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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
 Posted - 07/04/2011 : 02:12:03
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This note to me from RW....kindly said I could post it.....
Caught the film over the weekend in San Luis Obispo (odd that it's not yet playing in Santa Barbara),
and it was excellent. Granted that as a pretty major fan, I was at least a bit biased in wanting it to
be good, but I was really pleased with it; it played to about a three quarters full house and received
substantial applause at the conclusion. Filled with tons of vintage clips I'd never seen before, many
of which were performance pieces, lots of vintage Phil on-camera interviews, and also contemporary
interviews with virtually everyone who played key roles in his life; brother Michael (can't recall if I ever
mentioned that I've known Michael since the seventies and have had him in the studio on the air with
me a few times), lots of great stuff from his friend Andy Wickham, both Jim and Jean Glover (still my
favorite version of "Crucifixion,") his former manager Arthur Gorson, his sister Sonny, wife Alice, and
daughter Meegan, Joan Baez, and many others. Some uncomfortable, unsettling footage of Phil in
full "John Train" mode, seemingly totally disconnected from reality, but also a beautiful solo acoustic
rendering of the "Crucifixion," accompanying the story of Phil playing that song for Bobby Kennedy
on the 1968 campaign trail, shortly before his assassination. Probably the most revealing thing for
me was the opportunity to view (and hear) live performance clips that were filmed after the mugging
incident in Africa that damaged his vocal chords; the shocker for me was that I'd expected his voice
to be just gone, a rasp at best, and that turned out not to be the case at all. He could still sing, but
sadly, his problems with alcohol, combined with the bi-polar/manic depressive thing just looked to be insurmountable. Obviously, no happy ending in this movie, but it does at least conclude on the "up"
note from those who knew him best, that he would be pretty pleased to see the extent to which he
is both remembered and respected today. In a lot of ways, similar in tone and style to the recent "Troubadours" film, which I also recommend. I think it's already out on DVD. When you do see that
one ("Troubadours") you'll recognize a couple of segments where when somebody turns a car radio on,
it's B. Mitchel Reed on the air on KMET, both taken from the "Underground Radio" CD that I produced.
Hope the Phil film makes it to a theatre near you soon; either way, it should show up on DVD before
long.
-RW
Looking forward to this one! As I know rocker and many here are!
_____________________________________________
Letting your freak flag fly is a state of mind,
not a fashion statement.
-lk |
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Phil Ochs "There But For Fortune" screening
