music

KEITH RICHARDS: UNDER THE INFLUENCE: jolly stories from a great raconteur

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KEITH RICHARDS: UNDER THE INFLUENCE
KEITH RICHARDS: UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Keith Richards: Under the Influence is a good enough excuse to spend time with the ever genial Keith Richards.  Keith is not just a rock icon and a medical marvel, he’s a great raconteur – ever genial, with an omnipresent cigarette-hacking chuckle.

Keith drops many a nugget while relating his own musical journey and much about American music of which he is a devotee:

  • About meeting Muddy Waters at Chess Records.
  • That he considers himself a better bass player than a guitar player.
  • How the intro licks to Street Fighting Man were recorded when only he and Charlie Watts came early to a recording session to mess around.
  • How his bass line with Charlie’s drumming sped up the pace to Sympathy with the Devil from a lament to really rockin’.
  • “I’m no longer a pop star and I don’t want to be one”.
  • A sharp observation that White “rock” can seem like a march, and “I prefer the ‘roll'”.
  • His period of not working with Mick Jagger in 1985-89 was “World War III”.
  • And there’s a VERY funny Johnny Cash-in-a-hotel-room story.

Here’s challenge – try to spell out Keith’s raspy chuckle. It’s something like “Huh-whey-whey-heh-heh”.

Keith Richards: Under the Influence has the feel of an infomercial for Richards’ book and newest solo album.  But, no matter, it’s time well spent.  Keith Richards: Under the Influence is available to stream from Netflix Instant.

A POEM IS A NAKED PERSON: Leon Russell in his prime

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Leon Russell in A POEM IS A NAKED PERSON
Leon Russell in A POEM IS A NAKED PERSON

During the years 1972-4, documentarian Les Blank hung out and filmed around Leon Russell’s Oklahoma recording studio, and A Poem Is a Naked Person is the result.

This was the period when Russell produced two of my very favorite albums, Leon Live and Hank Wilson’s Back, so I especially enjoyed the music.  There’s also a nice snippet of Willie Nelson (pre-beard and pigtails) singing Good Hearted Woman.

In fact, all of the Leon Russell parts (both talking and performing) are great. The problem is that Blank filmed everybody and everything in the neighborhood, including a tractor pull, the demolition of a building and a seemingly deranged and snake-obsessed artist.  There’s also a lot of conversation between people who are very stoned.  Getting stoned is a lot more fun than listening to stoned people talk.

The documentary’s puzzling title originates from liner notes on a Bob Dylan album.

A Poem Is a Naked Person has been a bit of a Lost Film, until recently only shown at screening where Blank was present.  Now you can stream it on Amazon Instant, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Beware of Mr. Baker: please don’t hit me again, Ginger

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The documentary Beware of Mr. Baker traces the life of the extremely volatile legendary rock drummer Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith).  Baker is undeniably a musical genius, and the film highlights the stature of his work in both rock and jazz.  Unfortunately, the nasty combination of his aggressively anti-social personality and his heroin addiction precluded successful professional and familial relationships.  We hear about Baker’s good and bad sides from his former Cream band mates Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, several of his ex-wives and his son, drummer Kofi Baker.  And we meet Ginger Baker himself, for better and for worse.  At one point, the septuagenarian Baker employs his cane to break the nose of the film’s director, Jay Bulger.

Bulger gets credit for comprehensive research into Baker’s life and times, for his inventive use of animation in depicting stages of Baker’s life and for getting the combustible Baker himself on camera.  Beware of Mr. Baker is the skillfully told story of a fascinating life.  Beware of Mr. Baker is now available on VOD through Amazon and other outlets.