In December, three music heavyweights got together backstage at the Civic Opera House in Chicago and jammed on The Band’s classic song, “The Weight.” Below, hear Wilco, Nick Lowe, and Mavis Staples take turns on the verses.
Staples is no stranger to the song, having performed the song with her family and The Band on Martin Scorsese’s classic rock film, The Last Waltz.
The song’s writer, Robbie Robertson, as well as other members of The Band have commented on the song’s meaning through the years and the fact that the characters in the song are named after people they knew. For an interesting detailed analysis of the lyrics — such as “Who was Crazy Chester?,” check out this article from Peter Viney. For example, it is “Fanny,” not “Annie” in the chorus, and the Nazareth is in Pennsylvania. The Dallas Observer has a recent short article about the song “The Weight,” including some discussion of how the song abides along with links to some other versions.
What do you think of the jam version of “The Weight”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In case you have been deep in the NFL playoffs or if you live in Iowa or New Hampshire and have been too busy listening to presidential candidates, here is this week’s roundup of some of the stories about music, film, and pop culture that you might have missed.
Kathleen Edwards’s new CD, released later this month, was co-produced by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) w/ guest artists.
For the first time ever, in 2011, digital sales of music topped the physical sale of music.
Grammy-winning musician Youssou N’Dour will run in Senegal’s presidential election next month.
Charlie Louvin’s new memoir recounts Oasis-type disharmony with his brother when the Louvin Brothers toured.
Terry Ardolino, the drummer with NRBQ from 1974-2004, passed away at the age of 56. RIP.
Freddie Milano, one of the Belmonts who sang with Dion on a number of classic rock and roll songs, passed away this week. After Dion left the original Belmonts behind (and a falling out and litigation followed), Milano continued to sing with the group while pursing his education. When he passed away he was working with the less fortunate, helping indigent people detained at Rikers Island jail in New York City. After Milano’s death was announced, Dion wrote a short tribute on his Facebook page, stating how Milano played an important role in his younger life: “We had our ups and downs through the years but that’s how things go in families, even rock-and-roll families. I will always remain grateful for his contribution in 1958 & 59 – may he rest in peace and rock on in heaven.” Milano was known for his great harmonies in the group as shown in this clip of “I Wonder Why.” Milano is the second from the left at the beginning of the song. RIP.
You may also hear and see Milano (on your right) in this performance of “A Teenager in Love.”
— Movies —
This year in movies “might just be the geekiest ever.” — IMDb editor Keith Simanton.
On this date in 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. His simplified life story is that an awkward young boy grew into a young man who rocketed to stardom in the 1950s with his musical talent and then went to Hollywood where he lost his way making second-rate movies. Eventually, the story goes, the man found his musical roots in a television special, but then lost his way again in a spiral of excess and over-medication.
But one’s life cannot be simplified into a few sentences. The general story line is inaccurate on a number of levels, including the general assertion that Elvis made no decent movies or music during the time he made films. While a number of the films are only interesting because of Elvis’s presence and there is a lot of cheesy music like “Do the Clam,” the King was still capable of hitting one out of the park now and then during this period. Several songs you know originally came from his movies, like “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from Blue Hawaii (1961).
The clip below is a song you may not have ever heard if you have not seen the movie, The Trouble With Girls (and How to Get Into It) (1969). The film itself is among his more interesting and unusual movies, despite the title that makes it sound completely generic. Unlike other Presley vehicles, The Trouble With Girls does not feature him in almost every scene (he’s in about one-third of the film), and at various times before production Glenn Ford and Dick Van Dycke were slotted to play Elvis’s role as Walter Hale. His character is the manager of a traveling chautauqua, which is a school that provides education combined with entertainment. You may read more about the unusual movie at this fan site.
The musical highlight of the movie is where Elvis performs “Clean Up Your Own Backyard.” The bluesy song is an excellent vehicle for Elvis, and the lyrics about hypocrisy is a good lesson for all of us. Before we judge Presley’s life, “Clean up your own backyard / You tend to your business, I’ll tend to mine.”
Consider the movie poster on the right as well as the name of the movie. You can tell that a horse is going to play a big part in the movie, as is a war. Animal movies and war movies usually mean one thing: this movie is designed to tug at your heartstrings and maybe make you cry. Throw in that the movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, and you already know whether or not you are going to like this movie without me saying anything. So, if you think you will like a movie about a horse with war scenes, then go buy your ticket.
That said, for those of you still reading, I will add a little more to say that I enjoyed the movie and it lived up to my expectations as someone who likes both animal movies and war movies. Although the film seems a little formulaic and predictable at times, the film gradually draws you into the story.
It is difficult to build a story around an animal where the animal changes hands among different owners. The people we care about continue to change, and that we do not have two hours with any character besides the horse. But War Horse does a good job of keeping your interest as the horse travels through different owners in different situations, and it is all tied together as we also periodically follow the original owner (Jeremy Irvine in his first film role) through the movie’s conclusion. The structure of the film reminded me of Anthony Mann’s excellent western, Winchester ’73 (1950), a Jimmy Stewart movie that followed a rifle through various hands. That movie used the device effectively, and Spielberg does so here too.
If I had one complaint about the movie it would be that it is hard to believe that in a war where more than 8 million horses died there were so many decent people appearing as often as they did throughout the movie. Such portrayals may reflect that War Horse started off as a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, who unlike the film told the story from the horse’s point of view. At the same time, I do not mind that Spielberg often comes along with a film to challenge my cynical view of the world.
Finally, I also enjoyed the film because there are too few movies about World War I. The paltry pickings may be because World War I is so far in the past without a clear storyline (unlike World War II) and because American audiences may be less interested in a war that occurred off American shores (as compared to the Civil War). It is a shame that movie makers have not delved more into the Great War. Spielberg does a good job with the war scenes to capture the horrors of trench warfare and the horrendous battle conditions of this war that straddled old and new technologies, using both horses and tanks. The film also works in a nod to one of the most amazing stories of the real war.
Still, there are some good DVDs to rent if you wish to watch more about World War I. There are a few good documentaries on World War I available on DVD, including The Complete Story: World War I and World War I in Color (both available on Netflix as well as at the Amazon links). Some other classic films of the war include Sergeant York (1941) with Gary Cooper, Paths of Glory(1957) with Kirk Douglas, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O’Toole, All Quiet on the Western Front (1931), and Joyeux Noel (2005). Now we can add War Horse to the list.
The story is also a play on Broadway, which Saturday Night Live re-imagined (but unfortunately the video is no long available).
Bonus Reviews Because Why Should You Listen to Me? Currently, Rotten Tomatoes has a critic rating and audience rating both at 77% for War Horse. Film & Felt did not like the film, concluding that the movie “hammers you over the head with sap.” By contrast, QNetwork.com liked the film, giving it 3.5 stars and calling War Horse, “an ambitious, anthological portrait of both the devastation of war and the potential for human decency.”
What did you think of War Horse? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Recently, a woman from Tennessee was arrested for carrying a licensed gun in New York City. The case has sparked some uproar because of the unusual facts. The woman, Meredith Graves, apparently was carrying a gun licensed in her home state of Tennessee while visiting the 9/11 Memorial in New York. After seeing a “No Guns” sign, Ms. Graves asked police where she could check her gun. Subsequently, she was arrested under a New York law prohibiting people from carrying a loaded gun, even if the gun is licensed in another state.
The case is a perfect illustration of the old adage, “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse.” Generally, that is true in the law, as one may understand that someone should not be able to commit robbery and then say they did not know it was against the law. Only very rarely can ignorance of the law rise to a Due Process problem when someone is punished for violating a law they did not know existed. Under this case, a court would probably hold that when someone travels to another state with a gun, it is not unfair to require them to check the local laws on whether they can pack heat.
Here, Ms. Graves had every intent to comply with the law and was arrested for violating a New York law she did not know existed. A prosecutor sought a felony conviction, which could result in a sentence of up to 3 1/2 years. This case seems like a perfect one for a prosecutor to use discretion to avoid a conviction of someone who did not wish to cause any harm and who tried to comply with the law — even if she could have done things a little better. My guess is that the prosecutor is using the case to help publicize the New York law to tell tourists to leave their guns at home.
There are a number of slang terms for guns, and one of the coolest is “the Devil’s right hand,” used in the song of the same name written by Steve Earle from his album, Copperhead Road (1988). The song begins with the singer’s first encounter with what his mama called “the Devil’s right hand,” illustrating a fascination that ends up with the singer using a gun to kill another man during a fight in the card game. Like Ms. Graves, the singer pleads not guilty and blames it all on “the Devil’s right hand.” Here is a young Steve Earle performing the song.
It is somewhat surprising that the song has not been covered more often by rock groups, considering the song’s catchy music and edgy lyrics. Perhaps the best cover is by The Highwaymen. That version makes good use of all of the members of the group: Johnny Cash, Waylong Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.
Two of the members of that group — Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash — recorded their own solo versions too. Here is the group version. So listen to the song one more time as a reminder to check those gun laws when you travel.
UPDATE: In March 2012, Merredith Graves reached a deal with prosecutors so she did not face any jail time for carrying bringing her gun to town.