Website: shorturl.at/ALP03
Trailer: tinyurl.com/mutzbddn
It creeped me out, in a good way.
I got e-mail from Cheryl Strayed, telling me her documentarian husband had made a movie about Judee Sill...did I know who she was, would I watch it?
Of course I know who Judee Sill is/was. She was on Asylum Records, and she was the only initial signing other than Ned Doheny who didn't break through.
Now in truth there's a documentary about everyone these days. Oftentimes done on a budget, hagiography for diehard fans only. And normally it would have been hard to say yes, but Cheryl Strayed? How can I say no?
Now in truth there is evidence and there is not. There's some video footage, a bunch of audio and some diaries. So at first the film seems slim. But then...
The first third is the backstory. Which is pretty unique. Going to jail for robbery, becoming a prostitute to pay for her heroin habit and ending up in reform school, where she honed her chops playing the church organ.
David Geffen said he didn't care about all that, he was concerned with the artist and the songs. And when Geffen believed in you...
Let's not forget, Geffen made Laura Nyro a star, and after she left him, well, refused to move from Columbia to Asylum, she never had another hit. Never mind sacrificing her publishing when Geffen promptly sold it.
Managers make a difference. It's oftentimes hard to quantify what they do, but sans a manager no one has ever made it. You need someone to believe in you, to not only look out for you, but push you, take advantage of opportunities, never mind create opportunities.
But Judee Sill could never write a hit. A hit back then was something that was played regularly on FM radio. And either an act got airplay or was nowhere. FM had a wider playlist than AM, but there were not unlimited slots. It's not like today where other than a few acts pushed by the majors everybody is cottage industry. Judee Sill was built for today, when the gatekeepers don't matter, when you can go direct to fan, when you can build it yourself.
So I never heard Judee Sill. I saw her albums in the bins, but I never purchased one. Money was limited. And if it wasn't on the radio you had to buy it to hear it, and most people did not. That's also contrary to today, when everything can be heard, even for free. Sure, it's hard to gain someone's attention, but if you do and you've got the chops, they'll tell everybody they know, you can build a solid career, that is anything but evanescent, careers built on hits can fade away, but not those built on one to one bonds between fans and artists.
So, Sill's dream comes true. She lives large on the advances, and then it all evaporates.
Well, never forget that Sill was born in 1944. She came of age in the early sixties, before the Beatles, when the most most people knew about Southern California was from network TV. There were not only beatniks in San Francisco, but Los Angeles too. Sill got by by the skin of her teeth. She survived on nothing when that was still possible.
And she made contacts, with Jim Pons of the Turtles and...
J.D. Souther.
I didn't know that. That's the heart of the movie, well, that and a slew of other boyfriends. J.D. inspired her most famous song, and not in a good way. She could never get over J.D.
We get more footage and more insight into J.D. in this movie than anywhere previously. We get a feel for the turn of the decade, from the sixties to the seventies, when Los Angeles was the epicenter of the music business and there was no social media, little news at all, and we had no idea how these inspired hedonistic musicians lived and created these legendary songs.
But it came to an end. There's some hokum about her alienating David Geffen, but he denies it. Geffen says he was gone from the label by time she was dropped. And Geffen famously did move on.
But when things didn't turn out for her, Sill was not calm and peaceful, she was pissed, and acted accordingly.
This side of life is rarely depicted. Most of these musicians have no C.V. It's not like if things don't work out they can work at the bank, even work anywhere, they're not good with showing up, time. They're heroes, and suddenly they're zeros. You put in your all, you believe in yourself, but the public doesn't react. How do you cope then?
Well, Sill got back on drugs. You've got to soothe the pain somehow. And there was a car accident, and maybe a boyfriend pushed her down the stairs, but...
Oh, one more thing, that car accident, it was in J.D.'s VW Bug. Yeah, that's what hit records will get you, it's all artifice, J.D. was still driving the People's Car.
But the denouement... She'd gotten into the Big Top, she'd reached for the brass ring, but she'd fallen. She was known to many, after all you saw her records in the store, she got reviews, but she was nowhere broke on Morrison St. in Hollywood when she died. People thought about her, but they were caught up in their own lives. That's how it is, if you can't save yourself...
And Sill had saved herself so many times.
Now you'll see modern acts testifying about Sill's songs. Is she the new Nick Drake? Well, the internet allows her to survive. She's got some notice, her music is out there, available.
But I'm not expecting even the level of acclaim and acceptance of Eva Cassidy. Then again, Judee Sill was a writer, not an interpreter.
But she was a person.
There's hogwash saying she wasn't successful because of her looks. Well, I'm a red-blooded American male and she looks good to me! But in truth it didn't matter what you looked like, it all came down to the music, did it get a chance and was it accepted by the public. Sill got a chance, but somehow her music didn't resonate with the audience. Doesn't mean it's bad, but when you come close it's so disheartening.
Today everybody wants to become a brand. Everybody is selling 24/7, dunning you to pay attention, and most of the stuff isn't worth paying attention to.
And you can bitch about the gatekeepers of yore, but if you had one of the five thousand albums released each year, you were a cut above. The internet proved that that were not a ton of unsigned acts who just needed exposure to prove their greatness. The labels did a good job of finding talent. And if you were on a heralded label, like Asylum, believe me, people paid attention.
It was a different era. We were not all connected. What happened in your burg, never mind your life, was unknown by most. You foraged, you plotted, you made mistakes... Maybe you went to college, maybe you didn't, but there was a level of equality, we were all in it together. In other words, Judee Sill was one of us. Then again, she was not. She was an artist. Not an influencer. Not in it solely for the fame or even the remuneration. Being a great songwriter was paramount. Forget writing with a dozen others, Judee Sill had a statement to make, a personal statement.
And most people shrugged, if they were aware of her or her music at all.
Now this film is getting a limited theatrical release in April. But these projects are always about streaming TV. I'm thinking if this is available on Netflix word of mouth will spread. Because Judee Sill was not like everybody else. She had an inner strength, a desire. But it just did not pan out and that was too much to take.
Keep this film in mind, at some point you'll come across it and be able to click. You should. Because, like me, you'll be creeped out. Judee didn't die at 27, she lived all the way to 35, still too young to die, but she saw a good amount, she knew what was going on.
This is not "Behind the Music" where the arc transcends the act. One thing is for sure, Judee Sill was an original. And this is iconic in an era of me-too, or individuals desiring attention who do not deserve it.
This is Judee Sill's story. Not yours. There are some connections, some similarities, but she was different, unique, and it is this kind of person who scales the heights, becomes a successful artist, because they need it, they've got something to prove, and they don't fit into regular society, this is the only thing they can do and they're all in.
Makes you think, makes you sad.
It's life and life only.
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