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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: fretless Date: 24 Sep 03 - 12:13 PM The live MW tour was in Washington DC this past weekend. Great performances, howlingly funny. The Washington performance hall was much smaller than NYC's Town Hall, which probably helped since the compactness of the hall played beautifully against the pretension of the performers. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Justa Picker Date: 24 Sep 03 - 12:30 PM I found it very entertaining and very well-done for what it was. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Ron Olesko Date: 24 Sep 03 - 01:01 PM Some of the outtakes are priceless! There was one scene where the Folksmen were discussing how the lines "hey-nonny-nonny" should be sung. Brilliant! |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Clinton Hammond Date: 24 Sep 03 - 02:25 PM One of my fav bits too RO... :-) |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Jack the Sailor Date: 24 Sep 03 - 02:38 PM Carol and I watched it last night. It was a very good movie. Think Spinal Tap with folkies and an actual plot. "Martin Gibson" Would it be rude If I said you are pompous? The geriatrics of PBS must be wearing out their walkers in their rush to thank you. Rick A Mighty Wind Obviously shares your nopinion of PBS. From what you said and what I saw it may have been inspired from the show you describe. Do ya think "The New Main Street Singers" may be a parody of "THe New Christie Minstrals? |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Martin Gibson Date: 24 Sep 03 - 02:56 PM Clinton Hammond: Thanks. Now you can work on your own self-esteem. Jack the Sailor: Well, blow me down. I could give a rat's ass what the PBS people think. I never send them any money. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Ron Olesko Date: 24 Sep 03 - 03:12 PM Don't pick on Martin - he can't even afford a membership to Mudcat!!! :) |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Tinker from Chicago Date: 24 Sep 03 - 04:16 PM Yeah, the New Christies seem to be most people's idea of MW's target, but I go further. The NCM after all weren't always singing about sunshine and love. Seems to me the target is the bright smiles of Up With People, or even the Serendipity Singers. The NCM, remember, gave the world Barry McGuire, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes, among others. Not my choice for the world's cheeriest trio. But when you parody one aspect of anything, you stereotype that aspect in the minds of those who weren't around for the original. Many of the kids today think that the 1950's consisted of half "Happy Days" and half "Grease." They weren't there, so they trust that the parodies are accurate history. In the same vein, there sure were some insipid folksters in the 60's, but there was also Odetta, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Buffy Ste. Marie, Joan Baez, et al. "Mighty Wind" needs a sequel. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Ron Olesko Date: 24 Sep 03 - 05:15 PM Tinker, it is true that most parodies often perpetuate stereotypes, but there is usually a basis for such. In the case of "A Mighty Wind" there are definite basis for each group and individual in that movie. Sure, they could have added a sterotyped protest singer, a jug band, and so many others... but that would have bogged down the film. It is one thing for us not to like a film, butI don't think it is fair for us to tell a director what areas they should cover in THEIR film. It would be like telling Dylan - maybe you should have added rain and snow instead of having the answer only blowing in the wind. Maybe John Steinback should have added a few scenes featuring New York City in "Grapes of Wrath". Sure, there are always things that I would do differently if I was the creator, but I do think it is only fair to judge someone on what they created, not on the art you wish they created. As for the New Christy Minstrels, I think the issue that most of have with that "genre" is that there is little basis for it in folk traditions. You can see how bluegrass bands developed and the tradition of solo singing is one of our oldest, but where does "neuf-tets" come from??? |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: fretless Date: 24 Sep 03 - 06:00 PM Jack, The frau and I assumed the New Main Street Singers = the New Christy Minstrels (an obvious choice); the Folksmen = the Limelighters (although there were other candidates); and Mitch and Mickey = Ian and Sylvia (boy/girl group plus the Canadian connection). |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Amergin Date: 25 Sep 03 - 03:21 AM Well, I just saw it and loved it...and the extra scenes were wonderful....sure wish they would start adding the extra scenes into the actual movie...I really loved it when the lady from the Main Street Singers was describing her "film" career before she went into singing....and the quasi-religion she and her husband invented....lol... I have the feeling that the groups weren't really aimed at anyone in particular....just a hodgee podge of various characters...if it was aimed at anyone at all....i saw a bit of PPM in the folksmen...Guest with a Peter Yarrow hairdo....and at the end two guys and a blond "chick".... ;) |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Jeri Date: 25 Sep 03 - 01:54 PM I loved it too. That extra scene with the lava-lamp set and 'Children of the Sun' sounded Barry McGuirish enough. (It was from the Folksmen's one badly received electric album.) Then there was the scene with the press conference - Mitch talks about rap. Said he once heard a Canadian rap station (just guess the call letters) and he rather liked the young folks rapping about politeness, proprietry and conservatism. THAT was probably cut because 'CRAP' and Canadian-ribbing were a bit too obvious. The name 'Ramblin' Sandy Pitnick' is just a wee bit too close (has all the letters in the right order) to uh...you-know-who. The name 'Bohner'. Ed Begley's Swedish character Lars Olfen's yiddish. 'Never Did No Wandrin' sounds a LOT like Billy Ed Wheeler's Coal Tatoo. 'When You're Next to Me' - I wish they'd kept that in. I LIKED that song! |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Art Thieme Date: 25 Sep 03 - 09:22 PM After watching Mighty Wind I put on a video my brother had sent me of a PBS fundraiser program featuring The Limelighters, Kingston Trio, Barry Maguire, Brothers Four, Jim Roger McGuinn, Mike Settle, The Smothers Brothers, Randy Sparks and "The Minstrels" (called that on this show 'cause the New Crusty Nostrils no longer belonged to Randy), ---- and several others from that pop folk era. It was as if A Mighty Wind had never ended. The film, the outtakes and the PBS special blended seemlessly together, and there was that good old gestalt again. Just good nostalgic fun probably. I thought that Bohner was the name of the German Harmonica that was favored for blues back then---and only cost $2.50 !!??!!?? And the Fred Willard character reminded me of a Grima-Wormtongue kind of guy whose behind-the-scenes maneuvering finagled a folk radio show hosting job away from me and my every-other-week NPR partner back in the 80s. But that's a whole other topic about how I learned to stop worrying and NOT love NPR.----That is when I was first awakened to the fact that saintly old public radio could be just as cutthroat as any other corporate entity when the rating game and money was involved. ("Where have all the folk shows gone, Long time passing...") ****BIG SMILE**** Also, Mitch and Mickey, to me, were much more Jim and Jean than Ian and Sylvia.-------- Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST Date: 25 Sep 03 - 09:30 PM I thought it was great fun. One of my criteria for movies, probably in common with lots of other people, is great lines that I would think are still great after seeing the movie several times. One of the best I thought was the critic who after having seen the reunion kiss, soberly pronounced it one of the most significant moments in all music, if not in all human history. This movie has quite a few of that sort of moments---and I don't even have the DVD. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,Ron Davies Date: 25 Sep 03 - 09:32 PM Above post was from me----I still don't really know how this posting business works--usually I have no option but to lurk. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: GUEST,pdq Date: 26 Sep 03 - 12:05 AM The New Christie's Minstrels also supplied us with Gene Clark, a founding member of The Byrds and their best lead singer ever. Also Art Podell and Mike Settle. Two founding members of the Association, one Greek and one Phillipino, came from the Christies, although I do not remember their names. Ramos was one? Folk-Pop attracted many people who stayed long enough to appreciate "the real deal". |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: JenEllen Date: 02 Oct 03 - 11:39 AM Have to agree with Spaw that the outtakes were great. (Actually better than most of the stuff they left in!) C-Rap and the press conference was good, the Mitch'n'Mickey playing "jack'n'judy" on the 70's detective show was even better, and the bit in Mickey's kitchen where Mitch drops his capo a fret because "I went from a 32'' waist to a 34...." and then nailing the song after? ROTFLMAO I think the reason it didn't work for me as well as some of the other Guest movies is that he totally blew the formula. That behind-the-scenes stuff is only really interesting when they are portraying people who are supposedly at the top of their game. Like Spinal Tap and Best In Show, but very unlike Guffman (although I have yet to see a scene in ANY movie that makes me laugh as hard as Corky's "Mariachi Bubble Bath of Doom": We want you to liiiiiiive!) Usually if someone's gone the way of the buffalo, it's for a reason. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Amergin Date: 03 Oct 03 - 12:17 AM I was disappointed that the ballad of bobby and june wasnt in the movie...at least i didnt see it there...neither was blood on the coal....both great songs...funny as hell. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Joe Offer Date: 20 Nov 03 - 11:32 PM OK, so I put on a Journeymen CD this evening and read all the messages in all the threads on A Mighty Wind. I bought the soundtrack album and the DVD, and I like them both. I stacked firewood the other day to the soundtrack, and I have to admit that I really liked the music - and I hated myself for liking it. I guess I have to confess to being a folk music whore. I have had backstage passes to Peter, Paul and Mary more times than I can count, and I knew all the lyrics to all their songs (and I knew the sources/original versions of most of the songs they recorded). I still get misty every time I hear "Four Strong Winds," and I memorized "Today" to impress chicks, even though I claimed I didn't like the song myself. I loved that folk-pop music of the sixties, and I still do. I don't sing that stuff in public any more, but I find it's great accompaniment for physical labor or tedious bookwork. Ever try to get something done while you're listening to a Child ballad? I suppose it's a horrible thing to say, but I think we can all use a good dose of bouncy music mixed with smarminess. I can't imagine seeing this movie on a big screen. This one seems to be made for DVD. I gather they didn't have the entire "concert" on the big screen, and it's a hoot. It's an incomplete experience to see the movie without the concert. The movie itself is a perfect parody of the "making of" documentaries that are so common on DVD's, so your really do need to see what they're supposed to be making. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out who was a parody of whom. I suppose the dead promoter/manager was Albert Grossman or Milt Okun. On the surface, it was easy to tag The New Main Street Singers as the New Christy Minstrels, and Mitch & Mickey as Ian and Sylvia, and the Folksmen as any number of macho male folktrios - but other memories came out as I watched the movie. The most notable was the smarmy activist sentimentality of one of the Folksmen, a ringer for Peter Yarrow. Was the transvestite bass singer supposed to be Noel Paul Stookey (and Mary Travers in his/her female alter ego)? I couldn't figure out who the Eugene Levy character was, but I really found him interesting. Remember how "cool" it was back then to have some sort of psychological problem? Heck, there was something wrong with you if there wasn't something wrong with you. Actually, I knew somebody from that era who was exactly like the Levy character, except that he was more of a guru than a musician - my wife's first husband, an aging New Age hippie wannabe who was 20 years older than his wife. ...but that's another story. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Amos Date: 20 Nov 03 - 11:43 PM LOL Joe!! Aside from "Four Strong Winds" I find "Hey Bo's, Can'cha Line 'Em?" to be just the thing for splitting rails or stacking firewood! A |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: SeanM Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:57 PM As my significant other loudly announced after watching the DVD and listening to the commentary ("I don't think Catherine [O'Hara] even knew what an autoharp was before she picked one up for Mickey")... "Goddamned overtalented bastards!" You don't EVEN want to hear her commentaries about the soundtrack. "Fare Away" alone causes her to twitch and me to roll in laughter... M |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Homeless Date: 27 Nov 03 - 10:37 AM We saw this on DVD a few weeks back, then went out and got Spinal Tap this weekend since my lady had never seen it. Going thru the bonus stuff on the Spinal Tap DVD, there is a spot in the outtakes where David starts playing "All the Way Home" using a fingerpicking pattern on an acoustic. Can anyone figure out the pattern he's using? I'd love to be able to play it, but I'm still not able to learn fast or complex pieces by ear. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD (Corn Wine) From: voyager Date: 30 Nov 03 - 09:58 AM Did anyone watching the outtakes have a good laugh to the tune about CORN WINE? Makes my gourmet palate gag. It would be nice to see these lyrics (w/out buying the DVD). voyager |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: voyager Date: 30 Nov 03 - 10:13 AM CORN WINE - Corn Wine Lyrics Just remember - "Nonny before ninny". :>D voyager |
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Subject: Lyr Add: Never Did No Wanderin' (The Folksmen) From: Genie Date: 25 Sep 09 - 09:21 PM Love this one: NEVER DID NO WANDERIN' (The Folksmen, from "A Mighty Wind") My mama was the cold North wind, My daddy was the son of a railroad man from west of hell, Where the trains don't even run. Never heard the whistle of a southbound freight Or the singing of its driving wheel. No I, never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' after all. They say the highways' just one big road And it goes from here to there, And they say you carry a heavy load, When you're rolling down the line somewhere. Never seen the dance of the telephone poles As they go whizzin' by, No I, never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' after all. Never did no wanderin' high! Never did no wanderin' low! Now a sailor's life is a life for him, But it never was for me, And I've never soared where the hawk may soar, Or seen what the hawk might see, Never hiked to heaven on a mountain trail, Never rode on a river's rage. No I, never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' after all. Never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' Never did no wanderin' after all. |
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Subject: RE: A Mighty Wind on DVD From: Lox Date: 25 Sep 09 - 09:38 PM Missed them at wembley this year .. (((sobs))) ... Ah well ... another time ... |
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Subject: The Folksmen: Old Joe's Place / Start Me Up video From: Genie Date: 25 Sep 09 - 09:46 PM At Wembley? You mean like this? Folksmen: Old Joe's Place / Start Me Up |
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