By E.M. Fredric “People didn’t notice the difficulty of being a woman trailblazing and having the success of a Mick Jagger.” … Cameron Crowe Los Angeles, CA – 09/10/2019 – Music biopics and documentaries have taken center stage over the past few years covering some of the world's greatest legends gone by or the ones of note that still remain. Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocket Man, Leaving Neverland, e.g. and more recently - the wonderful Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool documentary revealing why he was such an angry but prolific musician who changed the course of music by mutating his original style into new sounds that initiated change. Drug addictions ending lives - a sad but common reverb - in the world of music stardom. Then along comes a documentary you'll want to see more than once. I did. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a love letter from directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman who present her for what she was and who she is both yesterday and today. What a ride this documentary takes us on. Vocally she hits every mark from folk, opera, her Mexican roots while singing in Spanish - to rock star who nabbed a Governor along the way and was inducted to the Rock Hall of Fame in 2014. She always kept in mind what her mother said, “Do something with your life.” We are reminded of her ubiquitous light. Ronstadt came from a musical family who played and sang together as a part of their daily lives. Her father loved Mexican music, her mother? Gilbert and Sullivan and her sister was the Country gal while her grandparents loved Opera. There is a poignant scene at the end where she sings along, in Spanish, with her cousin and nephew. Her first and true love was and is music - a relationship Ronstadt has remained committed to even with Parkinson’s robbing her of the vocal abilities she once had. (She quit performing in 2009.) "It's like falling in love," Ronstadt says of her burning need to record the songs that spoke to her and performed them like she was "watching a film." and that "choice doesn't even enter into it." Her eyes reveal a plethora of images as she sings – you feel her emotions. Ronstadt’s humanity and humility strike through, yet at the same time. she’s as ballsy as she’s vulnerable making for one of the most endearing pieces of RockDocs to come along. There’s no pretense. She tells her life story as a young woman and in reflection as the film is made – without remorse or pity – her presence dives into our hearts and soul. Much is missing but then she has accomplished such great heights – it would take many more filmed hours to give her the full dues deserved but the film is not short on accolades. You leave wanting to know and hear more. We get a performing artist in surround sound – the film inhabits every choice she made to dare to venture her voice into different genres. Each time her current record label told her that it would ruin her career. Her answer was always, “I have to sing this.” Then the album would become a hit. Some of her back-up player/singers became the Eagles and she made their song a hit. Desperado by Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Linda Ronstadt recorded and released her version on her album, Don’t Cry Now. In Don Henley’s words, “It was really her that popularized the song. Her version was very poignant and beautiful.” There are so many heavyweights in interviews and archival footage that speak about their experiences with Ronstadt. The men who’ve loved her or still do, the women who became comrades at a time when there were few female rock/pop stars of her stature and then there are those who just admired her for being Linda Ronstadt. The directors present solid evidence on how and why Ronstadt changed the game for “chick singers,” as they were frequently referred to back then. Jackson Browne toured with her and they traded places on who opened the show. Browne says, “Try following Linda Ronstadt after she opens a show.” We see a very real human being without all of the usual trappings associated with being a star of her magnitude. The drug addictions, groupies and fanfare that surround them destroying any sense of reality that they started off with - which she addresses openly. Mention is made of her use of diet pills phase but she's one of the lucky ones. "That destroys them," she says. "It weakens them as people, and eventually weakens them as musicians." She’s our treasure to hold close and admire like the diamond that still shines brightly in this 95-minute documentary. Ronstadt powered 18 Top 40 hits between 1970 and 1987. Ronstadt can’t win enough awards for what she has contributed to music. She even out-swaggered Jagger on his song Tumbling Dice (FM) : What a voice, what a star and more importantly – WHAT A WOMAN! She’s poignant, beautiful, haunting and a resilient force of nature as she is paid some of her dues in this poetically shot/edited homage. To the younger generations who aren't aware of her, this is a must see/hear across the keys of this songster's history. The music scholars will be talking about this film one day and they’ve got a hell of a beginning with her illustrious career. "Linda knew a good song, and she knew why it was good," singer-songwriter J.D. Souther says in one of the film's many admiring interviews. "And better than that, she knew how to sing it better than you could sing it." Yes, she did. Playing in limited theatres across the city.
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By E.M. Fredric HOLLYWOOD, CA - 05/23/2019 – A&E’s Biography segment – Biography: Chris Farley – Anything for a Laugh trails the short life of the beloved comedian/actor Chris Farley. It will air as a two-hour special this Monday, May 27th at 9PM ET/PT. Biography Chris Farley Trailer If you’re a Farley fan – there’s nothing really new revealed about him – yet the intercut of personal photos, videos with featured new interviews with his brothers and John Goodman, Al Franken, Kevin Nealon, Tom Arnold, Bobby Moynihan, Joel Murray, Kevin Farley, Brian Stack, Holly Wortell and Fred Wolf certainly makes the show worth watching and it’s entertaining. The special winds through Farley’s childhood with his family and his meteoric rise through the Chicago sketch and comedy scene as the new “funny fat guy” at IO and Second City before getting his big break with SNL (Saturday Night Live) after Lorne Michaels saw his work, live. If you’re not a Farley fan, it’s not going to change your mind but it’s a decent look at how the world of comedy works in replacing its former dead stars or icons. John Belushi is mentioned a lot and was Farley’s idol. He died of an overdose and at the same age, 33 as Belushi. The cocaine and heroin binge stopped suddenly as late, great John Belushi did, bringing into focus the real tragedy. He didn’t need to die – as so many stories of talented artists – who died too young – are the subject matter of another ongoing series. The coroner at the time stated that Farley was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 296 pounds at the time of his death. The Farley brothers warm the embers and give a true face to the sibling that they love and miss, while we’re reminded again, of the devastation friends, family and fans feel when a beloved dies so quickly. Who could’ve helped? Who didn’t help enough or shoulda, coulda, woulda? No one really has that answer when it comes to addiction and the excess afforded to a vibrant, funny young man who had everything going for him except for that huge monkey he let onto his back – along with the insecurities that were magnified by feeding that monkey. A vicious cycle. Farley was no stranger to rehabs and was fired from SNL with a year left on his contract. Recently, Adam Sandler paid tribute to his friend and fellow cast mate in the below video with a song in which he sings, “he was a one-man party…” It’s in watching Farley with David Spade, the chemistry between the two – that the duo stand out as dynamic comedic gold. In a scene Farley asks if he looks too fat and Spade slaps his cheeks and dryly tells him, just his face does. Spade didn’t come to his friend’s funeral and you feel why. It just hurt too much. And it does.
It hurts too damned much to watch someone that you love killing himself in front of you – especially when you’ve done all you can to prevent that finality. Or question if you could’ve done more. You see it happening, know the call will come and you’re as powerless over the outcome as the person who is so deeply in love with and addicted to alcohol, drugs, fame – all of it. A sad tale that happens over and over with a different name as a new face appears to begin the cycle over again and leave behind the many who carry the hurt of a devastating loss. We always remember the good times, so often forget the bad or make excuses. The special left me with one thought: Be careful of who you hold up as your idols or gods – being like them doesn’t mean you need to become them. A lesson learned too often – too late. Hindsight isn’t always 20-20 or a gift. Adam Sandler Tribute to Chris Farley |
AuthorI could live in a movie theatre or any theatre for that matter. Great vacations they provide us. I've been fortunate to be ibe a part of some wonderful projects and even created some worlds of my own. ArchivesCategories |