Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace is Finally Here

•January 2, 2019 • Leave a Comment

The queen of soul didn’t want this film of a two-night recording session in a Baptist church to be seen – but Amazing Grace is a spine-tingling sensation.

 
In 1972, following a string of hits and Grammy awards, Aretha Franklin decided her next project would be a return to her roots. The daughter of a Detroit preacher, Franklin secured a Baptist church in Los Angeles for a two-night recording session, and the result was Amazing Grace, her most successful album and the top-selling gospel recording of all time.
 
Warner Bros Records hired Sydney Pollack to shoot the process, looking for a mix between a concert film and a making-of. Pollack had just directed They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and had already wrapped production on Jeremiah Johnson. While this is hard to believe, the two-night production at the New Temple Missionary Baptist church resulted in useless footage. The crew neglected to slate the shots with clapperboards, necessary for synchronizing sound and image – a mind-boggling omission and one reason why Amazing Grace is only just making its debut.
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Bohemian Rhapsody: first trailer of Queen and Freddie Mercury biopic released

•May 15, 2018 • Leave a Comment

The first full trailer of the long-gestating Queen and Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, has been released.

Starring Mr Robot’s Rami Malek as Mercury, the band’s exuberant lead singer who died in 1991, the film has been in the works since at least 2010, when it was announced that Sacha Baron Cohen was to play Mercury; however, Baron Cohen left the project in 2013 citing “creative differences” with Mercury’s former bandmates, with guitarist Brian May later calling Baron Cohen “an arse”.

The official synopsis describes the film as follows:

Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury’s lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music.”

Bohemian Rhapsody is due for release on 24 October in the UK, and November 2 in the US.

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Horses: Patti Smith and her Band

•April 23, 2018 • Leave a Comment
This threatens to be very good: Horses: Patti Smith and her Band

 
This new movie Band documents one of the last concerts of the fortieth anniversary of Patti Smith’s seminal album Horses performed in full in sequence at the Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles and features Patti Smith and her band, Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty, Tony Shanahan, and Jack Petruzzelli, who are joined with her guitarist Jackson Smith and Flea.
 
The film will be available to stream exclusively on Apple Music beginning Tuesday, May 22, 2018.

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Leonard Cohen – The Final Interview

•April 18, 2018 • Leave a Comment

Shortly after his 82nd birthday, Leonard Cohen sat down with KCRW‘s Chris Douridas for an interview. The two talked about Cohen’s health, the role of religion in his life, his 14th and final album, You Want It Darker, and much more.

https://www.npr.org/player/embed/501659528/501665733

The conversation took place at the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles on Oct. 13 as part of a special listening session for You Want It Darker. It’s the last interview Cohen gave before his death on November 7.

After thanking the audience for coming — and Douridas for his support — Cohen said he may have made a mistake in October when he told The New Yorker he was ready to die. “I may have exaggerated,” he tells Douridas. “One is given to self-dramatization from time to time.” Then he added, “I intend to live forever.”

Cohen was joined at the interview and listening session by his son and producer, Adam Cohen. He released a statement late Wednesday night about his father’s passing:

“My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records. He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor.”

You can hear the full interview, courtesy of Douridas, KCRW and Sony Music Canada, via the play link at the top of this page.

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John Peel – National Treasure

•March 30, 2018 • Leave a Comment

It’s fair to say, for many people from the UK, the DJ John Peel shaped more than one generations musical thinking.

He introduced me anyway, to a plethora of sounds that it is doubtful I ever would have heard. He was a rite of passage if you will; but an immediately accessible, genial, humble, life-changing experience…the man was a national treasure, even he was a Liverpool FC diehard.

So when I came across this wonderful, touching tribute randomly at the weekend, I wept with joy as I grinned liked the proverbial cheshire cat.

John Peel’s Record Box…..enjoy.

Posted in britain, documentary, movie, music, personal
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Is there a more iconic motorcycle in the world?

•January 4, 2018 • Leave a Comment

Is there a more iconic motorcycle in the world?

After being used by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, this bike was used to herd sheep. It then found it’s way into the hands of a different kind of Shepherd….

https://www.influx.co.uk/features/mcqueens-triumph-military/

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Remembering Fats Domino

•November 8, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Last week, we mourned the loss of Fats Domino, the rock ‘n’ roll innovator and New Orleans music deity. Cue an all-star group of New Orleans musicians — Dr. John, Trombone Shorty, and the Neville Brothers’ family band — teamed up with Elvis Costello, long a vocal admirer of New Orleans music, to pay the man credit.

Together, the assembled luminaries covered Domino’s immortal 1955 hit “Ain’t That A Shame” in Austin. Watch the performance below;

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