Dust Bowl Blues

With all the heated discussion these days of man-made global warming, it seems wise to take a closer look at  the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history. This Sunday and Monday evenings, on PBS (check your local listings), documentarian extraordinaire Ken Burns is doing just that. My expectation is that this program will meet or exceed Ken Burns' habitual high standards. Anyway, I for one will be watching.

Now, I can't help but take this opportunity to share one of Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads (1940). So, without further ado, here's Dust Bowl Blues, a song that combines Woody's keen sense of social observation with his sense of humor, even in the most tragic circumstances.

Inside an Artist's Overwrought Soul: "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" (1991)

Francis Ford Coppola in the Philippine Jungle Shooting
Apocalypse Now (circa 1976)

Francis' wife Eleanor Coppola co-directed and narrated this examination of the literally maddening process of her husband Francis making his modern adaption of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1902), the Viet Nam war epic Apocalypse Now (1979). The result is this excellent complementary documentary to the film, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991).

A unique, gripping look at a film director as artist working under the most extreme conditions imaginable -- conditions that drive him to the edge of insanity. The project: film, in the Philippines, the definitive Viet Nam war film -- using Conrad's classic novella for the structure and certain themes of the story. (Filming Heart of Darkness is a project Orson Welles attempted on a smaller scale but could not get made. Welles then went on to make Citizen Kane instead.)

The documentary also gives us an look behind the scenes at more than one member of the production being pushed beyond their limits. Just one example of the challenges Francis Coppola met to get this film made was directing a troubled Dennis Hopper (see clip below). Such challenges came by the dozens and pushed Coppola to the brink -- and to new heights of creativity.

It's been my belief for a long time that the better we understand our (i.e. the U.S.) role in Viet Nam, the better we understand ourselves. Both the film and also this complimentary documentary help. As a little something extra, Francis and Eleanor add a fine commentary on the documentary.

I can't wait to see Apocalypse Now Redux (2001) again soon.

The Making of "Exile on Main St.": "Stones in Exile" (2010)

My ex-wife is a very opinionated lady. Back when we were together, she was never afraid to take a stand on some issue that was her view and often hers alone. And so it was when we got down to discussing Rolling Stones albums. Her view was that everything after Let it Bleed was a formula album. I never agreed. Exile on Main St. is by far my favorite Stones album, but until the release earlier this year of Stephen Kijak's documentary Stones in Exile, I had no retort other than "I don't agree!" Now, with this documentary, I do.

Stones in Exile, filled with recent interviews, rare photographs and excerpts from the notorious, unreleased documentary of the Stones' 1972 tour, lays to rest any notion that there was anything formulaic about the recording of Exile on Main St. The controlled chaos of the core recording sessions at Keith's villa Nellcôte in the the south of France is well documented here. Marathon 12 hour jam sessions extending over months with songs evolving as the sessions progressed is no recipe for "formula album". Quoted in the October 1997 issue of Guitar magazine, Jagger put it this way:

Just winging it. Staying up all night ... It was this communal thing where you don't know whether you're recording or living or having dinner; you don't when you're going to play, when you're gonna sing -- very difficult. Too many hangers-on. I went with the flow and the album got made. These things have a certain energy, and there's a certain flow to it, and it got impossible. Everyone was so out of it.

Jagger may not have been having much fun, but the result is an unparalleled rock/blues/country/soul document. So check out Stones in Exile and get a taste of how Exile on Main St. got made. It might even convince my ex-wife that this was no formula album.

Janis and Otis at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967

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Thank God for the Sundance Channel. My evening was going nowhere last night 'til I noticed that Sundance was airing D. A. Pennebaker's Monterey Pop, an 80 minute documentary on the first major American rock festival -- three days in June of San Fransisco's 1967 Summer of Love. Yeah, that's right, the festival where Jimi Hendrix becomes a rock icon, setting his guitar and the rock world on fire.

The performances are strand of pearls. In addition to Jimi, the blues and soul crowd out there gets more than they could possibly hope for: Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company covering Big Mama Thornton's Ball and Chain; then Otis Redding redefining I've Been Loving You Too Long.

The YouTube clips of Janis and Otis above don't nearly do justice to the original sound and picture in the film. (Otis covering the Stones' Satisfaction wasn't in the original Pennebaker film, so take it as a bonus to make up for the bootleg quality of these clips.)

And by all means check out the film. All these years later, these landmark performances still rank as world class. Though only 80 minutes long, only a taste of the festival, Monterey Pop ranks with the finest rock films ever made.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

*****
*****

Alex Gibney's 2008 documentary film Gonzo examines the on-the-edge life and best journalistic work of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the greatest writing talents produced by the youth culture in the U.S. of the 1960s and early '70s. Focusing on Thompson's experience of and coverage of "the death of the American dream," the film is rich in essential background details. Through archival footage and audio recordings of Thompson in action; interviews with the people who were there; readings of his work by Thompson himself, friends, and quite powerfully by narrator Johnny Depp; a perfect soundtrack; right down to discussion of Thompson's suicide and its aftermath -- Gonzo tells Thompson's tale as thoroughly as I've seen it told.

Also examined is Thompson's Gonzo reporting, based on

William Faulkner's idea that "fiction is often the best fact." While the things that Thompson wrote about are basically true, he used satirical devices to drive his points home. (Wikipedia contributors, Gonzo Journalism.)

Material on the writing of all his major books (Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (1966), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971)*, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 (1973)) is included.

Gonzo gives us Thompson's riding with the California Hell's Angels (complete with a consensual gang bang he witnesses), psychedelic San Francisco in the early 1960s, Richard Nixon ("the werewolf within us"), '71 in Vegas ("the final nail in the coffin of the sixties"), the 1972 McGovern campaign trail crumbling into Machiavellian politics -- all undergirded by the moral imperative of opposing the war in Southeast Asia. All but the Hell's Angels book are gonzo journalism: Thompson's talent filtered through a whiskey, pharmaceutical and general "pushing the edge" subjective lens.

Gonzo also covers Thompson the man: his life, his passions, obsessions, his beautiful and ugly sides. We see Hunter set against the backdrop of his times, from the sixties to the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center and the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed.

And in the end, we see Thompson unraveling toward a much anticipated suicide. As with any suicide, we see the immediate loss the act brings to friends, family and admirers. Yet another aspect of his suicide is highlighted: Hunter the man released from the burden of the gonzo character he became. To paraphrase Thompson, the gonzo journalistic myth surrounding him would now be free to run where it may. The bottom line for me is that we lost a uniquely talented voice that provided a hopeful but correctly disillusioned view of America. (Note: Hunter Thompson shot himself in 2005 -- a time when the Bush administration was in full swing.)

Gonzo details the life and times of an uncommon, nontraditional voice in American journalism. That voice still rings loud and true today. This documentary film brings into high relief just how much we need such a voice.
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*For a discussion of Terry Gilliam's 1998 film of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, see my 2008 post For the '60's Counterculture, the Road Didn't Go on Forever).

Martin Scorsese 'Shines a Light' on The World's Most Once-Dangerous Band That's Still Around

"Champagne and Reefer" ( -- McKinley Morganfield) (featuring Buddy Guy)

'This Will Be the Only Scorsese Movie Without Gimme Shelter in the Sountrack'
( -- quip by Sir Mick Jagger regarding Shine a Light (film))

Sometimes, for this wanna-be professor of rock film, the ironies the Rolling Stones have amassed in their 45 year-and-going-strong run are almost overwhelming. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a Stones fan for 35 years and have studied Scorsese's work for a quarter century. Now, instantly transforming myself from fan to critic, I gotta try to "... stick my knife right down [their] throat, and baby, and it hurts!"

Shine a Light (2008, film) slams me with responsibility I don't want. I just wanna enjoy the film. But my gosh darn "boy scout" ethics force me to muster whatever objectivity I can find in discussing this major rock film -- this collaboration by auteur Scorsese and these rock pioneers (and the cast of hundreds of technicians and musicians and inspirational artists that fuel their jets).

In a vain attempt to demonstrate some objectivity, I observe that Ms. Christina Aguilera wishes we saw her public persona as a street-wise tramp credible, but she has no business on this stage: she would run screaming from the 1968 Jagger dreamscape nightmare of an apartment Sir Mick creates in the edge-of-madness-and-joy anthem "Live With Me" -- fake-skank at it's worst. On the other hand, guest contributor here, the Paullinator (a real musician), loved her performance in the film -- c'est la vie! You gotta make your own call on this one, I got bigger fish to fry -- and (drumroll):

Top Five Rock Films of All Time (in order):

1. The Last Waltz
2. Gimme Shelter (documentary) (see Gold Coast Bluenote posts Part I and Part II)
3. Woodstock (Director's Cut)
4. Shine a Light
5. No Direction Home (documentary).

Honorable Mention: Festival Express, Hard Day's Night, This Is Spinal Tap, Rattle and Hum, High Fidelity

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Shine a Light

(2008, film):
"Just as Long as the Guitars Play, He'll Steal Your Heart Away"

Scorsese does it again folks, and all the time battling the headwinds of Sir Mick's ego. Analysis: of those "top five films" above, three were made and one was edited in part (Woodstock) by Martin Scorsese -- this body of work on rock definitively demonstrates two things: Scorsese is the man when it comes to rock 'n' roll film making; second, the Scorsese-heavy top five list above demonstrates conclusively why it ain't "only rock and roll".
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Some Details:

• "Under My Thumb" is both the soundtrack and documentary theme of the first ten minutes of pre-show mania. From both a flatbed truck promoting the tour on the streets of Chicago, and in Scorsese's first soundtrack album cut, Marty and Co. turn the cleave lights on The Glimmer Twins doing their eternal rock n' roll machine.
  
• Jagger does his prima donna routine in front of, and at, Marty, putting his hubris on display so Marty can call him on it. Who's under whose thumb, anyway? Revealingly, Jagger is relentless doing his job, and Marty's patience appears boundless.
• Almost everything here is the best live versions of these particular songs in films (I've been studying the old Stones concert movies and original studio tracks), e.g. Jumpin' Jack Flash (see below), Shattered (only better live when I saw them in '78), All Down the Line (Ronnie finally gets a chance to strut his stuff), Loving Cup (first time in film set list), and Just My Imagination (the horn arrangement makes it transcendent).
  
• The "wave-riff" Keef and Mick Taylor weave in the studio version of Tumblin' Dice on Exile on Main Street is unsurpassable. Word up. Even here, the Exile original remains the definitive version of this classic. But here, with Ronnie on fire, Darryl Jones rolling the bass riff even better than Bill Wyman's effort on the original -- add Scorsese icing this cake with his choreographed editing, and this, mates, is the best Tumblin' Dice can be captured live.
• Shine a Light shows a whole new Keef -- the happy ole man whose "Glad to be Here, Glad to Be Anywhere!" Mick Taylor and Brian Jones are unknown to most folks under 50, except, of course, my Godson "Captain Happy" (I am so proud of him!). Captain Happy gave me the inside scoop on Jack White, guest guitarist and duet vocalist on "Loving Cup": that would be Jack White of The White Stripes (Grammy winners for their last three albums, each record winning the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album (source: Wikipedia contributors)). White is letter perfect singing this duet of acoustic rock poetry with Jagger, with a smile on White's face showing he is realizing the dream of a lifetime. And his performance shows it -- he stands toe to toe with Jagger every note of the way through yet another Exile on Main Street deep album cut cover. (Capt. Happy reports further that he really liked The White Stripes' album Elephant.) (Anyone who thinks I digress here, just check out all the talent the Stones have toured with over the past four decades, bringing forgotten superstars and rising talent to their audiences. If the Stones are guilty of being a little too capitalist, they are all about promoting music their audience needs to hear.)
• Jumpin' Jack Flash starts the set with Scorsese directing on the fly -- he gets the set list about two seconds before Keith hits the first chord, and Scorsese elegantly captures Keith flying across the stage getting the festivities under way. (I just bought the "Though the Past, Darkly" CD and have been listening to the original, all of it, for a comparison. They were a much more dangerous band back then. Now, it's really only rock and rock, great as it is. Back then it was still a revolution in our minds.)
• You may notice that you never see anything but the entire Beacon Theatre stage lit perfectly throughout the film. As with the "Last Waltz" lighting, that is Scorsese at work. He is obsessive about his lighting, only stopping short of burning Jagger to get a particular lighting effect. "We want the effect, but we can't burn Mick Jagger," Scorsese quips to his lighting technician in the opening pre-concert segment of the film. Though the lighting in "Last Waltz" is superb, the lighting of the theatre here is perfect. You don't always notice, but it is always right. Again, Scorsese sets a new standard for the rock film genre.
  
• DO NOT see "Shine a Light" in IMAX. Bent Guitar necks, wrinkles 8 inches long, grainy archival footage, flash editing by Scorsese that works fine in other formats -- just skip the IMAX.
• For Stones addicts -- buy the DVD with the baby food money, NOW. Not tomorrow, now.
• Across the Rest of the Universe -- see this film; its high point is in the clip above. Covering Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer" with the Stones, Buddy Guy's lead breaks add a Chicago blues meltdown -- dude, Buddy burns the silver screen down. Jagger takes his harp playing to new heights because Buddy is staring him down: "Go on man, show me your stuff." A rare role for Keith emerges as he doesn't have to front the guitar work and gets to play fills, completely entranced by Guy's mojo. Keith then follows an old tradition of giving a guest performer your guitar if the guest artist tears up the main act's stage. This operatic moment closes with Guy humbly walking off stage, smiling, and all the while Scorsese and his boom mikes catching every detail. This is truly a performance for the ages.

"Shine a Light" will be the definitive document on a remarkable band. Hats off to Martin Scorsese, The Glimmer Twins, and both of their teams here. This film rewrites the book on how to make a rock n' roll concert movie.

Epigram: I can't get out without mentioning the last bit of Scorsese magic -- it's the closing steady-cam shot of the film, and just remember "Up, Up!"

"One More Cup of Coffee Before I Go, To the Valley Below"

Cate Blanchett
as one of six actors portraying a distinct aspect of Bob Dylan's Internal Personal Journey
in Todd Haynes' film I'm Not There.

As with many great films, I'm Not There asks more questions than it answers. For example:

• How would one get Cate Blanchett to look like Bob Dylan in his angry early 20s?

"Every picture tells a [thousand] stories, don't it?"

That is she in silhouette above. She truly channels the young, tortured genius (it must be noted, Mr. Dylan would rather I just wrote "Portrait of the Dog as A Young Artist," and shut up.) It's like a chocolate subway full of Canadian mucisians, a wanderer from Minnesota, Jesse James, and an Arkansas drummer. Nobody tells Blanchett, Dylan, or Me what to do, except our Muses -- as for me and Bob, our demons get a big say too.

• Six actors to play one, real, living person?

If there was ever any doubt as to how important Bob Dylan has been to our culture, the fact that Hayes pulls this off settles that; Dylan is a legend in his own time. Are you down with that?

• Yes, the remaining doubters might say, but what about that sandpaper voice?

That is the voice of you and me, of every man, woman, and child. When Dylan teaches us strident intolerance of any lie, you be glad he sounds like that. I'm thankful I got one overlapping reincarnation.

*****
I'm starting to rant; let me wrap this up. To summarize:

• See this film. (It's now available on DVD.)

This is a modern masterpiece for Dylan junkies and also a perfect introduction for those open to learning about our greatest living philosopher poet.

Now, how about one more cup of coffee while we wait for the city to fix the pump handle broken by the vandals?

Epigram

Because of the fashion in which I'm Not There handles one of the five most important moments in rock 'n' roll -- Dylan, Bloomfield, Al Cooper, and The Hawks going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, see No Direction Home first. This Martin Scorsese documentary is also available on DVD and well worth buying.

Music of the '80s That Matters: "Fortress Around Your Heart"

*****

*****

Fortress Around Your Heart: Sting & Co.

Fortress Around Your Heart is from Sting's first solo effort after The Police disbanded -- the trio has never officially broken up. That album, Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985),
is Sting's attempt to form a serious jazz band fused with, well, Sting.

In the film Bring on the Night, director Michael Apted documents the promotional tour preparation process. The live album Bring on the Night covers the tour itself; the clip above is from this tour.

And when I say all-star jazz band, I mean all-star jazz band -- just check out the lineup here. The Branford Marsalis saxophone mojo is just the start.

With such a timeless allegorical love poem as this, you deserve nothing less than access to the lyrics. They are reprinted below. Be prepared to totally dig this tune.

"Fortress Around Your Heart"
(-- Sting, album version lyrics)

Under the ruins of a walled city
Crumbling towers and beams of yellow light
No flags of truce, no cries of pity
The siege guns had been pounding all through the night
It took a day to build the city
We walked through its streets in the afternoon
As I returned across the fields I'd known
I recognized the walls that I once made
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid

And if I built this fortress
Around your heart
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire
Then let me build a bridge
For I cannot fill the chasm
And let me set the battlements on fire

Then I went off to fight some battle
That I'd invented inside my head
Away so long for years and years
You probably thought or even wished that I was dead
While the armies are all sleeping
Beneath the tattered flag we'd made
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid

And if I built this fortress around your heart
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire
Then let me build a bridge
For I cannot fill the chasm
And let me set the battlements on fire
....

*****

Career Cultural Contribution Pulitzer for Dylan This Year

The Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal

Bob Dylan, cover photo for Blonde on Blonde (1966)

In the Arts category for 2008 Pulitzer Prizes, Bob Dylan won recognition "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

Well and truly stated. For anyone asking themselves "why?" right now, check out Martin Scorsese's documentary No Director Home. Filled with archival footage and great interview clips, including Dylan himself, this film covers Dylan's career from his youth growing up in small town Minnesota to his motorcycle accident in 1966. And that's only the beginning of the story. Bob Dylan has continued his cultural contribution for more than 45 years and is still tearing up the rock and folk highways.

The Pulitzer committee's way of describing Dylan's contribution is well-crafted but bland English. Let's translate it into the language of rock 'n roll. Bruce Springsteen described the first time he heard Dylan's groundbreaking single, Like a Rolling Stone: "that snare shot sounded like somebody’d kicked open the door to your mind… I knew that I was listening to the toughest voice that I had ever heard."

"Django" Reinhardt: Jazz Guitar Master Without Peer

Belgian born Gypsy (Roma) jazz guitarist Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt was the first significant jazz musician who was not American. He is one of, if not the best, guitar player I ever heard. But don't take my word for it, check out the Influence on and admiration by other musicians section of Wikipedia's essay. With little doubt, Django influenced elements of the popular music of every generation that followed his death in 1953.

Djangomania! covers not only the story of Django's life and work, but also tracks his influence today. Hats off, again, to the Sundance Channel for dedication to airing groundbreaking music documentaries.

Here's a little taste of Django and The Quintet of the Hot Club of France performing Minor Swing:


*****

The Evolution of A Rock Band: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

When I was young, I had to piece together my knowledge of a rock band bit by bit, story by story, picture by picture, concert by concert. Now I've discovered Wikipedia, among other great things: an online encyclopedia of the history of rock and roll. But while the Wiki folks are still getting there, they can't provide me (yet) with clips of Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty sitting with their guitars in a studio working out a song. They don't have interview footage of how Tom Petty got his drummer to show up for a charity gig by telling him (truthfully) that Ringo would play it if he didn't. And most importantly, Wikipedia does not provide me with concert footage of songs as great as The Last DJ. But Runnin' Down A Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers does. And more.

This Peter Bogdanovich documentary gives us something I've never seen before: the credible, mesmerizing behind-the-scenes story of a real rock and roll band, fighting not only the record companies, but also their own personal demons, and creating great music all the time.

Two of my top 10 producers, Jimmy Iovine and Rick Rubin, come to life in the interview and recording session clips. The Heartbreakers are all lookin' like bad asses in the picture above, but in the film the gentleness, the musical tenacity, and on occasion the moodiness of these vulnerable men comes through.

Petty and Stevie Nicks recount the tale of Nicks' desire to leave Fleetwood Mac and join the Heartbeakers. "But there aren't any girls in the Heartbreakers" Petty tells her again and again. The result: one of several musical collaborations documented here that are now what I call music of the 80's that mattered.

I could go on and on, but I'd only be spoiling Bogdanovich's show. At the heart of this stellar documentary is the evolution of two things: a working rock band keepin' it all together over thirty years of turmoil, and the increasingly mature work of a songwriter/poet that will speak truth to power at any cost.

Of speaking truth to power, let me give you just one example, regarding my personal favorite in the Tom Petty songbook:

Well you can’t turn him into a company man
You can’t turn him into a whore
And the boys upstairs just don’t understand anymore
Well the top brass don’t like him talking so much
And he won’t play what they say to play
And he don’t want to change what don’t need to change

And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
There goes the last DJ

Well some folks say they’re gonna hang him so high
Because you just can’t do what he did
There’s some things you just can’t put in the minds of those kids
As we celebrate mediocrity, all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you’ll pay for what you used to get for free

And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ

Well he got him a station down in Mexico
And sometimes it will kinda come in
And I’ll bust a move and remember how it was back then

There goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ.

(The Last DJ by Tom Petty)

Corporate takeover of the music industry got the last free DJ. And I now have to pay for what I used to get for free. But the suits haven't cut down the fighters like Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Bruce, Tom Petty, and community radio. And I've got hope.
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History is the Set of Questions ... (Epigram)

I completed viewing all 16 hours of Ken Burns' documentary The War last Tuesday night. I though about my great uncle's (European theater tail gunner) experiences. I spoke twice with his wife (brave homeland supporter and the person who met, among other things, all his post-war emotional needs). I reached two conclusions:

1.) As with all good history, Burns' The War asks more questions than the thousands it answers.

2.) I am 50 now, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, a non-veteran. And I will never look at war, any war, in the same way. Burns' documentary has reshaped not only my views of war, but also the questions I ask of military history.

As the old saying goes, "There are no atheists in the trenches."

History is the Set of Questions ...

Given my attempt, however successful, for historical analysis interwoven in all these posts; and given that, as of this writing, I have watched every episode broadcast so far of Ken Burns' The War; and given the quality of the music controlled by Wynton Marsalis (who calls on Norah Jones along with vintage artists of the early forties, for a contribution to his score, this documentary is a monumental achievement.

In a tip of the hat to Mr. Burns' work promoting the film, I quote the following from his September 27, 2007 appearance on The Daily Show:

"History is the Set of Questions
We of the Present
Ask of the Past"

Tell it, man!