The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Ever wondered what became of Shelley Duvall?

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/features/searching-for-shelley-duvall-the-reclusive-icon-on-fleeing-hollywood-and-the-scars-of-making-the-shining (link included here as otherwise will get lost at bottom of page)

Last time I thought about Shelley Duvall was when I went to see the Stanley Kubrick exhibition at London’s Design Museum a couple of years back. One of the finest actors of “Easy Rider, Raging Bulls” era Hollywood, she’d pretty much dropped off everyone else’s radar in the mid-90s.

Until a few weeks back, the most (only?) recent sighting of Ms D was the ill-advised car crash interview she did the odious Dr Phil in 2016. When the Hollywood’s Seth Aramovitz tracked her down to Texas, she gave a fascinating interview. She not only shared insights into the films she made with Robert Altman but also talked surprisingly graciously about the trials and tribulations she underwent during Kubrick’s notorious year-plus shooting of The Shining. Incredibly, the 126 takes it took for SK to be happy with the film’s staircase scene (YouTube link below) don’t the world record for the most number of takes on a major film. That record goes to the 148 takes it took to shoot the scene in which Scatman Crothers chef explains the shining to Duvall’s son Danny (Danny Lloyd).

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Jesus Jellett RIP – Post your memories of this fabulous mainstay of 60s and 70s rock shows here

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Know that there is an obit thread, but as almost ever UK-based ATMer of a certain age will have run into this genuine one-off at some point, it seems a nice time to look back at gigs we went to in the 60s and 70s.

For those callow youths who’ve never heard of him, JJ was as ubiquitous a feature of gig-going forty and fifty years ago (Jesus – the other one – is it really that long ago?) as army great coats and shouts of “Wally” or “Albatross!”

Pretty sure the first time I first saw him was at The Who’s May 74 Charlton gig – certainly remember his being at loads of big shows thereafter. He was such a fixture on the music scene at that time there’s even brief footage of him talking to Neil Young in Jim Jarmusch’s Year of the Horse and three decades later onto a Chemical Brothers album cover.

Anyone care to share their own recollections – fond or otherwise -of JJ?

https://www.loudersound.com/news/legendary-music-fan-and-naked-hippie-dancer-jesus-dead-at-72

The Blue Oyster Cult Thread…On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

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moseleymoles on Blue Oyster Cult

One of the joys of the old place (both of them now) was the threads in which a slightly less celebrated act was given a thorough airing in a thread dedicated to them. In that spirit here’s my take on an act that if they ever had their due, have now slipped well off the radar. So welcome to the Blue Oyster Cult thread and if you’ve never heard anything by the Cult beyond Don’t Fear The Reaper don’t be afraid..

BOC started in the late sixties as an American answer to the emerging heavy metal/hard rock acts from the UK, particularly Black Sabbath. Their first three albums: BOC, Tyranny and Mutation, and Secret Treaties, mine a fairly conventional rock sound – enlivened by Donald ‘Buck’ Dharma’s guitar and lyrics that mined mysticism, World War Two and arcane mythology amongst others.

After building up their reputation as a hot live act, their phase as top-notch album-sellers started with the live album On Your Feet or On Your Knees, and two subsequent studio albums, Agents of Fortune and Spectres. These albums saw their sound coming into focus and the airing of a slew of their best-know » Continue Reading.

The Whiplash ‘ question’.

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Junglejim on How far is too far?

Enjoyed the movie Whiplash, excellent screenplay, direction and performances, and am curious on the thoughts of the Massive on what I took to be its central question: how far or can or should one go in the pursuit of excellence and whether the price paid is worth it, particularly in the field of music.

Can a mentor justify pushing a pupil to absolute breaking point in attempting to achieve ‘perfection’? Few would question this motivational approach in sports training ( particularly in endurance events), but in music? especially the branch of music featured in the film, with its unique history? And does technical prowess offer any hope of worthwhile output?

I was also taken with the fact that it centres on a jazz drummer, aspiring to the technical heights of Buddy Rich. Rich has an interesting place on the pantheon on drumming, and jazz specifically. I know nobody who questions his preeminent ability and there’s no shortage of available footage that leaves one thoroughly impressed, but I also don’t know any one who likes jazz that actually listens to his music or would put any of his albums in their personal top 10s » Continue Reading.

Cogito Ergo…. Summat?

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Sewer Robot on Untangling Reality and Fiction

*Contains spoilers for all titles in bold. And, perhaps, for the existence of Santa*.

“I am afraid sir, you have a rather weak grasp of reality”. So speaks Jonathan Pryce during the opening scene of Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. The man he is addressing has disrupted a play recounting Munchausen’s fantastical exploits while claiming to be the real Baron himself. Thus a film set in “The Age Of Reason… somewhere in Europe… Wednesday” portraying a theatrical production of the tall tales of a fictional character whose audience includes people wounded from the very real siege bombing taking place outside the theatre is hijacked by the same legendary fictional character (who was, in fact, based on a real person). The Baron goes on to explain (in flashback, with the actors from the theatre playing their adopted roles) how the siege was all his doing – a story so far-fetched only young Sally Salt believes any of it. Somehow the magic of Gilliam movie logic buttresses the Baron’s shaky story, but how strong a grasp on reality do any of us have? Oprah Winfrey’s autobiography is called “What I Know For Sure” » Continue Reading.

The world needs Christian Grey

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todayoutof10 on Fifty Shades – Christian Grey is ready for us. But are we ready for him…?

As I booked my ticket to see Fifty Shades of Grey, I was very much looking forward to my date with Christian Grey. I had been left disappointed by our first encounter and was eager to find out if our second meeting would be an improvement. I had reason to believe this would be the case.

I was late to the Fifty Shades party, having bought the book and its two sequels long enough after they had become a sensation to expect a cracker of a read. Finding the idea interesting, I was eager to immerse myself in a story that I expected to be emotionally charged, erotic and pretty gripping. In my head, I was already conjuring the developing relationship between the troubled man and the sexually naive young woman and looked forward to how it would play out in word form. Unfortunately, the books disappointed. So much so, that I gave up part way through the second novel. For me, a good book will put flesh on the bones of the characters I am imagining, helping me develop the story » Continue Reading.