August 11th, 2008 · Comments Off
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man - The Project
Lian Lunson’s Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man is a stew comprising interviews with performers and individuals connected to Cohen, performances of Cohen’s music by an interesting mix of musicians, including Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Antony, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker (from Pulp), Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Beth Orton, and others, and interviews with Leonard Cohen.
This concoction has won the admiration of some viewers but many others find it off-putting. The participants’ commentary about Cohen (all of which strike me as dead-on) are so complimentary that even Bono, a world-class icon himself, sounds more like a pre-teen girl describing the wonders of the latest boy band to hit the charts than an accomplished musician describing a stellar artist in the same field.
The fundamental problem of Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man is Leonard Cohen.
Watching Leonard Cohen first extrapolate a rationale from an interviewer’s query to justify an exposition on the subject of his choice and then proceed to deliver a thoughtful, witty, well constructed verbal essay, complemented by a sequence of camera-worthy facial expressions and movements is a fascinating experience for the spectator (and usually, although not always, the interrogator). With the possible exception of Madonna, no one strikes a pose during interviews better than Cohen, and, arguably, no one in any profession offers more provocative, revealing, and accessible content. The man gives good interview.
It is my contention that enticing the viewer with packets of raw, uncut, high quality Leonard Cohen and then forcing that same viewer to also accept quantities of necessarily less potent product in the form of praise for Cohen or covers of his songs results, at best, in disappointment and perhaps resentment.
The Music Tribute To Leonard Cohen
That ambivalent criticism now officially registered, it must be said that some of the covers are intriguing and assuredly worth watching. Almost everyone agrees on that. Almost no one agrees on which songs by which singers are successes and which are failures.
I chose these two videos because they surprised me. Antony (of Antony & The Johnsons) is known - and lauded - for a quavering yet full-bodied falsetto that has proved more likely to trigger annoyance and complaints of headaches than my praise. His version of If It Be Your Will was the first time I understood the quality his voice could lend a song. Teddy Thompson was all but unknown to me as was Cohen’s Tonight Will Be Fine; after watching this portion of the film, however, both became unforgettable.
If It Be Your Will - Antony
Tonight Will Be Fine - Teddy Thompson
Footnotes
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Tags: Leonard Cohen · Media Mayhem
Leningrad Cowboys (click on graphic to view larger image)
Leningrad Cowboys, Where Have You Been The Last 20 Years?
In 1994, the Leningrad Cowboys, a musical group originally formed to play the role of a fictional band in Aki Kaurismäki’s 1989 film Leningrad Cowboys Go America, performed, with support from 70 members of the Red Army Choir, the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic Sweet Home Alabama at the 11th annual MTV Music Awards held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. According to Wikipedia, 250 million people worldwide watched the program.
Tragically, I was not among them.
Thankfully, the Lord of Leisure directed me to a video of this unforgettable show.
The Phenomenon That Is The Leningrad Cowboys
Dressed in Eastern Bloc knockoffs of Porter Wagner suits and what their web site identifies as “unicorn hairdos and ½ meter long, sharp-pointed shoes,” the entire troop currently consists of 11 Cowboys and 2 Leningrad Ladies, the latter adorned by megabeehives, the most mini of minidresses, and mesh stockings capable of capturing the heart of any male foolhardy enough to approach them.
The band appeared in two other films, The Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses and The Total Balalaika Show, which features the Cowboys and the full 160-member Red Army Choir.
They perform in English, covering songs such as Those Were The Days, Thru The Wire, Stairway To Heaven, and tunes from the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and others as well as performing Russian folk songs and, according to their web site, music referencing “vodka, tractors, rockets, and Genghis Khan.”
Sweet Home Alabama by The Leningrad Cowboys
A fake Finnish band, each member of which has morphed into an hallucinogenic vision of Elvis, singing, with accompaniment by the Red Army Choir, looking, as we say back in the Ozarks, “just happy to be here,” the Lynyrd Skynyrd masterpiece, Sweet Home Alabama - and with no shouted requests for the band to “Play Free Bird.” Does it get better than this?
Well, if there is nothing better, there is at least more. Other Leningrad Cowboys hits available at YouTube follow:
Footnotes
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Tags: Media Mayhem · Music
December 31st, 2007 · Comments Off
A Second Look At The Best of Johnny Cash Show On DVD
Because of the email I’ve received about the Johnny Cash TV Show DVD featured in Heck of a Guy Recommends Cash - Best of Johnny Cash Show On DVD, today’s post focuses again on this entertainment gem.
The Heck of a Guy DVD Diner Menu - Today’s Specials:
1. For the musical gourmands among our guests, we’re offering a pictorial smörgåsbord with screenshots of most of the performances on the DVD arrayed in groups of complementary tastes
2. For the more adventuresome, Chef DrHGuy has prepared a spicy Linda Ronstadt episode, served either with dressing (specially purchased for this dish) or, in an extra zesty version, sans panties with a side of June Carter Cash Remonstration providing a piquant counterpoint
The Visuals From The Johnny Cash Show
From Left to Right: Top Row: Joni Mitchell & Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Creedence Clearwater Revival; Middle Row: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash; Bottom Row: Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, Ray Price, Stevie Wonder
From Left to Right: Top Row: Carl Perkins, Eric Clapton, & Johnny Cash; Carl Perkins; Middle Row (Far Right): Neil Young; Bottom Row: Tammy Wynette, James Taylor, Pete Seeger
From Left to Right: Top Row: Loretta Lynn, Neil Diamond, Conway Twitty, Roy Orbison; Middle Row: Hank Williams Jr and Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins; Bottom Row: Bill Monroe And His Blue Grass Boys, Tony Joe White and Johnny Cash, Ray Charles
From Left to Right: Top Row: George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings Bottom Row: Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis
June Carter Cash Prevents An Impending Wardrobe Malfunction: The Story of Linda Ronstadt, The Johnny Cash Show, And The Missing Panties
The Narrative
By Penni Lane, hairstylist on the Johnny Cash Show:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
For those unable to listen to the audio and those who prefer the written word, the crux of the story follows:
“At rehearsal, June [Carter Cash] noticed that Linda didn’t have any panties on, so she came running back to the dressing room, [saying], ‘Somebody get down the street and buy her some bloomers, she’s out there showing herself!’,” Lane claims. “When Linda was told she would have to wear underwear, she was very upset. She said, ‘I sing better bare-butted.’” June’s response at the time? “Not in front of my Johnny!”
The Storyboard
Top Row (Left): Penni Lane (hairstylist for the show) narrates; Top Row (Middle): Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash embrace; Top Row (Right): Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash prepare to chat; Bottom Row (Left): Linda Ronstadt, presumably wearing bloomers, cautiously seats herself; Bottom Row (Right): Johnny Cash spells “R-O-N-S-T-A-D-T”
Top Row: Johnny Cash discovers Linda is from Tucson, Arizona, notes that he likes to hunt jackrabbits in that area, and asks Linda if she participates in the same sport; Bottom Row (Left): Linda answers hat she can’t bring herself to pull the trigger (note left hand used as visual aid) ; Bottom Row (Right): In response to Johnny’s explanation that he actually doesn’t like killing the rabbits, just hunting them, Linda observes that it’s all right to kill the bunnies
Top Left: Johnny sings with Linda enthralled (repeat X30); Bottom Left: Johnny administers quasi-chaste kiss to Linda’s cheek; Between Top Left and Bottom Right: Singing in sub-optimal conditions (i.e., not bare-butted), Linda’s musical expressions run gamut from A to B
Footnotes
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Tags: Media Mayhem · Music
December 29th, 2007 · Comments Off
The Johnny Cash Show: The Best of Johnny Cash 1969-1971
Two weeks ago, Bill Flanagan of MTV, moonlighting on the CBS Sunday Morning News Music Segment, recommended several DVDs featuring important historical pop performances, including “Dreams To Remember: The Legacy Of Otis Redding,” “Smokey Robinson And The Miracles Definitive Performances 1963-1987,” and “Jazz Icons” that presents full concerts by Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, Dave Brubeck, Wes Montgomery, and Duke Ellington.
For me, however, the main attraction was Flanagan’s summary of “The Best of Johnny Cash 1969-1971:”
There’s also a new double-DVD set of great performances from Johnny Cash’s TV show that ran on ABC from 1969 to ‘71. I don’t know if television’s ever produced a better music series. Cash brought on Louie Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Neil Young, Derek and the Dominos and many more greats, but maybe the biggest surprise here comes from the country artists; Waylon Jennings and his band are the toughest, scariest bunch you would ever want to avoid running into in a dark juke joint. George Jones looks like he’s ready to pop out of his skin, even while his voice breaks your heart, and Merle Haggard is about the coolest cat on the planet - Clint Eastwood to Cash’s John Wayne. Watching “The Johnny Cash TV Show” is like eating popcorn - once you start you can’t stop.
The Best of Johnny Cash 1969-1971 DVDs
Hustling to Amazon.com, I found that “The Johnny Cash Show: The Best of Johnny Cash 1969-1971″ (herewith denoted by “The Johnny Cash Show DVDs”) was released September 18, 2007 and is currently out of stock in most outlets. Happily, a quick check showed that Netflix carried the two disk set and a week after the selection was added to my que, both DVDs arrived.
Even more happily, the performances lived up to and surpassed Mr Flanagan’s laudatory description of it.
The Music
I remember the show well enough, but I didn’t recall how many great rock, country & western, and folk stars were featured. The guests, for example, on the series premiere which aired June 7, 1969 included the actress, Fannie Flagg, Doug Kershaw (AKA the “Ragin Cajun”), Joni Mitchell, and a young, well groomed to the point of non-recognition, Bob Dylan.
Dylan sang I Threw It All Away and was joined by Cash for a duet of Girl From the North Country from Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album.
The latter performance is available from YouTube:
Cash and Dylan - Girl From The North Country
While Cash was sometimes given to moralizing, frequently referencing his Christian faith, he also brought still-controversial Pete Seeger on his show and defied network censors, refusing to drop the word “stoned” from his rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down.”
The DVDs (especially Disk 1) includes commentary from son John Carter Cash, Kristofferson, Hank Williams, Jr., and others that suffers in comparison to the music. I found myself going to the main menu to use the option of selecting exclusively from the list of songs.
The entire playlist of 66 songs is included below but the standout tracks for me were the Dylan numbers, two performances by Derek and the Dominos (”It’s Too Late” and a version of “Matchbox” featuring Eric Clapton trading verses with Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash, ‘Needle and the Damage Done’ by Neil Young, three songs by an impossibly young Waylon Jennings, and Cash’s duets with Louis Armstrong and Ray Charles.
Johnny Cash and Louis Armstrong - From The Johnny Cash Show
The Official Recommendation
Watching The Johnny Cash Show DVDs is, I can testify, a wonderful way to spend an afternoon in northern Illinois with 5-6 inches of snow falling. While I haven’t tested these DVDs in the full range of locations and meteorologic postconditions, my working hypothesis is that the recorded performances will have the same effect on viewers in all regions of the US, including, for example, Chapel Hill, Kansas City, Las Angeles, New York, and, yes, even Joplin.
Complete Playlist
Disc 1
Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire
Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country
Kris Kristofferson - Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)
Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash - Blue Yodel #9
Stevie Wonder - Heaven Help Us All
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash - I Will Never Marry
George Jones - Medley (White Lightning with Johnny Cash, She Thinks I Still Care, Love Bug, The Race Is On)
Johnny Cash - Hey Porter
Waylon Jennings - Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line
Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash - The Singing Star’s Queen
Waylon Jennings - Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man
Marty Robbins - Medley (Big Iron, Running Gun, El Paso)
Johnny Cash - Come Along And Ride This Train
Johnny Cash - As Long As The Grass Shall Grow
Johnny Cash - Man In Black
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash - Cripple Creek, Worried Man Blues
Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Johnny Cash - Old Time Religion
Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins and The TennesseeThree - Daddy Sang Bass
Mother Maybelle and The Carter Sisters - Wildwood Flower
Neil Young - The Needle And The Damage Done
Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three - Tennessee Flat Top Box
Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash - The Long Black Veil
Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three with Carl Perkins - Big River
Disc 2
Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line
June Carter Cash - A Good Man
Derek And The Dominos - It’s Too Late Derek And The Dominos with Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins - Matchbox
Charley Pride - Able Bodied Man
Bill Monroe And His Blue Grass Boys - Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Loretta Lynn - I Know How
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
Johnny Cash - Ride This Train (America The Beautiful, This Land Is Your Land)
The Everly Brothers with Ike Everly and Johnny and Tommy Cash - That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine
Ray Charles - Ring Of Fire
Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin’
Mother Maybelle Carter - Black Mountain Rag
Tony Joe White and Johnny Cash - Polk Salad Annie
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Neil Diamond - Cracklin’ Rosie
Ray Price - For The Good Times
Roy Orbison - Crying
Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash - Oh, Pretty Woman
Johnny Cash - Wanted Man
Chet Atkins and Johnny Cash - Recuerdo De La Alhambra
Chet Atkins - Medley (Country Gentleman, Mister Sandman, Wildwood Flower, Freight Train)
June Carter Cash with Homer And Jethro - Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Merle Haggard - No Hard Times
Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash - Sing Me Back Home
Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes
Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers - The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago
Roy Clark - Medley (In The Summertime, 12th Street Rag)
The Statler Brothers - Flowers On The Wall
Johnny Cash - Working Man Blues
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash - Jackson, Turn Around, I Love You Because
Hank Williams Jr. - Medley (You Win Again, Cold Cold Heart, I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You, Half As Much)
Johnny Cash - A Wonderful Time Up There
Footnotes
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Tags: Media Mayhem · Music
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