D-Day Flays Open the Soul

normandy invasion
On June 6 in 1944, during World War II, around 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces crossed the English Channel and landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of Normandy, France. The deadly fight of D-Day thus began the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi dominance. By late August of that year, northern France would be liberated and the Allies would defeat the Germans the following spring.

One of the most famous depictions of D-Day occurred in Saving Private Ryan (1998), when the movie opened as the Allies arrive and land on Omaha Beach. The movie tries to capture the horrific and deadly chaos that the soldiers experienced as they made the historic landing.

Recently, CBS Sunday Morning featured a story about the Normandy invasion and some of its dark sides. The piece discusses the destruction of France and, as in almost any endeavor involving a large number of people, notes that some of the soldiers did not act honorably. [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available.]

Of course, the bad acts do not diminish the importance of the victory over the Nazis or the heroism of many others, but we should remember all aspects of the story to understand history. As Rick Atkinson, author of The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, notes near the end of the video, “war really flays open the soul.”

Many brave souls rose to the occasion after being thrust in a dangerous situation, but some later showed they were not perfect. So on this anniversary of D-Day, we celebrate the victories but also remember the many types of losses that are inevitable when humans go to war.

What will you do to remember D-Day? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Marty Brown is an “Undiscovered Treasure” on America’s Got Talent

    Marty Brown Make You Feel My Love

    Regular readers know that Chimesfreedom is a big Marty Brown fan, with previous posts covering his “lost career,” his recent albums he recorded on his own, and recent videos of an original and a George Jones tribute. Hopefully, tonight was another step in his comeback when he appeared on the first episode of season eight of America’s Got Talent singing Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” (a song we covered previously too).

    The audience reaction gives away the result before any of the judges say a word. Unlike another former rising country star Julie Roberts who failed to win over any of the judges on The Voice this season, Marty Brown is moving on. Howard Stern called Brown an “undiscovered treasure,” but we have known he is a treasure for decades. And we are thrilled he is getting the attention he deserves.

    We also saw how Brown’s wife Shellie Brown tricked him into appearing on the show. Marty is lucky to have the support of Shellie, who has given us previous reports on Marty’s comeback. We wish them both well in the next round on America’s Got Talent, although regardless of what happens, we hope some music executives saw tonight’s show.

    In the excellent baseball documentary The Glory of Their Times (1977), someone once described seeing Babe Ruth when he was a pitcher before he played for the Yankees. After giving a glowing account of the Babe’s arm, the listener paused and then replied, “Wait until you see him hit.” After the judges tonight praised Brown’s cover of the Dylan song, I wanted to say, “Wait until you hear him sing his own songs.”

    Knock it out of the park Marty and Shellie.

    [September 2013 Update: For our recap of Marty Brown’s entire run and all his appearances on America’s Got Talent, check out our post The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown.]

    What did you think of Marty Brown’s performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Johnny Cash Concert With Glen Sherley Behind Prison Walls

    Johnny Cash Tennessee State Prison

    In 1976, Johnny Cash performed in “A Concert Behind Prison Walls” at the Tennessee State Prison. The video of the full Johnny Cash performance was released as A Flower Out of Place, also featuring performances by Linda Ronstadt, Roy Clark, and Foster Brooks. [May 2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available for embedding but you may watch it at this link at iconcerts.]

    The Tennessee Prison show was hosted by Glen Sherley who also performed, but the video omits him and he is not listed as a performer on the 2003 CD release of the show. It is possible he was cut from the release because he was the least known performer. But the film editors may have omitted him because by the time the show was released, Sherley had come to a sad end.

    Cash met Sherley when Sherley was at Folsom Prison for armed robbery. Sherley, who had been in and out of prisons for much of his life, wrote the song “Greystone Chapel” while at Folsom. After Johnny Cash heard a tape of the song, he surprised Sherley by performing the song at his famous 1968 concert at Folsom Prison with Sherley in the audience. With some help from Cash, Sherley had a brief music career when he left prison, but he struggled to adapt to life outside prison bars and to his new fame. Sherley eventually fell back into drug abuse and shot himself to death in May 1978 at the age of 42.

    Here is a video of Sherley performing his song “Greystone Chapel.” The performance appears to have been at the same Tennessee State Prison show, which would have been about two years before his death.

    A movie about Glen Sherley may be in the works with actor Thomas Jane playing Sherley. Jane has been talking about making the film with different possible directors since at least 2009, but as recently as 2012, he was still searching for a studio. Its current status is unclear.

    Sherley’s life has the potential to be a great movie, but nobody would believe it.

    What is your favorite Johnny Cash song in the video? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Astronauts on Space

    In an upcoming short film, Continuum, Planetery Collective interviews former astronauts who reflect on their unique experiences traveling to space and returning to earth. Check out this overview of the film.



    What do you think of the video? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “Paul Williams Still Alive” (Missed Movies)

    Paul Williams Still Alive If you grew up in the 1970s, you could not have missed singer-songwriter-actor-showman Paul Williams. He was everywhere. Williams wrote songs like “We’ve Only Just Begun,” the Oscar-winning “Evergreen” (co-written with Barbra Streisand), the theme to Love Boat, and the Muppet classic “Rainbow Connection.” He also wrote one of the first 45 rpm singles I bought as a kid, Three Dog Night’s “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song.” He appeared in movies like Smokey and The Bandit (1977) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).

    Additionally, Paul Williams was a regular on Johnny Carson’s late night show and appeared on many other TV shows like The Muppets. And, just as suddenly as he came into our lives and dominated TV, movies, and radio, he disappeared.

    Director Stephen Kessler was a big fan of Williams as a child, and like many of us decades later, wondered what had happened to Williams and assumed he was dead. So he tracked down the singer, who was still touring in small venues, and began a documentary, Paul Williams Still Alive (2011).

    The movie is not a straight-up documentary about the career of Paul Williams, as Kessler ends up being a part of the story of the film. Surprisingly for someone who was everywhere in popular culture at one time, Williams does not seem to embrace being in what is in some ways a modern reality show, with cameras following him every place he goes.

    Williams is also somewhat resistant to analyzing his own life in front of the camera, putting off Kessler’s attempts to get Williams to discuss his feelings about how drugs affected his career. So we have lots of shots of Williams being slightly annoyed at the camera and Kessler’s digging.

    Instead of deep introspection from Willimas, Kessler shows his own feelings about traveling with Williams in the Philippines (Kessler is scared, while Williams seems to soldier through every adversity). And Kessler tries to provoke a response from Williams by getting him to watch a talk show where Williams was obviously high.

    How much you enjoy the film may depend on how you appreciate the focus on the director-subject relationship. It makes the movie a little less traditional and might engage some viewers more than a straight-up documentary. I appreciated the other part of the film that told us more about Paul Williams, his career, and his current life. But I must admit that it was the combination of the two film styles that told me other things about Paul Williams, such as the way he still perseveres and his refreshing desire to avoid revealing everything about himself.

    While Williams rejects the opportunity for self-analysis, you still get to see what happened to one of the big icons of the 1970s and learn a little about the man indirectly. If you ever wondered what happened to Paul Williams, Paul Williams Still Alive is worth your time.

    Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me? Rotten Tomatoes reveals that critics liked Paul Williams Still Alive more than general audience members, giving the film a 97% critics rating and a 79% audience rating. Donald Liebenson at the Chicago Sun-Times found the movie interesting but was annoyed by the way the director inserted himself into the story. Meanwhile, Sodajerker has an audio interview with Paul Williams where Williams discusses his career and the documentary.

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