I didn't expect it to be this good. I thought it would be a sales pitch for the new band of these ancient, road-weary musicians. But really, it's a sequel to the Wrecking Crew movie, but it's even better.
Yes, it took years for the Wrecking Crew movie to come out, it was a rights issue. It was the little engine that could. Whereas this film comes out fully formed, sans the buzz, sans the begging, and I watched it out of obligation. But whew!
This is my era. And there was so much information. I knew who the players in the Wrecking Crew were, I still can't believe Carol Kaye is alive. Yes, a woman was the bass player on all those hit records, and for a while there she was teaching, but the guys in the Immediate Family? They're around, accessible, and I know so much of their story.
But there's more.
But really, this is about perspective. I'm old, I lived through this. But if you didn't...
Well, I don't know if you'd care. But if you do, it's a gold mine. Furthermore, I think many people do and will care, after all they call it classic rock!
Now the beginning is all set-up And there's animation and nothing new, but as they start getting into the story of each member...
More and more is revealed that you don't know.
And then come the studio stories, and then come the road stories.
When Waddy and Jackson Browne talk about recording "Werewolves of London"... They end up calling Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Mick warns them, they're not like Russ and Leland, this is not their world, don't expect them to be machines and nail it. And then the band records a take. And then another. And then another. And Fleetwood Mac doesn't want to quit, they keep playing, all night. And it's the second of sixty one takes that is the keeper.
Or the story of the recording of "Running on Empty," how it was supposed to be greatest hits and it evolved.
And Don Henley talking about the recording of his solo albums with Danny.
Yes, everybody is in this, from Lou Adler to Niko Bolas to Val Garay to Phil Collins. If you worked with these guys, you spoke on screen, Linda and Stevie too. Too often these movies have holes, because people wouldn't participate, or something couldn't be licensed, but it's all here.
You see people playing along to their hits. Which in most cases they had no idea would be hits.
The highlight of Kootch's life is when he's on the 101, in traffic, and from the car next door he hears "All She Wants to Do Is Dance." The guy is geeking out, in the groove in his automobile, and Danny wrote it. Whew!
And Leland wants no attention, doesn't think he's worthy. But at one JT gig the front row are all wearing Leland Sklar fan club t-shirts...and James is not thrilled.
But it all blurs together. These guys were on the road, staying up all night, playing, partying, talk about not remembering the sixties, the seventies began the era of constant touring, don't forget the tour was the advertisement for the record, as opposed to vice versa today.
And Linda Ronstadt is a great poker player. And she goes with Waddy to a strip club and they won't let her in without I.D. Waddy says IT'S LINDA RONSTADT! But that's not good enough. So then Waddy tells Linda to sing, and she does, and they let her in.
Road stories. Studio stories. That's what people not in the business don't get, that it runs on stories. Hang with a promoter? They've got tons! It's an inside job, part of the culture, and if you're not in it, you're out.
And I think it's Waddy who says put an exec on the street corner next to him and see who survives. He can live on tips, but what is the executive gonna do?
Now in truth there was more than the Immediate Family back in the seventies, other famous studio players. These guys tended to play on certain records, but we all knew their names, they were part of the band, not hit and run musicians.
Someone says that Peter Asher was the first to put the players on the album jacket. That's not the way I remember it. And there are other minor inaccuracies, "Tapestry" was not the first Carole King solo album. They're minor irritations to a fan.
But other than Paul McCartney, I've found that most people don't remember every aspect of their career, it was all a blur. We were home studying the records, they'd moved on to other things, they lived their lives. They spent all that time in the studio cutting these tunes...and in many cases never listened to the records ever again. Sure, they played them a zillion times live, but oftentimes changing certain elements, keeping themselves happy. Yes, the songs evolved.
That's right, the fan oftentimes knows more about the career of the artist than the artist themselves. That's how much these records mean to us. This is why I say selling out should not be de rigueur, that it makes a difference, that it affects the act's credibility, because these records are everything to us, literally. I was brought up on rock and roll, the rest is superfluous. I learned more in college reading "Rolling Stone" and listening to records than I ever did in class. Truly. May be hard to believe, but that's just how dedicated I am, what it meant to me, and still does.
But even casual fans will enjoy "The Immediate Family."
This is not "20 Feet From Stardom," because in that case most of the talent was nearly unknown, certainly their stories were. And let's be clear, Morgan Neville is an auteur. But Denny Tedesco is a fan, a lifer, part of the story, so the movie has a different feel. There's no sheen, you're inside. If you ran into any of these players you'd pick up a conversation immediately, they don't come across as stars, but musicians.
Which is what so many of us wanted to be.
This is the second generation. This is not the British Invasion, these are the people who listened to the Beatles, saw them on "Ed Sullivan."
And it's all about relationships, who you know. That's how music works. And if you're a jerk, you won't make it, because no one wants to play with a jerk. But if you've got the chops, show up on time, deliver, give good hang, you're in!
Another one of my favorite moments in the movie is when Waddy comes in to add notes to "Oh, Sherrie"...I love that record, more than I love Steve Perry Journey. And then Waddy asks about the solo. The producer says the artist plans to put a saxophone there. Waddy gets irritated, says no way, says to fire up the machine, goes in and plays the indelible solo we all know.
And after the seventies everybody needs to reinvent themselves.
And then comes technological disruption.
And I don't know why these movies come out in theatres, this audience ain't gonna pay money to go see it that way. But when it plays on the flat screen, when you can stream it at home as part of your subscription, all of us who lived through it will watch it, and we'll talk about it, the same way we still talk about records and concerts.
And the youngsters... The way it works in the internet age is you make it, and if it's good, if it resonates, it takes on a life of its own. It's just waiting to be discovered, to catch fire with newbies.
"The Immediate Family" will.
The band?
Well, they're not retiring, that's not what a musician does!
Nor does a fan.
You're gonna dig this.
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