Staff Picks Audience: Music & Movies

Longtime Companion by Sonny & the Sunsets [Music CD]

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Step one after a break up is to write and record a country album. San Francisco native Sonny Smith has followed this guide, only he’s unexpectedly added a little bounce, shuffle and humor. I saw Sonny & the Sunsets on the Longtime Companion tour at Flywheel in Easthampton, MA and he played a number of songs from this record alongside his usual catchy, sometimes surfy, melodic fair. He also took off his pants.

Smith’s deadpan delivery over the groovy “I See the Void” had me sold on his version of country music. He and the Sunsets played a mini set of their hip take of twang with nods to Buck Owens, The Flying Burrito Brothers (the self-titled number takes me to that “Hot Burrito no. 2″ place with steady soul bass over a simple chord change) and even a little Beachwood Sparks.

For a record dealing with heartbreak and separation, Sonny & the Sunsets offer the listener an enjoyable experience and while forging new ground within a classic genre.

Waking Sleeping Beauty [DVD]

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In Waking Sleeping Beauty, we go behind the doors of the Disney animation building and see an equal display of creative brilliance and management melodrama.  As the 1970’s drew to a close, the legendary animation studio was producing anemic box office returns (by Disney standards) and those in charge of the purse strings viewed its limping continuation simply as a tribute to Walt’s legacy.  Shifts in corporate leadership created new challenges to the once easy going, hippie-ish department and as a result, the company reached a range of highs and lows.

This film features interviews with animators, directors, composers and executives.  In addition, the curtain is lifted and we’re granted access to all sorts of behind the scenes footage.  We see the animators at work and goofing around, early film cuts and cells, actors recording voice-overs, corporate lectures, between take banter of Michael Eisner’s television introductions and even funeral speeches.  Waking Sleeping Beauty is a film for anyone who is interested in the history of the Disney empire and ever wondered how the magic is really created.

California Split [DVD]

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George Segal and Elliott Gould star in California Split, my all time favorite Robert Altman film and one of the best from the 1970’s. This dark, buddy comedy is centered around Bill Denny & Charlie Waters, two men who get sucked into the world of gambling. After Bill falls deep in debt to his bookie, he sells off several possessions so he and Charlie can make an all-in trek to Reno.  They eventually find themselves in a tacky casino and in a dramatic, high stakes poker match.

Segal and Gould are the ultimate on screen duo with a perfect comedic volley and excellent chemistry. Additionally, this 1974 movie comes in when Altman was on top of his creative game. The director’s signature usage of wide range audio recording gives the picture an incredible depth and a real sense of place. The conversations from the extras and bit characters are always audible and usually rather interesting.

Ultimately, the story of California Split asks, does money really equal happiness?

Kisses on the Bottom by Paul McCartney [Music CD]

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It’s been an awfully long time since Macca has been discussed on the Forbes Library staff picks blog.  So, here I am to recommend a romantic offering from the melodious, ex-Beatle. Kisses on the Bottom, Paul’s tribute to the music he heard around the house as a boy, is a marvelous collection of standards with two originals tacked on for good measure.  Diana Krall, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Robert Hurst, John Pizzarelli and Karriem Riggins are among the many fine musicians who make up McCartney’s backing band.

The title comes from a lyric from the opening tune, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” by Fats Waller.  The introduction’s syncopated piano line, upright bass and brushes on the drum kit, set the tone for this swinging affair.  Recorded at the famed Capitol Studios on Hollywood and Vine, Paul, singing with Nat King Cole’s microphone, taps into the crooning spirit of yesteryear.

Highlights include “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”, “My Valentine” (a Paul original), “The Inchworm”… well, I recommend ’em all!

F for Fake [DVD]

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Join Orson Welles in a one of a kind cinematic experience that examines many shades of the truth. 1973’s F for Fake is presented as an essay film; most definitely the first of its kind. Welles narrates the documentary often on camera with the appearance of a worldly travel host. While delivering literary quotations in a Brechtian style, interviewing subjects and delivering personal tales in his larger than life/life of the party personality, he incorporates a wide range of footage (including bit-lits from his recently abandoned projects) and edits various film formats in dramatic fashion.

At the heart of the movie, Welles discusses the parallels between notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and the biographer Clifford Irving. Irving who settled in Ibiza working on the de Hory tale, later went on to create a fake of his own: a false biography of Hollywood tycoon Howard Hughes. The director weaves these and other scandals and also shines the light on his infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

Though the content in F for Fake is presented as fact, the masterful Welles, a fan of the slight of hand, cannot resist the urge to play with his audience.

Headquarters by the Monkees [Music CD]

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To earn the Monkees the right to play on their own records, Michael Nesmith’s fist had punch a wall accompanied with the threat “that could’ve been your face”.  Thankfully the powers that be relented because Headquarters, the band’s third release, is possibly their  most unified, spirited effort.

And now a bit about the personnel… Nesmith handles much of the guitar duties, the classically trained Peter Tork plays keyboards, guitars, basses and banjos, Mickey Dolenz sits behind the drum kit and dabbles on the guitar and Davy Jones shakes a mean tambourine and maraca.  All four sing.  Producer Chip Talyor plays the occasional bass.

Michael Nesmith, asserting himself as the band’s most prolific songwriter, contributes the twangiest of tunes including “Sunny Girlfriend” and “You Just May Be the One”. Peter Tork writes “For Pete’s Sake”, the groovy number that became the track which rolled over the end credits of the band’s television program.  Davy tackles the Hildebrand/Keller number “Early Morning Blues and Green” replete with Wurlitzer electric piano and a wild, distorted organ.  Mickey Dolenz sings and writes the psychedelic “Randy Scouse Git” (included on most Monkees “best of” compilations), a song that was inspired by the band’s trip to London and hanging out with the original Fab Four.

Headquarters sounds like a band working together trying to find their sound.  It’s garage, it’s pop, it’s joyful.

Bobby Charles by Bobby Charles [Music CD]

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Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano [DVD]

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I didn’t learn to play New Orleans style piano watching this DVD. You might, if you are already a competent pianist, or simply more patient than I am, but this is a rewarding movie whether you intend to become rock and roll pianist or not. Dr. John is an amazing musician; when he plays it looks easy, but just try following along at the piano!

Dr. John looks relaxed (though often worried, as if something else is on his mind). At times he hardly seems to move—but the piano keys move, quickly, and in syncopation, and the music is wonderful. He plays Frankie and Johnnie, C. C. Rider, Blueberry Hill, and others, playing each in some flavor of the New Orleans Rock and Roll, Fats Domino inspired, playing for which he is known. We are given an overhead view of the piano keyboard, as well as a more conventional angle from the side, which lets you really appreciate the fluidity with which the Doctor plays, and is invaluable if you want to try playing his licks yourself. He breaks many of the tunes down, playing the left hand or right hand parts separately, slowing down the tempo, or demonstrating alternative turn around and improvisations. He discusses what riffs are easiest when accompanying your own voice, and briefly describes the interaction between the pianist and the other members of the band.

I really enjoyed this DVD. In fact, I think I’ll probably revisit it in a few months—after I’ve practiced the piano a bit more!

Walk Away Renée/ Pretty Ballerina by The Left Banke [Music CD]

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I give this Left Banke album an A+++, eighteen stars, two thumbs up and three golden tickets.

The Artist [DVD]

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There is no doubt that the film is intended as an homage to older films. The film is presented in black and white and everything from the acting, to the intertitles, the score, and even the aspect ratio of the screen is designed to resemble the films of the silent era. And yet, the film feels quite modern, in part, because of the self-awareness it brings to its imitation, but also because the film looks at Hollywood in the late twenties in a manner which could only be done in hindsight. In many ways The Artist has more in common with Singing in the Rain, another great film about Hollywood’s transition to talkies, than it does with any silent film.

And, much as with Singing in the Rain, you don’t actually have to be familiar with films of the silent era to appreciate The Artist. The film is well made, the acting is great, the period costumes are a joy. The characters are larger than life, but sympathetic and likable. They are caricatures, but this is so well done as to be an asset.

I really enjoyed The Artist. It’s funny, stylish, and clever. Recommended for film lovers or anyone looking for something a little different.

I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale by Richard Shepard [DVD]

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Moonstruck [DVD]

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