I said he was charming! I winced a bit at his stories though.
― Evan, Friday, 29 October 2021 11:08 (two years ago) link
Ah well, mileage will vary after all.
― Des Weerelds Dool-om-berg ont-doold op Dool-in-bergh (Tom D.), Friday, 29 October 2021 11:10 (two years ago) link
I liked Richman. But then, I don’t watch a lot of music documentaries.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 29 October 2021 11:29 (two years ago) link
Richman is the real deal, he's really just like that
― PaulTMA, Friday, 29 October 2021 13:12 (two years ago) link
He has the benefit of having been there at the time -- everyone in the movie was there at the time whether they were music people or relatives. That's part of what made it interesting imo. Richman was their first superfan and went on to have his own career, the ur-superfan. I would say this is at most a cousin of standard rock doc talking heads rather than an example of it.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 29 October 2021 13:37 (two years ago) link
He is also very weird and potentially annoying, but that is just his personality and not a feature of the film
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 29 October 2021 13:41 (two years ago) link
otm x 2
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 13:41 (two years ago) link
Yeah I'm not a huge Richman fan but he is obv a genuine and honest person. I thought he was charming and actually I thought he provided an interesting counter-point to some of the other people talking about them in sort of an abstract way or discussing their influence or influences he was talking the nitty-gritty of band-dynamics. It was an interesting reminder that a lot of times gets lost in the fog of myth-making that the VU, esp later in the Yule-era were a working band, playing shows, arguing, driving to gigs, dealing with weirdos in Boston who want to know what kind of amps they use, classic underground US rock band shit.
― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 29 October 2021 13:48 (two years ago) link
Also I realized that Mo wearing that Jets sweatshirt totally destroys the long-standing Stills beef that Jagger stole the idea from him, when in reality they both stole it from her
― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 29 October 2021 13:50 (two years ago) link
Look, he's great. But he's definitely playing that role here in arguably the most excusable way, as mentioned, someone with an actual unique first hand experience to share. It's just when I hear those sort of stories "Five seconds of silence... people were hypnotized!" in my mind I go "maybe they just weren't sure the song had ended?". I do get skeptical of "myth-making" dramatizations like that. I don't mean to sound so cynical though.
― Evan, Friday, 29 October 2021 13:53 (two years ago) link
https://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/the-velvet-underground
Geeta D has some criticism of the doc too
― curmudgeon, Friday, 29 October 2021 13:55 (two years ago) link
I tend to hate that stuff too, though Richman's line is pretty innocuous compared to things like this:
https://i.ibb.co/ggr599k/Untitled.png
― whitehallunity, Friday, 29 October 2021 14:00 (two years ago) link
Who knew Jim Reeves had it in him?
― Des Weerelds Dool-om-berg ont-doold op Dool-in-bergh (Tom D.), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:04 (two years ago) link
The thing is, whether the audience weren't sure if the song had ended or not, Jonathan Richman undoubtedly believes they were hypnotized.
― Des Weerelds Dool-om-berg ont-doold op Dool-in-bergh (Tom D.), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:05 (two years ago) link
well yeah, that's true about any anecdote like that in any documentary
― Evan, Friday, 29 October 2021 14:13 (two years ago) link
Richman was the best bit of a totally meh documentary.
I liked the different colours behind the interviewees. And the music.
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:17 (two years ago) link
my only complaint would be that i would have enjoyed more/different richman tbh, he had a very unique & interesting relationship with that band which provided him with a perspective that few others were privy to. i would have loved some more stories about that from him, maybe replacing stuff like Mary Woronov bagging on hippies for being addicted to less-cool drugs than NYers, etc. but thats asking it to be a different doc, this is definitely more of a tribute/celebration than an informative historical thing
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:25 (two years ago) link
Feel Richman is necessary in the context of the Velvets story as told of a band against the grain, that mystified audiences and didn't sell records. He got them, very much, and went out and started a band (a la Eno's dictum).
― bulb after bulb, Friday, 29 October 2021 14:38 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4mG8T754YU
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:46 (two years ago) link
Lol Tom, I thought for a second that meant Jim Osterberg but that would have been too obvious.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 14:47 (two years ago) link
Disagree with Geeta's conclusion though she raises some great points throughout and her writing is, as always, really strong. Also, she mentions at one point that Lou Reed love jazz, which was news to me. I'm no Velvets scholar but I don't recall ever hearing or reading anything that would suggest Lou loved jazz
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:02 (two years ago) link
http://www.loureed.com/guilty/
― Thus Sang Freud, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:24 (two years ago) link
. Also, she mentions at one point that Lou Reed love jazz, which was news to me. I'm no Velvets scholar but I don't recall ever hearing or reading anything that would suggest Lou loved jazz
Really? He mentioned Coleman and Cherry all the time.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:27 (two years ago) link
His solo in "I Heard Her Call My Name" was his approximation of a Coleman solo.
He got Don Cherry to appear on The Bells.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:28 (two years ago) link
Yes to both of those things.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:38 (two years ago) link
Looking at the Morbsies film poll at the same time as this thread it strikes me that Jojo and Morbs have some similaritiy, they didn't seem to every be saying anything just to please somebody.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:39 (two years ago) link
I liked the film more than Geeta, but she wrote a pretty good piece. I disagree with her points on the film clips. The best thing about this documentary is how it presents everything in a full context. It's tough making any new discoveries about the VU when they've been written about so thoroughly, but the best thing a film like this can do is show the breadth and diversity of the culture that gave birth to them. Not to sound unkind, but I don't she really understands the connection between what's on screen and what the story's about. Furthermore, the fact that a Maya Deren film is decades old is irrelevant - the underground culture and art world of the '60s wasn't a big bang that happened in a vacuum and the older films are crucial in seeing where the work was coming from. On that note, she makes an excellent point about the absence of jazz - it was already mentioned upthread, but I'm not sure I can recall any reference to the avant-garde jazz musicians that influenced them, and they were literally next door during their formative years. (And yes, Lou loved jazz. He collaborated and toured with John Zorn frequently, and he's performed on-stage with Ornette Coleman. As mentioned, Don Cherry was involved with The Bells.) That's an important part of that world, and it really deserved a bigger mention since so much of the film was dedicated to depicting the rest of the NY scene at the time.
― birdistheword, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:43 (two years ago) link
Student DJ Lou used to host a Jazz show on the Syracuse college station.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:43 (two years ago) link
... which was called Excursions On A Wobbly Rail.
― Des Weerelds Dool-om-berg ont-doold op Dool-in-bergh (Tom D.), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:45 (two years ago) link
i think one of the best things about the doc is that it *didn't* include viewpoints from critics, which Daytal seemed to want. There's enough of that, isn't there?
yes, lou was a dedicated jazz lover from early on ... he named his college literary journal "Lonely Woman Quarterly"
― tylerw, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link
Like, i don't want La Monte Young to say something and then have a critic come in with an "actually" ...
― tylerw, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:47 (two years ago) link
Yes, exactly!
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:48 (two years ago) link
It was like something I just read on the Morbsies thread, the film critic who interviewed the stars of Imitation of Life and kept interjecting his own opinions and asking them brainteasers instead of letting them tell their own story. #OneThread
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:49 (two years ago) link
Cherry's on some Bells-era live stuff in the Between Thought and Expression[ Lou box I mentioned. Coleman's on The Raven, and some more of his playing in those sessions was posted by Reed on his own site. Lou and Laurie used to make music w Zorn on a regular basis, I've read.) I'll wait to read Geeta etc. 'til I've finally seen the damnéd thing (to use Ambrose Bierce's phrase; Happy Halloween, Ambrose).
― dow, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:50 (two years ago) link
Not sure if there are any anecdotes about Lou's reaction at a Douglas Sirk screening, but there should be.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:51 (two years ago) link
Maybe Apple TV+ should invest an a big bucks alternate universe miniseries in which Sterling didn't fire John and the original VU kept going.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 18:52 (two years ago) link
Sorry to repeat some things already posted while I was typing---yeah corrections and critiques would have been good before rise of the Googlenet. but hardly nec now, esp w such a deeply and widely covered subject.
― dow, Friday, 29 October 2021 18:55 (two years ago) link
i have this boot on vinyl it's fun, a little rough sounding but some cool stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9HNjW0iW0
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 29 October 2021 19:25 (two years ago) link
From the demo that was included on their 1995 box set. The whole disc of demos is underwhelming, but the part that starts at 7:25 is kind of funny just because they sound down-to-earth - it's the start of take 2, but they apparently never get it together until take 11. By 8:35 they can barely keep a straight face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDNPHPJTbpM
― birdistheword, Friday, 29 October 2021 20:07 (two years ago) link
Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis interview Todd Haynes and review the film: https://www.soundopinions.org/show/831
― birdistheword, Friday, 29 October 2021 20:13 (two years ago) link
i love those ludlow street demos — though it was a weird choice to combine all the takes onto single tracks, which made listening a little bit of a chore. a pretty amazing / unique glimpse of the band.
― tylerw, Friday, 29 October 2021 20:22 (two years ago) link
geeta and the richman haters are so off-the-money on this one. like profoundly so.
― kurt schwitterz, Friday, 29 October 2021 20:26 (two years ago) link
― tylerw, Friday, October 29, 2021 1:47 PM (one hour ago)booming post, agreegot no problem with them actuallying their hearts out elsewhere, but not in this particular film imo
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 29 October 2021 20:26 (two years ago) link
Actually, La Monte, he was a pole vaulter.
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 October 2021 20:27 (two years ago) link
No film/article can satisfy everyone.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 29 October 2021 20:28 (two years ago) link
yeah I mean LMY is well aware of the traditions that inform him, he worked with Pandit Pran Nath. I think what he was saying was "we were the first Western people to do this" which is arguably true
and Richman was absolutely one of the best parts imho
― Communist Hockey Goblin (sleeve), Friday, 29 October 2021 20:31 (two years ago) link
i guess "unreliable narrators" felt like a given with this particular milieu — what is cool is that they were all a bunch of complete weirdos. mythmakers, egomaniacs, bullshitters, but also a fair amount of actual genius.
― tylerw, Friday, 29 October 2021 20:54 (two years ago) link
Like, i don't want La Monte Young to say something and then have a critic come in with an "actually" ...I don’t think Geeta was suggesting that a critic should’ve been part of the film, or even part of that segment of the film. But when a prominent figure claims he’s the first one to do a thing that he wasn’t the first one to do, it shouldn’t just slide by unchallenged. (I get that LMY may have been the first to use Western written notation for an approach that had already been around for thousands of years, but that strikes me as a minor distinction at best.)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 29 October 2021 21:33 (two years ago) link
Plenty of droning going on in traditional Western music btw.
― Des Weerelds Dool-om-berg ont-doold op Dool-in-bergh (Tom D.), Friday, 29 October 2021 21:41 (two years ago) link
Wondering if there is anything interesting to be found in here: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/sclead/umich-scl-bockris?view=text
― Through with “What’s the Buzz” (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 30 October 2021 03:25 (two years ago) link