I first heard about Manny Farber while reading David Thomson's excellent NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FILM (see review under "Movie-ing 2," below). Thomson described Farber as a longtime movie critic who never liked anything much, and was well known for his crankiness.
Hey, a grumpy old guy who spent years finding faults in lots of classic old movies? Sounded like this was right up my street. I wondered why I'd never heard of Farber before.
Now I know why. Because I grabbed FARBER ON FILM (2009/2016), a complete collection of Farber's movie reviews from the early '40s through the late '70s.
Man, was he grumpy.
Farber started writing movie reviews for magazines like THE NATION and THE NEW REPUBLIC, then moved to CAVALIER in the mid-'60s, and later wrote for FILM COMMENT and ARTFORUM. And though he occasionally admits to liking or admiring some aspect of a movie, most of the time he picks stuff apart, or gives one paragraph of attention to movies you've actually heard of.
I didn't realize there was going to be 800 pages of this. But I got through a huge book of Graham Greene's writing on movies awhile back, so I figured I could handle this, too. And I thought seeing lots of old movies through the eyes of an old grump might be amusing.
And I was wrong. I got about 150 pages in before I started skimming, then skipping around. There may be some hidden gems in there somewhere, but I doubt it. Farber hits a real low point in the late '60s -- hey, it was a bad time for movies -- but he comes back to life briefly in the mid-'70s, just in time for a whole new generation of filmmakers. Most of whom he doesn't like. Also just in time to retire to become a teacher (on film studies) and a painter. He died in 2008.
Farber wrote like a college professor. He knew a lot, but it's often really technical, or it's really dry.
He seemed to get very little joy out of his work. Even when Pauline Kael was reviewing a really bad movie, at least she got something out of it so you could sympathize with her suffering. Manny just grinds it out, like he started out tired.
He didn't like CASABLANCA, for instance. He called it hokum. It was -- a big dish of wartime feel-good hokum. But how sour would you have to be not to enjoy it? Not to enjoy Bogart saying almost everything you ever wanted to hear him say in a movie? Or Claude Rains when he says "I'm shocked -- SHOCKED, I tell you -- that there's GAMBLING going on in this establishment!" What kind of clod couldn't enjoy that?
Farber hardly ever cracks a joke, unless it's to make fun of someone's name -- pretty much the lowest of the low when it comes to humor. He doesn't ever seem to be enjoying himself much -- though he DID seem to like putting together lists of REALLY BAD movies. Maybe he just SAW too many REALLY BAD movies.
Even in the late '60s and early '70s, he was still complaining. He grudgingly admits to admiring some parts of EASY RIDER and THE WILD BUNCH. He enjoys Marty Scorsese's work, first MEAN STREETS, then he goes on for pages about TAXI DRIVER. (Is this why there's a laudatory quote from Scorsese on the back of the book?) But by late 1975 he's already got a grudge against Steven Spielberg.
For years I've wanted to see a book called something like THE COMMON MAN'S GUIDE TO MOVIES -- what an educated non-film-expert thinks of a batch of movies, without getting into all the critical theories and biases that even Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert got sucked into.
This is not that book. And unless you like hearing someone complain for hours on end, it ain't worth $30.
Showing posts with label movie reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie reviews. Show all posts
Friday, March 11, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Sell, sell, sell!
Money got tight, so on Monday I took four boxes of books and music to Half-Price Books in Tacoma. They took half the stuff I'd packed up and gave me $100, which I thought was pretty fair. I've got a little breathing room in my checking account now.
It's hard to predict what they will and won't take. I swore before I made the trip that I wouldn't sell anything I had an emotional attachment to -- no music that I'd miss later because it wouldn't be around to remind me of old friends, old times, good times.
After all that soul-searching, Half Price only took a little bit of the vinyl. I'm stumped on why they took ELO but left ELP, took a Can best-of (which you'd think would have fairly limited appeal, nothing personal) but left English-import albums by Caravan, Camel and Gentle Giant. They took The Headboys, but left Squeeze and The Jam. They took Heart, but left CCR and John Fogerty. They took the Dixie Dregs, but left a King Crimson best-of. They took almost all the travel-writing I couldn't get into last fall, but left short-story collections by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg
They took almost all the CD's. They took ALL the rockstar memoirs I've given bad reviews to over the last month.
Not that I'm complaining. A year ago they paid me $160 for a pile of what I thought was mostly pretty dire stuff. So it all balances out.
Naturally, I didn't come home empty-handed. I grabbed a new edition of THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ, which I first fell in love with when I grabbed a previous edition at Half-Price back in 2008. This new version is -- good God! -- TWICE as big as the old edition. And I'm sure there's more great criticism and more hilarious jokes.
I grabbed science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick's EXEGESIS and have already started it. It's a monster. On Page 21, he takes a pretty good shot at describing what happened to him back in early 1974, when he started seeing funny colored lights and started dreaming in Greek. At first he thinks it's some ancient Greek trying to communicate with him. Then he thinks it's his late friend Episcopal Bishop Jim Pike trying to communicate from The Other Side. Then Dick thinks he might have been contacted by some Vast Autonomous Living Intelligence System transmitting from space. And all through it, he's cracking jokes.
God knows if I'll finish it. I've already started skimming and skipping things. But what a story.
I hit the Clearance section and brought home Joe Queenan's CONFESSIONS OF A CINEPLEX HECKLER (2000), a couple dozen articles about movies, only $2. Queenan writes for MOVIELINE magazine.
These aren't really movie reviews -- well, a couple are, and one's a brief book review of a Hollywood producer's memoir. The rest are silly articles about films and some of the BS around them -- how Hollywood presents views of life that have nothing to do with reality; how many ears have been severed in a decade of Hollywood films; how many Merchant-Ivory movies can Queenan watch before his brain turns to Swiss cheese, etc.
In two pieces entitled "Don't Try This at Home," Queenan proves some things done in movies simply can't be done in reality. He dunks himself in cold Atlantic waters to prove Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't have done a five-minute monologue near the end of TITANIC -- he would've been dead in two minutes. (Queenan lasts less than 30 seconds.)
But Queenan IS able to walk through busy Manhattan traffic while wearing dark glasses and pretending to be blind, like Al Pacino did in SCENT OF A WOMAN. Taxis don't run over Queenan -- possibly a first for NYC.
I don't recommend reading this book in one sitting, like I basically did. Though it's funny, the humor tends to wear out. Queenan tends to pick on the same movies over and over, and his stories tend to repeat themselves in structure and punch lines. So read one essay a day for the next few weeks and you'll be happier than I was. I wish the book had been funnier.
But for $2, I'm not complaining.
It's hard to predict what they will and won't take. I swore before I made the trip that I wouldn't sell anything I had an emotional attachment to -- no music that I'd miss later because it wouldn't be around to remind me of old friends, old times, good times.
After all that soul-searching, Half Price only took a little bit of the vinyl. I'm stumped on why they took ELO but left ELP, took a Can best-of (which you'd think would have fairly limited appeal, nothing personal) but left English-import albums by Caravan, Camel and Gentle Giant. They took The Headboys, but left Squeeze and The Jam. They took Heart, but left CCR and John Fogerty. They took the Dixie Dregs, but left a King Crimson best-of. They took almost all the travel-writing I couldn't get into last fall, but left short-story collections by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg
They took almost all the CD's. They took ALL the rockstar memoirs I've given bad reviews to over the last month.
Not that I'm complaining. A year ago they paid me $160 for a pile of what I thought was mostly pretty dire stuff. So it all balances out.
Naturally, I didn't come home empty-handed. I grabbed a new edition of THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ, which I first fell in love with when I grabbed a previous edition at Half-Price back in 2008. This new version is -- good God! -- TWICE as big as the old edition. And I'm sure there's more great criticism and more hilarious jokes.
I grabbed science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick's EXEGESIS and have already started it. It's a monster. On Page 21, he takes a pretty good shot at describing what happened to him back in early 1974, when he started seeing funny colored lights and started dreaming in Greek. At first he thinks it's some ancient Greek trying to communicate with him. Then he thinks it's his late friend Episcopal Bishop Jim Pike trying to communicate from The Other Side. Then Dick thinks he might have been contacted by some Vast Autonomous Living Intelligence System transmitting from space. And all through it, he's cracking jokes.
God knows if I'll finish it. I've already started skimming and skipping things. But what a story.
I hit the Clearance section and brought home Joe Queenan's CONFESSIONS OF A CINEPLEX HECKLER (2000), a couple dozen articles about movies, only $2. Queenan writes for MOVIELINE magazine.
These aren't really movie reviews -- well, a couple are, and one's a brief book review of a Hollywood producer's memoir. The rest are silly articles about films and some of the BS around them -- how Hollywood presents views of life that have nothing to do with reality; how many ears have been severed in a decade of Hollywood films; how many Merchant-Ivory movies can Queenan watch before his brain turns to Swiss cheese, etc.
In two pieces entitled "Don't Try This at Home," Queenan proves some things done in movies simply can't be done in reality. He dunks himself in cold Atlantic waters to prove Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't have done a five-minute monologue near the end of TITANIC -- he would've been dead in two minutes. (Queenan lasts less than 30 seconds.)
But Queenan IS able to walk through busy Manhattan traffic while wearing dark glasses and pretending to be blind, like Al Pacino did in SCENT OF A WOMAN. Taxis don't run over Queenan -- possibly a first for NYC.
I don't recommend reading this book in one sitting, like I basically did. Though it's funny, the humor tends to wear out. Queenan tends to pick on the same movies over and over, and his stories tend to repeat themselves in structure and punch lines. So read one essay a day for the next few weeks and you'll be happier than I was. I wish the book had been funnier.
But for $2, I'm not complaining.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Update 10
Hey there y'all. Tooka coupla days off, hung out w/ the girlfriend & watched silly movies.
Also saw ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, an impressionistic '60s history connected by re-made Beatles songs (not unlike MAMMA MIA, tho MAMMA MIA was totally lite & silly, & ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is a lot darker in places). It was pretty good, & summa the remakes were really Xcellent. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" made a BEAUTIFUL wistful, longing love ballad. & "With a Little Help From My Friends" made perfect sense as a lads' singalong. Especially liked the nod 2 Joe Cocker's cover-version of the song at the Nd of it. "Let it Be" was pretty moving, 2. Summa the other early Beatles tunes I don't know 2 well also worked really good: "Hold Me Tight" & "It Won't Be Long."
Summa the later songs don't work as well, coming off as mere cover versions rather than re-interpretations. Bono's version of "I Am the Walrus" doesn't quite work, but I think U gotta B REAL brave 2 sing that song these days -- still think David Bowie could do a great version of it.
But: Joe Cocker has a nice cameo during "Come Together," & Eddie Izzard is HILARIOUS doing "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" The 2-disc DVD includes 2 outtakes of this song, & both outtakes R just as hysterical as the take they used in the movie....
So overall, worth Cing, & summa the remakes R quite Xcellent.
SOMEDAY fairly soon I'll B hitting the used book & record store w/ summa the stuff I've accumulated here over the past coupla yrs (like a lotta music I just CAN'T HEAR) & I'll C if there's something new (2 me) out there I can trip over. I'll keep ya posted.
Thanx 4 voting in the Strange Music poll -- there's still plenty of time 4 U 2 make yr vote count -- & so far my Iowa buddy Crabby is the only guy who wantsta join OGRENET. I'm kinda bummed....
More soon! -- TAD.
Also saw ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, an impressionistic '60s history connected by re-made Beatles songs (not unlike MAMMA MIA, tho MAMMA MIA was totally lite & silly, & ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is a lot darker in places). It was pretty good, & summa the remakes were really Xcellent. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" made a BEAUTIFUL wistful, longing love ballad. & "With a Little Help From My Friends" made perfect sense as a lads' singalong. Especially liked the nod 2 Joe Cocker's cover-version of the song at the Nd of it. "Let it Be" was pretty moving, 2. Summa the other early Beatles tunes I don't know 2 well also worked really good: "Hold Me Tight" & "It Won't Be Long."
Summa the later songs don't work as well, coming off as mere cover versions rather than re-interpretations. Bono's version of "I Am the Walrus" doesn't quite work, but I think U gotta B REAL brave 2 sing that song these days -- still think David Bowie could do a great version of it.
But: Joe Cocker has a nice cameo during "Come Together," & Eddie Izzard is HILARIOUS doing "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" The 2-disc DVD includes 2 outtakes of this song, & both outtakes R just as hysterical as the take they used in the movie....
So overall, worth Cing, & summa the remakes R quite Xcellent.
SOMEDAY fairly soon I'll B hitting the used book & record store w/ summa the stuff I've accumulated here over the past coupla yrs (like a lotta music I just CAN'T HEAR) & I'll C if there's something new (2 me) out there I can trip over. I'll keep ya posted.
Thanx 4 voting in the Strange Music poll -- there's still plenty of time 4 U 2 make yr vote count -- & so far my Iowa buddy Crabby is the only guy who wantsta join OGRENET. I'm kinda bummed....
More soon! -- TAD.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Update 8
Needed a break from work. Took a coupla days off, hung out w/ the girlfriend & watched silly movies. Also saw Michael Jackson's concert-documentary THIS IS IT, which wasn't silly at all. It was actually pretty great, & I was never even that big a fan.
The documentary shows MJ preparing 4 the series of concerts he was scheduled 2 do B4 his sudden death last summer -- & the man shown on stage in the movie is not at all the flighty-voiced reclusive weirdo we'd Cn Dpicted in the media over the past 20 yrs. Makes me wonder if the media was snowing us 4 all those yrs....
Thruout the movie, MJ is down-2-Earth, involved, sure of what he wants, committed -- very clearly THERE. He helps pick out some of the dancers 4 the show, talks over w/ his backing band how 2 get the sounds he wants. He is unfailingly direct. He was IN2 it, not at all hesitant or shy or ... odd. He was perhaps just a touch thin -- but then, he always was.
& almost all the songs sound great, even the 1's I never liked much. "Beat It" & "Thriller" both sound amazing. Even "Billie Jean" sounds pretty good, & I never liked it much. "Human Nature" was a suprise 4 me. The only songs that R weak R 2 early Jackson 5 hits, "I Want You Back" & "The Love You Save," both of which MJ takes 2 fast -- but he follows them w/ an Xcellent rendition of "I'll Be There."
& even if he's only per4ming at about 50% -- sevral times he tells the crew he's trying 2 conserve his voice 4 the real concerts -- MJ is still pretty riveting 2 watch, even tho he drops lines of songs, even tho mayB his moves Rn't quite as sharp as they 1nce were -- I couldn't tell the diffrence. It doesn't matter.
& whatta backing band he had, including an amazing guitarist & a great drummer -- & their names were all new 2 me.
I guess we're lucky the rehearsals were videotaped 4 MJ's use. The rehearsals + the Bhind-the-scenes documentaries R pretty impressive. Moving, even. U might wanna check this out, especially if U were a fan....
...Fri aft I played the 1st 4 trax on Can's 2-CD ANTHOLOGY, & liked them -- especially the rhythmic propulsiveness of most of it -- made even a spazz like me wanna get up & bounce around the room. If the collection had opened w/ "Soup" (in which I SWEAR at 1 point Michael Karoli takes a chainsaw 2 his guitar), I mighta switched the thing off & never have gotten NE farther. But Bcos the assemblers softened me up w/ the hypnotic opener "Father Cannot Yell," by the time I got 2 the chainsaw-cutting part I just laffed. I especially liked the twisted gtr & the hypnotic drumming -- so, Jaki Liebezeit got his mesmerizing drum rhythms from some forbidden voodoo ceremony? Hey, I Blieve it. & how 'bout Leon Muraglia's cheerfully perverse liner notes? (He Dscibes the pieces assembled on Can's SOUNDTRACKS as "Surprisingly whistleable and song-based." Yeah, right....)
I have yet 2 hear more than the opening of "Mushroom," or NE of "Halleluwah," "Aumgn," "Yoo Doo Right" or NE of Can's other supposed masterworks, but I'll B listening 2 more of this package SOON & I'll give U a full report here.
So far, w/ me learning about Van der Graaf Generator & now Can, 2010 is already a pretty good music year 4 me.
I'm also kicking myself, cos back in my record-store daze we had all of Can's middle-period albums available in the cutout bins 4 $3.99 or less -- FUTURE DAYS, EGE BAMYASI, SOON OVER BABALUMA. I always wanted 2 check them out. & in 1990 I remember reading a review by Dave DiMartino (I think) in the pgs of the old MUSICIAN magazine, RAVING about how great, influential & overlooked Can was. & it STILL took me 20 yrs 2 look in2 them. Why? Probly Bcos if I'd tried NE earlier I wouldn't have bn able 2 HEAR them. So far, I'm impressed.
...I can also report that Van Morrison's STILL ON TOP -- THE GREATEST HITS has probly everything by Van U'd ever wanna hear Xcept 4 "Caravan," "Cypress Avenue," "Madame George," "Almost Independence Day".... I can also report that "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," "Wild Night" & "Into the Mystic" all still sound great. & I plan 2 investigate "Listen to the Lion," "St. Dominic's Preview," "Wavelength" & others real soon now....
THE ULTIMATE PROG ROCK BOOK ... has yet 2 B written. I've read a coupla attempts at a Prog history/overview, neither of which were stunning. Now I'm trying 2 get thru Jim DeRogatis's KALEIDOSCOPE EYES, which covers summa the same ground, psychedelic & associated mind-Xpanding music from the '60s 2 the '90s.
But tho there R good things in it -- a nice overview of Krautrock, a brief tho intresting history of Can, LOTS on Brian Eno, pretty good work on XTC, Wire, Hawkwind, Incredible String Band, Love, Captain Beefheart & others -- & some revealing stuff, like a brief interview w/ Phil Collins & Tony Banks that indicates there were some rather heavy self-imposed restrictions on later Genesis & that Banks wasn't real happy w/ them or the slim chance of ever doing NEthing as adventurous as their Peter Gabriel-era work again....
Dspite this, the book is frustrating. DeRogatis's Standard Rock Critic Attitude pisses me off. Tho he devotes a lotta space 2 Beatles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett & some other critically-acceptable oddballs, a lotta folks who qualify as psychedelic he has no use 4 -- Jefferson Airplane, Doors, Grateful Dead. Hendrix gets some space. I was also suprised 2 C Parliament/Funkadelic here.
But his attitude toward Art Rock really makes me crazy. No book on psychedelic rock can get by w/o trying 2 make some kinda sense outta Gong. DeRogatis doesn't bother. & tho I agree w/ his opinion of the 1st King Crimson album, he ignores everything else they did. Genesis, Yes, ELP, Moody Blues, Gentle Giant, Tangerine Dream & others R mentioned, but usually that's about all. His verdict: "Art Rock's legacy as a Bad Trip is ultimately well deserved."
No. If you're gonna cover the territory, U should COVER IT.
The Ultimate Prog Rock Book should include both history & reviews of the music, should try 2 cover the territory, & squeeze in as many acts as possible -- from the Moodies & Pink Floyd & King Crimson 2 Yes, Genesis, ELP, Hatfield and the North & National Health & Soft Machine & Matching Mole, 2 Kansas & Happy the Man (& possibly even Styx, & Jefferson Airplane/Starship's science-fiction chorales), David Sancious 2 Jade Warrior, Camel 2 Van der Graaf, Rare Bird 2 Nektar, Kevin Ayers & Robert Wyatt 2 Peter Hammill, 2 Os Mutantes & Wigwam, Marillion & IQ & all that newer stuff I haven't heard, like the Mars Volta. (Does Coheed & Cambria qualify? I think they do, & at least it's some kinda prog from the 2000's that I've actually heard some of.)
How 'bout Pete Townshend's rock operas & Xperiments? Absolutely. I'd rather have the category 2 open than 2 narrow. The Pretty Things' S.F. SORROW, PARACHUTE & EMOTIONS? U betcha. PET SOUNDS? Of course.
So why isn't there a book (yet) open enuf 2 cover all this stuff? There's gotta B enuf prog & weird-music fans around who'd buy an authoritative guide if 1 were available. I think the folks at the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock (http://www.gepr.net/bandlist.html) could do a helluva job -- & mayB they have already & I just haven't found it yet. They've got the info & the knowledge, already 2gether in 1 space -- but U may not B able 2 haul the whole website w/ U next time U hit the used record store....
4 me, the next best thing so far is the ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO ROCK, even tho I don't agree w/ all their opinions & ratings, & even tho they have their share of errors & blank spots. They also have enuf space 2 treat off-the-wall musical acts w/ some depth. & some of the writing is pretty great.
Course the kinda book I want would probly B at least 1/2 as long as the ALL MUSIC GUIDE, & would probly havta B in the same tiny type.
But if there's something that's a close 2nd out there that y'all know about, please clue me in & I'll check it out....
Either that or I'm gonna havta write it myself. & that could B a rest-of-my-life project....
The documentary shows MJ preparing 4 the series of concerts he was scheduled 2 do B4 his sudden death last summer -- & the man shown on stage in the movie is not at all the flighty-voiced reclusive weirdo we'd Cn Dpicted in the media over the past 20 yrs. Makes me wonder if the media was snowing us 4 all those yrs....
Thruout the movie, MJ is down-2-Earth, involved, sure of what he wants, committed -- very clearly THERE. He helps pick out some of the dancers 4 the show, talks over w/ his backing band how 2 get the sounds he wants. He is unfailingly direct. He was IN2 it, not at all hesitant or shy or ... odd. He was perhaps just a touch thin -- but then, he always was.
& almost all the songs sound great, even the 1's I never liked much. "Beat It" & "Thriller" both sound amazing. Even "Billie Jean" sounds pretty good, & I never liked it much. "Human Nature" was a suprise 4 me. The only songs that R weak R 2 early Jackson 5 hits, "I Want You Back" & "The Love You Save," both of which MJ takes 2 fast -- but he follows them w/ an Xcellent rendition of "I'll Be There."
& even if he's only per4ming at about 50% -- sevral times he tells the crew he's trying 2 conserve his voice 4 the real concerts -- MJ is still pretty riveting 2 watch, even tho he drops lines of songs, even tho mayB his moves Rn't quite as sharp as they 1nce were -- I couldn't tell the diffrence. It doesn't matter.
& whatta backing band he had, including an amazing guitarist & a great drummer -- & their names were all new 2 me.
I guess we're lucky the rehearsals were videotaped 4 MJ's use. The rehearsals + the Bhind-the-scenes documentaries R pretty impressive. Moving, even. U might wanna check this out, especially if U were a fan....
...Fri aft I played the 1st 4 trax on Can's 2-CD ANTHOLOGY, & liked them -- especially the rhythmic propulsiveness of most of it -- made even a spazz like me wanna get up & bounce around the room. If the collection had opened w/ "Soup" (in which I SWEAR at 1 point Michael Karoli takes a chainsaw 2 his guitar), I mighta switched the thing off & never have gotten NE farther. But Bcos the assemblers softened me up w/ the hypnotic opener "Father Cannot Yell," by the time I got 2 the chainsaw-cutting part I just laffed. I especially liked the twisted gtr & the hypnotic drumming -- so, Jaki Liebezeit got his mesmerizing drum rhythms from some forbidden voodoo ceremony? Hey, I Blieve it. & how 'bout Leon Muraglia's cheerfully perverse liner notes? (He Dscibes the pieces assembled on Can's SOUNDTRACKS as "Surprisingly whistleable and song-based." Yeah, right....)
I have yet 2 hear more than the opening of "Mushroom," or NE of "Halleluwah," "Aumgn," "Yoo Doo Right" or NE of Can's other supposed masterworks, but I'll B listening 2 more of this package SOON & I'll give U a full report here.
So far, w/ me learning about Van der Graaf Generator & now Can, 2010 is already a pretty good music year 4 me.
I'm also kicking myself, cos back in my record-store daze we had all of Can's middle-period albums available in the cutout bins 4 $3.99 or less -- FUTURE DAYS, EGE BAMYASI, SOON OVER BABALUMA. I always wanted 2 check them out. & in 1990 I remember reading a review by Dave DiMartino (I think) in the pgs of the old MUSICIAN magazine, RAVING about how great, influential & overlooked Can was. & it STILL took me 20 yrs 2 look in2 them. Why? Probly Bcos if I'd tried NE earlier I wouldn't have bn able 2 HEAR them. So far, I'm impressed.
...I can also report that Van Morrison's STILL ON TOP -- THE GREATEST HITS has probly everything by Van U'd ever wanna hear Xcept 4 "Caravan," "Cypress Avenue," "Madame George," "Almost Independence Day".... I can also report that "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," "Wild Night" & "Into the Mystic" all still sound great. & I plan 2 investigate "Listen to the Lion," "St. Dominic's Preview," "Wavelength" & others real soon now....
THE ULTIMATE PROG ROCK BOOK ... has yet 2 B written. I've read a coupla attempts at a Prog history/overview, neither of which were stunning. Now I'm trying 2 get thru Jim DeRogatis's KALEIDOSCOPE EYES, which covers summa the same ground, psychedelic & associated mind-Xpanding music from the '60s 2 the '90s.
But tho there R good things in it -- a nice overview of Krautrock, a brief tho intresting history of Can, LOTS on Brian Eno, pretty good work on XTC, Wire, Hawkwind, Incredible String Band, Love, Captain Beefheart & others -- & some revealing stuff, like a brief interview w/ Phil Collins & Tony Banks that indicates there were some rather heavy self-imposed restrictions on later Genesis & that Banks wasn't real happy w/ them or the slim chance of ever doing NEthing as adventurous as their Peter Gabriel-era work again....
Dspite this, the book is frustrating. DeRogatis's Standard Rock Critic Attitude pisses me off. Tho he devotes a lotta space 2 Beatles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett & some other critically-acceptable oddballs, a lotta folks who qualify as psychedelic he has no use 4 -- Jefferson Airplane, Doors, Grateful Dead. Hendrix gets some space. I was also suprised 2 C Parliament/Funkadelic here.
But his attitude toward Art Rock really makes me crazy. No book on psychedelic rock can get by w/o trying 2 make some kinda sense outta Gong. DeRogatis doesn't bother. & tho I agree w/ his opinion of the 1st King Crimson album, he ignores everything else they did. Genesis, Yes, ELP, Moody Blues, Gentle Giant, Tangerine Dream & others R mentioned, but usually that's about all. His verdict: "Art Rock's legacy as a Bad Trip is ultimately well deserved."
No. If you're gonna cover the territory, U should COVER IT.
The Ultimate Prog Rock Book should include both history & reviews of the music, should try 2 cover the territory, & squeeze in as many acts as possible -- from the Moodies & Pink Floyd & King Crimson 2 Yes, Genesis, ELP, Hatfield and the North & National Health & Soft Machine & Matching Mole, 2 Kansas & Happy the Man (& possibly even Styx, & Jefferson Airplane/Starship's science-fiction chorales), David Sancious 2 Jade Warrior, Camel 2 Van der Graaf, Rare Bird 2 Nektar, Kevin Ayers & Robert Wyatt 2 Peter Hammill, 2 Os Mutantes & Wigwam, Marillion & IQ & all that newer stuff I haven't heard, like the Mars Volta. (Does Coheed & Cambria qualify? I think they do, & at least it's some kinda prog from the 2000's that I've actually heard some of.)
How 'bout Pete Townshend's rock operas & Xperiments? Absolutely. I'd rather have the category 2 open than 2 narrow. The Pretty Things' S.F. SORROW, PARACHUTE & EMOTIONS? U betcha. PET SOUNDS? Of course.
So why isn't there a book (yet) open enuf 2 cover all this stuff? There's gotta B enuf prog & weird-music fans around who'd buy an authoritative guide if 1 were available. I think the folks at the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock (http://www.gepr.net/bandlist.html) could do a helluva job -- & mayB they have already & I just haven't found it yet. They've got the info & the knowledge, already 2gether in 1 space -- but U may not B able 2 haul the whole website w/ U next time U hit the used record store....
4 me, the next best thing so far is the ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO ROCK, even tho I don't agree w/ all their opinions & ratings, & even tho they have their share of errors & blank spots. They also have enuf space 2 treat off-the-wall musical acts w/ some depth. & some of the writing is pretty great.
Course the kinda book I want would probly B at least 1/2 as long as the ALL MUSIC GUIDE, & would probly havta B in the same tiny type.
But if there's something that's a close 2nd out there that y'all know about, please clue me in & I'll check it out....
Either that or I'm gonna havta write it myself. & that could B a rest-of-my-life project....
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