PBS premiered as part of its American Masters series a new documentary about the legendary filmmaker and funny guy Mel Brooks called Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (2013). The informative movie follows Mel Brooks’s early career through his classic movies like Young Frankenstein (1974) and Blazing Saddles (1974) and through his Broadway hit The Producers. The documentary also delves into his childhood and personal life, including his marriage to actress Anne Bancroft.
PBS has made the documentary available online for a limited time, and you may find out more on the PBS website.
Robert Trachtenberg wrote, directed, edited, and produced Mel Brooks: Make a Noise. You may read reviews of the film on the A.V. Club or in the Los Angeles Times. What is your favorite Mel Brooks film? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On May 21 in 1901, Connecticut passed the first state speed law regulating motor vehicles. That first law limited city drivers to 12 mph but allowed drivers in the country to go up to 15 mph.
At the time, there had been other speed laws for non-motorized vehicles such as horse-drawn wagons, including laws banning such wagons from proceeding at “a gallop.” But the 1901 Connecticut law prompted other states to start passing similar laws, which eventually led to you getting that speeding ticket.
The 55 mph Speed Limit
Some of our readers may remember the 1970s when rising gas prices caused states to lower speed limits, culminating with President Richard Nixon in January 1974 signing the National Maximum Speed Law, making the national speed limit 55 mph. At the time, there was a public service campaign designed to get drivers to obey the new laws.
One television commercial from 1977 or 1978 that stood out for me was one about Grinnell, Iowa. In my many years of driving, I have often thought about the commercial that makes a powerful argument for not driving too fast. The producers do a good job of drawing you in before hitting you with a powerful — and yes manipulative — message. In case you do not remember the commercial, check it out below.
By 1987, though, concerns about fuel supplies diminished and Congress passed a law allowing states to raise speed limits up to 65 mph. Then in 1995 the national speed limit was completely repealed, leaving it up to each state to set its own speed limits. Apparently, we decided we wanted to get to our destinations faster even if we were to wipe out poor Grinnell.
And it wasn’t just the rest of us. Within five years after the Grinnell commercial aired, many Iowans were exceeding the new speed limit and reported as getting more speeding tickets than neighboring states.
Sammy Hagar’s Protest
While many credit the 1987 increase in speed limits and the later 1995 repeal to a drop in concern about fuel availability, I give full credit to a protest song by Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55,” which was released in 1984 on his VOA album. It is one of the most famous songs written in response to Congressional legislation.
Hagar has explained that he came up with the idea for the song when he was driving in upstate New York at 2 a.m. after returning to the U.S. after a long plane trip. When an officer pulled over Hagar for going 62 mph on a four-lane highway, a weary and exasperated Hargar uttered the immortal words, “I can’t drive 55,” realizing immediately it was a great idea for a song.
As soon as Hagar arrived to his house in Lake Placid, he sat down and wrote the rest of the song. And the rest, like the national speed limit law, is history.
What is your favorite song about speeding? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors, passed away today at age 74. After Jim Morrison’s death at a young age, Manzarek became a recognizable face preserving the legacy of the great band.
In this Break It Down video from L/Studio, Manzarek tells a little about the history of the band and how he came up with some of those great keyboard riffs. Among the stories, Manzarek tells how John Coltrane‘s “My Favorite Things” inspired a famous Doors keyboard part. Check it out.
What is your favorite keyboard riff by Ray Manzarek? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, who at the end of 2012 released their first joint album appropriately called Buddy and Jim (2012), recently stopped by the offices of National Public Radio. The result, which is part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, was some great music and a lot of fun. Check it out.
The songs in the video are: “The Train That Carried My Gal From Town,” “It Hurts Me,” and “I Lost My Job Of Loving You.” As someone who likes Lauderdale and already has every Buddy Miller album, I may have to get around to getting this collaboration just for the excellent harmonies.
What is your favorite album by Buddy Miller or Jim Lauderdale? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I watched the U.S. version of The Office since it first premiered (after loving the British version), and I was sad to see the series end. Finishing a good book or ending a long-running TV series can do something that movies cannot accomplish by making you feel like you are losing a life-long friend.
There will be plenty of articles critiquing The Office finale and comparing it to other series’ final episodes. I might think about those questions at some point, but as the series ended I just enjoyed seeing the characters one last time. I discovered one thing, though, that I had missed as I watched the series all these years. I did not know that the character Creed Bratton, played by Creed Bratton, had been in the Grass Roots. How did I miss that?
The final episode noted that the character Creed had been in the Grass Roots. And then when he sang at the end while playing guitar, it made me realize that they were not joking.
After searching for the lyrics (along the lines of “I saw a friend today . . . we forgot each other’s names” and “all the faces that I know have that same familiar glow”), I found that it is indeed a Creed Bratton song, “All the Faces.”
Here is a live version of the real Creed singing the song he sang on The Office finale. Nice.
The Grass Roots & Creed Bratton
The Grass Roots were a popular rock band in the 1960s and 1970s, with a number of hits. Creed Bratton joined the Grass Roots in 1967 and played guitar for the band. He played on songs like the classic, “Let’s Live for Today.”
Creed is the guy in this video in the striped shirt on your left.
Bratton quit the band two years later. Creed more recently explained that he left the band when he objected to the use of studio musicians for its albums. The band had begun to use studio musicians with the album Lovin’ Things because they were busy on tour.
Creed on The Office
After leaving the band, Creed’s life did not go so well for awhile. By the nineties he was doing catering jobs. But then he got a big break when he got a job in 2005 on The Office playing someone with the same name as him.
Initially, Creed had a non-speaking role in the series. But in the second season, he got a speaking role in a Halloween episode where Michael Scott was struggling to fire him. Because of his performance, he was promoted to a guest star, then a recurring role, and eventually as a regular character.
During the run of the series, the real-life Bratton continued to work on his music. On The Office, viewers were mostly kept in the dark about the character’s musical past.
But until the final episode, there were hints of Creed’s career — as well as at least a couple of almost reveals early in his time on the series. For example, during the Season 3 episode, A Benihana Christmas, Creed sang a karaoke rendition of his song “Spinnin’ N Reelin’.” In perhaps a nod to his music career, in the fourth season episode Money, Creed claimed “he never goes bankrupt” because all his debt “is always transferred to William Charles Schneider” (Creed’s birth name).
Further, his Grass Roots career was revealed in at least two scenes that were deleted before broadcast. In a deleted scene from the season two Booze Cruise episode, he played guitar and revealed his Grass Roots past. Also, in a deleted scene from Product Recall (Season 3, episode 21), a reporter from the Scranton Times recognized him as being from the band the Grass Roots.
But it seems the producers ultimately decided not to reveal the Grass Roots past . . . at least until the final episode. I am not sure why they saved the reveal about his past for so long. Viewers would have assumed it was a joke, but it did make a beautiful touch to the final episode.
Creed is releasing new music with Tell Me About It, a three-part “audio biography.” Check out “Faded Spats.”
Two members of the Grass Roots — Rob Grill and Ricky Coonce — have passed away. In addition to Creed, Warren Entner is still alive. The two are still good friends.
In the final episode of The Office, near the end, the character Creed talks about how life is “arbitrary” in the way things happen in one’s life. But, he explains, no matter where one ends up, “human beings have this miraculous gift” to make a place their home.
With a life of ups and downs, the real Creed Bratton found a home on The Office and continues his creative journey. Although he will always be that odd guy on The Office to me, he is of course much more than that. It looks like we haven’t heard the last of Creed Bratton.
What is your favorite Creed moment on The Office? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(2012), recently stopped by the offices of National Public Radio. The result, which is part of NPR’s 