132
00:06:09,822 --> 00:06:11,378
you could have your parents
drive you around.
133
00:06:11,514 --> 00:06:14,054
You could see six or seven
bands a night.
134
00:06:14,190 --> 00:06:19,287
♪ One thing I can tell ya
Is I've been around ♪
135
00:06:21,329 --> 00:06:25,498
I was playing a gig at Latin
Quarter, and Hamilton Bohannon
136
00:06:25,634 --> 00:06:27,102
came in and heard me play.
137
00:06:27,238 --> 00:06:29,335
I met Ray Parker. Um...
138
00:06:29,471 --> 00:06:31,240
He was 14 years old.
139
00:06:31,376 --> 00:06:33,704
One night I went to this club.
140
00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:35,604
I saw this kid playing guitar.
141
00:06:35,739 --> 00:06:38,572
I introduced myself, "I'm
Bohannon, I'm the band leader
142
00:06:38,708 --> 00:06:41,079
of Motown Records,
and I like the way you play."
143
00:06:41,214 --> 00:06:44,420
Now, Hamilton Bohannon
was the drummer for Motown,
144
00:06:44,556 --> 00:06:46,084
but he also was
the band leader
145
00:06:46,220 --> 00:06:48,622
who would orchestrate
all of the Motown stuff.
146
00:06:48,757 --> 00:06:50,855
I heard him play
and caught my ear.
147
00:06:50,991 --> 00:06:53,088
Not one ear,
he caught two ears.
148
00:06:53,223 --> 00:06:55,565
Pulled me,
and he speaks like this.
149
00:06:55,700 --> 00:06:57,561
"Come play with us.
Playing the big band,
150
00:06:57,697 --> 00:06:59,230
I'm Motown band leader."
151
00:06:59,365 --> 00:07:00,764
That thing, and I'm like,
"Who is this guy?
152
00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:02,031
What's he talking about?"
153
00:07:02,167 --> 00:07:03,571
He says,
"I like the way you play.
154
00:07:03,707 --> 00:07:05,136
Can you play
with the big boys?"
155
00:07:05,271 --> 00:07:07,938
Came over my mother's house,
assured my parents
156
00:07:08,074 --> 00:07:10,109
there'll be no drugs,
no alcohol.
157
00:07:10,245 --> 00:07:13,775
He personally picked me up
and dropped me off every day,
158
00:07:13,911 --> 00:07:15,376
if my parents couldn't.
159
00:07:15,511 --> 00:07:18,081
I wanted his parents
to trust me with Ray.
160
00:07:18,217 --> 00:07:20,821
I became like instant family
with him.
161
00:07:20,956 --> 00:07:23,783
That's how I got in the band
at the 20 Grand.
162
00:07:23,918 --> 00:07:26,786
Gladys Knight was the first
group we played with,
163
00:07:26,921 --> 00:07:30,293
along with Parliament, which
was George Clinton singing...
164
00:07:30,428 --> 00:07:34,132
♪ I just wanna testify
What your love... ♪
165
00:07:34,268 --> 00:07:36,405
That's the Parliament
before it became Funkadelic.
166
00:07:36,540 --> 00:07:38,740
I work with The Funk Brothers,
167
00:07:38,875 --> 00:07:41,808
James Jamerson,
The Temptations,
168
00:07:41,943 --> 00:07:43,570
Smokey Robinson,
Marvin Gaye.
169
00:07:43,706 --> 00:07:46,949
[JANICE DEMPSEY & STEVE SECHI'S
"SWEET BABY" PLAYING]
170
00:07:47,085 --> 00:07:50,517
The neighborhood I grew up in,
white people were only on TV.
171
00:07:50,652 --> 00:07:54,680
[CHUCKLES]
I thought that white people
were in the TV, literally.
172
00:07:54,816 --> 00:07:57,626
We just lived in
a very segregated neighborhood
173
00:07:57,762 --> 00:07:59,791
where you didn't see
white people.
174
00:07:59,926 --> 00:08:01,190
If you walked around the block
175
00:08:01,325 --> 00:08:02,627
and you looked
at the neighbors,
176
00:08:02,763 --> 00:08:04,125
they were all Black.
177
00:08:04,260 --> 00:08:06,262
A club, everybody was Black.
178
00:08:06,397 --> 00:08:09,369
If you turned on the TV,
everybody was white.
179
00:08:09,504 --> 00:08:10,538
It's all we knew.
180
00:08:10,674 --> 00:08:12,037
HUDSON:
It was very segregated.
181
00:08:12,172 --> 00:08:14,339
Certain lines
you couldn't cross.
182
00:08:14,474 --> 00:08:17,878
The city right next to Benton
Harbor is called Fair Plain.
183
00:08:18,014 --> 00:08:20,646
Blacks weren't allowed
in Fair Plain after dark.
184
00:08:20,782 --> 00:08:22,443
If you were caught there,
185
00:08:22,579 --> 00:08:24,852
the police would stop you
or worse.
186
00:08:24,987 --> 00:08:27,850
I went to a high school
that was integrated,
187
00:08:27,986 --> 00:08:29,285
but only in the sense
188
00:08:29,421 --> 00:08:30,457
that Blacks were allowed
to go there.
189
00:08:30,592 --> 00:08:32,225
We were separated.
190
00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,363
We were on a different system
than the white kids.
191
00:08:35,499 --> 00:08:37,227
We grew up in a time
192
00:08:37,363 --> 00:08:40,197
that America was talking a lot
about freedom,
193
00:08:40,332 --> 00:08:42,663
but it wasn't
demonstrating that.
194
00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:45,366
So 19--
195
00:08:45,502 --> 00:08:50,638
Gosh, '67, I think
I was 13 years old.
196
00:08:50,774 --> 00:08:54,146
We're going on a trip 'cause my
dad had a little speedboat.
197
00:08:54,281 --> 00:08:56,178
Gonna take it to Lake Erie
and catch some perch
198
00:08:56,314 --> 00:08:58,086
because I like these
fresh perch.
199
00:08:58,221 --> 00:09:00,723
And that was the first time
I ever heard the words "Riot."
200
00:09:00,858 --> 00:09:02,552
I didn't know
what he was talking about.
201
00:09:02,687 --> 00:09:05,319
But we had got to like Dexter
and the Boulevard, and he said:
202
00:09:05,455 --> 00:09:07,726
"We gotta turn around.
There's a riot."
203
00:09:07,861 --> 00:09:10,232
I was like, "What's a riot?"
204
00:09:10,368 --> 00:09:13,893
REPORTER 1:
Four days of rioting, looting,
and arson rock Detroit
205
00:09:14,029 --> 00:09:17,399
in the worst outbreak of urban
racial violence this year.
206
00:09:17,534 --> 00:09:20,205
Entire blocks of homes
become infernos.
207
00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:23,779
At least 36 are killed,
more than 2000 injured,
208
00:09:23,915 --> 00:09:27,678
and damage topped
the half billion mark.
209
00:09:27,813 --> 00:09:31,683
REPORTER 2:
Governor Romney declares
a state of emergency.
210
00:09:31,818 --> 00:09:34,190
[REPORTS OVERLAPPING]
211
00:09:34,326 --> 00:09:36,389
[♪♪♪♪♪]
212
00:09:36,524 --> 00:09:37,925
[GUNSHOTS]
213
00:09:49,532 --> 00:09:51,935
Saw fires everything,
everywhere.
214
00:09:52,071 --> 00:09:53,441
Tanks running down the street.
215
00:09:53,577 --> 00:09:55,437
Our high school we went to
216
00:09:55,572 --> 00:09:58,374
was the base
for the National Guard.
217
00:09:58,509 --> 00:10:02,215
That's like ten blocks away
at the most.
218
00:10:02,351 --> 00:10:07,422
So it was kind of hard for a kid
that's only 14 and 15 years old.
219
00:10:07,558 --> 00:10:09,953
You know, it was amazing.
220
00:10:10,088 --> 00:10:12,395
But thank God that's over with.
221
00:10:12,531 --> 00:10:14,490
I mean, you could literally--
222
00:10:14,625 --> 00:10:20,430
I was right in it
where I could see the flames.
223
00:10:20,565 --> 00:10:23,102
I saw the National Guard
down the street.
224
00:10:23,238 --> 00:10:25,302
That's the neighborhoods
we were in.
225
00:10:38,285 --> 00:10:41,954
And I tell you,
I got home, then I saw cars,
226
00:10:42,089 --> 00:10:43,759
convertible cars
going with couches
227
00:10:43,894 --> 00:10:45,256
and the word looting
came up,
228
00:10:45,392 --> 00:10:47,693
which I never knew
what looting was.
229
00:10:47,829 --> 00:10:49,461
And then we watched TV,
230
00:10:49,597 --> 00:10:51,361
people were throwing bottles
in the building windows
231
00:10:51,496 --> 00:10:53,331
and burning
the buildings down.
232
00:10:53,467 --> 00:10:57,134
And my house, you could look
straight up like this
233
00:10:57,269 --> 00:10:59,003
and see the fire
straight overhead.
234
00:10:59,138 --> 00:11:00,469
But the gas station would be,
235
00:11:00,604 --> 00:11:02,309
I don't know,
two, three blocks away.
236
00:11:02,444 --> 00:11:05,840
So it was just unbelievable
what was going on at the time,
237
00:11:05,975 --> 00:11:08,976
I was scared to death, I thought
the world was coming to an end
238
00:11:09,111 --> 00:11:11,977
'cause I'd never seen anything
like that since I was born.
239
00:11:12,113 --> 00:11:15,022
And it really tore the city
apart at that time.
240
00:11:15,158 --> 00:11:17,285
I mean,
everything was just torn up.
241
00:11:17,420 --> 00:11:20,356
Walking to school weeks later,
242
00:11:20,491 --> 00:11:22,526
all of the stores
we shopped at,
243
00:11:22,662 --> 00:11:24,830
all the stores were burnt down,
burnt to the ground.
244
00:11:24,966 --> 00:11:26,297
All the windows were broke
245
00:11:26,432 --> 00:11:28,304
and everything taken out
of the stores.
246
00:11:28,439 --> 00:11:32,404
It was just a really, really,
really scary time in my life.
247
00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:35,977
And the only thing I could
depend on was playing my guitar.
248
00:11:38,678 --> 00:11:42,412
I was on my way to Cass Tech,
and I was at the bus stop.
249
00:11:42,547 --> 00:11:44,853
I got my books,
I'm going to Cass Tech.
250
00:11:44,989 --> 00:11:47,216
Getting on the same bus
every morning.
251
00:11:47,351 --> 00:11:48,749
Four, five policemen came out,
252
00:11:48,885 --> 00:11:50,387
drew their guns,
and they were saying stop.
253
00:11:50,523 --> 00:11:52,152
And I'm thinking,
"Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh,
254
00:11:52,288 --> 00:11:53,754
somebody's in trouble."
255
00:11:53,890 --> 00:11:55,555
You're looking around.
I'm about to get on the bus.
256
00:11:55,691 --> 00:11:57,262
Looking around
to see what's happening,
257
00:11:57,397 --> 00:12:00,199
and they were actually
pointing the guns at me.
258
00:12:00,334 --> 00:12:02,069
Grabbed me, took me
in the alley,
259
00:12:02,205 --> 00:12:04,106
nobody said anything,
and I'll never forget.
260
00:12:04,242 --> 00:12:06,899
If they did it to me now,
you'd break my arms.
261
00:12:07,035 --> 00:12:10,672
But at that particular time,
they had me like this,
262
00:12:10,807 --> 00:12:13,846
up on top of the car,
lifting me off the ground.
263
00:12:13,981 --> 00:12:15,741
And the other three or four guys
264
00:12:15,877 --> 00:12:18,415
were just pounding on me
with their fists.
265
00:12:18,550 --> 00:12:21,284
And this is probably the point
in my life
266
00:12:21,420 --> 00:12:23,387
where I really thought:
"It's over now.
267
00:12:23,522 --> 00:12:26,453
You're not gonna come out
this one alive."
268
00:12:26,588 --> 00:12:28,261
My best friend, Nathan Watts,
269
00:12:28,396 --> 00:12:30,623
who's the band leader
for Stevie Wonder.
270
00:12:30,759 --> 00:12:32,968
His mother
came on her back porch
271
00:12:33,103 --> 00:12:35,971
and she was cleaning a rug
of all things.
272
00:12:36,106 --> 00:12:39,633
Just mercy from God
at that moment.
273
00:12:39,769 --> 00:12:41,241
She just happened to be
cleaning a rug
274
00:12:41,376 --> 00:12:42,909
and she looked over,
looked straight down
275
00:12:43,044 --> 00:12:44,971
and saw me getting beat up.
276
00:12:45,107 --> 00:12:49,910
And she said, "Hey, he's a good
kid. What are you doing?"
277
00:12:50,045 --> 00:12:52,945
They just look at her
and they didn't say anything.
278
00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,915
Stopped beating on me
and they just let me drop.
279
00:12:56,050 --> 00:12:58,026
I just laid on the ground
for a while.
280
00:12:59,459 --> 00:13:02,629
Nobody ever told me
why they did this.
281
00:13:02,764 --> 00:13:03,997
I wasn't arrested.
282
00:13:04,133 --> 00:13:06,168
They never even told me
what I did.
283
00:13:06,304 --> 00:13:09,503
They just took me in the alley
and started beating on me.
284
00:13:09,638 --> 00:13:11,330
And, uh...
285
00:13:11,465 --> 00:13:13,070
You know... Ahem.
286
00:13:13,206 --> 00:13:16,012
Man, it just kind of killed--
287
00:13:16,147 --> 00:13:19,508
Killed my groove for sports
and a few other things.
288
00:13:19,644 --> 00:13:21,751
But, you know,
I guess like anything else,
289
00:13:21,887 --> 00:13:24,153
the positive
that came out of it
290
00:13:24,289 --> 00:13:27,785
is it made me want to stay home
and just practice my guitar.
291
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,318
And someday, if I could get
good enough on the guitar,
292
00:13:31,454 --> 00:13:33,323
that would be my way out.
293
00:13:33,459 --> 00:13:35,998
You know, my way
out of this craziness.
294
00:13:39,227 --> 00:13:43,434
♪ I bet you're wondering
How I knew... ♪
295
00:13:45,933 --> 00:13:48,441
Bohannon introduces me
to Marvin Gaye
296
00:13:48,577 --> 00:13:52,145
and we started sessions
with Marvin Gaye when I was 15.
297
00:13:52,281 --> 00:13:54,042
Those sessions
were in the daytime.
298
00:13:54,177 --> 00:13:57,843
[CHUCKLES]
There goes some of the work
in school.
299
00:13:57,979 --> 00:14:00,018
I played on a lot
of Marvin Gaye.
300
00:14:00,153 --> 00:14:01,891
But the one I remember the most
301
00:14:02,027 --> 00:14:04,690
is the live album
at Oakland Coliseum.
302
00:14:04,826 --> 00:14:06,890
Thank you.
303
00:14:07,025 --> 00:14:09,293
[CROWD CHEERING]
304
00:14:09,429 --> 00:14:11,868
[MARVIN GAYE'S
"DISTANT LOVER" PLAYING]
305
00:14:12,003 --> 00:14:13,965
And what I remember is
we started up
306
00:14:14,101 --> 00:14:16,171
on "Distant Lover," right?
307
00:14:16,306 --> 00:14:18,533
And all of a sudden,
I almost dropped my guitar,
308
00:14:18,669 --> 00:14:22,503
the screaming
was so impeccably loud.
309
00:14:22,638 --> 00:14:24,013
It wasn't mic'd
in the audience.
310
00:14:24,149 --> 00:14:25,880
But on the record
you can hear the screaming
311
00:14:26,015 --> 00:14:27,179
coming through
the guitar mics
312
00:14:27,315 --> 00:14:29,652
and drum mics
and the bass mics.
313
00:14:29,788 --> 00:14:31,351
When he said "Distant Lover,"
314
00:14:31,486 --> 00:14:33,986
and there's space before
he starts singing the verse,
315
00:14:34,121 --> 00:14:35,883
was just the loudest thing.
316
00:14:36,018 --> 00:14:38,424
The Rolling Stones concert
was never that loud.
317
00:14:38,559 --> 00:14:42,059
I never heard anything
this loud before or after.
318
00:14:42,195 --> 00:14:43,996
♪ Distant lover ♪
319
00:14:44,132 --> 00:14:47,036
[AUDIENCE CHEERING, SCREAMING]
320
00:14:53,576 --> 00:14:55,672
RIVERS:
I started working
as house pianist
321
00:14:55,808 --> 00:14:57,872
with Holland-Dozier-Holland's
Invictus label.
322
00:14:58,007 --> 00:15:01,408
Once I was there,
I wanted to get Ray on board.
323
00:15:01,544 --> 00:15:03,515
PARKER JR.:
For those who don't know
Holland-Dozier-Holland,
324
00:15:03,650 --> 00:15:05,380
they wrote
"Stop in the Name of Love,"
325
00:15:05,515 --> 00:15:06,513
"Sugar Pie Honey Bunch,"
326
00:15:06,649 --> 00:15:07,723
a whole bunch of other stuff,
327
00:15:07,858 --> 00:15:09,219
so this was a really big thing.
328
00:15:09,354 --> 00:15:10,717
And every day I'd stay home,
329
00:15:10,853 --> 00:15:12,425
hoping that somebody
would get sick,
330
00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,123
and then Sylvester
could put my name in the pot
331
00:15:14,258 --> 00:15:15,359
and say call Ray.
332
00:15:15,495 --> 00:15:18,063
The first time
we was aware of Ray
333
00:15:18,199 --> 00:15:19,935
was through McKinley Jackson.
334
00:15:20,070 --> 00:15:21,565
McKinley Jackson
was the arranger.
335
00:15:21,700 --> 00:15:24,238
My first question was,
where has he been?
336
00:15:24,373 --> 00:15:27,572
Where did he come from?
And how can we keep him?
337
00:15:27,707 --> 00:15:30,212
Holland-Dozier-Holland
had just left Motown
338
00:15:30,348 --> 00:15:32,747
and started a company
called Invictus Records
339
00:15:32,883 --> 00:15:34,378
and Hot Wax Records.
340
00:15:34,513 --> 00:15:36,382
I was trying to bring in
new blood
341
00:15:36,517 --> 00:15:38,946
and Ray was the first
of those to come in.
342
00:15:39,081 --> 00:15:42,258
I'm 15, I'm coming
into Holland-Dozier-Holland,
343
00:15:42,394 --> 00:15:44,122
where Robert White
and Eddie Willis just left.
344
00:15:44,258 --> 00:15:45,822
And here's this young kid,
345
00:15:45,958 --> 00:15:47,991
I got a little bit
of peach fuzz here, an afro,
346
00:15:48,126 --> 00:15:50,629
and I don't look like anything
that I know what I'm doing.
347
00:15:50,765 --> 00:15:54,101
And they said, "Who is this guy
you're bringing in here?"
348
00:15:54,236 --> 00:15:56,230
When I saw this little kid
come in.
349
00:15:56,365 --> 00:15:57,567
[BOTH LAUGH]
350
00:15:57,702 --> 00:15:59,301
They said,
"He better play, McKinley,
351
00:15:59,437 --> 00:16:01,442
or it's gonna be on you."
352
00:16:01,578 --> 00:16:04,073
And he came in with a small amp,
came in and started playing.
353
00:16:04,209 --> 00:16:06,075
It was like...
354
00:16:06,210 --> 00:16:07,576
That was it.
355
00:16:07,711 --> 00:16:09,643
He started playing
and he was good.
356
00:16:09,779 --> 00:16:11,912
Really, I was shocked,
you know.
357
00:16:12,048 --> 00:16:13,784
I'll never forget
the name of that song was:
358
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,353
"Everything Good is Bad,
Everything Bad is Good."
359
00:16:16,489 --> 00:16:20,588
♪ Everything good is bad ♪
360
00:16:20,724 --> 00:16:25,167
♪ Everything bad is good ♪
361
00:16:25,302 --> 00:16:27,599
And McKinley put me
on a wah-wah guitar,
362
00:16:27,735 --> 00:16:29,865
a couple other guitars,
and by the time we were done,
363
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,271
we had three or four guitars
on this same record.
364
00:16:32,407 --> 00:16:34,841
And I thought to myself,
I got them now.
365
00:16:34,976 --> 00:16:38,047
[CHUCKLES]
He's overdubbed four guitars,
if he didn't like me,
366
00:16:38,183 --> 00:16:39,773
I'd been out of there
a long time ago.
367
00:16:39,909 --> 00:16:41,641
From there,
the rest is history.
368
00:16:41,777 --> 00:16:43,713
He executed and executed well.
369
00:16:43,848 --> 00:16:46,449
So we were good
and I did all of their records.
370
00:16:46,585 --> 00:16:50,359
♪ Everything good is bad ♪
371
00:16:50,495 --> 00:16:53,229
They had groups like the Honey
Cone, "Put it in the Want Ads,"
372
00:16:53,364 --> 00:16:54,697
Laura Lee,
"If You Can Beat Me Rockin',
373
00:16:54,833 --> 00:16:56,298
You Can Have My Chair,"
374
00:16:56,433 --> 00:16:57,891
Freda Payne,
"Bring the Boys Back Home,"
375
00:16:58,026 --> 00:17:00,133
Chairmen of the Board,
"Patches."
376
00:17:00,268 --> 00:17:01,864
All of those songs I played on
377
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,497
and just loved all of the acts
that were there,
378
00:17:04,632 --> 00:17:06,370
just wonderful.
379
00:17:06,506 --> 00:17:08,504
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
380
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:10,842
♪ Everything bad is good ♪
381
00:17:10,978 --> 00:17:16,176
So I got a permanent gig at 15
years old making $350 a week.
382
00:17:16,312 --> 00:17:19,981
Jewish bar mitzvahs and weddings
were about 35 bucks a pop.
383
00:17:20,116 --> 00:17:23,355
And then two sessions a week
at different studios
384
00:17:23,490 --> 00:17:25,426
making 90 bucks
every three hours.
385
00:17:25,561 --> 00:17:29,757
So I was pulling in
a good $600, $700 a week.
386
00:17:29,893 --> 00:17:33,066
It got so that
everybody that heard him
387
00:17:33,202 --> 00:17:35,495
wanted him on their sessions.
388
00:17:35,631 --> 00:17:37,064
That's how good he was.
389
00:17:37,199 --> 00:17:40,202
That's how good he is, don't say
he was, he's still good.
390
00:17:40,337 --> 00:17:41,838
[CHUCKLES]
391
00:17:41,973 --> 00:17:44,038
All of the things
that happened to me in Detroit.
392
00:17:44,174 --> 00:17:47,379
There were bad things,
but Detroit is still my favorite
393
00:17:47,515 --> 00:17:49,548
because it was
the land of opportunity.
394
00:17:49,684 --> 00:17:52,211
I called Stevie Wonder
one night and I said:
395
00:17:52,346 --> 00:17:55,082
"You gotta hear his guitars.
Name's Ray Parker."
396
00:17:55,217 --> 00:17:57,590
And I gave Stevie Wonder
Ray Parker's phone number.
397
00:17:57,726 --> 00:18:00,592
Is this Ray Parker Jr.?
This is Stevie Wonder.
398
00:18:02,356 --> 00:18:04,633
Okay, Music of My Mind
is my favorite record.
399
00:18:04,768 --> 00:18:08,094
Used to put it in my car,
drive around listening to that.
400
00:18:08,229 --> 00:18:10,867
When somebody calls you
that's really famous,
401
00:18:11,002 --> 00:18:13,442
or someone that you happen
to be a big fan of,
402
00:18:13,578 --> 00:18:16,373
the first thing you think is
my friends are playing a prank.
403
00:18:16,509 --> 00:18:18,447
Now let's back up just a bit.
404
00:18:18,583 --> 00:18:22,108
When Stevie Wonder called,
you can't just go right past it.
405
00:18:22,243 --> 00:18:24,053
I didn't really believe
that Stevie Wonder--
406
00:18:24,189 --> 00:18:25,987
Come on. Stevie Wonder?
Calling me?
407
00:18:26,122 --> 00:18:27,587
What are we talking about here?
408
00:18:27,722 --> 00:18:29,551
I'm sitting home in Detroit
and the phone rings,
409
00:18:29,687 --> 00:18:30,986
Stevie Wonder's on the phone.
410
00:18:31,121 --> 00:18:33,062
I took the phone
and hung it up. I really did.
411
00:18:33,198 --> 00:18:35,295
I was like,
it's one of my friends.
412
00:18:35,431 --> 00:18:37,297
Click, click,
and he called back.
413
00:18:37,433 --> 00:18:39,301
He's very persistent,
called back.
414
00:18:39,436 --> 00:18:41,730
I hung up again,
I think maybe the third time
415
00:18:41,866 --> 00:18:44,097
I put some words
that I shouldn't have,
416
00:18:44,232 --> 00:18:46,241
maybe some four letter words
and hung up.
417
00:18:46,376 --> 00:18:48,673
I thought he was kidding,
it's okay.
418
00:18:48,808 --> 00:18:51,104
He thought I was kidding
and so I called him back
419
00:18:51,239 --> 00:18:55,151
because I was determined
to have him to play
420
00:18:55,286 --> 00:18:58,320
and I was excited
about his talent.
421
00:18:58,455 --> 00:19:01,489
So I call him again
and he believed it.
422
00:19:01,624 --> 00:19:05,294
And I said, "Hey, this is
Stevie, I'm not playing.
423
00:19:05,429 --> 00:19:07,493
You hang up on me again,
you get punched out.
424
00:19:07,628 --> 00:19:10,089
You know, I know people
in Detroit too."
425
00:19:10,224 --> 00:19:12,761
And what I remember distinctly,
he said:
426
00:19:12,897 --> 00:19:15,767
"Look, we're not
communicating here."
427
00:19:15,902 --> 00:19:19,165
He says, "Hold on.
I want to play you something."
428
00:19:19,301 --> 00:19:21,839
He played the rhythm track
to "Superstition."
429
00:19:21,974 --> 00:19:24,207
If you remember what
"Superstition" sounds like,
430
00:19:24,342 --> 00:19:25,274
the drums go...
431
00:19:25,409 --> 00:19:27,010
[IMITATES DRUMS]
432
00:19:27,146 --> 00:19:30,418
And then I heard the Moog Bass
and the Clavinet come in.
433
00:19:32,517 --> 00:19:33,783
And I went, oh, my gosh,
434
00:19:33,919 --> 00:19:35,454
I've been hanging up
on Stevie Wonder,
435
00:19:35,589 --> 00:19:37,489
what am I doing here?
Come on.
436
00:19:37,625 --> 00:19:39,889
♪ Superstition ain't the way ♪
437
00:19:40,025 --> 00:19:42,393
He says,
"You don't have to audition.
438
00:19:42,529 --> 00:19:43,960
We're going to go to L.A.,
439
00:19:44,095 --> 00:19:45,866
we're gonna cut
the Talking Book album,
440
00:19:46,001 --> 00:19:48,162
then we're gonna go on tour
with The Rolling Stones."
441
00:19:48,297 --> 00:19:50,504
Everything changed
from that moment on.
442
00:19:52,466 --> 00:19:55,343
So it's me playing
on Sesame Street
443
00:19:55,478 --> 00:19:57,640
with Stevie Wonder
when I was 18.
444
00:19:57,775 --> 00:19:59,539
We're playing "Superstition."
445
00:19:59,674 --> 00:20:02,175
It's just a classic thing
and we're on Sesame Street,
446
00:20:02,311 --> 00:20:04,749
which I used to watch as a kid
with Big Bird
447
00:20:04,885 --> 00:20:06,985
and the famous characters
are there.
448
00:20:07,121 --> 00:20:10,820
Right after that, go on tour
with The Rolling Stones.
449
00:20:10,956 --> 00:20:13,024
I'd never seen anything
like this.
450
00:20:13,159 --> 00:20:15,489
People are screaming.
I'm like what's happening here?
451
00:20:15,624 --> 00:20:18,924
I'm just a kid from Detroit,
where we at with this stuff?
452
00:20:19,060 --> 00:20:22,336
♪ Then you suffer ♪
453
00:20:22,472 --> 00:20:26,870
♪ Superstition ain't the way ♪
454
00:20:28,573 --> 00:20:30,770
♪ No, no, no ♪
455
00:20:30,906 --> 00:20:34,447
[FUNKY RIFF PLAYING]
456
00:20:34,583 --> 00:20:36,877
There was riff
that Ray would always do
457
00:20:37,012 --> 00:20:39,380
and I'd hear him
on the sessions.
458
00:20:39,515 --> 00:20:42,858
And I wanted him to come and
play on that particular song.
459
00:20:42,993 --> 00:20:44,791
"Maybe Your Baby."
460
00:20:44,927 --> 00:20:46,923
PARKER JR.:
He breaks out
"Maybe Your Baby."
461
00:20:47,059 --> 00:20:48,754
Just the funkiest thing
I've ever heard.
462
00:20:48,889 --> 00:20:50,522
I mean it's got...
463
00:20:50,658 --> 00:20:53,534
I mean, sounds that aren't
on any record that I worked on
464
00:20:53,669 --> 00:20:56,230
or even heard
from other people ever in life.
465
00:20:56,365 --> 00:20:59,604
So this is a whole new
experience. What do we do?
466
00:20:59,740 --> 00:21:03,540
He really was incredible
rhythmically.
467
00:21:03,676 --> 00:21:06,380
I mean, he sort of set it off
468
00:21:06,516 --> 00:21:09,750
with whatever musicians
were playing
469
00:21:09,886 --> 00:21:13,252
and as well any guitar player
that would be playing too.
470
00:21:13,388 --> 00:21:15,280
He just created, you know,
471
00:21:15,416 --> 00:21:17,157
that kind of glue
that put it together
472
00:21:17,293 --> 00:21:19,959
with his rhythmic ability.
473
00:21:20,094 --> 00:21:23,389
And followed the syncopations
and the things that I want.
474
00:21:23,524 --> 00:21:26,928
It was almost as if
he was hearing my thoughts.
475
00:21:27,063 --> 00:21:30,437
♪ ...made some other plans ♪
476
00:21:30,573 --> 00:21:33,667
♪ Kind of makin' me worried ♪
477
00:21:33,803 --> 00:21:35,502
♪ And I ♪
478
00:21:35,638 --> 00:21:41,841
♪ Maybe your baby
Done made some other plans ♪
479
00:21:41,976 --> 00:21:43,749
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
480
00:21:45,813 --> 00:21:49,590
EDWARDS:
Stevie looked at his band
members as his family.
481
00:21:49,726 --> 00:21:52,127
He took us and put us
on his stage,
482
00:21:52,263 --> 00:21:53,658
which was a great achievement,
483
00:21:53,794 --> 00:21:56,188
so he didn't like anyone
really quitting
484
00:21:56,323 --> 00:21:57,794
'cause that's like
a family member
485
00:21:57,930 --> 00:22:00,359
saying, "I'm pulling out
of the clan."
486
00:22:00,494 --> 00:22:02,764
I've been with Stevie Wonder
for 45 years.
487
00:22:02,900 --> 00:22:05,871
Forty-five years, Mr. Wonder.
488
00:22:06,007 --> 00:22:08,336
When you come out
of the School of Wonder,
489
00:22:08,472 --> 00:22:11,780
you know things about music
and how to make a song.
490
00:22:11,916 --> 00:22:14,215
Ray could tell you he didn't
learn how to make a song
491
00:22:14,350 --> 00:22:15,777
until he worked with Stevie.
492
00:22:15,913 --> 00:22:17,111
Stevie taught him everything.
493
00:22:17,246 --> 00:22:18,947
Stevie taught me
how to write songs.
494
00:22:19,083 --> 00:22:22,215
Took me in the studio,
paid for it,
495
00:22:22,351 --> 00:22:25,484
recorded my songs,
sang duets with me,
496
00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:28,322
and arranged my music
to show me how it would go.
497
00:22:28,458 --> 00:22:30,189
So I'm thinking,
why did I leave the band?
498
00:22:30,325 --> 00:22:32,565
Well, I think
he's still pissed at me
499
00:22:32,701 --> 00:22:34,700
a little bit
for leaving the band.
500
00:22:34,836 --> 00:22:36,637
We were living in New York
at the time,
501
00:22:36,772 --> 00:22:38,403
and I really wanted
to go to California
502
00:22:38,539 --> 00:22:39,904
where the sun was shining.
503
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,837
Thought the music business
was in California,
504
00:22:41,973 --> 00:22:43,237
I wanted to be
in California.
505
00:22:43,372 --> 00:22:45,904
I broke the news to him
that I was gonna leave.
506
00:22:46,039 --> 00:22:47,340
I remember we had
507
00:22:47,475 --> 00:22:49,847
like a military-
drill-sergeant road manager,
508
00:22:49,983 --> 00:22:51,549
he says,
"You're not leaving the band.
509
00:22:51,684 --> 00:22:52,816
Everybody's happy, shut up."
510
00:22:52,952 --> 00:22:55,214
You know, it seemed like
at one point
511
00:22:55,350 --> 00:22:57,191
I was almost being
held captive,
512
00:22:57,326 --> 00:22:58,988
you know, in the band.
513
00:22:59,123 --> 00:23:01,693
And I remember
in Corpus Christi, Texas,
514
00:23:01,829 --> 00:23:04,089
I slept on the couch
at the airport.
515
00:23:04,224 --> 00:23:06,159
I said, "I'm making my escape."
516
00:23:06,295 --> 00:23:09,401
He wanted to be the star
and he did it.
517
00:23:09,537 --> 00:23:11,001
I'm proud of him for that.
518
00:23:12,477 --> 00:23:14,004
INTERVIEWER:
And Stevie's pissed?
519
00:23:15,540 --> 00:23:18,413
[BABBLING]
520
00:23:18,549 --> 00:23:20,515
I wanted him
to do a record with me,
521
00:23:20,651 --> 00:23:24,081
but that was not
what was meant to be.
522
00:23:24,216 --> 00:23:28,584
You know, so he did his thing
and it was great.
523
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,885
And I'm just happy.
524
00:23:32,020 --> 00:23:33,758
Happy for his success.
525
00:23:33,893 --> 00:23:36,829
[STEVE SECHI'S
"GOODBYE BABY" PLAYING]
526
00:23:45,836 --> 00:23:49,243
PARKER JR.:
I had the belief that
if I could get to California
527
00:23:49,379 --> 00:23:51,104
that I could make it.
528
00:23:51,239 --> 00:23:52,614
I know everybody says that.
529
00:23:52,750 --> 00:23:53,907
You know,
I'm gonna go to Hollywood
530
00:23:54,042 --> 00:23:55,408
and become a star.
531
00:23:55,544 --> 00:23:56,815
But it's gotta happen
for somebody,
532
00:23:56,950 --> 00:23:58,444
so I thought my number
was there.
533
00:23:58,579 --> 00:24:01,318
I would go to studio
like The Record Plant,
534
00:24:01,453 --> 00:24:04,253
or something similar, that was
a very, very popular studio.
535
00:24:04,388 --> 00:24:07,094
I'd take a guitar in one hand,
amp in the other,
536
00:24:07,230 --> 00:24:09,663
and every morning I'd go sit
out in front of those studios
537
00:24:09,799 --> 00:24:11,300
with my guitar
and block the door.
538
00:24:11,435 --> 00:24:12,799
If you want to get in here,
539
00:24:12,934 --> 00:24:14,727
you talk to me
or listen to me play.
540
00:24:14,863 --> 00:24:16,435
PASSMAN:
When I met Ray,
he was really young.
541
00:24:16,571 --> 00:24:17,736
He was 19 years old.
542
00:24:17,871 --> 00:24:19,969
It was evident
that this was a guy
543
00:24:20,105 --> 00:24:22,768
who understood
what it was about.
544
00:24:22,903 --> 00:24:26,272
There's two elements to being
successful in the music business
545
00:24:26,408 --> 00:24:28,512
as a creative person.
One is talent.
546
00:24:28,647 --> 00:24:30,314
And two is drive.
547
00:24:30,449 --> 00:24:34,355
Ray was that great combination
of having talent and drive.
548
00:24:34,490 --> 00:24:36,949
I was very, very boisterous,
549
00:24:37,085 --> 00:24:38,656
and I would tell people:
550
00:24:38,791 --> 00:24:40,121
"You can let me play the guitar
551
00:24:40,257 --> 00:24:42,625
or hear me talk
for the next 20 minutes,
552
00:24:42,761 --> 00:24:44,427
and get in your way,
553
00:24:44,562 --> 00:24:46,827
or you could let me play for
a few minutes, listen to this,
554
00:24:46,963 --> 00:24:48,327
and I'm out your hair."
555
00:24:48,463 --> 00:24:50,035
And most would look at that
and go:
556
00:24:50,171 --> 00:24:52,399
"Wow, in ten seconds,
I ain't gotta talk to him."
557
00:24:58,243 --> 00:25:02,649
The main person in L.A.
who really affected my--
558
00:25:02,784 --> 00:25:04,752
Bigger than anybody
was Gene Page.
559
00:25:07,515 --> 00:25:09,448
He put me
into the session scene
560
00:25:09,584 --> 00:25:11,625
and really got me
started with it.
561
00:25:11,761 --> 00:25:14,489
Gene Page was
the number one arranger.
562
00:25:14,624 --> 00:25:17,057
He did everything from
"You Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
563
00:25:17,193 --> 00:25:18,730
by the Righteous Brothers,
564
00:25:18,865 --> 00:25:20,193
to all the Barry White stuff,
565
00:25:20,328 --> 00:25:21,634
all the Lionel Richie stuff
566
00:25:21,769 --> 00:25:23,333
that you hear orchestrated,
567
00:25:23,469 --> 00:25:25,132
Elton John records
that you hear orchestrated.
568
00:25:25,267 --> 00:25:27,042
He wrote the strings and horns
569
00:25:27,177 --> 00:25:30,240
on the biggest instrumental
in history, "Love's Theme."
570
00:25:30,375 --> 00:25:34,142
[THE LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA'S
"LOVE'S THEME" PLAYING]
571
00:25:34,278 --> 00:25:36,749
Glen Campbell
was a guitar player
572
00:25:36,885 --> 00:25:38,543
in the studio
with Gene Page.
573
00:25:38,679 --> 00:25:40,885
Glen Campbell
got his own TV show.
574
00:25:41,021 --> 00:25:42,723
Who would think
that would benefit me,
575
00:25:42,859 --> 00:25:44,585
but that left a slot
for me to come in.
576
00:25:44,721 --> 00:25:47,686
Gene Page invited me
to a Barry White session.
577
00:25:47,821 --> 00:25:51,523
And I remember Barry was playing
a song back really loud,
578
00:25:51,658 --> 00:25:53,763
it had a train whistle
in the front.
579
00:25:53,898 --> 00:25:55,196
Me being from Detroit,
580
00:25:55,332 --> 00:25:56,838
I went over
to the tape machine.
581
00:25:56,974 --> 00:26:00,040
I mean, the speakers were loud,
everybody's grooving.
582
00:26:00,175 --> 00:26:03,074
[THE LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA'S
"WHAT A GROOVE" PLAYING]
583
00:26:10,546 --> 00:26:12,917
And I had an idea in my head
for the song,
584
00:26:13,052 --> 00:26:14,681
so I went over
to the tape machine
585
00:26:14,816 --> 00:26:17,591
and I hit the stop button,
and the music stopped.
586
00:26:17,726 --> 00:26:20,455
And Barry said,
"What the ----?"
587
00:26:20,591 --> 00:26:23,089
I said, "Excuse me, Mr. White,
that's a wonderful song,
588
00:26:23,225 --> 00:26:24,890
but I got an idea."
589
00:26:25,025 --> 00:26:27,769
And I don't know what he saw,
but he looked over and says:
590
00:26:27,905 --> 00:26:30,530
"Well, then get the F
in there and play it."
591
00:26:53,689 --> 00:26:56,057
I started playing the lick,
he liked it.
592
00:26:56,193 --> 00:26:57,899
I stopped because I was like:
593
00:26:58,034 --> 00:26:59,929
"Roll the tape back,
I'll play it all the way."
594
00:27:00,064 --> 00:27:01,734
He said, "Keep playing it."
595
00:27:01,870 --> 00:27:03,839
So there's a hole
in the record,
596
00:27:03,974 --> 00:27:06,470
about a bar-and-a-half,
where there's no guitar playing.
597
00:27:06,605 --> 00:27:08,909
That's him pushing the button,
telling me, "Keep playing."
598
00:27:09,044 --> 00:27:11,444
I picked back up,
it goes on the record.
599
00:27:11,580 --> 00:27:13,111
We come best of friends.
600
00:27:17,382 --> 00:27:20,480
Barry White's manager
lived upstairs over me.
601
00:27:20,615 --> 00:27:23,453
He pulls over
in his white Mark VII,
602
00:27:23,588 --> 00:27:26,317
parks in front of the gate
where the door was
603
00:27:26,453 --> 00:27:27,926
because he's Barry White.
604
00:27:28,061 --> 00:27:29,455
He's not gonna park
on the street,
605
00:27:29,591 --> 00:27:31,664
he's gonna park
where it's comfortable.
606
00:27:31,799 --> 00:27:33,965
He gets out the car, I see him.
607
00:27:34,101 --> 00:27:36,631
So I run, get in my car,
drive it around,
608
00:27:36,766 --> 00:27:39,305
because I want to play him
a song. But unfortunately,
609
00:27:39,441 --> 00:27:42,037
his car was parked too close,
so when I triggered the thing,
610
00:27:42,172 --> 00:27:45,209
the gate lifted his car up,
611
00:27:45,344 --> 00:27:47,444
then the gate
fell on top of his car,
612
00:27:47,580 --> 00:27:49,776
the gate ripped off
the building and fell down,
613
00:27:49,912 --> 00:27:52,484
and he was like,
"Thanks, Ray, I needed that."
614
00:27:52,619 --> 00:27:56,057
And I was like, "I'm sorry,
but you gotta hear my song."
615
00:27:56,193 --> 00:27:59,727
Would you believe I still
sat him in the car after that?
616
00:27:59,863 --> 00:28:01,962
He could have punched me out,
right?
617
00:28:02,097 --> 00:28:04,393
I sat him in the car,
played him a song.
618
00:28:04,529 --> 00:28:07,297
He took the song home,
wrote the words to it,
619
00:28:07,432 --> 00:28:10,169
and that song is
"You See the Trouble with Me."
620
00:28:10,304 --> 00:28:12,540
It has been number one twice
all over the world.
621
00:28:12,676 --> 00:28:14,735
We sold 6, 7 million records.
622
00:28:14,870 --> 00:28:19,377
♪ I can't do nothin'
Without my baby ♪
623
00:28:19,513 --> 00:28:22,574
Barry White did not need
one of my songs on his album.
624
00:28:22,710 --> 00:28:24,183
Nothing.
He just didn't need them.
625
00:28:24,318 --> 00:28:27,417
He's the biggest selling artist
at that time period.
626
00:28:27,552 --> 00:28:30,717
RIVERS:
Barry was into
no outside songs,
627
00:28:30,852 --> 00:28:34,322
but he made an exception
for Ray and had a big hit.
628
00:28:34,457 --> 00:28:36,161
Who impressed you the most?
Who--?
629
00:28:36,296 --> 00:28:38,159
There's a guy in California,
Barry White.
630
00:28:38,294 --> 00:28:39,734
Really, when you came out here?
631
00:28:39,870 --> 00:28:42,503
What did you find
by watching him work?
632
00:28:42,639 --> 00:28:44,068
You were a studio musician.
633
00:28:44,204 --> 00:28:46,067
I like the speed
that he did it with,
634
00:28:46,202 --> 00:28:47,866
three hits in one day.
635
00:28:48,001 --> 00:28:50,507
I've been trying to do that.
I can't figure that out yet.
636
00:28:50,643 --> 00:28:52,904
Barry White had a certain
strange way of doing things.
637
00:28:53,039 --> 00:28:55,880
He said, "I'm gonna pay you
guys triple scale...
638
00:28:56,015 --> 00:28:58,076
but I want eight songs done.
639
00:28:58,211 --> 00:29:01,613
Now you can do it in 12 hours,
or three hours and go home.
640
00:29:01,749 --> 00:29:04,186
I don't care.
You get the same amount.
641
00:29:04,321 --> 00:29:06,227
Here's the money
I'm allocating."
642
00:29:06,362 --> 00:29:10,799
And so one day, we cut "You're
My First, Last And Everything,"
643
00:29:10,934 --> 00:29:12,858
"Can't Get Enough
of Your Love,"
644
00:29:12,993 --> 00:29:15,529
and "Love's Theme,"
all in the same day.
645
00:29:15,664 --> 00:29:17,404
[CHUCKLES]
Just all in the same day.
646
00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:18,764
Bam, bam, bam.
647
00:29:18,899 --> 00:29:20,970
I can't remember
the first time I met Ray,
648
00:29:21,105 --> 00:29:23,141
but he blew into town
649
00:29:23,276 --> 00:29:25,443
and into the scene
like a firestorm.
650
00:29:25,579 --> 00:29:29,479
I had the fortune of being
a first-call studio guitarist.
651
00:29:29,614 --> 00:29:32,481
And one day,
I walked into a record session
652
00:29:32,616 --> 00:29:35,088
and there was this cat
sitting next to me.
653
00:29:35,223 --> 00:29:37,890
I thought,
"Let's hope this guy's good."
654
00:29:38,025 --> 00:29:40,923
After one pass,
I was convinced
655
00:29:41,058 --> 00:29:42,831
this guy really is
656
00:29:42,967 --> 00:29:45,429
the best rhythm guitarist
I'd ever heard.
657
00:29:45,564 --> 00:29:48,966
Ray is the greatest living
rhythm-guitar player.
658
00:29:49,102 --> 00:29:51,434
He's just-- He's just badass.
659
00:29:51,569 --> 00:29:54,442
He has this incredible
funky-rhythm thing
660
00:29:54,578 --> 00:29:56,075
that nobody in town had.
661
00:29:56,211 --> 00:29:58,245
When Ray was young,
he wasn't humble.
662
00:29:58,381 --> 00:30:00,807
[LAUGHS]
663
00:30:00,942 --> 00:30:03,779
If you wanted to know
how good Ray was, ask him.
664
00:30:03,914 --> 00:30:07,615
We were considered, you know,
"the young, hot guitar players."
665
00:30:07,750 --> 00:30:09,988
When I first met
Ray Parker Jr.,
666
00:30:10,123 --> 00:30:11,620
Ray shakes my hand and says:
667
00:30:11,756 --> 00:30:14,127
"I'm the greatest guitar
player in the world."
668
00:30:14,262 --> 00:30:18,331
And I smiled and I said,
"We'll see about that."
669
00:30:18,467 --> 00:30:19,925
[LAUGHS]
670
00:30:20,060 --> 00:30:22,932
I think he's great
and I think he was great then.
671
00:30:23,068 --> 00:30:24,466
But if he had said that,
672
00:30:24,601 --> 00:30:26,698
I would've smacked him
on his mouth.
673
00:30:26,834 --> 00:30:29,274
What do you say to that?
It's Ray Parker.
674
00:30:29,409 --> 00:30:32,206
I cracked up
and said I'd heard.
675
00:30:32,341 --> 00:30:33,705
Ray's a confident man.
676
00:30:33,841 --> 00:30:35,707
He's very confident.
By the way,
677
00:30:35,843 --> 00:30:37,948
he's not the greatest guitar
player.
678
00:30:38,084 --> 00:30:39,621
But he is very, very good.
679
00:30:39,757 --> 00:30:42,184
This man came in with a style
680
00:30:42,319 --> 00:30:44,024
that none of us heard before
681
00:30:44,159 --> 00:30:45,787
and none of us
have ever heard since.
682
00:30:45,923 --> 00:30:50,121
To me, these guys are my family,
right, and we all feel so close.
683
00:30:50,257 --> 00:30:53,395
And it's the kind of love
and it's the kind of respect
684
00:30:53,531 --> 00:30:56,167
that I can't explain it
to my wife.
685
00:30:56,303 --> 00:30:58,200
I can't explain it
to my friends.
686
00:30:58,336 --> 00:30:59,898
You have to be one of the guys
687
00:31:00,033 --> 00:31:02,510
to understand
exactly what it really is
688
00:31:02,646 --> 00:31:03,979
and how important it is.
689
00:31:04,114 --> 00:31:06,839
All of us, we all have
such love for each other
690
00:31:06,975 --> 00:31:09,413
and know that's our best time
of our lives.
691
00:31:09,549 --> 00:31:11,710
That was the best era
of our lives.
692
00:31:11,845 --> 00:31:14,221
Ray and I
have this special bond,
693
00:31:14,356 --> 00:31:20,854
which is: one brain,
four arms, and two guitars.
694
00:31:20,989 --> 00:31:24,324
Literally. It's like we're
mind-reading each other.
695
00:31:24,460 --> 00:31:26,101
The brains are locked in.
696
00:31:26,236 --> 00:31:28,828
We just love so much
what the other's playing,
697
00:31:28,963 --> 00:31:31,602
and we just work off
each other so well,
698
00:31:31,738 --> 00:31:35,542
and our groove and our pocket
is so similar, it just--
699
00:31:35,678 --> 00:31:37,204
It's magical.
700
00:31:37,340 --> 00:31:38,880
When we walk into a room
701
00:31:39,015 --> 00:31:40,178
and more than one of us
is in it,
702
00:31:40,314 --> 00:31:43,778
it's like we revert back
to 1976, '77.
703
00:31:43,913 --> 00:31:46,746
Like we're just little kids
in old-man suits.
704
00:31:46,882 --> 00:31:49,554
Some of the greatest times
of my life.
705
00:31:49,690 --> 00:31:52,550
Best days of my life is playing
in the studio with all the guys.
706
00:31:52,686 --> 00:31:54,427
The best days, bar none,
707
00:31:54,563 --> 00:31:57,693
the best times I had in my life.
It was a fertile time for music.
708
00:31:57,828 --> 00:31:59,866
The music business
had a lot of money in it still.
709
00:32:00,001 --> 00:32:01,597
Everybody was still excited.
710
00:32:01,732 --> 00:32:03,900
Records were getting bought,
people were playing.
711
00:32:04,035 --> 00:32:05,403
Lot of work.
712
00:32:05,539 --> 00:32:08,407
And to be at that time
with all these artists
713
00:32:08,542 --> 00:32:11,143
that wanted musicians
like us to play.
Yeah.
714
00:32:11,279 --> 00:32:14,876
[BILL WITHERS'
"LOVELY DAY" PLAYING]
715
00:32:15,012 --> 00:32:18,384
First, when I got the call
to play on Bill Withers' record,
716
00:32:18,519 --> 00:32:20,550
I guess he heard about me
from some other people,
717
00:32:20,686 --> 00:32:23,287
but, you know,
I loved Bill Withers' records.
718
00:32:23,423 --> 00:32:25,092
So I thought this was
just too cool.
719
00:32:25,227 --> 00:32:26,953
I'm going to play
with Bill Withers.
720
00:32:27,089 --> 00:32:31,198
♪ When I wake up
In the morning, love ♪
721
00:32:32,764 --> 00:32:36,137
♪ And the sunlight
Hurts my eyes ♪
722
00:32:37,736 --> 00:32:41,140
♪ And something
Without warning, love ♪
723
00:32:41,276 --> 00:32:42,969
If you look at the back
of the album,
724
00:32:43,104 --> 00:32:45,772
you see me in swimming trunks
eating barbeque,
725
00:32:45,908 --> 00:32:48,183
laying on the grass.
It's that fun.
726
00:32:48,318 --> 00:32:50,680
So we go to Bill's house
and he loves to talk, right,
727
00:32:50,815 --> 00:32:52,846
so he's starting his song off
and I'm thinking:
728
00:32:52,981 --> 00:32:54,987
"Wow, this could be
one of those hits,"
729
00:32:55,123 --> 00:32:57,182
like the other hits he's got.
730
00:32:57,318 --> 00:33:00,853
So I came up with a little
pluck chorus line on the guitar.
731
00:33:00,989 --> 00:33:03,428
[PLAYING CHORUS LINE
FROM "LOVELY DAY"]
732
00:33:10,669 --> 00:33:12,634
Lot of people play different
guitar parts,
733
00:33:12,770 --> 00:33:15,101
but that's the guitar part
on the song.
734
00:33:15,236 --> 00:33:19,341
♪ Lovely day
Lovely day, lovely day ♪
735
00:33:19,476 --> 00:33:21,908
[BOZ SCAGGS' "JOJO" PLAYING]
736
00:33:27,086 --> 00:33:28,647
The song "Jojo"...
737
00:33:28,782 --> 00:33:31,654
was Ray and Steve Lukather.
738
00:33:37,759 --> 00:33:41,067
[IMITATING GUITAR FROM "JOJO"]
739
00:33:41,202 --> 00:33:42,832
It's this little
relentless thing
740
00:33:42,967 --> 00:33:46,498
that's more in the style
of what Ray does to a song.
741
00:33:46,634 --> 00:33:48,341
It's just what Ray does.
742
00:33:48,476 --> 00:33:51,007
He always comes through
with the good stuff,
743
00:33:51,142 --> 00:33:55,182
and I just love him, so I
get to see him and hang out.
744
00:33:55,317 --> 00:33:59,220
[CHERYL LYNN'S
"GOT TO BE REAL" PLAYING]
745
00:34:06,963 --> 00:34:10,165
♪ What you think ♪
746
00:34:11,363 --> 00:34:14,334
♪ What you feel now ♪
747
00:34:15,532 --> 00:34:19,366
♪ What you know ♪
748
00:34:19,502 --> 00:34:20,901
♪ To be real ♪
749
00:34:22,344 --> 00:34:24,408
I'm in the presence
of Cheryl Lynn.
750
00:34:24,544 --> 00:34:26,247
Goodness, it doesn't get
any better.
751
00:34:26,382 --> 00:34:29,244
Luther Vandross
sang duets with Cheryl Lynn.
752
00:34:29,379 --> 00:34:31,109
My God, listen to you.
753
00:34:31,244 --> 00:34:33,714
Nobody ever asked me
to sing a duet with her.
754
00:34:33,849 --> 00:34:35,455
I love singing with you.
You will?
755
00:34:35,590 --> 00:34:37,721
All the time, any time.
Commitment time, I got it.
756
00:34:37,856 --> 00:34:40,859
Y'all got a commitment.
Any time. This is my guy.
757
00:34:40,995 --> 00:34:42,629
♪ ...know ♪
758
00:34:42,764 --> 00:34:44,633
[SCATTING]
759
00:34:44,768 --> 00:34:46,333
♪ To be real ♪
760
00:34:49,004 --> 00:34:51,338
♪ I said... ♪
761
00:34:53,273 --> 00:34:55,771
♪ What you feel now ♪
762
00:34:57,539 --> 00:34:58,444
♪ I said... ♪
763
00:35:02,712 --> 00:35:04,109
When we cut "Got To Be Real,"
764
00:35:04,245 --> 00:35:06,121
it was like knocking
a baseball out the park
765
00:35:06,256 --> 00:35:07,650
the first time
you picked up the bat.
766
00:35:07,785 --> 00:35:09,555
It's like,
"How do you swing this?" Bam.
767
00:35:09,690 --> 00:35:13,393
Nobody ever saw the baseball
again, it's just gone.
768
00:35:13,528 --> 00:35:15,460
I mean, immediately,
when we got done playing
769
00:35:15,595 --> 00:35:17,431
and we were with
all the best musicians,
770
00:35:17,566 --> 00:35:19,624
we all said to ourselves,
"Boy, that sounds good."
771
00:35:19,759 --> 00:35:21,632
That's it, you know.
772
00:35:21,768 --> 00:35:23,504
And you can take it
all you want some more,
773
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,570
but what else was supposed to
happen? Everybody got down.
774
00:35:26,705 --> 00:35:28,338
Sounds were great,
the mix was great.
775
00:35:28,474 --> 00:35:29,634
Everything was just wonderful.
776
00:35:29,770 --> 00:35:31,472
♪ To be real ♪
777
00:35:31,608 --> 00:35:34,177
♪ It's got to be real ♪
778
00:35:34,313 --> 00:35:35,674
♪ To be real ♪
779
00:35:35,810 --> 00:35:38,313
♪ It's got to be real ♪
780
00:35:38,449 --> 00:35:45,321
♪ To be real ♪
781
00:35:45,457 --> 00:35:47,420
♪ No, no, no, no ♪
782
00:35:47,555 --> 00:35:50,163
[VOCALIZING]
783
00:35:50,299 --> 00:35:51,992
♪ I've got to have it, baby ♪
784
00:35:54,501 --> 00:35:56,062
♪ I've got to have it, baby ♪
785
00:35:58,504 --> 00:35:59,835
It was the instrumental I cut
786
00:35:59,970 --> 00:36:01,938
that they played on The WAVE
all the time,
787
00:36:02,074 --> 00:36:05,209
which is like a jazz record.
It's called "After Midnite."
788
00:36:05,345 --> 00:36:08,283
[PLAYING "AFTER MIDNITE"]
789
00:36:11,784 --> 00:36:13,651
You say, "Why did you
pick up this guitar
790
00:36:13,786 --> 00:36:15,554
as opposed to one
of those jazz guitars
791
00:36:15,689 --> 00:36:17,486
or one of the others?"
Well, in those days,
792
00:36:17,622 --> 00:36:19,360
the truth is, I was just lazy,
793
00:36:19,495 --> 00:36:21,362
so I grabbed the first guitar
that was close.
794
00:36:51,858 --> 00:36:56,858
[HERBIE HANCOCK'S
"STARS IN YOUR EYES" PLAYING]
795
00:36:56,993 --> 00:36:59,263
Herbie Hancock
is like music royalty.
796
00:36:59,399 --> 00:37:00,929
First time I met Herbie
797
00:37:01,065 --> 00:37:02,999
was in San Francisco
at The Automatt.
798
00:37:03,135 --> 00:37:06,032
I got called, I'm thinking,
"We get to play some jazz now."
799
00:37:06,168 --> 00:37:08,106
All my life
I've been studying some...
800
00:37:08,241 --> 00:37:10,540
[PLAYS JAZZ RIFF]
801
00:37:10,676 --> 00:37:12,710
I only play...
A bunch of notes.
802
00:37:12,846 --> 00:37:14,339
And Herbie, I'll never forget,
he stopped me
803
00:37:14,475 --> 00:37:17,951
in the first session and said,
"What are you doing?
804
00:37:18,087 --> 00:37:20,684
It's really true that...
805
00:37:20,819 --> 00:37:24,919
you know,
my foundation is in jazz.
806
00:37:25,054 --> 00:37:28,561
That's not really
Ray's foundation.
807
00:37:28,696 --> 00:37:30,130
I'm thinking,
"I'm with Herbie Hancock,
808
00:37:30,265 --> 00:37:31,597
we're gonna play some jazz."
809
00:37:31,732 --> 00:37:34,262
He says, "No, I didn't call
you for that.
810
00:37:34,397 --> 00:37:37,433
Everybody told me you had that
great feel on the rhythm guitar.
811
00:37:37,569 --> 00:37:38,763
I'm waiting to hear that."
812
00:37:38,899 --> 00:37:40,473
Ray was important to me
813
00:37:40,609 --> 00:37:44,209
because he was able
to add that groove
814
00:37:44,345 --> 00:37:46,778
in a way that nobody can.
815
00:37:46,913 --> 00:37:49,107
He says, "I got other people
who can play that.
816
00:37:49,243 --> 00:37:51,208
I called you,
give me that groove,
817
00:37:51,344 --> 00:37:53,250
and give me
the rhythm and stuff."
818
00:37:53,386 --> 00:37:54,785
And was I just shocked.
819
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,325
He may as well had punched me
in the face.
820
00:37:57,461 --> 00:37:59,423
Wait a minute,
this is not what I thought.
821
00:37:59,558 --> 00:38:01,462
So in less than 60 seconds,
822
00:38:01,598 --> 00:38:04,892
I had to readjust
my entire thought pattern.
823
00:38:05,027 --> 00:38:08,829
♪ It's the same old story ♪
824
00:38:08,964 --> 00:38:13,637
♪ About somebody with a dream ♪
825
00:38:13,773 --> 00:38:16,271
We had some unbelievably
wonderful times.
826
00:38:16,406 --> 00:38:20,406
I was over his house in
his studio working on a song.
827
00:38:20,542 --> 00:38:23,276
So he's got these chords going
fast, and I said, "Whoa."
828
00:38:23,411 --> 00:38:26,177
He said, "Okay, that's it.
That's all we need."
829
00:38:26,313 --> 00:38:29,149
I said,
"What are you talking about?"
830
00:38:29,284 --> 00:38:31,820
He said, "Those chords
you've just played.
831
00:38:31,956 --> 00:38:34,288
We only need
about the first four."
832
00:38:34,424 --> 00:38:35,491
[SCOFFS]
833
00:38:35,627 --> 00:38:36,991
"I can write a whole song
834
00:38:37,127 --> 00:38:39,465
off of what you just played
in two seconds
835
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:41,630
if you just slow
the chords down."
836
00:38:41,766 --> 00:38:43,767
And it was coming out so good,
837
00:38:43,903 --> 00:38:47,041
that in the middle
of his recording session
838
00:38:47,177 --> 00:38:48,807
that he's paying for,
839
00:38:48,942 --> 00:38:51,536
I took all his equipment,
put it into my car,
840
00:38:51,672 --> 00:38:55,041
put him in my car, drove him
to my house to my studio,
841
00:38:55,177 --> 00:38:56,979
and said, "Okay,
now play that here."
842
00:38:57,115 --> 00:38:59,345
After that,
he liked my song so much
843
00:38:59,481 --> 00:39:02,053
that I derived from his,
we split it 50/50,
844
00:39:02,188 --> 00:39:05,158
that he actually recorded that
song on one of his albums later
845
00:39:05,293 --> 00:39:07,190
with a female singer.
846
00:39:07,325 --> 00:39:10,828
"Tonight's the Night" by Ray
Parker Jr. and Herbie Hancock.
847
00:39:14,832 --> 00:39:16,962
I met Chaka Khan in Chicago,
848
00:39:17,097 --> 00:39:18,473
and she came up to me and said,
849
00:39:18,608 --> 00:39:20,537
"I want you to listen
to this tape."
850
00:39:20,672 --> 00:39:21,905
And I was looking at her
851
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,075
and I had some other plans
for her.
852
00:39:24,210 --> 00:39:26,714
I told her, "Mail the tape to
this address in San Francisco,"
853
00:39:26,850 --> 00:39:29,375
since she wasn't cooperating
with what I had going on.
854
00:39:29,510 --> 00:39:33,079
But wouldn't you know,
right, a year later,
855
00:39:33,214 --> 00:39:35,182
I wrote this song
with The Groove
856
00:39:35,317 --> 00:39:37,723
and had this great guitar riff
on it...
857
00:39:37,858 --> 00:39:39,791
[PLAYING RIFF
FROM "YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE"]
858
00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:47,558
I remember hearing that
in high school.
859
00:39:47,693 --> 00:39:50,897
"Who played that?" Is it
Ray Parker? Who is this cat?
860
00:39:51,032 --> 00:39:53,268
Eighteen? Was he that young?
861
00:39:53,404 --> 00:39:55,538
[LAUGHS]
862
00:39:55,674 --> 00:39:58,108
But I remember that lick.
863
00:39:58,243 --> 00:40:00,505
I want Stevie to cut this,
he doesn't want to cut it.
864
00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:02,445
I want Barry to cut this,
he doesn't want to.
865
00:40:02,581 --> 00:40:04,418
And Andre Fischer says:
866
00:40:04,553 --> 00:40:06,253
"We'll cut it on our band
Rufus."
867
00:40:06,388 --> 00:40:07,787
I'm like, "What's a Rufus?"
868
00:40:07,922 --> 00:40:09,447
I never even heard of this
band before.
869
00:40:09,582 --> 00:40:11,125
But no one else
is gonna cut it.
870
00:40:11,261 --> 00:40:12,925
Okay, Chaka comes in,
871
00:40:13,061 --> 00:40:14,961
I wasn't there when she sang
it, but she comes in,
872
00:40:15,097 --> 00:40:17,929
finishes the lyric, sings
a song, and I'll never forget.
873
00:40:18,064 --> 00:40:19,894
I listened to that track
after it was cut
874
00:40:20,029 --> 00:40:22,096
and I said, "She could sing.
875
00:40:22,232 --> 00:40:24,434
She could really--
Who's this?"
876
00:40:24,570 --> 00:40:26,101
How about it for Rufus.
877
00:40:28,509 --> 00:40:33,875
♪ Love me right ♪
878
00:40:34,010 --> 00:40:37,948
♪ What's the matter with you? ♪
879
00:40:39,014 --> 00:40:43,954
♪ Hold me tight ♪
880
00:40:44,089 --> 00:40:48,987
♪ Why must I tell you
What to do? ♪
881
00:40:49,123 --> 00:40:54,091
♪ Smilin', smilin' ♪
882
00:40:54,227 --> 00:40:57,672
♪ Comes as no surprise ♪
883
00:40:57,807 --> 00:41:01,303
"You Got the Love"
is about as funky as it gets.
884
00:41:01,439 --> 00:41:03,001
[LAUGHS]
885
00:41:03,137 --> 00:41:04,444
They killed that one.
886
00:41:04,579 --> 00:41:07,478
♪ What I see in your eyes ♪
887
00:41:07,614 --> 00:41:08,946
♪ The story goes ♪
888
00:41:10,111 --> 00:41:12,076
♪ Oh, much deeper ♪
889
00:41:12,212 --> 00:41:15,254
♪ Than the eye can see ♪
890
00:41:15,390 --> 00:41:17,191
♪ Yes, it do ♪
891
00:41:17,326 --> 00:41:18,725
♪ You got the love ♪
892
00:41:19,824 --> 00:41:21,789
♪ Gimme the strength ♪
893
00:41:21,925 --> 00:41:23,427
It's driving, it's just--
894
00:41:23,562 --> 00:41:24,762
You can't stop it,
895
00:41:24,898 --> 00:41:27,091
and that's Ray
moving down the road.
896
00:41:27,227 --> 00:41:29,028
♪ Whatever it is ♪
897
00:41:29,163 --> 00:41:31,671
♪ I can't do without ♪
898
00:41:31,806 --> 00:41:34,266
We sat down with Chaka
and she says,
899
00:41:34,401 --> 00:41:36,276
"You don't even
remember me, huh?"
900
00:41:36,412 --> 00:41:39,139
[LAUGHS]
I'm like, "What do you mean?
I never met you before."
901
00:41:39,275 --> 00:41:42,011
She says, "Oh, yeah,
we met before."
902
00:41:42,147 --> 00:41:45,683
So she reminded me
of the wrong I had done.
903
00:41:45,818 --> 00:41:47,182
If I had listened to her tape
904
00:41:47,317 --> 00:41:48,954
instead of thinking
something else,
905
00:41:49,090 --> 00:41:50,891
I probably would've owned
the band myself.
906
00:41:51,026 --> 00:41:54,019
I could've signed her.
She was asking me to sign her.
907
00:41:54,155 --> 00:41:55,863
And so how ironic is it
908
00:41:55,999 --> 00:41:59,997
that I have a hit
on the same voice a year later?
909
00:42:04,604 --> 00:42:05,497
♪ I need you ♪
910
00:42:07,336 --> 00:42:09,510
She's so sweet,
she forgave me for that,
911
00:42:09,646 --> 00:42:11,174
and we've been buddies
ever since.
912
00:42:11,309 --> 00:42:13,813
What it did for me was,
A, it made me a songwriter.
913
00:42:13,948 --> 00:42:16,310
People started
to take notice of me.
914
00:42:16,445 --> 00:42:18,917
And it gave me
the confidence to go further,
915
00:42:19,052 --> 00:42:21,689
do some more songs.
"Boy, I'm on the radio."
916
00:42:21,824 --> 00:42:23,483
By the way, hearing your song
on the radio
917
00:42:23,619 --> 00:42:26,386
was unbelievably wonderful,
just to hear it play.
918
00:42:26,521 --> 00:42:28,521
I used to just wait
on the radio station,
919
00:42:28,657 --> 00:42:31,526
listen all day just to hear
my song on the radio,
920
00:42:31,661 --> 00:42:34,695
so you can bop your head up and
down. That was just wonderful.
921
00:42:34,830 --> 00:42:39,035
I did a session one time
for Jeff Barry, the producer.
922
00:42:39,171 --> 00:42:42,209
Jeff took the guitar part,
which was...
923
00:42:42,344 --> 00:42:44,675
[IMITATES GUITAR]
924
00:42:44,811 --> 00:42:46,776
And they lifted my guitar part
925
00:42:46,911 --> 00:42:48,781
and made it something else.
926
00:42:48,916 --> 00:42:51,517
Ray went way beyond
the call of duty
927
00:42:51,652 --> 00:42:54,250
with the Don Kirshner theme.
928
00:42:54,386 --> 00:42:57,391
I mean, he literally,
literally wrote that thing.
929
00:42:57,527 --> 00:43:00,887
[DON KIRSHNER'S THEME PLAYING]
930
00:43:01,022 --> 00:43:03,059
[IMITATING GUITAR]
931
00:43:03,194 --> 00:43:05,964
I also didn't get paid for it,
no credit.
932
00:43:06,099 --> 00:43:09,301
I mean, that's just
unforgivable, you know.
933
00:43:09,436 --> 00:43:10,967
That's his mojo.
934
00:43:11,102 --> 00:43:12,969
That's his jam.
That's his thing.
935
00:43:13,105 --> 00:43:14,732
And he didn't get the credit
for it.
936
00:43:14,868 --> 00:43:16,942
But that guitar part,
what's interesting about it,
937
00:43:17,077 --> 00:43:19,737
everybody recognized
my style of playing
938
00:43:19,872 --> 00:43:22,106
and everybody recognizes it
when they hear it.
939
00:43:22,242 --> 00:43:23,651
"That sounds like Ray."
940
00:43:23,786 --> 00:43:26,479
"Did you get something
for that?" No.
941
00:43:26,615 --> 00:43:28,988
As a session musician,
you get hired to come in.
942
00:43:29,123 --> 00:43:32,956
You play three songs
in like three hours usually.
943
00:43:33,092 --> 00:43:35,391
And this particular day,
we had a break
944
00:43:35,527 --> 00:43:38,659
in between the two three-hour
sessions, a lunch break.
945
00:43:38,795 --> 00:43:41,899
So I'd written a song at home
and came up with this groove,
946
00:43:42,035 --> 00:43:43,637
but I wanted to hear
what it's like
947
00:43:43,773 --> 00:43:45,938
with the drums, bass,
keyboard,
948
00:43:46,073 --> 00:43:47,799
so I could hear what my groove
was like.
949
00:43:47,934 --> 00:43:51,441
When the producer came in
at the end of lunch period
950
00:43:51,577 --> 00:43:55,148
and said, "I like that groove.
Can we cut that on Leo Sayer?"
951
00:43:55,283 --> 00:43:58,842
I immediately told him, "Hey,
this is my song, wait a minute.
952
00:43:58,978 --> 00:44:01,150
It's my song I wrote at home,
what we talking about?"
953
00:44:01,285 --> 00:44:03,615
He said, "I'll give you
your percentage,
954
00:44:03,751 --> 00:44:05,484
but what do you wanna do,
call your lawyer?
955
00:44:05,619 --> 00:44:07,118
The groove is hot,
let's record it."
956
00:44:07,254 --> 00:44:08,995
So I put the track down,
957
00:44:09,131 --> 00:44:11,432
showed the band what to play,
put everything down,
958
00:44:11,567 --> 00:44:12,999
and never got my credit for it.
959
00:44:13,134 --> 00:44:15,966
And that turned out
to be Leo Sayer's biggest song:
960
00:44:16,102 --> 00:44:17,529
"You Make Me
Feel Like Dancing."
961
00:44:17,665 --> 00:44:20,641
♪ You make me
Feel like dancing ♪
962
00:44:20,776 --> 00:44:22,974
♪ I wanna dance
The night away ♪
963
00:44:23,110 --> 00:44:25,277
♪ You make me
Feel like dancing ♪
964
00:44:25,412 --> 00:44:29,008
And the song turned out to be
number one R&B Song of the Year,
965
00:44:29,143 --> 00:44:30,009
it won the Grammy.
966
00:44:30,145 --> 00:44:31,378
It was devastating,
967
00:44:31,514 --> 00:44:33,682
I'm sitting at home,
looking at the TV,
968
00:44:33,818 --> 00:44:37,759
and there's a guy I never met
before collecting my Grammy.
969
00:44:41,661 --> 00:44:43,958
I don't know Leo.
970
00:44:44,093 --> 00:44:45,525
I know Richard Perry,
971
00:44:45,660 --> 00:44:47,969
and I have no comment
about him,
972
00:44:48,104 --> 00:44:51,798
because we bumped heads,
let's just say that.
973
00:44:51,934 --> 00:44:55,576
And he's got a lot of credit
on a lot of great works.
974
00:44:55,711 --> 00:44:57,702
I'll leave it at that, but...
975
00:44:57,837 --> 00:44:59,838
Come to think of it,
I just thought of it,
976
00:44:59,974 --> 00:45:05,246
he didn't give me credits
on the Pointer Sisters record.
977
00:45:05,381 --> 00:45:07,081
Many of us
were all in the sessions
978
00:45:07,217 --> 00:45:08,722
and you see something happen,
979
00:45:08,858 --> 00:45:11,715
and when the credits
are given out,
980
00:45:11,851 --> 00:45:14,896
you know,
something's missing, and...
981
00:45:15,031 --> 00:45:17,698
it's the name of the business
and it's a drag.
982
00:45:17,834 --> 00:45:19,730
Like I said,
you sit in that chair,
983
00:45:19,866 --> 00:45:21,497
expected to give your all.
984
00:45:21,633 --> 00:45:24,762
Sometimes you give too much
and don't get enough for it.
985
00:45:24,897 --> 00:45:27,873
But it's just the nature
of the beast, you know,
986
00:45:28,009 --> 00:45:30,170
but Ray didn't get mad,
he got even.
987
00:45:30,306 --> 00:45:32,075
Yeah, the idea was, you know,
988
00:45:32,211 --> 00:45:34,105
you get 15 years or so
as a session guy
989
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,781
and then you'd better move on
to be either an arranger,
990
00:45:37,916 --> 00:45:39,116
producer, artist.
991
00:45:39,251 --> 00:45:41,780
He figured it out
really early that:
992
00:45:41,915 --> 00:45:45,121
"I'm not gonna give away
all this stuff that I know
993
00:45:45,256 --> 00:45:46,961
for a couple hundred bucks
a day."
994
00:45:47,096 --> 00:45:50,221
As a studio player,
you were part of the puzzle.
995
00:45:50,357 --> 00:45:51,856
You were one piece.
996
00:45:51,992 --> 00:45:54,760
I wanted to be the whole
puzzle and so did Ray.
997
00:45:54,896 --> 00:45:59,769
Ray had too much fire,
and he loved to write songs.
998
00:45:59,904 --> 00:46:01,205
He had big dreams
999
00:46:01,340 --> 00:46:03,901
and I think he even exceeded
his own dreams.
1000
00:46:04,036 --> 00:46:06,805
He set the goalpost,
then actually went further.
1001
00:46:06,940 --> 00:46:08,948
PARKER JR.:
What motivated me to do more,
1002
00:46:09,083 --> 00:46:11,783
I went home to Detroit
one Christmas,
1003
00:46:11,918 --> 00:46:13,550
and I had written two songs.
1004
00:46:13,686 --> 00:46:15,781
I had "You've Got the Love"
by Rufus and Chaka Khan,
1005
00:46:15,916 --> 00:46:17,617
and I had
the "Always Thinking of You"
1006
00:46:17,752 --> 00:46:19,786
on The Love Unlimited Orchestra,
Barry White.
1007
00:46:19,922 --> 00:46:22,491
So I'm going home, thinking,
"Wow, I'm a guitar player,
1008
00:46:22,627 --> 00:46:25,659
but I wrote two songs.
I'm happening, I got this going.
1009
00:46:25,795 --> 00:46:28,162
This is my first year in L.A.,
I'm really booming."
1010
00:46:28,297 --> 00:46:29,796
So I get home to my mother.
1011
00:46:29,932 --> 00:46:33,171
She looked at the record, says,
"I don't see you."
1012
00:46:33,306 --> 00:46:34,975
I said, "Mom,
you're not gonna see me.
1013
00:46:35,110 --> 00:46:37,577
I'm not on the record,
I wrote the song."
1014
00:46:37,712 --> 00:46:39,109
"What does that mean?"
1015
00:46:39,245 --> 00:46:41,175
"Means that I took
a pencil down,
1016
00:46:41,311 --> 00:46:42,841
wrote the chords, the lyrics."
1017
00:46:42,976 --> 00:46:45,745
"Where is your name?"
"My name is on the label."
1018
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:48,021
And she picks up the label,
she says:
1019
00:46:48,156 --> 00:46:50,087
"Bring me
my magnifying glass."
1020
00:46:50,223 --> 00:46:52,351
So she gets
the magnifying glass.
1021
00:46:52,486 --> 00:46:54,289
She does like this with it,
1022
00:46:54,425 --> 00:46:56,023
trying to see my name,
and it says:
1023
00:46:56,158 --> 00:46:57,759
"R. Parker."
1024
00:46:57,894 --> 00:46:59,666
And even my mother knew
a little bit about typing.
1025
00:46:59,802 --> 00:47:01,427
She says: "One more character
1026
00:47:01,563 --> 00:47:03,037
and they could've
gave you 'Ray'
1027
00:47:03,172 --> 00:47:05,368
instead of the period.
They could've gave you Ray.
1028
00:47:05,503 --> 00:47:07,173
They couldn't even put
your whole name?"
1029
00:47:07,308 --> 00:47:09,976
Needless to say,
when I arrived for Christmas,
1030
00:47:10,112 --> 00:47:12,604
my ego was this big,
and before I left,
1031
00:47:12,740 --> 00:47:14,279
it had gotten
all the way down.
1032
00:47:14,414 --> 00:47:17,442
And that's what motivated me
to get everything going.
1033
00:47:17,577 --> 00:47:19,120
Ray had been on hit records,
1034
00:47:19,255 --> 00:47:21,985
million-sellers all over,
but it wasn't his record.
1035
00:47:22,121 --> 00:47:26,483
He had a desire to be a star.
1036
00:47:26,619 --> 00:47:28,127
He was dreaming of stardom
1037
00:47:28,262 --> 00:47:29,959
because he's always dreamed
of stardom,
1038
00:47:30,095 --> 00:47:32,394
and his dreams came true.
1039
00:47:32,530 --> 00:47:34,365
I vowed to myself,
I said, "You know what?
1040
00:47:34,501 --> 00:47:38,198
I gotta make a record
with my picture on the front
1041
00:47:38,333 --> 00:47:39,864
and my name on it,
1042
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:42,535
so my mother will know
what it is that I do."
1043
00:47:42,670 --> 00:47:45,606
[RAYDIO'S
"JACK AND JILL" PLAYING]
1044
00:47:51,714 --> 00:47:54,012
I was on a Gene Page
session with Ray,
1045
00:47:54,148 --> 00:47:58,422
and this is right after he did
the "Jack and Jill" demo.
1046
00:47:58,558 --> 00:48:01,026
I'd heard it and I go,
"That does sound like a hit.
1047
00:48:01,162 --> 00:48:03,055
I think you're gonna
pop a hit."
1048
00:48:03,190 --> 00:48:06,064
We're on the stage for Gene
Page. It was for the Osmonds.
1049
00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:08,996
And Gene's counting
the tune off:
1050
00:48:09,131 --> 00:48:11,029
"One, two."
1051
00:48:11,165 --> 00:48:16,373
Right then, I hear "Jack and
Jill" blasting in my earphones.
1052
00:48:18,377 --> 00:48:20,671
♪ Jill ♪
♪ Jill ♪
1053
00:48:20,807 --> 00:48:23,543
♪ Always away from home ♪
1054
00:48:23,679 --> 00:48:25,614
Ray had taken
his cassette machine
1055
00:48:25,749 --> 00:48:28,786
and shoved it up
to the guitar mic on his amp,
1056
00:48:28,921 --> 00:48:29,887
and it was just--
1057
00:48:30,023 --> 00:48:32,091
I mean, talk about balls.
1058
00:48:32,227 --> 00:48:33,852
"Well, I want everybody
to hear my tune."
1059
00:48:33,987 --> 00:48:36,256
I go, "Yeah, man,
how about on a break?"
1060
00:48:36,392 --> 00:48:39,191
♪ Why do you think ♪
1061
00:48:39,326 --> 00:48:44,563
♪ Jack snuck down the hill ♪
♪ He snuck down the hill ♪
1062
00:48:44,698 --> 00:48:46,865
♪ Because he needed love ♪
1063
00:48:48,375 --> 00:48:52,041
♪ Love he couldn't get
From Jill ♪
1064
00:48:52,177 --> 00:48:54,142
♪ Oh, yes, he did ♪
1065
00:48:54,278 --> 00:48:57,251
♪ Why do you think ♪
1066
00:48:57,387 --> 00:49:01,254
♪ Jack snuck down the hill ♪
♪ He snuck down ♪
1067
00:49:01,390 --> 00:49:04,915
He started talking about
some song that he had written.
1068
00:49:05,051 --> 00:49:07,590
I said, oh, God,
this guy's writing a song.
1069
00:49:07,726 --> 00:49:10,888
And then, he starts playing
this "Jack and Jill" song.
1070
00:49:11,024 --> 00:49:13,728
"Jack, Jack came down,"
and this was good.
1071
00:49:13,864 --> 00:49:17,831
I was really copying
a Holland-Dozier-Holland song.
1072
00:49:17,967 --> 00:49:20,435
I liked those songs
where he went, "Fee-fi-fo-fum,
1073
00:49:20,571 --> 00:49:22,099
I can smell the presence
of someone."
1074
00:49:22,234 --> 00:49:24,241
You know, "Somebody's been
sleeping in my bed.
1075
00:49:24,376 --> 00:49:26,437
Somebody's been
in my best booze."
1076
00:49:26,572 --> 00:49:27,946
They had one song.
1077
00:49:28,081 --> 00:49:29,347
"If you dance to the music,
1078
00:49:29,482 --> 00:49:31,149
you gotta pay to the piper.
Ask your mama."
1079
00:49:31,285 --> 00:49:34,147
♪ If you dance to the music ♪
1080
00:49:34,282 --> 00:49:38,154
♪ Don't you know you got
To pay it to the piper ♪
1081
00:49:38,289 --> 00:49:39,488
♪ Ask your mama ♪
1082
00:49:39,623 --> 00:49:41,493
I thought that was
a wonderful song.
1083
00:49:41,628 --> 00:49:43,857
So they had all kinds
of songs and lyrics like that,
1084
00:49:43,992 --> 00:49:46,330
so the music was great,
and the lyrics had to be great.
1085
00:49:46,465 --> 00:49:48,593
I figured I could
get the music good
1086
00:49:48,728 --> 00:49:50,270
because I played the guitar,
1087
00:49:50,405 --> 00:49:52,706
but I had to really work on
getting the stories
1088
00:49:52,841 --> 00:49:54,040
up to where they were.
1089
00:49:54,176 --> 00:49:59,607
Lyrically, he had laid it out
so well,
1090
00:49:59,743 --> 00:50:02,776
like it was a nursery rhyme
type of song,
1091
00:50:02,911 --> 00:50:06,183
but he made it sexy,
and he would just smile.
1092
00:50:06,318 --> 00:50:08,388
He was just playing that song.
1093
00:50:08,523 --> 00:50:11,148
And I remember thinking,
damn, this is a hit.
1094
00:50:11,283 --> 00:50:13,521
No one makes it without
the help of someone else.
1095
00:50:13,656 --> 00:50:15,955
One of my best friends,
Carole Childs,
1096
00:50:16,091 --> 00:50:20,197
she took "Jack and Jill"
away from her employer
1097
00:50:20,332 --> 00:50:21,894
and took it to Clive Davis.
1098
00:50:22,030 --> 00:50:23,627
He listened to it,
and I'll never forget,
1099
00:50:23,763 --> 00:50:25,302
he had his eyes closed.
1100
00:50:25,437 --> 00:50:27,007
Right, he was just doing
like this,
1101
00:50:27,143 --> 00:50:28,838
and I was like,
is that good or bad?
1102
00:50:28,974 --> 00:50:31,343
Because I never had a meeting
with him before. I don't know.
1103
00:50:31,478 --> 00:50:33,704
And at the end of it,
when he opened his eyes,
1104
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:36,006
he said, "Just play it again."
1105
00:50:36,142 --> 00:50:38,316
It was the songs.
It was his writing.
1106
00:50:38,452 --> 00:50:42,055
It was him
as really a superlative writer.
1107
00:50:42,190 --> 00:50:44,882
"Jack and Jill,"
incredible lyrics
1108
00:50:45,017 --> 00:50:47,055
that made it
a big hit record.
1109
00:50:47,190 --> 00:50:49,526
PARKER JR.:
More so than
just a record executive,
1110
00:50:49,661 --> 00:50:52,026
Clive Davis was a person
who sat,
1111
00:50:52,161 --> 00:50:56,226
listened to what I said,
and if that wasn't enough,
1112
00:50:56,361 --> 00:50:58,731
after all the things
I told him I wanted,
1113
00:50:58,867 --> 00:51:00,733
I told him,
I can't sign this deal
1114
00:51:00,869 --> 00:51:03,173
unless you
hire my friend Carol.
1115
00:51:03,308 --> 00:51:04,935
She threw herself under the bus
1116
00:51:05,071 --> 00:51:07,175
and got fired
to help me get here.
1117
00:51:07,311 --> 00:51:09,344
So he not only took me.
1118
00:51:09,479 --> 00:51:11,514
He also hired Carol as well,
1119
00:51:11,650 --> 00:51:14,621
which made him
unbelievably special to me.
1120
00:51:14,756 --> 00:51:16,850
♪ Jill ♪
1121
00:51:16,985 --> 00:51:19,090
My mama needed to hear
my song in Detroit.
1122
00:51:19,225 --> 00:51:22,129
Al Perkins at WJLB said,
1123
00:51:22,264 --> 00:51:24,526
"Where's your mama at?
Call her up."
1124
00:51:24,661 --> 00:51:26,257
He says, "The only song
I'm gonna play
1125
00:51:26,393 --> 00:51:29,036
between now and the next 15
minutes is gonna be your song."
1126
00:51:29,171 --> 00:51:30,701
He played it four times
in a row,
1127
00:51:30,836 --> 00:51:33,740
so my mama could hear
my song on the radio.
1128
00:51:33,875 --> 00:51:35,275
We was good then.
1129
00:51:36,740 --> 00:51:38,575
Ray Parker Jr.,
nice to see you.
1130
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:41,910
[AUDIENCE CLAPS, CHEERS]
1131
00:51:42,046 --> 00:51:45,945
FM, AM. It's got a highly
geared-- Look at what you got--
1132
00:51:46,080 --> 00:51:48,121
I didn't notice that.
It has the radio dial here.
1133
00:51:48,256 --> 00:51:51,082
DAVIS:
Raydio was his creation.
1134
00:51:51,218 --> 00:51:53,756
It was the writing
of Ray Parker Jr.
1135
00:51:53,891 --> 00:51:56,722
"Two Places at the Same Time,"
"The Other Woman,"
1136
00:51:56,857 --> 00:51:58,658
I mean,
"You Can't Change That."
1137
00:51:58,793 --> 00:52:02,401
[PLAYING
"YOU CAN'T CHANGE THAT"]
1138
00:52:16,577 --> 00:52:21,585
♪ Honey, I'll always love you
I promise to always love you ♪
1139
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:23,752
♪ 'Cause I think
The whole world of you ♪
1140
00:52:23,887 --> 00:52:27,019
♪ And you can't change that
No, no ♪
1141
00:52:27,154 --> 00:52:29,461
♪ There's nothing
You can do or say ♪
1142
00:52:29,596 --> 00:52:31,958
♪ I thought about this
For many a day ♪
1143
00:52:32,094 --> 00:52:34,661
♪ And my mind's made up
To feel this way ♪
1144
00:52:34,797 --> 00:52:36,600
♪ And you can't change that ♪
1145
00:52:36,735 --> 00:52:39,930
♪ 'Cause you're the only one
I love ♪
1146
00:52:40,066 --> 00:52:41,605
♪ And you can't change that ♪
1147
00:52:43,069 --> 00:52:45,111
♪ You're the only one I need ♪
1148
00:52:45,247 --> 00:52:47,142
♪ And you can't change that ♪
1149
00:52:47,277 --> 00:52:50,677
♪ You're the one I love ♪
♪ You're the only one I love ♪
1150
00:52:50,813 --> 00:52:52,352
♪ And you can't change that ♪
1151
00:52:54,317 --> 00:52:57,489
♪ You're the only one I need
And you can't change that ♪
1152
00:53:01,254 --> 00:53:04,661
From his thinking
of the group mentality
1153
00:53:04,796 --> 00:53:08,831
to the emergence
as an artist in his own right,
1154
00:53:08,966 --> 00:53:15,399
there I felt very strongly
that it was really Ray.
1155
00:53:15,535 --> 00:53:18,979
We had to do it in stages
because he was somewhat shy.
1156
00:53:19,114 --> 00:53:20,511
He was really a session,
1157
00:53:20,647 --> 00:53:23,481
wonderfully virtuoso
guitar player.
1158
00:53:23,616 --> 00:53:26,648
And it took some doing
to get him
1159
00:53:26,784 --> 00:53:29,152
to be in front
of the microphone,
1160
00:53:29,288 --> 00:53:30,987
to feel comfortable.
1161
00:53:31,122 --> 00:53:37,662
So it was Raydio. Then, it was
Raydio featuring Ray Parker Jr.
1162
00:53:37,797 --> 00:53:42,035
And finally we got it
to Ray Parker Jr.
1163
00:53:42,170 --> 00:53:44,438
I never met any of his band.
1164
00:53:44,573 --> 00:53:47,705
I never met
any other member. I mean...
1165
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,570
So I never had to deal
with any individual.
1166
00:53:50,705 --> 00:53:52,271
I mean, in effect,
1167
00:53:52,407 --> 00:53:56,543
he was really a solo artist
from the beginning
1168
00:53:56,679 --> 00:53:59,076
that adopted a group name
1169
00:53:59,212 --> 00:54:03,056
because he was too shy
and reticent
1170
00:54:03,192 --> 00:54:05,350
to put his own name out there.
1171
00:54:05,486 --> 00:54:10,463
But to me, I only met with him,
only dealt with him,
1172
00:54:10,598 --> 00:54:14,796
never met anybody else
within the group.
1173
00:54:14,932 --> 00:54:19,033
So it was always
Ray Parker Jr. to me.
1174
00:54:19,168 --> 00:54:21,606
[RAY PARKER JR.'S
"A WOMAN NEEDS LOVE" PLAYING]
1175
00:54:26,681 --> 00:54:30,582
♪ A woman needs a love
Just like you do ♪
1176
00:54:32,447 --> 00:54:36,919
♪ Don't kid yourself
Into thinking that she don't ♪
1177
00:54:37,054 --> 00:54:42,224
♪ She can fool around
Just like you do ♪
1178
00:54:42,359 --> 00:54:45,091
PARKER JR.:
Several things
about "A Woman Needs Love"
1179
00:54:45,226 --> 00:54:47,759
are unique to anything
that I've ever done.
1180
00:54:47,895 --> 00:54:49,500
One, that's the first song
1181
00:54:49,636 --> 00:54:51,903
I sang by myself
all the way through.
1182
00:54:52,039 --> 00:54:54,506
I wrote it for Arnell to sing,
but I put it in the wrong key,
1183
00:54:54,641 --> 00:54:56,101
and I had perfected
the instruments,
1184
00:54:56,236 --> 00:54:57,676
and I was grooving,
it sounded good.
1185
00:54:57,811 --> 00:55:00,271
I forgot to check it
and see if he could sing it.
1186
00:55:00,406 --> 00:55:02,106
And then,
I'm gonna give Arnell credit,
1187
00:55:02,242 --> 00:55:03,681
because he was the one
who said,
1188
00:55:03,817 --> 00:55:05,813
"Man, you've been working
on this thing forever.
1189
00:55:05,949 --> 00:55:07,948
Your voice sounds good.
It sounds good.
1190
00:55:08,084 --> 00:55:10,250
Play it for Clive
and see what he thinks."
1191
00:55:10,386 --> 00:55:15,158
♪ Because a woman needs love
Just like you do ♪
1192
00:55:15,293 --> 00:55:21,260
♪ Hey, don't kid yourself
Into thinking that she don't ♪
1193
00:55:21,395 --> 00:55:25,636
♪ She can fool around
Just like you do ♪
1194
00:55:25,772 --> 00:55:27,505
When Clive heard
"A Woman Needs Love,"
1195
00:55:27,641 --> 00:55:29,338
he said, "Instant smash.
That's it."
1196
00:55:29,474 --> 00:55:31,643
The message was strong.
1197
00:55:31,778 --> 00:55:33,678
The girls loved the message
at the time.
1198
00:55:33,813 --> 00:55:36,215
Women's situation
was very interesting,
1199
00:55:36,351 --> 00:55:39,019
especially at radio stations,
1200
00:55:39,154 --> 00:55:40,487
because in those days,
1201
00:55:40,622 --> 00:55:42,349
you always had to pay
a promotion man
1202
00:55:42,485 --> 00:55:44,955
to go bang the doors down,
get on the radio station.
1203
00:55:45,091 --> 00:55:47,961
But this record didn't require
a lot of promotion.
1204
00:55:48,096 --> 00:55:51,324
In fact, girls were buying me
gifts. I got a TV from a girl.
1205
00:55:51,460 --> 00:55:54,491
And the program director,
who's usually a guy,
1206
00:55:54,627 --> 00:55:56,369
would go, "I don't know
if I'm playing that."
1207
00:55:56,505 --> 00:55:58,200
The girl that answers
at the desk
1208
00:55:58,336 --> 00:56:01,339
will say, "How come you're not
playing 'A Woman Needs Love'?"
1209
00:56:01,474 --> 00:56:02,706
So they'd make them play it,
1210
00:56:02,842 --> 00:56:05,370
so it was
a really interesting record.
1211
00:56:05,505 --> 00:56:07,514
I'll never forget
the promotion man telling me:
1212
00:56:07,649 --> 00:56:09,181
"This is the easiest record
I ever wrote.
1213
00:56:09,316 --> 00:56:10,548
They have to play it.
1214
00:56:10,683 --> 00:56:12,751
Otherwise
they're against women."
1215
00:56:12,886 --> 00:56:16,150
♪ And if you're smart ♪
♪ Just like you ♪
1216
00:56:16,285 --> 00:56:19,955
♪ You better stop fooling around
Hey, hey ♪
1217
00:56:21,186 --> 00:56:22,491
♪ 'Cause she will too ♪
1218
00:56:22,626 --> 00:56:25,094
♪ Just like you do ♪
1219
00:56:25,229 --> 00:56:29,999
You know, my mother and father
used to dance to that
1220
00:56:30,134 --> 00:56:33,334
inside the house, you know,
during, like, Christmastime.
1221
00:56:33,470 --> 00:56:34,538
Yeah, right.
1222
00:56:34,673 --> 00:56:36,433
You know, they'd pull that out,
1223
00:56:36,569 --> 00:56:38,739
or Friday night
when they're playing cards,
1224
00:56:38,874 --> 00:56:40,710
and they turn on the music.
1225
00:56:40,845 --> 00:56:43,276
Why did you decide
all of a sudden
1226
00:56:43,412 --> 00:56:46,217
instead of, you know,
blending in with everybody else
1227
00:56:46,352 --> 00:56:47,586
to do your own thing?
1228
00:56:47,722 --> 00:56:49,455
I've been making hits
for a long time,
1229
00:56:49,591 --> 00:56:50,914
but I decided
I'd make my own record.
1230
00:56:51,050 --> 00:56:52,549
To me, you could've been
1231
00:56:52,684 --> 00:56:55,219
Ray Parker Jr.
from the beginning.
Exactly.
1232
00:56:55,355 --> 00:57:00,767
But it took, really,
a passage of time
1233
00:57:00,903 --> 00:57:05,798
before you even agreed to say,
"featuring Ray Parker Jr.,"
1234
00:57:05,934 --> 00:57:08,573
and then, to the solo aspect.
1235
00:57:08,708 --> 00:57:11,712
It was always just Ray
and myself.
1236
00:57:11,847 --> 00:57:17,081
In this room was something
comparable at this very hotel.
1237
00:57:17,216 --> 00:57:20,945
Unbelievable experience, so--
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
1238
00:57:21,081 --> 00:57:22,380
I thought his voice was--
1239
00:57:22,515 --> 00:57:24,823
This is gonna be weird,
but his voice was sexy.
1240
00:57:24,959 --> 00:57:27,826
He has a soft singing voice.
He's not Marvin Gaye.
1241
00:57:27,961 --> 00:57:31,229
He's not James Ingram.
He's not, you know, Bruno Mars.
1242
00:57:31,365 --> 00:57:32,998
But it worked, you know?
1243
00:57:33,133 --> 00:57:37,470
And he managed to manufacture
and tailor those songs perfectly
1244
00:57:37,606 --> 00:57:39,737
for his voice
and his voice alone,
1245
00:57:39,872 --> 00:57:42,103
and that in itself
is a lot of magic.
1246
00:57:42,238 --> 00:57:45,339
You know, he just knew
who he was writing for.
1247
00:57:45,475 --> 00:57:48,639
He was writing for Ray Parker
Jr., and he got it right.
1248
00:57:48,775 --> 00:57:51,717
[RAY PARKER JR. & RAYDIO'S
"TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT" PLAYING]
1249
00:57:54,922 --> 00:57:58,656
Sex symbol status.
Well, was that good or bad?
1250
00:57:58,792 --> 00:58:00,417
[CHUCKLES]
You know, it's funny.
1251
00:58:00,553 --> 00:58:03,092
I think I was a tall guy
holding a guitar.
1252
00:58:03,228 --> 00:58:05,191
And after about the second
or third album,
1253
00:58:05,326 --> 00:58:07,299
you know,
girls really got into me.
1254
00:58:07,435 --> 00:58:08,633
Well, now, wait a minute.
1255
00:58:08,769 --> 00:58:10,601
I wasn't that handsome
three years ago.
1256
00:58:10,736 --> 00:58:12,167
And I looked in the mirror.
1257
00:58:12,302 --> 00:58:13,840
It's the same guy
in the mirror, right?
1258
00:58:13,975 --> 00:58:15,774
But I'm gonna go with it,
what you guys say.
1259
00:58:15,910 --> 00:58:17,433
See, don't forget,
there's a couple of things
1260
00:58:17,569 --> 00:58:19,543
that you have to add
to this, okay?
1261
00:58:19,678 --> 00:58:21,442
You have to add star power.
1262
00:58:21,578 --> 00:58:24,045
No matter how minor or how
early you are in the game,
1263
00:58:24,181 --> 00:58:27,050
any kind of a celebrity
is a plus,
1264
00:58:27,185 --> 00:58:30,614
obviously, where ladies
are concerned, okay?
1265
00:58:30,749 --> 00:58:33,622
It would work for you
if you were short and fat
1266
00:58:33,758 --> 00:58:35,057
with one eye in your head.
1267
00:58:35,192 --> 00:58:38,164
INTERVIEWER:
Ray being the sex symbol...
1268
00:58:38,300 --> 00:58:39,789
You want me to say that?
1269
00:58:39,925 --> 00:58:41,900
[LAUGHS]
1270
00:58:42,035 --> 00:58:45,237
Ray thinking he was
a sex symbol that he is--
1271
00:58:45,373 --> 00:58:47,003
that he was--no, is.
1272
00:58:49,774 --> 00:58:51,172
I'm sorry. This is hard.
1273
00:58:53,509 --> 00:58:57,814
My dad being a sex symbol.
Well, I do not see that.
1274
00:58:57,950 --> 00:59:00,149
[CHUCKLES]
I can't see that.
1275
00:59:00,284 --> 00:59:03,349
Yeah, it cracked me up,
all the little magazines.
1276
00:59:03,485 --> 00:59:05,351
I used to look
when I searched his name,
1277
00:59:05,486 --> 00:59:08,322
I was like,
wow, this is funny.
1278
00:59:08,458 --> 00:59:13,060
But I mean, like, thinking
about his personality today,
1279
00:59:13,196 --> 00:59:16,000
it's like you cannot
imagine that like--
1280
00:59:16,136 --> 00:59:20,332
He's too, like, goofy
and, like, just funny of a guy.
1281
00:59:20,468 --> 00:59:22,498
It's hard to imagine,
hard to picture.
1282
00:59:22,634 --> 00:59:24,840
I mean,
I've seen some of the photos.
1283
00:59:24,975 --> 00:59:28,045
And... It's best I show you.
1284
00:59:28,180 --> 00:59:31,214
I just so happen to have
some stuff right here on me.
1285
00:59:31,350 --> 00:59:34,013
One thing I liked about this
photo is that pinky ring,
1286
00:59:34,149 --> 00:59:37,021
which I wish I could inherit.
1287
00:59:37,156 --> 00:59:39,524
Little pimp ring,
I guess this tells you what--
1288
00:59:39,659 --> 00:59:41,860
Look at the gold watch as well.
1289
00:59:41,995 --> 00:59:44,054
Some of these photos
crack me up, but, yeah,
1290
00:59:44,190 --> 00:59:46,229
this is your sex symbol.
1291
00:59:46,365 --> 00:59:49,030
And then, you can't forget this
one. This one I get though.
1292
00:59:49,166 --> 00:59:50,698
You wanna talk about
sex symbol,
1293
00:59:50,834 --> 00:59:52,205
you gotta have this one.
1294
00:59:52,341 --> 00:59:53,969
Have you guys ever seen,
1295
00:59:54,105 --> 00:59:56,701
wait for it,
the Black Willy Wonka?
1296
00:59:56,837 --> 00:59:58,274
[LAUGHS]
1297
00:59:58,409 --> 01:00:00,871
I'm my dad's son, you know,
so if he's a sex symbol,
1298
01:00:01,006 --> 01:00:05,651
I might have one or two genes
pulled from that gene pool.
1299
01:00:05,787 --> 01:00:08,546
Okay, I still see him
in my back mind
1300
01:00:08,682 --> 01:00:11,921
as the sex symbol
that I fell in love with.
1301
01:00:12,056 --> 01:00:13,458
To me,
I had lived a perfect life.
1302
01:00:13,594 --> 01:00:14,993
Everything had gone great.
1303
01:00:15,128 --> 01:00:16,963
My music was going great.
My health was great.
1304
01:00:17,099 --> 01:00:19,991
Everything was wonderful,
except when my parents got sick.
1305
01:00:20,127 --> 01:00:21,334
[♪♪♪♪♪]
1306
01:00:21,469 --> 01:00:22,968
My parents, to me,
1307
01:00:23,103 --> 01:00:24,729
were the most important things
in my life.
1308
01:00:24,865 --> 01:00:26,840
Somebody said to me--
I think it was a manager.
1309
01:00:26,975 --> 01:00:29,270
"Why don't you go spend
a weekend with your parents?
1310
01:00:29,406 --> 01:00:31,438
And come back
and let's finish this record."
1311
01:00:31,573 --> 01:00:33,879
It's like, no, that's not
what I'm talking about.
1312
01:00:36,149 --> 01:00:38,616
It was the first time
in my entire life
1313
01:00:38,752 --> 01:00:40,278
that I was at a standstill
1314
01:00:40,413 --> 01:00:42,085
with no answer of what to do.
1315
01:00:43,783 --> 01:00:45,816
I had signed a new deal
with Geffen Records,
1316
01:00:45,951 --> 01:00:48,593
and I was paying a penalty
for every day I was late.
1317
01:00:48,728 --> 01:00:51,193
I think I was 400 days late,
1318
01:00:51,328 --> 01:00:53,927
paying, like, several hundred
dollars a day,
1319
01:00:54,063 --> 01:00:55,329
and I had to get my lawyer
1320
01:00:55,464 --> 01:00:56,803
to actually go back
and make a new deal,
1321
01:00:56,938 --> 01:00:59,971
because I was that penetrated
and upset
1322
01:01:00,106 --> 01:01:03,669
with what was going on
with my parents.
1323
01:01:03,805 --> 01:01:05,779
And I really couldn't think
of any new songs,
1324
01:01:05,914 --> 01:01:07,946
and I couldn't think
of anything.
1325
01:01:08,081 --> 01:01:09,641
I definitely
couldn't go on tour
1326
01:01:09,776 --> 01:01:11,875
because I had really
moved back to Detroit,
1327
01:01:12,010 --> 01:01:15,147
and I wanted to take care
of my mom and dad.
1328
01:01:15,282 --> 01:01:16,681
I didn't play any music.
1329
01:01:16,816 --> 01:01:19,254
I didn't do anything
for several years.
1330
01:01:21,690 --> 01:01:23,656
And I heard about it first
with my father.
1331
01:01:23,791 --> 01:01:27,297
He caught cancer, like
a bladder cancer or something.
1332
01:01:27,433 --> 01:01:30,660
It was like we were newly dating
in the first year or two,
1333
01:01:30,796 --> 01:01:33,369
when his father was going
through cancer.
1334
01:01:33,505 --> 01:01:36,834
I didn't even notice that my mom
was developing Alzheimer's
1335
01:01:36,970 --> 01:01:39,903
because I was paying
so much attention to my dad.
1336
01:01:40,038 --> 01:01:42,543
And they both was
happening simultaneously,
1337
01:01:42,679 --> 01:01:45,951
and it was just really,
really devastating to me.
1338
01:02:35,030 --> 01:02:37,933
It really breaks my heart that
they let Detroit go like this.
1339
01:02:38,069 --> 01:02:40,369
I mean, this is my start,
1340
01:02:40,504 --> 01:02:43,433
Holland-Dozier-Holland,
Motown, car industries,
1341
01:02:43,568 --> 01:02:45,144
I mean, just everything.
1342
01:02:45,280 --> 01:02:49,741
Smokey Robinson, you know,
Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder.
1343
01:02:49,876 --> 01:02:52,114
And this is just a positive,
motivating force.
1344
01:02:52,250 --> 01:02:53,953
Somebody should
really do something.
1345
01:02:57,391 --> 01:02:59,991
I just dream that everybody
should come visit Detroit,
1346
01:03:00,127 --> 01:03:01,895
and that this place
gets back on track
1347
01:03:02,030 --> 01:03:03,864
and becomes
the wonderful place that it is.
1348
01:03:12,798 --> 01:03:14,798
I got unbelievably
great memories
1349
01:03:14,933 --> 01:03:17,000
of this place right here
standing in back of me.
1350
01:03:17,136 --> 01:03:20,278
It actually breaks my heart that
they let the house run down.
1351
01:03:20,413 --> 01:03:22,681
I wish there was some way
I could buy it and fix it
1352
01:03:22,816 --> 01:03:24,180
and make it like a summer home.
1353
01:03:24,316 --> 01:03:26,313
I mean, this neighborhood,
all the parents,
1354
01:03:26,449 --> 01:03:27,851
everybody looked out
for the kids.
1355
01:03:27,987 --> 01:03:29,318
It was just a positive thing.
1356
01:03:29,453 --> 01:03:30,980
Musicians everywhere
in the neighborhood.
1357
01:03:31,115 --> 01:03:33,193
At least four or five.
Nathan lived down the street.
1358
01:03:33,328 --> 01:03:36,018
Ollie lived upstairs over me.
Lynwood lived around the block.
1359
01:03:36,154 --> 01:03:38,098
And it was just a great place
to grow up.
1360
01:03:38,233 --> 01:03:41,029
The opportunities were
wonderful here in Detroit.
1361
01:03:41,164 --> 01:03:42,795
The musicians in Detroit
1362
01:03:42,930 --> 01:03:44,765
are probably just
some of the best in the world.
1363
01:03:44,900 --> 01:03:47,797
Motown broke barriers
because they were the first
1364
01:03:47,933 --> 01:03:51,508
to get on Top 40,
on the pop charts, CKLW.
1365
01:03:51,643 --> 01:03:54,972
Rosalie Trombley was greatly
responsible for that, I hear.
1366
01:03:55,108 --> 01:03:57,342
And Motown changed the face
of America as we knew it.
1367
01:03:57,478 --> 01:03:59,175
It went from race records,
1368
01:03:59,311 --> 01:04:01,544
or what they were called,
Black music, to all music.
1369
01:04:01,679 --> 01:04:03,381
Motown united the world.
1370
01:04:03,516 --> 01:04:04,857
I'm proud to be a Detroiter.
1371
01:04:04,992 --> 01:04:07,024
I'm proud to be
part of the dream.
1372
01:04:07,160 --> 01:04:10,390
I was brought up
not to hate any culture.
1373
01:04:10,526 --> 01:04:13,063
I wasn't brainwashed
by my parents.
1374
01:04:13,199 --> 01:04:16,627
But the inside
of the United States,
1375
01:04:16,763 --> 01:04:19,801
people are brought up
to be racists.
1376
01:04:19,937 --> 01:04:21,733
It's not cool.
1377
01:04:21,869 --> 01:04:24,643
And it's obviously
still happening in spots,
1378
01:04:24,779 --> 01:04:27,141
and it just makes me sick.
1379
01:04:27,277 --> 01:04:29,345
First you bring us over here.
1380
01:04:30,785 --> 01:04:33,345
You make us build this country.
1381
01:04:33,480 --> 01:04:36,550
Then, you wanna beat us to death
1382
01:04:36,685 --> 01:04:40,016
because we just
wanna be citizens.
1383
01:04:40,152 --> 01:04:44,395
We wanna be a part
of what this country is.
1384
01:04:44,531 --> 01:04:48,668
If it's for freedom
and justice and equality,
1385
01:04:48,803 --> 01:04:50,427
then, give us that also.
1386
01:04:50,563 --> 01:04:52,831
It's probably harder now.
1387
01:04:52,966 --> 01:04:55,534
We have to bite our tongues
a lot more because,
1388
01:04:55,669 --> 01:04:58,106
you know,
they will kill you.
1389
01:04:58,242 --> 01:04:59,672
They will literally kill you.
1390
01:05:00,405 --> 01:05:02,840
[GUNSHOTS]
1391
01:05:07,247 --> 01:05:10,113
[CLAMORING]
1392
01:05:10,249 --> 01:05:12,389
I'm not gonna say
there's more racial tension
1393
01:05:12,525 --> 01:05:15,419
in the world today, but we're
on the crest of a riot.
1394
01:05:15,554 --> 01:05:16,854
[PROTESTORS CHANTING]
1395
01:05:16,990 --> 01:05:19,128
I'm really disappointed
in the politics,
1396
01:05:19,263 --> 01:05:21,027
what's going on in America,
1397
01:05:21,162 --> 01:05:23,867
and the country is divided
in a way that it hasn't been
1398
01:05:24,002 --> 01:05:26,402
since the '60s really.
1399
01:05:26,537 --> 01:05:28,273
And I don't know
how they're gonna fix it.
1400
01:05:28,408 --> 01:05:31,777
I can definitely say
that Ray had a hard upbringing.
1401
01:05:31,912 --> 01:05:34,411
As to what happened to him,
1402
01:05:34,546 --> 01:05:38,808
him being beaten by some
obviously ignorant police
1403
01:05:38,943 --> 01:05:45,815
who were using race
and their fear
1404
01:05:45,950 --> 01:05:51,898
and their dislike
against someone
1405
01:05:52,034 --> 01:05:57,763
that God had a greater plan for
is sad.
1406
01:05:57,898 --> 01:06:02,272
And I'm sure that life
has beaten them up.
1407
01:06:02,408 --> 01:06:05,340
I just think there's been
a lot of racism
1408
01:06:05,476 --> 01:06:08,511
that's been hidden
under the rug,
1409
01:06:08,646 --> 01:06:13,777
but certain situations of today
are exposing them.
1410
01:06:13,913 --> 01:06:16,117
Well, you can
turn negative situations
1411
01:06:16,253 --> 01:06:18,320
into positive situations.
1412
01:06:18,456 --> 01:06:20,650
How can I create value
out of that?
1413
01:06:20,785 --> 01:06:22,786
The best thing about music,
1414
01:06:22,921 --> 01:06:25,164
it is the international
language.
1415
01:06:25,300 --> 01:06:27,296
It is, in my opinion,
what saves the world,
1416
01:06:27,432 --> 01:06:29,197
and this is what's gonna
change the world
1417
01:06:29,333 --> 01:06:31,467
because people of all cultures
1418
01:06:31,603 --> 01:06:34,266
listen to a certain groove
or certain music,
1419
01:06:34,401 --> 01:06:35,669
and they love it,
1420
01:06:35,804 --> 01:06:37,540
and that's what I think
brings people together.
1421
01:06:37,675 --> 01:06:40,478
There's no words to hurt
anybody. There's no arguing.
1422
01:06:40,614 --> 01:06:43,139
They just listen to the music
and have a wonderful time.
1423
01:06:43,274 --> 01:06:49,483
As to what he was able
to do in his life through that,
1424
01:06:49,619 --> 01:06:52,686
he was able to achieve
a blessing
1425
01:06:54,329 --> 01:07:00,199
of working on his music
and discovering his gift.
1426
01:07:01,528 --> 01:07:06,399
So in the end, he wins.
1427
01:07:06,534 --> 01:07:08,438
Those who were haters lost.
1428
01:07:13,207 --> 01:07:15,313
PARKER JR.:
I thought my career
was at a halt.
1429
01:07:15,449 --> 01:07:18,174
I thought things had
come to a stop.
1430
01:07:18,309 --> 01:07:21,913
A year later, I got a phone call
from Jheryl Busby at MCA
1431
01:07:22,048 --> 01:07:24,015
to come see this group
called New Edition.
1432
01:07:24,151 --> 01:07:27,089
♪ Cool it now ♪
♪ You got to cool it now ♪
1433
01:07:27,225 --> 01:07:28,854
♪ Oh, watch out ♪
1434
01:07:28,989 --> 01:07:32,431
He says, "Yeah, man,
you gotta do this song."
1435
01:07:32,566 --> 01:07:35,093
I'm like, "Oh, I really don't
feel like writing a new song."
1436
01:07:35,229 --> 01:07:37,270
I'm so depressed because
my mom and dad was sick.
1437
01:07:37,405 --> 01:07:39,068
BROWN: Yeah.
PARKER JR.: He says, "You don't
1438
01:07:39,203 --> 01:07:40,668
have to write no song.
1439
01:07:40,804 --> 01:07:42,237
They wanna cut
one of your older songs."
1440
01:07:42,372 --> 01:07:44,837
♪ Mr. Telephone Man ♪
1441
01:07:44,972 --> 01:07:47,404
♪ There's something wrong
With my line ♪
1442
01:07:47,539 --> 01:07:53,077
♪ When I dial my baby's number
I get a click every time ♪
1443
01:07:53,212 --> 01:07:54,883
PARKER JR.:
That was "Mr. Telephone Man,"
1444
01:07:55,018 --> 01:07:57,586
which I wrote at the same time
I wrote "Jack and Jill,"
1445
01:07:57,721 --> 01:08:00,356
which led, by the way,
to me going to L.A.
1446
01:08:00,491 --> 01:08:02,085
for the first time
in a long time.
1447
01:08:04,399 --> 01:08:06,863
I was in Los Angeles
doing the New Edition.
1448
01:08:06,998 --> 01:08:10,300
I'm having lunch at Spago's,
and I look up to my left,
1449
01:08:10,436 --> 01:08:12,635
and there's a poster,
a black poster.
1450
01:08:12,771 --> 01:08:14,438
And I every time
I go to Spago's for lunch
1451
01:08:14,573 --> 01:08:16,066
they're painting
something else on.
1452
01:08:16,201 --> 01:08:18,144
I'm like, what the heck
is this black poster?
1453
01:08:18,279 --> 01:08:19,740
There's nothing on it
except black.
1454
01:08:19,875 --> 01:08:22,139
Next thing I know,
they put a red circle,
1455
01:08:22,274 --> 01:08:24,449
and I couldn't
figure out what's going on.
1456
01:08:24,584 --> 01:08:27,319
My telephone rings,
and it's Gary LeMel,
1457
01:08:27,454 --> 01:08:29,146
and he said,
"I got this one film
1458
01:08:29,281 --> 01:08:31,455
that we really need a song for.
We're out of time,
1459
01:08:31,591 --> 01:08:33,321
it's gotta happen
like really, really fast.
1460
01:08:33,457 --> 01:08:34,992
It's called Ghostbusters."
1461
01:08:35,128 --> 01:08:36,991
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1462
01:08:37,127 --> 01:08:41,599
♪ If there's something strange
In your neighborhood ♪
1463
01:08:41,735 --> 01:08:44,334
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1464
01:08:44,470 --> 01:08:46,832
The movie was coming out
June 8th or 9th,
1465
01:08:46,968 --> 01:08:50,642
and so this is like
April, maybe May.
1466
01:08:50,777 --> 01:08:53,809
I kept getting original songs,
and none of them seemed to work,
1467
01:08:53,945 --> 01:08:56,581
and I think I must have listened
to at least 100 pop songs,
1468
01:08:56,717 --> 01:08:58,850
just trying to get some kind
of template to cut to.
1469
01:08:58,985 --> 01:09:01,417
PARKER JR.:
I go to the film lot,
look at the movie.
1470
01:09:01,553 --> 01:09:03,356
I sit with the director,
Ivan Reitman,
1471
01:09:03,491 --> 01:09:05,852
and he doesn't really know
who I am or anything,
1472
01:09:05,988 --> 01:09:07,821
and he's describing to me
what he wants,
1473
01:09:07,957 --> 01:09:09,590
and I'm thinking,
oh, I can do this.
1474
01:09:09,726 --> 01:09:12,590
I remember showing Ray
the movie,
1475
01:09:12,726 --> 01:09:14,631
or at least that sequence,
1476
01:09:14,766 --> 01:09:17,295
and he was very confident,
that's what I remember.
1477
01:09:17,430 --> 01:09:20,373
He said, "I think I got it,
and it's gonna be no problem."
1478
01:09:20,508 --> 01:09:23,872
I just had some good ideas
with the intro and the:
1479
01:09:24,007 --> 01:09:26,508
I mean, I just came up
with that really, really fast.
1480
01:09:26,643 --> 01:09:28,306
And then,
we get to the hard part.
1481
01:09:28,441 --> 01:09:32,113
He says, "But I want the word
'Ghostbusters' in the song."
1482
01:09:32,249 --> 01:09:33,450
And I went...
1483
01:09:33,585 --> 01:09:36,950
♪ Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters ♪
1484
01:09:37,085 --> 01:09:38,790
And I just thought,
That's impossible to sing.
1485
01:09:38,926 --> 01:09:40,282
It's not hard.
1486
01:09:40,418 --> 01:09:42,359
That's a stupid word to--
You can't sing it.
1487
01:09:42,495 --> 01:09:46,659
I had zero,
absolutely zero idea
1488
01:09:46,794 --> 01:09:48,158
how the melody and the lyrics
1489
01:09:48,293 --> 01:09:50,060
and everything
was gonna come together.
1490
01:09:50,196 --> 01:09:53,137
And late at night,
before it was done,
1491
01:09:53,272 --> 01:09:55,231
I saw like some Roto-Rooter
1492
01:09:55,367 --> 01:09:57,338
or bug commercials
or something on TV
1493
01:09:57,474 --> 01:09:58,873
where they have those guns
1494
01:09:59,008 --> 01:10:00,906
that they bring out
and spray everything with.
1495
01:10:01,042 --> 01:10:02,739
And the phone number
was underneath it.
1496
01:10:02,875 --> 01:10:04,373
I remembered in the film,
1497
01:10:04,509 --> 01:10:07,647
the four Ghostbusters
with the phone number...
1498
01:10:07,782 --> 01:10:09,921
...to call if you needed help.
1499
01:10:10,057 --> 01:10:11,422
And I went, wow.
1500
01:10:11,558 --> 01:10:14,158
The thing is to call
the Ghostbusters,
1501
01:10:14,293 --> 01:10:16,028
right, not sing their song.
1502
01:10:16,163 --> 01:10:17,727
And I said, this is the secret.
1503
01:10:17,862 --> 01:10:20,530
I can never say the word
"Ghostbusters" in the music.
1504
01:10:20,665 --> 01:10:22,767
So it's a call-and-answer
response song.
1505
01:10:22,902 --> 01:10:25,998
I still don't have any words on,
right, but I got the concept.
1506
01:10:26,133 --> 01:10:28,937
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters. Got that.
1507
01:10:29,072 --> 01:10:32,106
But now the messenger's coming
at 9:00 and it's 8:30.
1508
01:10:32,241 --> 01:10:35,773
Well, this is the exact spot
and location I was sitting at
1509
01:10:35,908 --> 01:10:37,212
when I wrote "Ghostbusters."
1510
01:10:37,347 --> 01:10:38,448
I had the mailman,
1511
01:10:38,583 --> 01:10:40,948
the messenger guy
sitting outside,
1512
01:10:41,083 --> 01:10:43,215
ready to come in.
I would not let him come in.
1513
01:10:43,351 --> 01:10:46,050
I locked the door, because
if I didn't have any words,
1514
01:10:46,185 --> 01:10:47,752
they weren't gonna pay me
my money.
1515
01:10:47,887 --> 01:10:49,184
So I actually wrote the song
1516
01:10:49,320 --> 01:10:50,857
sitting here
with no headphones on
1517
01:10:50,993 --> 01:10:53,289
and sang the master vocal
that we kept
1518
01:10:53,424 --> 01:10:55,899
that's on the record now
through those speakers.
1519
01:10:56,035 --> 01:11:00,104
♪ If there's something strange
In your neighborhood ♪
1520
01:11:00,240 --> 01:11:01,372
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
1521
01:11:01,508 --> 01:11:02,975
And I just sang it
just like this
1522
01:11:03,110 --> 01:11:04,075
sitting on the floor.
1523
01:11:04,210 --> 01:11:05,076
Put it on a cassette,
1524
01:11:05,212 --> 01:11:06,243
hand it to the messenger,
1525
01:11:06,378 --> 01:11:07,743
then, I go home and go to sleep
1526
01:11:07,879 --> 01:11:09,647
because I hadn't slept
in two and half days.
1527
01:11:09,783 --> 01:11:12,041
And I get a phone call
from the director, Ivan Reitman,
1528
01:11:12,176 --> 01:11:13,718
in the middle of the night.
1529
01:11:13,853 --> 01:11:16,216
And he says, "Man,
I really like this song."
1530
01:11:16,352 --> 01:11:18,047
REITMAN:
He sent me the song--
I don't remember.
1531
01:11:18,182 --> 01:11:19,491
--about 3:00 in the morning.
1532
01:11:19,626 --> 01:11:21,320
It was quick,
that's what I remember,
1533
01:11:21,455 --> 01:11:24,259
and I remember putting it on,
and I just started smiling.
1534
01:11:24,395 --> 01:11:25,628
He killed it, for sure.
1535
01:11:25,764 --> 01:11:27,827
It's interesting,
he's from Montreal,
1536
01:11:27,963 --> 01:11:29,499
maybe a more proper
environment.
1537
01:11:29,635 --> 01:11:31,765
He kept saying,
"What are you saying?"
1538
01:11:31,901 --> 01:11:34,738
He says, "I'm not afraid
of any ghosts."
1539
01:11:34,873 --> 01:11:37,501
I said, no, I'm saying,
"I ain't 'fraid no ghosts."
1540
01:11:37,636 --> 01:11:40,343
He says, "You ain't afraid of
no ghosts?" No, no, not "of no."
1541
01:11:40,478 --> 01:11:42,279
"I ain't 'fraid no ghosts."
1542
01:11:42,415 --> 01:11:44,417
There is no one on the planet
1543
01:11:44,552 --> 01:11:47,110
more afraid of ghosts
and spooks than me.
1544
01:11:47,246 --> 01:11:49,682
Ray, like ever since
I've known him,
1545
01:11:49,818 --> 01:11:52,491
he will not sleep in the dark.
1546
01:11:52,626 --> 01:11:55,757
We have to have
the curtains open, wide open.
1547
01:11:55,892 --> 01:11:57,696
There has to be some kind
of nightlight.
1548
01:11:57,832 --> 01:12:00,765
When I was born, my mother says
she kept a nightlight on,
1549
01:12:00,901 --> 01:12:02,859
and so I have to have a light
on no matter where I go.
1550
01:12:02,995 --> 01:12:04,504
I'm never in a dark room.
1551
01:12:04,639 --> 01:12:06,606
I'll swallow my own tongue.
I'll have convulsions.
1552
01:12:06,741 --> 01:12:09,701
I seriously think I would jump
out of a 50-story building
1553
01:12:09,837 --> 01:12:11,110
just to get out the dark.
1554
01:12:11,246 --> 01:12:12,507
That's how much it scares me.
1555
01:12:12,642 --> 01:12:14,511
If I'm not here and I come home
1556
01:12:14,647 --> 01:12:16,373
after being gone a night
or something,
1557
01:12:16,508 --> 01:12:18,708
I come home, every single light
in the whole house
1558
01:12:18,844 --> 01:12:20,378
is on, on, on.
1559
01:12:20,513 --> 01:12:23,518
Then he goes, "I can't believe
our electricity bill."
1560
01:12:23,654 --> 01:12:24,950
First time I discovered my dad
1561
01:12:25,086 --> 01:12:26,692
was actually scared
of the dark--
1562
01:12:26,828 --> 01:12:29,528
I never really knew this.
I thought my dad was fearless.
1563
01:12:29,664 --> 01:12:31,529
I'll never forget,
we were on a cruise ship.
1564
01:12:31,665 --> 01:12:33,231
I was 12 years old
and I cut off the lights
1565
01:12:33,367 --> 01:12:34,798
'cause I was opening the door.
1566
01:12:34,933 --> 01:12:37,162
Before my hand could reach
the knob, I heard...
1567
01:12:38,372 --> 01:12:39,734
I heard smacking on the walls,
1568
01:12:39,870 --> 01:12:41,330
I flicked the light on
so quickly.
1569
01:12:41,465 --> 01:12:42,998
I looked back,
he was holding on to--
1570
01:12:43,134 --> 01:12:44,839
"Never turn the lights off."
1571
01:12:44,975 --> 01:12:46,842
I just see things
moving in the house.
1572
01:12:46,977 --> 01:12:49,181
I know that the doctors
and everybody tell you:
1573
01:12:49,316 --> 01:12:50,481
"Ray, you gotta understand,
1574
01:12:50,617 --> 01:12:52,685
the curtains,
they just didn't move."
1575
01:12:52,821 --> 01:12:55,147
And my opinion of that is,
"Well, you should tell that
1576
01:12:55,282 --> 01:12:57,513
to the curtains,"
'cause they're moving.
1577
01:12:57,649 --> 01:13:00,089
I mean, everyone talks about
Clive Davis's genius,
1578
01:13:00,225 --> 01:13:03,320
but the thing that I remember
is, he did not like the song.
1579
01:13:03,456 --> 01:13:05,224
Clive's reaction
when he heard Ghostbusters,
1580
01:13:05,359 --> 01:13:07,593
he thought, "Are you crazy,
you'll sing to a ghost?
1581
01:13:07,728 --> 01:13:09,361
We built you up
1582
01:13:09,497 --> 01:13:11,232
and made you the macho man.
You sing to girls."
1583
01:13:11,368 --> 01:13:13,166
REITMAN:
He said, "I don't think
this is gonna work,"
1584
01:13:13,302 --> 01:13:15,002
and I said, "You don't have
an album deal
1585
01:13:15,138 --> 01:13:16,708
unless you put this on
at the beginning,
1586
01:13:16,843 --> 01:13:19,712
and I really think
this has to be the first song."
1587
01:13:19,847 --> 01:13:22,843
So I had to get the film
sent over to him privately,
1588
01:13:22,978 --> 01:13:24,916
so he gets his own
private showing,
1589
01:13:25,051 --> 01:13:27,676
and then I told him, "You can
put all your acts on the album.
1590
01:13:27,812 --> 01:13:30,048
We'll fill up an album.
We'll make a soundtrack album."
1591
01:13:30,184 --> 01:13:31,789
Then he thought
it was a great idea.
1592
01:13:31,924 --> 01:13:35,456
I had not seen the movie
when I first heard the song,
1593
01:13:35,592 --> 01:13:37,553
but this was a win-win.
1594
01:13:37,688 --> 01:13:40,566
I remember we wanted to get
the song out really quickly.
1595
01:13:40,701 --> 01:13:43,059
What I recall
is that the song came out
1596
01:13:43,194 --> 01:13:45,133
a week before the movie opened.
1597
01:13:45,269 --> 01:13:47,698
It ended up being
the number one song of 1984.
1598
01:13:47,833 --> 01:13:49,565
PARKER JR.:
So now Clive,
when he called me up,
1599
01:13:49,700 --> 01:13:51,203
it was about three,
four weeks later,
1600
01:13:51,338 --> 01:13:52,742
and I'm thinking
he's gonna tell me
1601
01:13:52,878 --> 01:13:53,973
how we're moving up
the chart
1602
01:13:54,108 --> 01:13:55,614
and we're doing
some heavy thing.
1603
01:13:55,749 --> 01:13:59,377
He says, "We've exported
4 million records."
1604
01:13:59,512 --> 01:14:02,617
Exported, not what we sold
in America, exported.
1605
01:14:02,753 --> 01:14:04,116
This record went to number one
1606
01:14:04,252 --> 01:14:06,417
in 52 countries
around the world.
1607
01:14:06,552 --> 01:14:08,986
Number one or number two
in 52 countries.
1608
01:14:09,122 --> 01:14:10,724
The record came out in August.
1609
01:14:10,860 --> 01:14:12,489
By February, they presented me
1610
01:14:12,624 --> 01:14:14,965
with a 10-million-selling
album plaque.
1611
01:14:15,100 --> 01:14:18,067
Ten million albums of
a soundtrack just by February,
1612
01:14:18,203 --> 01:14:20,672
and that was only five
or six months after the fact.
1613
01:14:20,807 --> 01:14:23,466
I don't know
if the movie drove the song...
1614
01:14:23,601 --> 01:14:26,841
but I think they sort of
worked hand in hand.
1615
01:14:26,976 --> 01:14:28,170
I think
there's an enormous amount
1616
01:14:28,305 --> 01:14:30,143
of nostalgia about the film,
1617
01:14:30,278 --> 01:14:32,277
and it carried
a lot of things with it.
1618
01:14:32,413 --> 01:14:35,617
I think the song,
it would've stayed popular
1619
01:14:35,752 --> 01:14:38,083
even if the film hadn't been
1620
01:14:38,219 --> 01:14:40,853
quite the phenomena
that it became,
1621
01:14:40,989 --> 01:14:42,795
'cause it's an effective song.
1622
01:14:42,931 --> 01:14:45,956
But I think that both worked
together synergistically.
1623
01:14:46,092 --> 01:14:48,129
If you go up to anybody...
1624
01:14:48,264 --> 01:14:50,535
no matter what age,
no matter what generation,
1625
01:14:50,671 --> 01:14:52,863
and you go,
"Who you gonna call?"
1626
01:14:52,998 --> 01:14:54,099
"Ghostbusters!"
1627
01:14:54,234 --> 01:14:55,773
I mean,
everybody knows this song.
1628
01:14:55,908 --> 01:14:59,469
And to me, that song
defines him the least.
1629
01:14:59,604 --> 01:15:02,010
Oh, there's no question
that the body of work--
1630
01:15:02,146 --> 01:15:04,448
I would never
just pick out "Ghostbusters."
1631
01:15:04,583 --> 01:15:06,984
It probably was his biggest hit,
1632
01:15:07,119 --> 01:15:11,185
but so many other songs,
so many other hits that he had.
1633
01:15:11,321 --> 01:15:14,159
When I go places now,
they don't know my other music.
1634
01:15:14,295 --> 01:15:15,661
It's old music to them.
1635
01:15:17,623 --> 01:15:19,993
It's been my dream
ever since I was 18 years old
1636
01:15:20,128 --> 01:15:21,698
to have a star
on Hollywood Boulevard.
1637
01:15:21,834 --> 01:15:24,063
I came out here
with my parents at 17,
1638
01:15:24,198 --> 01:15:26,000
and the idea
that I got a star,
1639
01:15:26,136 --> 01:15:28,203
I feel so blessed
and I'm so excited.
1640
01:15:28,339 --> 01:15:30,503
I look at it and it's just like
a dream come true.
1641
01:15:30,639 --> 01:15:32,970
It's like I can't believe that
things have gone that far.
1642
01:15:33,106 --> 01:15:34,108
It's just wonderful.
1643
01:15:35,773 --> 01:15:37,916
And I love all my fans
so much that, yes,
1644
01:15:38,052 --> 01:15:41,248
I do come down here at least
two of three times a month
1645
01:15:41,383 --> 01:15:43,887
just to show appreciation
and just to realize
1646
01:15:44,022 --> 01:15:46,659
how very, very fortunate I am,
I love it.
1647
01:15:46,794 --> 01:15:49,193
Come on, now you're talking,
there we go.
1648
01:15:49,328 --> 01:15:51,261
[WOMEN WHOOPING]
1649
01:15:51,397 --> 01:15:52,263
What's your name?
1650
01:15:52,399 --> 01:15:55,060
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
1651
01:15:55,195 --> 01:16:00,229
♪ Call it intuition ♪
1652
01:16:00,365 --> 01:16:02,039
♪ I gotta feelin' ♪
1653
01:16:02,174 --> 01:16:05,205
♪ Something good's
Gonna happen tonight ♪
1654
01:16:07,506 --> 01:16:10,716
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!
1655
01:16:10,852 --> 01:16:16,345
♪ But I predict
Somebody's wishes ♪
1656
01:16:16,480 --> 01:16:19,892
♪ Could happen tonight ♪
1657
01:16:20,028 --> 01:16:23,288
My dad's probably the best
celebrity. He loves it so much.
1658
01:16:23,424 --> 01:16:24,961
You'll never hear a story
with my dad
1659
01:16:25,096 --> 01:16:26,557
where you hear some of
these stories of:
1660
01:16:26,692 --> 01:16:29,032
"Oh, so-and-so asked for
an autograph and he told me no."
1661
01:16:29,167 --> 01:16:32,562
Not my dad, my dad
will cross the ocean for you.
1662
01:16:32,697 --> 01:16:35,268
He always plays into,
"Are you so-and-so?"
1663
01:16:37,673 --> 01:16:38,541
"Yeah, it's me."
1664
01:16:38,676 --> 01:16:40,310
It's like, "Oh, gosh!"
1665
01:16:40,445 --> 01:16:42,374
[CHEERING]
1666
01:16:44,951 --> 01:16:46,750
When he says
I love being a celebrity,
1667
01:16:46,886 --> 01:16:49,315
sometimes it's annoying,
but in my mind,
1668
01:16:49,451 --> 01:16:51,889
I feel like the people
who bought my product,
1669
01:16:52,024 --> 01:16:54,994
it's the same as if they buy
a Ford car, okay?
1670
01:16:55,129 --> 01:16:58,462
I'm sure if you buy a Ford car,
Mr. Ford will like you, okay?
1671
01:16:58,598 --> 01:16:59,897
Well, I'm the same person.
1672
01:17:00,032 --> 01:17:01,765
If you're buying my product,
you support me.
1673
01:17:01,901 --> 01:17:04,164
I only have my lifestyle
because you guys
1674
01:17:04,300 --> 01:17:06,333
enjoy my product
and you supported it.
1675
01:17:06,468 --> 01:17:09,466
So I feel some indebtedness
to everybody who's,
1676
01:17:09,601 --> 01:17:11,273
you know,
complementary to my cause.
1677
01:17:11,409 --> 01:17:14,004
So I'm really, really super
excited to bring in today
1678
01:17:14,139 --> 01:17:16,271
Mr. Ray Parker Jr.
1679
01:17:16,407 --> 01:17:17,645
Let's give it up for Ray.
1680
01:17:17,781 --> 01:17:21,518
[CLAPPING, CHEERING]
1681
01:17:21,654 --> 01:17:23,115
My gosh, look at the kids.
1682
01:17:23,251 --> 01:17:24,515
I don't know
how you gonna get here.
1683
01:17:24,650 --> 01:17:26,322
I don't even know
how to get over here.
1684
01:17:26,457 --> 01:17:28,624
But the first thing I'm doing
is taking a couple selfies.
1685
01:17:28,760 --> 01:17:30,257
Yeah, guys, come on in!
1686
01:17:31,627 --> 01:17:33,023
Wave.
1687
01:17:33,159 --> 01:17:34,424
I got-- Look at these--
1688
01:17:34,560 --> 01:17:37,200
Look at all the guitars.
Good gracious!
1689
01:17:37,336 --> 01:17:41,135
In my school, we only had
clarinets and flutes and stuff.
1690
01:17:41,270 --> 01:17:43,332
I'm like, "You got guitars
and drums,
1691
01:17:43,467 --> 01:17:44,875
and y'all get to rock out!"
1692
01:17:45,010 --> 01:17:46,605
This is only like my dream
come true
1693
01:17:46,741 --> 01:17:49,377
when I was a kid was to have
guitars in the classroom.
1694
01:17:49,512 --> 01:17:51,610
So I thought about it
on the way over here, I said:
1695
01:17:51,746 --> 01:17:54,983
"Okay, what can I say to the
kids that won't take very long?"
1696
01:17:55,118 --> 01:17:58,120
Don't be afraid
to live your life.
1697
01:17:58,255 --> 01:18:00,683
I worked so hard
because my dad worked so hard,
1698
01:18:00,819 --> 01:18:05,191
and he put everything into me
from day one.
1699
01:18:05,327 --> 01:18:07,633
This is when he told me,
"You know, son,
1700
01:18:07,769 --> 01:18:09,368
I've been saving for you
to go to college
1701
01:18:09,504 --> 01:18:11,795
since before you were born,"
1702
01:18:11,931 --> 01:18:16,037
for me to be the first one
in the family to finish college.
1703
01:18:16,173 --> 01:18:18,370
I delivered the bad news
to my father:
1704
01:18:18,506 --> 01:18:20,042
"Dad, I don't even
wanna go to college.
1705
01:18:20,178 --> 01:18:22,472
I'm in it already,
but I wanna drop out
1706
01:18:22,608 --> 01:18:25,009
to go on tour
with a rock band."
1707
01:18:25,145 --> 01:18:26,378
"I wanna go on tour
1708
01:18:26,514 --> 01:18:27,686
with the Rolling Stones
or Stevie Wonder,"
1709
01:18:27,821 --> 01:18:29,085
which I thought
was a better idea
1710
01:18:29,220 --> 01:18:30,747
and I still think
it was a better idea.
1711
01:18:30,882 --> 01:18:34,350
But the point being is,
I broke his heart that day
1712
01:18:34,486 --> 01:18:35,987
when I'd taken away his dream.
1713
01:18:36,123 --> 01:18:37,925
It was older than I was.
1714
01:18:38,060 --> 01:18:39,994
But don't be afraid to live.
1715
01:18:40,129 --> 01:18:42,494
Like, don't go to school
and say:
1716
01:18:42,630 --> 01:18:44,936
"My backup plan is
I'm gonna be a secretary,"
1717
01:18:45,071 --> 01:18:47,534
'cause you will end up
being a secretary.
1718
01:18:47,670 --> 01:18:51,207
If you wanna be a rock 'n' roll
star, put your all into it.
1719
01:18:51,343 --> 01:18:54,044
And the only thing that
I was ever afraid of as a kid
1720
01:18:54,179 --> 01:18:58,513
is turning 40 or 50
and having not tried it.
1721
01:18:58,648 --> 01:19:01,577
My father wanted me to be what
you call a white-collar worker.
1722
01:19:01,712 --> 01:19:04,019
To him, that was his dream
for me,
1723
01:19:04,155 --> 01:19:06,549
and my dream--
That wasn't my dream.
1724
01:19:06,685 --> 01:19:08,457
I didn't wanna work
in an office.
1725
01:19:08,592 --> 01:19:11,561
I didn't wanna design car parts
and I didn't wanna build cars.
1726
01:19:11,697 --> 01:19:13,532
I just wanna drive them.
1727
01:19:13,667 --> 01:19:15,767
One day, if you become older
1728
01:19:15,903 --> 01:19:18,036
and you never
tried your dreams,
1729
01:19:18,171 --> 01:19:20,963
that is actually the worst
thing that can happen.
1730
01:19:21,098 --> 01:19:23,236
Like, if you tried your dreams
and it didn't happen,
1731
01:19:23,372 --> 01:19:24,900
well, then at least
you tried it,
1732
01:19:25,035 --> 01:19:26,968
so you can go to sleep
and get a good night's sleep,
1733
01:19:27,104 --> 01:19:30,114
but to not try at all
is a really terrible thing.
1734
01:19:30,249 --> 01:19:32,751
And looks like I see a bunch
of talented people here,
1735
01:19:32,887 --> 01:19:34,584
so I'm gonna be watching
the Grammys,
1736
01:19:34,720 --> 01:19:36,053
like, in a couple years.
1737
01:19:36,188 --> 01:19:38,152
And, you know, was there
something special that--
1738
01:19:38,287 --> 01:19:41,288
Yeah, we brought
a little present.
1739
01:19:41,423 --> 01:19:42,924
Well, maybe you wanna
go over there
1740
01:19:43,059 --> 01:19:44,291
and show them what you got?
1741
01:19:44,427 --> 01:19:46,224
A little present.
Here, take this one.
1742
01:19:46,359 --> 01:19:48,597
Are you ready?
Yeah!
1743
01:19:48,733 --> 01:19:50,294
Are you ready?
1744
01:19:50,430 --> 01:19:52,300
[STUDENTS CLAPPING, CHEERING]
1745
01:19:55,805 --> 01:19:57,073
My pleasure.
1746
01:19:57,209 --> 01:19:59,576
TEACHER:
Guys, you got no excuses now.
1747
01:19:59,711 --> 01:20:01,677
No excuses, right?
1748
01:20:01,813 --> 01:20:04,575
PARKER JR.:
Little kids rock.
It's early in the morning.
1749
01:20:04,711 --> 01:20:06,646
I'm way pumped up
and too excited.
1750
01:20:06,781 --> 01:20:10,515
I just saw about 25 or 30 kids
going absolutely crazy
1751
01:20:10,651 --> 01:20:12,451
and playing some great music
over here.
1752
01:20:12,587 --> 01:20:14,317
And, boy, they looked
at those guitars
1753
01:20:14,453 --> 01:20:15,685
and looked at the colors,
1754
01:20:15,821 --> 01:20:17,326
and it reminds me
of what I felt like
1755
01:20:17,461 --> 01:20:20,161
when I was getting my first
little Kingston guitar.
1756
01:20:20,297 --> 01:20:22,491
And you know,
you can see each person
1757
01:20:22,627 --> 01:20:24,002
eyeing on which one they like.
1758
01:20:24,138 --> 01:20:25,970
Like one's looking
at the orange guitar like:
1759
01:20:26,106 --> 01:20:27,797
"This is me right here,
I'm doing orange."
1760
01:20:27,933 --> 01:20:30,042
Then you see somebody else
with the butterscotch.
1761
01:20:30,177 --> 01:20:32,635
"This is me over here,
this is my kind of thing."
1762
01:20:32,770 --> 01:20:34,809
And so I hope it really
turns them on,
1763
01:20:34,945 --> 01:20:36,606
it really inspires them.
1764
01:20:36,741 --> 01:20:38,609
And like my father
used to tell me,
1765
01:20:38,744 --> 01:20:40,678
he always loved me
playing the guitar
1766
01:20:40,813 --> 01:20:42,649
because he says
I'm doing something positive.
1767
01:20:42,784 --> 01:20:45,014
If I'm spending this much time
doing something positive,
1768
01:20:45,149 --> 01:20:47,515
I'm not spending any time
doing something negative.
1769
01:20:47,651 --> 01:20:49,486
This is a very easy song.
1770
01:20:49,622 --> 01:20:51,660
When I go,
"Who you gonna call?"
1771
01:20:51,795 --> 01:20:52,793
You go...
1772
01:20:52,928 --> 01:20:54,130
Ghostbusters.
1773
01:20:54,265 --> 01:20:56,200
But you do with it
a lot more enthusiasm,
1774
01:20:56,335 --> 01:20:58,971
a lot more energy,
like you're having a good time.
1775
01:20:59,106 --> 01:21:01,869
Otherwise, the record
will not be a hit.
1776
01:21:02,005 --> 01:21:03,475
Okay, okay, here we go.
1777
01:21:03,611 --> 01:21:06,011
[PLAYING "GHOSTBUSTERS"]
1778
01:21:10,112 --> 01:21:12,240
Sing it, here we go.
1779
01:21:12,376 --> 01:21:16,885
♪ If there's something strange
In your neighborhood ♪
1780
01:21:17,021 --> 01:21:18,655
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
1781
01:21:18,790 --> 01:21:20,052
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1782
01:21:20,188 --> 01:21:21,820
That's what I'm liking.
1783
01:21:21,956 --> 01:21:25,423
♪ If there's something weird
And it don't look good ♪
1784
01:21:25,558 --> 01:21:27,598
♪ Tell me, who you gonna call? ♪
1785
01:21:27,733 --> 01:21:29,100
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1786
01:21:29,236 --> 01:21:31,894
So do I get tired
of "Ghostbusters"?
1787
01:21:32,029 --> 01:21:34,535
Do I get tired of,
"Who you gonna call?"
1788
01:21:34,670 --> 01:21:36,999
Do I get tired of,
"I ain't 'fraid of no ghost"?
1789
01:21:37,134 --> 01:21:39,868
Do I get tired of,
"Bustin' makes me feel good"?
1790
01:21:40,004 --> 01:21:42,405
Do I get tired of,
"I can't hear you"?
1791
01:21:42,540 --> 01:21:43,741
Do I get tired of...?
1792
01:21:45,015 --> 01:21:46,183
Do I get tired of...?
1793
01:21:47,347 --> 01:21:49,119
No! Are you kidding me?
1794
01:21:49,255 --> 01:21:51,352
That's like eight numbers
to the lotto
1795
01:21:51,487 --> 01:21:53,356
and all the lotto numbers
came out.
1796
01:21:53,491 --> 01:21:55,583
Would you give back
the winning lotto ticket?
1797
01:21:55,719 --> 01:21:56,895
That's what I ask people.
1798
01:21:57,030 --> 01:21:58,522
I think
it's the biggest blessing
1799
01:21:58,657 --> 01:21:59,955
in the world,
"Ghostbusters."
1800
01:22:00,090 --> 01:22:01,896
I just think
it's the most wonderful thing
1801
01:22:02,032 --> 01:22:02,932
that could ever happen.
1802
01:22:03,068 --> 01:22:05,103
Everybody knows "Ghostbusters"
1803
01:22:05,238 --> 01:22:08,433
and it puts a smile
on everyone's face.
1804
01:22:08,568 --> 01:22:10,302
So when they say
Ray Parker Jr.,
1805
01:22:10,438 --> 01:22:12,236
everybody does the same thing.
1806
01:22:12,372 --> 01:22:13,639
"Who you gonna call?
1807
01:22:13,774 --> 01:22:15,575
I'm sorry, I shouldn't have
said that."
1808
01:22:15,710 --> 01:22:17,278
And they always do that
and it's like, "Hey,
1809
01:22:17,414 --> 01:22:19,408
I'm good with it,
I'm the guy."
1810
01:22:19,544 --> 01:22:20,608
Who you gonna call?
1811
01:22:20,744 --> 01:22:21,878
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1812
01:22:23,622 --> 01:22:25,889
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1813
01:22:26,025 --> 01:22:27,589
♪ I can't hear you ♪
1814
01:22:27,725 --> 01:22:31,625
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1815
01:22:31,760 --> 01:22:35,763
♪ Louder ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1816
01:22:35,898 --> 01:22:39,469
♪ Who can you call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1817
01:22:39,605 --> 01:22:42,932
♪ Who you gonna call? ♪
♪ Ghostbusters ♪
1818
01:22:48,544 --> 01:22:50,309
PARKER JR.:
One, two, three, four.
1819
01:22:50,444 --> 01:22:54,218
[PLAYING "THE OTHER WOMAN"]
1820
01:22:56,481 --> 01:22:57,914
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
1821
01:23:03,487 --> 01:23:04,486
Let's go.
1822
01:23:04,621 --> 01:23:05,927
♪ I'm in love ♪
1823
01:23:06,062 --> 01:23:08,194
♪ I'm in love ♪
1824
01:23:08,330 --> 01:23:09,926
♪ With the other woman ♪
1825
01:23:12,136 --> 01:23:13,429
♪ My life was fine ♪
1826
01:23:13,565 --> 01:23:15,302
♪ Life was fine ♪
1827
01:23:15,437 --> 01:23:17,076
♪ Till she blew my mind ♪
1828
01:23:20,937 --> 01:23:23,940
♪ I'm just the average guy ♪
1829
01:23:24,075 --> 01:23:28,010
♪ I fool around
A little on the side ♪
1830
01:23:28,145 --> 01:23:31,487
♪ Never thought it would
Amount to much ♪
1831
01:23:31,623 --> 01:23:35,227
♪ Never met a girl
Whose love was so tough ♪
1832
01:23:35,362 --> 01:23:38,691
♪ Who'd have thought
A one-night stand ♪
1833
01:23:38,827 --> 01:23:42,959
♪ Could turn into
Such a hot romance ♪
1834
01:23:54,507 --> 01:23:57,446
[♪♪♪♪♪]
1835
01:24:14,666 --> 01:24:18,700
♪ I bought her high heel
Blue shoes ♪
1836
01:24:18,836 --> 01:24:23,101
♪ She threw them in the trash
Still new ♪
1837
01:24:23,236 --> 01:24:26,568
♪ She wrecked her Corvette
And it was blue ♪
1838
01:24:26,703 --> 01:24:31,250
♪ So why was I surprised
When she made me blue too? ♪
1839
01:24:31,385 --> 01:24:35,452
♪ She took everything
I had to give ♪
1840
01:24:35,588 --> 01:24:39,853
♪ And left me just enough
To wanna live ♪
1841
01:24:39,988 --> 01:24:44,254
♪ She took my heart
She took my soul ♪
1842
01:24:44,389 --> 01:24:48,224
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1843
01:24:48,359 --> 01:24:52,394
♪ She took everything
She controlled ♪
1844
01:24:52,529 --> 01:24:57,407
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1845
01:25:01,448 --> 01:25:05,440
♪ Goin' to therapy
Was wack ♪
1846
01:25:05,576 --> 01:25:09,652
♪ The whole reconcilin' thing
Was all an act ♪
1847
01:25:09,788 --> 01:25:13,723
♪ I kissed some this
I licked some that ♪
1848
01:25:13,858 --> 01:25:17,792
♪ I did everything I could
To get her back ♪
1849
01:25:17,928 --> 01:25:21,764
♪ She loved me just enough
To lead me on ♪
1850
01:25:21,899 --> 01:25:26,229
♪ She loved me just enough
To do me wrong ♪
1851
01:25:26,364 --> 01:25:30,641
♪ She took my heart
She took my soul ♪
1852
01:25:30,776 --> 01:25:34,774
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1853
01:25:34,910 --> 01:25:38,748
♪ She took everything
So cold ♪
1854
01:25:38,883 --> 01:25:42,947
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1855
01:25:47,594 --> 01:25:51,662
♪ Now, in the long run
I'm gon' be cool ♪
1856
01:25:51,798 --> 01:25:55,665
♪ Even though everybody thinks
I played the fool ♪
1857
01:25:55,801 --> 01:25:59,967
♪ She took the car
She took the house ♪
1858
01:26:00,102 --> 01:26:04,302
♪ But music publishin'
Is what it's all about ♪
1859
01:26:04,437 --> 01:26:07,877
♪ You should've heard her
When she figured it out ♪
1860
01:26:08,013 --> 01:26:12,484
♪ I had to turn my guitar
Up to 10 to drown her out ♪
1861
01:26:12,619 --> 01:26:16,654
♪ She took my heart
She took my soul ♪
1862
01:26:16,789 --> 01:26:20,954
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1863
01:26:21,090 --> 01:26:25,057
♪ I know she loved me
Enough to be cold ♪
1864
01:26:25,193 --> 01:26:29,292
♪ I know she loved me
Enough to let it go ♪
1865
01:26:29,427 --> 01:26:33,495
♪ She took my heart
She took my soul ♪
1866
01:26:33,630 --> 01:26:37,839
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1867
01:26:37,975 --> 01:26:42,042
♪ She took everything
That could be sold ♪
1868
01:26:42,177 --> 01:26:46,212
♪ But she forgot to take
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1869
01:26:46,348 --> 01:26:48,250
♪ Ow! ♪
1870
01:26:48,386 --> 01:26:50,487
♪ My rock 'n' roll ♪
1871
01:26:50,623 --> 01:26:54,758
♪ My soul's in
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1872
01:26:54,893 --> 01:26:58,596
♪ Leave me my music, babe
My rock 'n' roll ♪
1873
01:26:58,731 --> 01:27:03,401
♪ I can play my guitar
My rock 'n' roll ♪