At the Movies

We lost one of the greats the other day with the passing of Wrecking Crew alumnus Hal Blaine. In the early '90s, I really got into the drummer's work with Phil Spector's 'Back to Mono' and the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' box sets. Imagine the tales Blaine must have been able to tell. During that same period I was discovering the Wrecking Crew, I read Brian Wilson's book 'Wouldn't It Be Nice,' and 29 years later I still remember when Wilson told of showing up at Blaine's house unannounced soon after Wilson's father Murray sold all of Brian's songs... for a song. Click on the image below to read about that one. Man, the things Blaine saw...

Do yourself a favor. This weekend, fire up Denny Todesco's documentary 'The Wrecking Crew' or Gil Baker's 'Session Men: Los Angeles' and get educated. Here are a few clips:







And now for something completely different. With spring comes hope, and I'm sure hoping the following concert movie comes to my town. When Aretha Franklin passed away last year, you may remember me mentioning my affection for her jaw-dropping live album 'Amazing Grace.' The inspired performance was from the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The original album was a Grammy winner, but it was an abbreviated version of the Jan. 13-14 shows. In 1999, Rhino expanded the Atlantic release and included both nights, along with the wonderful introductions by the Rev. James Cleveland. I didn't get 'Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings' until my mother gave it to me for Christmas, but I have been making up for lost time by keeping it in the car and playing it over and over again. I digress.

The late director Sydney Pollack filmed the making of the album, but he didn't synchronize the picture and sound correctly, and his footage sat for decades. The film has been fixed and will be released in New York and Los Angeles on April 5. Like I said, with spring comes hope. Hopefully, the film will get a wider release soon after. Seattle, please. Here's the trailer. It looks even better than I imagined it while listening to the album years ago...