Great to know you’re a Crews fan. I took both his fiction classes at UF in the mid-‘70s and wrote about him for three different publications. Quite a character. And writer!
Thank you for a terrific column. I was never a BeeGees fan but I’ve been a huge Harry Crews enthusiast since stumbling upon The Gypsy’s Curse in the late 70s. It’s good to see his name in theoretical print.
Well, I seem to recall liking that Bee Gees docu better than the lazy "Summer of Soul" at least. Hard to say the Bee Gees are underrated -- so many hits -- but I would suggest they are underappreciated for their artistry, which is significant and spans what four decades. Great lyrics; great production; endless earworms. I wrote a piece about the "Saturday Night Fever" expanded DVD in which someone said the Bee Gees just mailed it in, whatever disco they were doing then. The director, a lovely fellow, called me up and said in fact it was the opposite -- they were heavily involved in the sound and feel of the movie. He was a big fan. For a giggle, check out "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" -- hey, hey, we're the monks.
Surprised about your take on Summer of Soul, which I loved. The Bee Gees were great, and Barry Gibb is still a sought-after producer. But that cut you mentioned is bizarre.
Not to hijack a music column, but you jogged my memory about briefly meeting Crews at Esquire in the 70s… Crazy bastard… I loved his novel about the guy who ate a car piece by piece… As an indication of how long ago that was, and how far my memory has deteriorated, I just now had to Google the title: It’s “Car“… On the music doc front, you mentioned some great ones, including Barry Gibb, and especially Billy Joel, which reminded me of how many great hits he had beyond the superb Stranger and 52nd St albums, which was when I stopped keeping close track… He had an exceptional ear for melody, versatile genres, and evocative lyrics which I dare say were on par with Dylan‘s— I welcome that debate!… Equally captivating were all those biographical details I had only been dimly aware of, particularly how often he got knocked down and kept rising up again… Alas, not the case for Sly Stone, who also had two out-of-this-world albums, and then went down for the count, as his tragic bio doc chronicles … Add to your list the superb Becoming Led Zeppelin doc, which has the added bonus of complete uninterrupted concert performances of iconic songs…
Too much to respond to in one message, but yeah, Billy Joel has an interesting story. Not sure it was worth five hours of my life, but he is (or at least was) exceptionally talented. Didn't have anywhere near the cultural impact of Dylan, who may have a huge ego like Joel's but is able to harness it a lot better.
Fierce commitment is welcome here; bring it! I liked the Sullivan doc okay and learned a lot from it about his work with Black artists. Then it got repetitive. Whatever narrative arc it had got diffused in the second half, and watching became a grind for me. I'll check out Devo, who I know little about.
Great to know you’re a Crews fan. I took both his fiction classes at UF in the mid-‘70s and wrote about him for three different publications. Quite a character. And writer!
Thank you for a terrific column. I was never a BeeGees fan but I’ve been a huge Harry Crews enthusiast since stumbling upon The Gypsy’s Curse in the late 70s. It’s good to see his name in theoretical print.
Well, I seem to recall liking that Bee Gees docu better than the lazy "Summer of Soul" at least. Hard to say the Bee Gees are underrated -- so many hits -- but I would suggest they are underappreciated for their artistry, which is significant and spans what four decades. Great lyrics; great production; endless earworms. I wrote a piece about the "Saturday Night Fever" expanded DVD in which someone said the Bee Gees just mailed it in, whatever disco they were doing then. The director, a lovely fellow, called me up and said in fact it was the opposite -- they were heavily involved in the sound and feel of the movie. He was a big fan. For a giggle, check out "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" -- hey, hey, we're the monks.
Surprised about your take on Summer of Soul, which I loved. The Bee Gees were great, and Barry Gibb is still a sought-after producer. But that cut you mentioned is bizarre.
Barry still does it in concert.
Not to hijack a music column, but you jogged my memory about briefly meeting Crews at Esquire in the 70s… Crazy bastard… I loved his novel about the guy who ate a car piece by piece… As an indication of how long ago that was, and how far my memory has deteriorated, I just now had to Google the title: It’s “Car“… On the music doc front, you mentioned some great ones, including Barry Gibb, and especially Billy Joel, which reminded me of how many great hits he had beyond the superb Stranger and 52nd St albums, which was when I stopped keeping close track… He had an exceptional ear for melody, versatile genres, and evocative lyrics which I dare say were on par with Dylan‘s— I welcome that debate!… Equally captivating were all those biographical details I had only been dimly aware of, particularly how often he got knocked down and kept rising up again… Alas, not the case for Sly Stone, who also had two out-of-this-world albums, and then went down for the count, as his tragic bio doc chronicles … Add to your list the superb Becoming Led Zeppelin doc, which has the added bonus of complete uninterrupted concert performances of iconic songs…
Too much to respond to in one message, but yeah, Billy Joel has an interesting story. Not sure it was worth five hours of my life, but he is (or at least was) exceptionally talented. Didn't have anywhere near the cultural impact of Dylan, who may have a huge ego like Joel's but is able to harness it a lot better.
Good stuff, Eric, and way to go infiltrating that soccer game. Did you dazzle with your skills on the field?
I didn’t embarrass myself too badly. Scored as many goals as Barry.
Fierce commitment is welcome here; bring it! I liked the Sullivan doc okay and learned a lot from it about his work with Black artists. Then it got repetitive. Whatever narrative arc it had got diffused in the second half, and watching became a grind for me. I'll check out Devo, who I know little about.
I remember Jocko Homo, but not getting the eugenics reference.