Daily Flash #1 on Foggy Friday — Twenty Steps From Stardom

July 26, 2013 at 7:21 pm

Saw Twenty Steps From Stardom yesterday and is it great! I’ve been disappointed by a number of music documentaries where they had too much talk and too little music. Also by films like Cadillac Records, and Ray, which I guess (the latter) everyone liked but me; I thought both films were phony.

  I’ve always loved backup singers and this film not only honors these remarkable women, but has a ton of great music. I had no idea of the power and artistry of Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton, Tata Vega, and Judith Hill — among others. The power of gospel backgrounds.

   It’s a sparkling documentary –the filmmakers do everything right. The last number, with Darlene Love doing “Lean on Me,” is stunning; the backup harmonies gave me chills. It’s not playing at many theaters, so I’d try to see it soon.

 

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Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” A Capella

July 23, 2013 at 8:10 pm

Ernest Thoreau has left a new comment on your post “On the Road July 2013”:

Here’s a music selection for you if you want it. Marvin Gaye on stage by his lonesome doing Grapevine a capella. It’s haunting. He keeps great rhythm. Uses the silence as much as his voice. And throws down some killer smooth dance steps.

   Seems like they aren’t making as many great pure musicians as they used to.

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Fog/Afternoon Sun/Me & Victor Mature Getting Our Strength Back

July 23, 2013 at 5:58 pm

After a lot of Spring and early Summer wind, the fog bank has settled in these days. Almost feels tropical of late. Went paddling last night, the lagoon was warm, over 60°. I’m back to 85% shoulder strength. After 6 months of no upper body activity, I can feel the strength coming back — such a rush.

    Funny, it puts me in mind of the epic film (1949), Samson and Delilah, where Delilah learns that the secret to Samson’s strength is his hair. She gets him drunk, cuts off his hair, and he is blinded. (Samson is played by he of the agonized grimaces, Victor Mature.)

   A few years later, he is in the temple, being tormented by his captors. They don’t notice that his hair has grown back. He is standing between the two main pillars of the temple and he starts pushing, the crowd jeering at him. Suddenly there is a crack –great sound effects — and the crowd falls silent. More cracking and the temple collapses.

   A bit dramatic, I know, but I’m elated to have some strength back…

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