11/3 9PM EDT. A public service announcement for Dopers who are into “Classic Rock”.
"Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who" has finally arrived. Murray Lerner’s film is going straight to DVD, unfortunately. I had really hoped to see it on a big screen with the volume cranked up. Its in stores on Tuesday, but VH1 is premiering it on Saturday.
Early reviews from Whoville are mostly positive, with the usual hard-core kvetching. Teaser: there’s footage from a High Numbers gig in 1964, and, believe it or not, Leeds. That alone makes it worth watching for me.
Also tomorrow, the Sundance Channel will be showing the excellent 4-hour documentary Runnin’ Down a Dream, about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It starts at 3pm Eastern/Pacific. More info here.
It comes out on Tuesday. Best Buy is selling it with a “bonus” disc that has a concert from Chicago in '79. There have been a couple of screenings in LA and NYC, and it’s being simulcast at some theatres in the UK tomorrow.
Just saw it, am well impressed with it as a documentary. No uninterrupted performances, though – we don’t miss THAT much by it not being on the big screen with the big sound (though of course, it’s still missing something, since even samples of The Who are always better with big sound). Fascinating thing to me, how their original management team had the idea all along of visually documenting a “Rise of” phenomenon and thus made much film to record of their goings-on. Really enjoyed the High Numbers footage, and also the chapter-framing based upon a double-album LP.
(On the amusing detail side, some brief footage of Pete in 1980s fashions from the Face Dances/It’s Hard period looks delightfully dorky)
Just saw “Amazing …” It was an unexpected treat, since I stumbled upon it while channel surfing. I liked the footage of their earlier incarnations as they were trying to define themselves. I’d forgotten how much I liked Keith Moon.
I thought it was quite well done. If the DVD is going to be 2 discs worth, plus a bonus concert, they must have edited out a helluva lot of material from the 2-hour TV program. It’s always better to see the people who were there doing it talk about it, than to see a bunch of people who weren’t there speculate about what they think a phenomenon was about.
I didn’t know that the reunions were to make money for John, who was going bankrupt. I felt bad for Kenney Jones, who had a tough act to follow, and it was Roger who thought he was the wrong drummer for the group and wanted him out. I had no idea Zak Starkey could do such a good Moonie.
I wish they’d had some footage of Pete and Roger together today, discussing it together. It was done exactly like The Beatles Anthology, with each of their comments filmed separately, although this story didn’t have as many instances of each remembering events differently.
I look forward to seeing the rest of the material on Tuesday.
I was listening to a live rendition of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, on VH1 I think, the other day, and was struck by the huge difference in Ringo Jr.'s and Moon’s styles. Compared to the studio version, I seriously missed all the manic fills that Moon put in there, while Zak just competently kept up the beat for most of the song, adding nothing more until the organ section near the end. Yeah Moon was a unique talent etc. etc. but the contrast was rather stark (pun intended).
Loved it myself. I was at the 2002 Hollywood Bowl concert right after Entwistle died and seeing the clips of that on TV brought back all the bittersweet memories of that evening for me. It was my first time seeing the Who, and when Entwistle died I thought i’d missed my chance. It was simply an amazing and sad and moving experience and I think the film really captured that feeling well.
I was at that show too. At the end, after the encore, Pete walked to the edge of the stage and looked up at the screen where images of John were being shown. He raised his hand in salute, turned and walked offstage. I usually shed a tear or two when I see The Who. That night there were a lot of misty-eyed people walking out of The Bowl.
Watched it on VH1 Classic and watched it again the next day. I’m a huge Who fan since the late 60s (which shows you how old I am) and there’s not much I don’t know about their history (down to the name of their manager’s wife). I pretty much gave up on them after Kenny Jones was sacked, and when Entwistle died they ceased to be The Who and were just Daltrey and Townshend playing together. I haven’t followed them much in the last several years and the documentary showed me that it appears Townshend has stopped being a dick to Daltrey and understands and appreciates the huge part Daltrey has played in his life.
The original 4 made some of the greatest music ever.