* * * * (out of 5)
The term soul gets thrown around a lot, but what are its origins? Well soul music was the blending of the "devil's" rhythm and blues with "Jesus' " gospel music. In the early 1950s, Ray Charles might have been the first, biggest name in soul music history. But no company put out better, grittier soul music than the small Memphis record company called Stax. Named after its two white founders brother Jim Stewart (ST) and sister Estelle Axton (AX), Stax was a breeding ground for white hot, R&B talent from the late '50s through the early 1970s.
Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story is a PBS documentary that tells how this converted movie theatre and record store became such a huge part of music history.
In its early days, sometimes the names weren't big, but the songs always were, including classics like: Try A Little Tenderness, the Theme Song to Shaft, Soul Man, and Knock on Wood. Soul Man was written in response to the various race-based riots that were taking place around the country during the civil rights struggles. According to composer Isaac Hayes (Chef from South Park), any shopkeeper that wrote "soul" on his storefront was not burned down at the time. It was similar to when the Jews painted lamb's blood over the doors so the angel of death would pass over their homes.
That's quite a strong genesis for a song, one that we associate more with two silly white guys from Saturday Night Live. Whether it's appropriate for white people to be singing soul music, at least The Blues Brothers had the good taste to sing songs by writers who were struggling for money. Isaac Hayes, for one, suffered through that kind of thing because he did stupid things like blowing his money on custom-made Cadillacs.
I'd say most of The Blues Brothers catalog consists of Stax Records, as was the soundtrack for the great Irish musical, The Commitments. In fact, two of the members of the Blues Brothers band were Stax Records' bandmates, Steve Cropper and Donald 'Duck' Dunn.
But bigger than Soul Man's Sam and Dave and bigger than even the best "house Band" in history the half black/half white Booker T. and the MGs (which stands for simply Memphis Group), the biggest star has to be Otis Redding. A driver and roadie for a smaller band that tried out for Stax, Redding the driver begged the owners to give him a tryout. To shut him up they did and the rest is history. His hits included: I've Been Loving You Too Long, Dock of the Bay and the rougher, tougher, original version of Respect.
This documentary is now available on DVD Amazon.com: Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story: DVD: Various Artists and is told through oral history with many of the main protagonists still alive. Like how they competed against Detroit's Motown, which was known as Hitsville USA. One foolish, former Motown exec actually laughs at the notion that Otis Redding could have ever worked for Motown. When you see and hear Motown, the phrase, "are they black enough?" comes to mind. Down in Memphis, they called themselves Soulsville USA and they were plenty black. Black enough that different groups worked to put them out of business. Among them, their longtime distributor Atlantic Records. And eventually, the government and the banks. Who's to blame, is never made clear, but no one went to jail, so you have to believe that Stax was partly innocent.
The first hour flies by with all the filmed recordings of these classic groups playing live, but as the music becomes less interesting in the second hour, so does the program. If the show does nothing else, it shows rare footage of the live Otis Redding which is such a treat. Merely 26 when he died crashing his own plane, I'd only seen him in the movie Monterey Pop before this, but his live version of Respect just kills.
The Freditor
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? More heart, tougher questions than in Regis' day
****1/2 (out of 5)
In 1999, my wife Barbara played darts for a local bar team. I'd go to hang out and cheer her on, but when she wasn't playing I'd watch one of the TVs. Tired of sports I'd turn to one of the other TVs. Not much for game shows, I was surprised when I came to love the new primetime sensation, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It was especially fun to watch in a bar, because you didn't need the sound up. You had the questions and multiple choice answers written in front of you and not only was it fun knowing the answers, but also beating the contestants to the answer.
Being a huge trivia buff, I could not believe how easy the questions were, especially when compared with Jeopardy. And the fact that the money was so much bigger than on Jeopardy and that you only competed against yourself, with no time limits was a slam dunk. But ABC/Disney knowing they had a ratings bonanza did the unthinkable and started to run the show every night of the week. Capitalizing on its early success, but also burning it out for the people at home. The early round questions remained easy, but the later round questions were so incredibly hard that few did well on the show thus killing its purpose, to make ordinary people millionaires. By the time the first guy became a millionaire I had already stopped watching the show.
When I heard last summer that there was going to be a week devoted to movie trivia I attempted to become a contestant on the show, but failed to pass their exam. But Barbara, our friend Paul and I did get to be audience members for two shows and they will be broadcast on January 24th and 25th. Since that time I have watched the show every day via my Digital Video Recorder. I think it is a better show now without host Regis Philbin.
For those who didn't realize it was still on, ABC airs Millionaire at 12:30 PM on weekdays here in New York City and syndicates it throughout the country. The host for the last 6 years has been The Today Show's Meredith Vieira. She used to be one of the original hosts of The View. Never having seen The View, I knew very little about her, but after nearly six months of watching her on Millionaire, she has become one of my favorite television personalities. She's genuine which is something you can never accuse Regis of being.
Vieira's the Rhode Island daughter of Portuguese immigrants and despite having wealth now, she wears her humble, New England upbringing like a badge of honor. And she doesn't have a great poker face. When she likes the contestant it shows and when she doesn't it shows. A Boston fireman was on the show and Meredith was a little flirty in that safe, middle-aged married way. When a struggling Queens barmaid/actress was overacting between answers, Meredith looked relieved when she finally lost and left the set.
When people come on the show, sometimes they are there to make money for a cruise or something less serious like that. Sometimes they are desperate and down to their last few bucks. When those people are on, Meredith doesn't give them clues, but subtly hints in which direction they should go. Meaning, if they are not sure of an answer and seem willing to bet the ranch on a guess, she might coax them to take their winnings and go before they leave with nothing. It's a great gesture and fortunately most are smart enough to pick up on her cautiousness. Sometimes they don't and when they lose, you can see the pain in her face for them. Her show might be funded by Capital One, but she never let's her job get in the way of her humanity.
On the other hand, when the Boston fireman was trying to win enough for a Corvette he hesitated on a question and said, "Well, I guess this is where they separate the boys from the men." To which she replied, "Well, which one are you?" Which drew unusually loud boos from the crowd. Usually the crowd loves her, so she laughed at how quickly they turned on her, but she explained herself with a Cheshire smile: "It depends on what you think a man would do. A man might see he's reached his limit and be able to walk away with what he's already made. And a boy might be too aggressive." But we knew she didn't mean that. LOL
My favorite moment on the show was with a young, Oklahoma mother. She had graduated college recently, but already had a one-year-old at home and was looking to marry her live-in fiancee. They had a two-room apartment with two mismatched twin beds sitting side by side. They were scraping by without a couch, with his old dinosaur curtains on the windows and other signs of a poor, young couple starting out. Despite TV-quality good looks, she had a sweetness and innocence that could only come from the Midwest. She wasn't on the show for fun, like others, but to change her family's life. Every answer she got right she would cheer with a whoop and raised fists. Despite the notorious "hot seat", as the show's producers call it, the girl showed her smarts by knocking down the answers with ease, never using a lifeline.
Now the structure of the show goes that you answer five questions to get to the $1000 milestone, from there you cannot win less than a $1000. You answer five more to reach the $25,000 milestone, again you can't leave with less than 25 grand. Now you have five more to a Million. In six months, I've only seen one person get to see the Million dollar question, most others win at or below $25,000. Very few win more than that.
When this contestant won her $25,000 she started crying tears of relieved joy. That's when she explained what the money meant to her, which was pretty cool. Because when you fill out the audition form, your reasons for wanting to be on the show are supposed to be on there, so Meredith can have something to talk to you about. The fact that this girl kept this part of her life to herself meant she didn't use a sob story to get on TV. Meredith was as surprised as the audience at what this girl's life was like and she broke down with her. The girl finally left with that 25 Grand and Meredith gave her one of the biggest hugs and wished her well on her new life.
Maybe this same scenario would have played out with Regis there, but somehow I think it would have come off less sincere.
The Freditor
In 1999, my wife Barbara played darts for a local bar team. I'd go to hang out and cheer her on, but when she wasn't playing I'd watch one of the TVs. Tired of sports I'd turn to one of the other TVs. Not much for game shows, I was surprised when I came to love the new primetime sensation, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It was especially fun to watch in a bar, because you didn't need the sound up. You had the questions and multiple choice answers written in front of you and not only was it fun knowing the answers, but also beating the contestants to the answer.
Being a huge trivia buff, I could not believe how easy the questions were, especially when compared with Jeopardy. And the fact that the money was so much bigger than on Jeopardy and that you only competed against yourself, with no time limits was a slam dunk. But ABC/Disney knowing they had a ratings bonanza did the unthinkable and started to run the show every night of the week. Capitalizing on its early success, but also burning it out for the people at home. The early round questions remained easy, but the later round questions were so incredibly hard that few did well on the show thus killing its purpose, to make ordinary people millionaires. By the time the first guy became a millionaire I had already stopped watching the show.
When I heard last summer that there was going to be a week devoted to movie trivia I attempted to become a contestant on the show, but failed to pass their exam. But Barbara, our friend Paul and I did get to be audience members for two shows and they will be broadcast on January 24th and 25th. Since that time I have watched the show every day via my Digital Video Recorder. I think it is a better show now without host Regis Philbin.
For those who didn't realize it was still on, ABC airs Millionaire at 12:30 PM on weekdays here in New York City and syndicates it throughout the country. The host for the last 6 years has been The Today Show's Meredith Vieira. She used to be one of the original hosts of The View. Never having seen The View, I knew very little about her, but after nearly six months of watching her on Millionaire, she has become one of my favorite television personalities. She's genuine which is something you can never accuse Regis of being.
Vieira's the Rhode Island daughter of Portuguese immigrants and despite having wealth now, she wears her humble, New England upbringing like a badge of honor. And she doesn't have a great poker face. When she likes the contestant it shows and when she doesn't it shows. A Boston fireman was on the show and Meredith was a little flirty in that safe, middle-aged married way. When a struggling Queens barmaid/actress was overacting between answers, Meredith looked relieved when she finally lost and left the set.
When people come on the show, sometimes they are there to make money for a cruise or something less serious like that. Sometimes they are desperate and down to their last few bucks. When those people are on, Meredith doesn't give them clues, but subtly hints in which direction they should go. Meaning, if they are not sure of an answer and seem willing to bet the ranch on a guess, she might coax them to take their winnings and go before they leave with nothing. It's a great gesture and fortunately most are smart enough to pick up on her cautiousness. Sometimes they don't and when they lose, you can see the pain in her face for them. Her show might be funded by Capital One, but she never let's her job get in the way of her humanity.
On the other hand, when the Boston fireman was trying to win enough for a Corvette he hesitated on a question and said, "Well, I guess this is where they separate the boys from the men." To which she replied, "Well, which one are you?" Which drew unusually loud boos from the crowd. Usually the crowd loves her, so she laughed at how quickly they turned on her, but she explained herself with a Cheshire smile: "It depends on what you think a man would do. A man might see he's reached his limit and be able to walk away with what he's already made. And a boy might be too aggressive." But we knew she didn't mean that. LOL
My favorite moment on the show was with a young, Oklahoma mother. She had graduated college recently, but already had a one-year-old at home and was looking to marry her live-in fiancee. They had a two-room apartment with two mismatched twin beds sitting side by side. They were scraping by without a couch, with his old dinosaur curtains on the windows and other signs of a poor, young couple starting out. Despite TV-quality good looks, she had a sweetness and innocence that could only come from the Midwest. She wasn't on the show for fun, like others, but to change her family's life. Every answer she got right she would cheer with a whoop and raised fists. Despite the notorious "hot seat", as the show's producers call it, the girl showed her smarts by knocking down the answers with ease, never using a lifeline.
Now the structure of the show goes that you answer five questions to get to the $1000 milestone, from there you cannot win less than a $1000. You answer five more to reach the $25,000 milestone, again you can't leave with less than 25 grand. Now you have five more to a Million. In six months, I've only seen one person get to see the Million dollar question, most others win at or below $25,000. Very few win more than that.
When this contestant won her $25,000 she started crying tears of relieved joy. That's when she explained what the money meant to her, which was pretty cool. Because when you fill out the audition form, your reasons for wanting to be on the show are supposed to be on there, so Meredith can have something to talk to you about. The fact that this girl kept this part of her life to herself meant she didn't use a sob story to get on TV. Meredith was as surprised as the audience at what this girl's life was like and she broke down with her. The girl finally left with that 25 Grand and Meredith gave her one of the biggest hugs and wished her well on her new life.
Maybe this same scenario would have played out with Regis there, but somehow I think it would have come off less sincere.
The Freditor
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Don Rickles ridicules his way into our hearts, 82 and still going strong
**** (out of 5)
HBO recently ran a documentary on the Life of Don Rickles, called Mr. Warmth. I never realized that was his nickname despite being a big fan for 30+ years. I guess I became a fan of Rickles through two outlets: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Dean Martin Roasts. As you know, a lot of old comedy and old comics don't appeal to me. Whether it's generational or not I contend that almost all great movie comedies were made After 1973. The times changed and so did the temper of the comedy, which fit my tastes better. But like Rodney Dangerfield, Rickles' comedy was way ahead of its time. When that time finally came around in the early '70s, people were ready to jump on board.
Being born and bred in rough Jackson Heights-Queens, NY, meant he had to use his wits to get the upper hand on people since he was so small in stature. The ability to nail people with putdowns and still make them laugh at themselves became the source of his very lucrative career.
After being in the Navy fighting World War II, Rickles entered New York's famous American Academy of Dramatic Arts. There he shared the stage with Don Murray, Anne Bancroft, Tom Poston, Jason Robards and I think Grace Kelly. His first movie role was in the submarine classic, Run Silent Run Deep. He was the torpedo gunner while his two commanders were played by Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Not bad company starting out. But he started to develop an act in Manhattan, as a comic doing impressions between dancers at the strip clubs. It wasn't as horrible a gig as it would seem now. Many future stars got their start that way, including his old buddy, Steve Lawrence.
This documentary was produced by the oddest of sorts, Animal House's director John Landis. It turns out Landis is a lifelong Rickles fan and was a gopher on one Rickles' biggest hits, the 1969 Clint Eastwood movie Kelly's Heroes. Landis even plays a nun in a long distance shot in the movie. After being in show business 50+ years, you develop some friendships with some pretty big names. Of those interviewed for the documentary are Debbie Reynolds, Eastwood, Ernest Borgnine, Chris Rock, Robert Deniro, Martin Scorsese, Bob Newhart, Robin Williams and Sydney Poitier.
Why do so many big-name people love this man? Because for them, you have not really made it in show business unless Don Rickles has made fun of you on stage. We see Rickles breaking up Ronald Reagan at his 1985 second inaugural gala ("Am I going too fast for you, Ronnie?"). Rickles to Clint Eastwood, on a night honoring Eastwood, "Clint, I say it, nobody else has said it, and I say it from my heart: You're a lousy actor." When he played Los Angeles and especially Vegas in the '60s and early '70s the room would be filled with celebrities hoping to become his target.
Even now as an 82 year old man, he still does regular shows at a Las Vegas casino. His fame started to die down in the '90s, but was reenergized by his role as Billy Sherbert in Casino and then as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I would love to go see him at the Westbury Music Fair just for one night and sit in the front row with a floral shirt. Something that would grab his attention. That would be some experience.
The Freditor
HBO recently ran a documentary on the Life of Don Rickles, called Mr. Warmth. I never realized that was his nickname despite being a big fan for 30+ years. I guess I became a fan of Rickles through two outlets: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Dean Martin Roasts. As you know, a lot of old comedy and old comics don't appeal to me. Whether it's generational or not I contend that almost all great movie comedies were made After 1973. The times changed and so did the temper of the comedy, which fit my tastes better. But like Rodney Dangerfield, Rickles' comedy was way ahead of its time. When that time finally came around in the early '70s, people were ready to jump on board.
Being born and bred in rough Jackson Heights-Queens, NY, meant he had to use his wits to get the upper hand on people since he was so small in stature. The ability to nail people with putdowns and still make them laugh at themselves became the source of his very lucrative career.
After being in the Navy fighting World War II, Rickles entered New York's famous American Academy of Dramatic Arts. There he shared the stage with Don Murray, Anne Bancroft, Tom Poston, Jason Robards and I think Grace Kelly. His first movie role was in the submarine classic, Run Silent Run Deep. He was the torpedo gunner while his two commanders were played by Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Not bad company starting out. But he started to develop an act in Manhattan, as a comic doing impressions between dancers at the strip clubs. It wasn't as horrible a gig as it would seem now. Many future stars got their start that way, including his old buddy, Steve Lawrence.
This documentary was produced by the oddest of sorts, Animal House's director John Landis. It turns out Landis is a lifelong Rickles fan and was a gopher on one Rickles' biggest hits, the 1969 Clint Eastwood movie Kelly's Heroes. Landis even plays a nun in a long distance shot in the movie. After being in show business 50+ years, you develop some friendships with some pretty big names. Of those interviewed for the documentary are Debbie Reynolds, Eastwood, Ernest Borgnine, Chris Rock, Robert Deniro, Martin Scorsese, Bob Newhart, Robin Williams and Sydney Poitier.
Why do so many big-name people love this man? Because for them, you have not really made it in show business unless Don Rickles has made fun of you on stage. We see Rickles breaking up Ronald Reagan at his 1985 second inaugural gala ("Am I going too fast for you, Ronnie?"). Rickles to Clint Eastwood, on a night honoring Eastwood, "Clint, I say it, nobody else has said it, and I say it from my heart: You're a lousy actor." When he played Los Angeles and especially Vegas in the '60s and early '70s the room would be filled with celebrities hoping to become his target.
Even now as an 82 year old man, he still does regular shows at a Las Vegas casino. His fame started to die down in the '90s, but was reenergized by his role as Billy Sherbert in Casino and then as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I would love to go see him at the Westbury Music Fair just for one night and sit in the front row with a floral shirt. Something that would grab his attention. That would be some experience.
The Freditor
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