BeebRock - The BBC4/BBC3/BBC2/BBC1 Music Programmes thread

Hi, no TOTP action this week, the Proms are viciously sucking up airtime on BBC4. They do have a Scott Walker Prom on Friday, featuring Jarvis Cocker. Not a lot of new programmes on offer, but there are lots and lots of repeats. Sky Arts fills up 8 hours by showing the Martin Scorsese Bob Dylan Doc twice ...



Thursday
7pm Pet Shop Boys - Live At The 02 (Sky Arts)
A London concert from 2009 by the synthpop duo, featuring tracks including Heart, Always on My Mind, Two Divided by Zero, King's Cross and West End Girls


11.25pm Other Voices (RTE2)
An Other Room special from 2014, shining a light on new and exciting musical talent



Friday
8pm Classic Albums: Elton John - Goodbye Yellowbrick Road (Sky Arts)
Elton John discusses the making of his chart-topping 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, while lyricist Bernie Taupin adds a personal insight into how the songs were written


9pm Queen - The Magic Years (Sky Arts)
Documentary about the rock group's rise to fame and eventual superstardom, including profiles of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor


9.35pm The Nathan Carter Show (RTE1)
Nathan is joined by guests Bronagh Gallagher, who performs some classic soul music Lisa McHugh, who sings a rock n roll number, and the Overtones. The country singer is also joined by a surprise guest for a duet, and performs at one lucky fan's wedding


10pm BBC Proms 2017 - Scott Walker (BBC4)
Jarvis Cocker leads an eclectic line-up in this tribute to the 1960s cult icon Scott Walker. Conductor Jules Buckley has arranged tracks from Walker's four eponymous albums, and here they are performed with live orchestral backing for the very first time, courtesy of Jules Buckley's Heritage Orchestra and London Contemporary Voices. The other performers are Susanne Sundfor, John Grant and Richard Hawley


10.15pm Queen - Live in Rio (Sky Arts)
The band's historic opening performance at the Rock in Rio festival in 1985, playing Love of My Life, Tie Your Mother Down and Radio Gaga to an audience of more than 250,000


10.35 Later with Imelda May (RTE1)
The singer-songwriter celebrates Ireland's love of music with chat and performances by guests Kodak, Hothouse Flowers, Fight Like Apes and the Lost Brothers, recorded in front of a live studio audience


11.25pm & 2.25pm Reginald D Hunter's Songs Of The South - Alabama and Georgia (BBC4)
Ep2/3 Alabama & Georgia The London-based comedian continues his exploration of the American South through its songs both past and present in Alabama, where he attends a Lynyrd Skynyrd gig and learns about the city of Muscle Shoals' role in the development of soul. Reg then heads to his home state of Georgia, where he visits Athens - where rock bands the B52s and REM originated - and Atlanta, the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King and rapper Ludacris. Featuring contributions by Arrested Development, St Paul and the Broken Bones, Clarence Carter and Sharon Jones


11.30pm Elton John - Million Dollar Piano (Sky Arts)
The musician plays a selection of his greatest hits, recorded during his residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Featuring performances of Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Tiny Dancer, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I'm Still Standing and Circle of Life


11.40pm Na Firein Ar! (TG4)
A profile of the Irish language rock band Na Firein, who reformed in 2014 to perform again. The programme charts their career, from the first time they stepped on stage to play together, through to their emotional reunion


12.25am Elvis: That's Alright Mama 60 Years On (BBC4)
Actor and musician Sam Palladio hosts a musical tribute to Elvis Presley, originally broadcast 60 years after the artist recorded his first single That's All Right at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The presenter traces Elvis's story from a childhood spent in poverty to the moment he entered a recording booth to perform the track that would act as a springboard to his success. Featuring performances of a selection of the King of Rock 'n' Roll's finest songs from artists including Candi Staton, the Pierces and Laura Bell Bundy


1.25am Country Kings at the BBC (BBC4)
A chronological compilation of performances from the BBC archive by male country singers, ranging from the Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis to Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson. Featuring classic songs from studio shows by Glen Campbell, Charley Pride, George Hamilton IV, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, Johnny Cash and Eric Church


3.45am The South Bank Show Originals: John Lee Hooker (Sky Arts)
Melvyn Bragg revisits his 1993 profile of the American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, in which Hooker talked about his life and music. With a contribution by soul singer James Hunter



Saturday
6.45pm Joe Cocker - Fire It Up Live (Sky Arts)
A 2013 performance at Cologne's Lanxess Arena by the singer, featuring songs including Up Where We Belong, Unchain My Heart and With a Little Help from My Friends


7.55pm I Feel Love Live (BBC Red Button, repeated on a loop on Sunday)
Scott Mills and Ana Matronic present a special event celebrating 50 years of sexual freedom.
Live on Radio 2 and Red button TV 'I feel love' is a special concert, held in the City of Hull which celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, a piece of legislation that would transform the lives of millions, give birth to an explosion of music, poetry, writing, art - and love...
Performers include Will Young, Alison Moyet, Marc Almond, Bright Light Bright Light, Noah Stewart, Tom Robinson and West Yorkshire's LGBT choir 'Gay Abandon'.


9pm Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (Part 1) (Sky Arts)
Martin Scorsese's two-part profile of the singer, featuring rare interviews and archive footage. The first half examines Dylan's formative years, with contributions by childhood friends and teachers on his earliest musical efforts and also explores his arrival on New York's thriving early 1960s folk scene and the artists who influenced his work. In his own words, Dylan tells how he became smitten with folk music as the story shifts from the iron range in Minnesota to Greenwich Village in New York City, with characters including Dave Van Ronk, the king of Greenwich village folk clubs, Joan Baez, queen of the folk music world, and Allen Ginsburg, America's beat poet laureate


11.15pm Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (Part 2) (Sky Arts)
Conclusion. Martin Scorsese's profile of the singer takes a dark turn. Already a phenomenon at the age of 23, Dylan struggled to find a new musical vocabulary. The old Left hoped he would be a political activist, while the media wanted him to articulate the concerns of America's youth, but neither role interested Dylan


11.30pm Rich Hall's Countrier Than You (BBC4)
The American comedian, writer and musician explores the early origins of country music in Nashville and Austin. He visits the rustic studios where this much-loved sound was born and discovers how this genre of music has reinvented itself with influences from bluegrass, western swing and Americana. Rich examines how the music industries differ between these two cities and how they generated their own distinct twist on the genre - such as cosmic country, redneck country and the outlaw artists of the 1970s


1am Bob Harris: My Nashville (BBC4)
The presenter explores America's country music capital, and reveals why Nashville became `Music City USA'. He charts the genre's Grand Ole Opry beginnings, through to the threatening onset of rock 'n' roll, to its modern mainstream hits. He also visits the east of the city, where he discovers a rebellious flip-side to the genre, and explains why a nurturing community of songwriters is responsible for country music's enduring success. Featuring interviews with Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Duane Eddy and Dave Stewart, as well as performances by local acts


1am The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash (Sky Arts)
How the singer sought spiritual fulfilment in music, scripture and visits to the Holy Land. Featuring archive footage and interviews with friends and family


2am Elton John: Million Dollar Piano (Sky Arts)
The musician plays a selection of his greatest hits, recorded during his residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Featuring performances of Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Tiny Dancer, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I'm Still Standing and Circle of Life



Sunday
8pm Discovering Music: Eric Clapton (Sky Arts)
Documentary exploring the life and career of the guitarist, who is the only musician to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times - as a solo act and as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream


8.30pm Discovering Music: Paul Simon (Sky Arts)
Music critics shed fresh light on the career of award-winning American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, whose fame, influence and success began with his partnership with Art Garfunkel


9pm Paul Simon Live at Hyde Park (Sky Arts)
The American singer-songwriter performs a career-spanning set at the 2012 Hard Rock Calling festival in London's Hyde Park


10.20pm Elvis Costello play Baloise Session (Sky Arts)
The singer-songwriter delivers a set at the Event Halle in Basel, Switzerland, as part of the 2014 Baloise Session music festival


Midnight Live From The Artist's Den: Alabama Shakes (Sky Arts)
American blues rock band Alabama Shakes perform in front of around 500 fans at the Loveless Barn in Nashville, Tennessee


1am Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (Parts 1 & 2) (Sky Arts)
Same as Saturday


3.30am Secret Knowledge: Nina Simone and Me, with Laura Mvula (BBC4)
The soul singer travels to New York City to explore the songs made famous by Simone that mean the most to her, and trace the late singer's musical roots with the help of those who knew the `High Priestess of Soul'. Laura reveals the influence of Nina's classical training, meets Simone's long-time guitarist Al Shackman and performs with a Harlem gospel choir as she pays tribute to the genius of her musical heroine





Elsewhere, True Movies 1 are giving their Assorted Music Films another spin on Sunday (although Birth of The Beatles is missing, alas).

11am And The Beat Goes On: The Sonny And Cher Story
12.50pm The Jazz Singer (Neil Diamond)
3pm & 11pm RIng Of Fine (June Carter Cash)
5pm Elvis: The Early Years (Parts 1 & 2)
9pm That'll Be The Day


The best Enrico Pallazzo rendition of The American Anthem might be in The Naked Gun (ITV4, Sunday 9pm). He looks a bit like Frank Drebbin, in fairness