20 Feet From Stardom
Cast:
Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer,
Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Stevie Wonder,
Mick Jagger, Lou Adler, Claudia Lennear
Director: Morgan Neville
90 mins
Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Stevie Wonder,
Mick Jagger, Lou Adler, Claudia Lennear
Director: Morgan Neville
90 mins
A hugely enjoyable, very revealing documentary about
the hidden lives, artistry and heartbreak of backup singers, “20 Feet From
Stardom” should not be missed. Even if you don’t
classify yourself as a music student or afficionado, you’ll sure as hell feel the
effect of the emotional wallop these 90 minutes will direct in a path
straight to your eyes and ears. Directed by Morgan Neville, it’s packed with a huge selection
of archive footage, guaranteed to delight other music historian nuts like
myself, such as watching a young Luther Vandross almost out-performing David
Bowie on Young Americans, bearing witness to Merry Clayton's blistering wail on the
Rolling Stone's Gimme Shelter, plus many other revealing slices
of audio – all of which will change the way you think about and hear some
classic songs thereafter.
But 20 Feet is a great deal more than rock’n’roll/r&B/soul trivia. It reveals the way some singers sacrificed their careers, and are still so doing, in service to the stars - including the magnificent Darlene Love of the Blossoms who sang for Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra and even on Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett’s Monster Mash. The singer discovered a new low when she heard her own voice on the sublime Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), while working as a cleaning lady, but announced and featured on the actual record label as being by The Crystals, of whom she wasn't a member.
20 Feet from Stardom is a film with no shortage of comebacks and failures. Neville does a great job of illustrating the point with brilliant camera tricks and double exposures, as we watch back-up singers literally fade from view. One of the most intriguing characters is Lisa Fischer, a performer who sang backup for Luther Vandross and Sting - and who is the first vocalist Mick Jagger calls when the Stones hit the road. With a magical voice as clear as a bell, she wows with a bouncy jazz scat session that lightens up the room. Fischer has been in the background for some time as a backup singer, but also at the front, winning a Grammy for her solo album before falling back into anonymity, as Neville communicates her fall from fame in a single incisive edit.
The whole piece is an extended exhaltation to these undersung talents, and charts the creative contributions over six decades of American and some UK contemporary music history: from doo-wop and girl groups, Ray Charles’ Raelettes and producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, to the politically charged, nitty-gritty rock & roll years and on into the age of the accursed Auto-Tune, to a position where demand for backup singers has waned considerably. Some big names appear on camera to chat – including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Sting, but it’s the non-household names who ultimately hold our attention. Apart from Darlene Love, we hear from the aforementioned, wondrous Merry Clayton. Both women tried their hands at solo careers, but neither took flight – due to the limited imagination of the industry, the fickleness of fate, or gross mismanagement. Phil Spector had signed Darlene and, according to Ms Love, the notorious knob-twiddler was the instrument of her ruin. Worry not about his unflattering portrayal here however. as his murder conviction has now fatally knackered his heinous reputation.
Poor wages and a chronic lack of credit were part of the pitfalls of most of the backup singers, and inevitably drugs were the real undoing of others. 20 Feet From Stardom doesn’t avoid the harsher truths of the music industry, but the documentary is extremely satisfying in its execution, and is stylishly assembled and delightfully ends in triumph. Since the film’s USA release, a number of the film’s subjects have enjoyed a boost in recognition with record sales picking up as a result. Some new material – threaded throughout the film in beautifully shot in-studio sequences – emphasises what’s so great, and so feel-good, about this terrific film - it both celebrates the unheralded individual and uplifts the special aural alchemy that’s created when many individual voices blend together as one. It is also an appreciation of the art of blending your voice to support someone else.
As Lisa Fischer herself says "Some people will do anything to be famous and then there's others who just sing."
But 20 Feet is a great deal more than rock’n’roll/r&B/soul trivia. It reveals the way some singers sacrificed their careers, and are still so doing, in service to the stars - including the magnificent Darlene Love of the Blossoms who sang for Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra and even on Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett’s Monster Mash. The singer discovered a new low when she heard her own voice on the sublime Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), while working as a cleaning lady, but announced and featured on the actual record label as being by The Crystals, of whom she wasn't a member.
20 Feet from Stardom is a film with no shortage of comebacks and failures. Neville does a great job of illustrating the point with brilliant camera tricks and double exposures, as we watch back-up singers literally fade from view. One of the most intriguing characters is Lisa Fischer, a performer who sang backup for Luther Vandross and Sting - and who is the first vocalist Mick Jagger calls when the Stones hit the road. With a magical voice as clear as a bell, she wows with a bouncy jazz scat session that lightens up the room. Fischer has been in the background for some time as a backup singer, but also at the front, winning a Grammy for her solo album before falling back into anonymity, as Neville communicates her fall from fame in a single incisive edit.
The whole piece is an extended exhaltation to these undersung talents, and charts the creative contributions over six decades of American and some UK contemporary music history: from doo-wop and girl groups, Ray Charles’ Raelettes and producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, to the politically charged, nitty-gritty rock & roll years and on into the age of the accursed Auto-Tune, to a position where demand for backup singers has waned considerably. Some big names appear on camera to chat – including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Sting, but it’s the non-household names who ultimately hold our attention. Apart from Darlene Love, we hear from the aforementioned, wondrous Merry Clayton. Both women tried their hands at solo careers, but neither took flight – due to the limited imagination of the industry, the fickleness of fate, or gross mismanagement. Phil Spector had signed Darlene and, according to Ms Love, the notorious knob-twiddler was the instrument of her ruin. Worry not about his unflattering portrayal here however. as his murder conviction has now fatally knackered his heinous reputation.
Poor wages and a chronic lack of credit were part of the pitfalls of most of the backup singers, and inevitably drugs were the real undoing of others. 20 Feet From Stardom doesn’t avoid the harsher truths of the music industry, but the documentary is extremely satisfying in its execution, and is stylishly assembled and delightfully ends in triumph. Since the film’s USA release, a number of the film’s subjects have enjoyed a boost in recognition with record sales picking up as a result. Some new material – threaded throughout the film in beautifully shot in-studio sequences – emphasises what’s so great, and so feel-good, about this terrific film - it both celebrates the unheralded individual and uplifts the special aural alchemy that’s created when many individual voices blend together as one. It is also an appreciation of the art of blending your voice to support someone else.
As Lisa Fischer herself says "Some people will do anything to be famous and then there's others who just sing."
Captain America:
The Winter Soldier
The Winter Soldier
Cast: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson
Directors:
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
136 mins
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not only a direct sequel to The Avengers/Avengers Assemble, but it lays the groundwork for the next superhero conglomeration outing The Avengers: Age of Ultron.Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is now on a full-time contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. as S.T.R.I.K.E. team leader on various covert counter-terrorism missions. However, his relationships with head-honcho Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and other team members Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) aren’t too harmonious.
This is brought under test when the outfit’s latest escapade at sea reveals plans which Fury and Romanoff have been holding back from C.A. himself. Fury reveals more details about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s latest initiatives - which create doubts in the Captain’s mind, and cause a potential loyalty dilemma. This pressure is intensified by an assassination attempt that brings S.H.I.E.L.D. senior exec Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) face to face with C.A., together with the titular Winter Soldier, an enigmatic hitman who is connected to C.A.’s past. This puts our hero on the run with only Natasha and an Army vet named Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) left whom he can trust – and who have access to ominous battle equipment – much needed – as a potentially terrifying conspiracy begins to reveal itself.
The Winter Soldier allows the personas of both Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff to be considerably more fleshed out than previously – and Jackson and Johansson seem thrilled to be exploring new facets of their characters – and Anthony Mackie as Falcon is a more than worthy addition to the ranks.
Sebastian Stan offers a hauntingly placid level to counterpoint his brutal relentlessness as the Winter Soldier. My only quibble is with a slightly miscast Robert Redford as Pierce. This hugely accomplished actor’s historically benign gravitas, presence and decency are somewhat at odds with what is needed here. As for Captain America himself now completing a trio of appearances in costume, Chris Evans seems finally to be comfortable, confident and empowered in the role. Although the film’s action sequences are undeniably entertaining, they’re diminished by the current, ubiquitous trend for quick cutting – a technical trait that has disappointingly become the norm for films such as this. Whilst the visual effects are in main extremely good, several of the shots of Falcon in flight and when landing could have used a great deal more time on the computer software – as they do look underdone and incomplete.
All that aside however, this is a huge adrenaline charge of a film, with some profound contemporary political reference points and a thrilling pace.
