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The Ventures: Stars on Guitars
USA 2020
produced by Staci Layne Wilson, Tim Wilson, Jill Fairbanks, Don Wilson (executive), Lisa S. Johnson (executive), Michael Kaplan (executive) for Wilson Ventures, Excessive Nuance
directed by Staci Layne Wilson
starring Don Wilson, The Surfrajettes (= Nicole Damoff, Shermy Freeman), John Fogerty, Jeffrey Baxter, Tim Polecat, Randy Bachman, Bill Englehart, Billy Bob Thornton, The Neptunas (= Leslita, Laura Bethita, Pamita), Wayne Kramer, Jimmy Page, Jeff Cook, Eric Roberts, Ruiko, Josie Cotton, Joe Carducci, Roger Fisher, Jack DeFranco, Del Casher, Pleasant Gehman, Lalo Schifrin, Raiyuki, Waddy Wachtel, Giddle Partridge, Barry Goudreau, Christian Wilde, Mark Farner, Joe Rosignolo, Deke Dickerson, Paul Warren, Seymour Duncan, Bob Spalding, Marky Ramone, Mel Bergman, Leon Hendrix, Bill Ford, Lisa S. Johnson, Deanna Passarella
written by Staci Layne Wilson, music by The Ventures, Michael Trapp
documentary
review by Mike Haberfelner
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As the title suggests, this is the story of The Ventures, the
instrumental rock band that has over the decades sold over 100 million
albums and has over the years influenced many musical styles, starting
with surf rock of course, but also psychedelic and punk and hard rock and
that has over the years emulated many musical styles, even disco. And yet
their beginnings were mundane, as co-founders Don Wilson and the late Bob
Bogle were bricklayers in Seattle, Washington in the late 1950s who bought
themselves guitars and learned to play them (Wilson on rhythm and Bogle on
lead guitar) so they could jam on breaks, and eventually they started
playing cllubs and released their first single Walk, Don't Run,
originally a jazz tune by Johnny Smith, in a slimmed down rock'n'roll
version in 1960, with Wilson's mum being their producer/manager. The tune
took off almost immediately and made it to number 2 in the Billboard
charts, in part at least due to their innovative way of playing their
instruments - which might have been born out of ignorance to be honest.
From there their career took off, leading to many more hits in the 1960s,
everlasting fame in Japan, a slump in the 1970s and resurgence in the
1980s to induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, when
the band had been around for almost 50 years already ... Now
I'll admit up front I really like The Ventures, so of course this
documentary had my attention from square one - but even if you're not
really into the band but are at all interested in popular music, this is a
mighty interesting film as it goes beyond just a dry re-telling of the
band's story, and has many of The Ventures' fellow musicians from pretty
much all eras (including some pretty big names, see credits above) doing a
pretty good job explaining their music and their influence, but not in an
academic way but in a way that even people who don't talk music (myself
included) "gets it". And the whole thing is done in a very
light-footed, well-paced and entertaining way that it's really just fun to
watch this!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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