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Ken Burns Talks Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Compares New Album to Beatles’ ‘White Album’: ‘She’s Got Guts!’
The Emmy-winning documentarian opens out about his first impressions of Beyoncé's new country album -- and the impact the new LP may have.
Her decision to predicate the album on the genre’s oft-disregarded Black roots and her own family legacy has provided an intriguing juxtaposition to an era of mainstream country music that’s as rap-influenced as some of Beyoncé’s own pre- Cowboy Carter hits. In the documentary, which spawned a Billboard chart-topping soundtrack titled Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns, there is an extensive exploration of the African roots of the banjo and how pivotal the instrument was, in addition to Black and Mexican musicians, in cultivating the genre. In a lively conversation, with Billboard, Emmy-winning documentarian Ken Burns discusses Cowboy Carter, how the new record recalls the Beatles ’ White Album, Beyoncé’s covers of “Blackbird” and “Jolene,” and the important role Queen Bey plays in the archival of Black music.
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