How about three more 1972 San Diego Door LP reviews for your reading pleasure? According to Cameron, the winner in this bunch is Plainsong’s Amelia Earhart concept album. Boz Scagg’s gets a mixed review and Ronnie Hawkins doesn’t fare too well. Check ’em out!
Boz Scaggs – My Time – October, 1972
Plainsong – In Search of Amelia Earhart – December, 1972
Ronnie Hawkins – Rock & Roll Resurrection – August, 1972
We are pleased to share the press release for Pearl Jam Twenty with quotes from Cameron. More details will emerge in the future, so stay tuned for all the latest news.
PEARL JAM RETRACES THEIR FOOTSTEPS WITH CAMERON CROWE RETROSPECTIVE FILM
Theatrical Release of “Pearl Jam Twenty” September 2011 Celebrates the Band’s 20-Year History
LOS ANGELES, CA (MAY 25, 2011) – In celebration of their 20 year anniversary, Pearl Jam is set to release the feature film Pearl Jam Twenty, a definitive portrait of the band as told by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and music journalist, Cameron Crowe. The captivating documentary gives fans and audiences an intimate first glimpse into Pearl Jam’s journey culled from more than 1,200 hours of rarely and never-before-seen footage, over 24 hours of recent interviews with the band, as well as live footage of their spellbinding concert performances.
Pearl Jam Twenty will enjoy a unique, simultaneous worldwide theatrical release in select cities and venues in September and thereafter will roll out in an accelerated fashion. Abramorama, headed by Richard Abramowitz, who steered the theatrical campaigns for Anvil! The Story of Anvil and the Oscar®-nominated Exit Through The Gift Shop, is releasing the independent film in the U.S. with Arts Alliance Media, best known for their deft handling of Iron Maiden’s award-winning documentary Flight 666 and, more recently, Foo Fighters Back and Forth, handling the theatrical release overseas. The film’s U.S. television premiere will be Friday, October 21st at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), as part of the prestigious PBS “American Masters” series, airing during the first-ever PBS Arts Fall Festival. The soundtrack and DVD of the film will be released worldwide by Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, with the soundtrack released simultaneous to the film in September and the DVD following with a release in October.
Told in big themes and bold colors with blistering sound, Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band’s formation, the chaos that ensued soon-after being catapulted into superstardom, their step back from the spotlight with the instinct of self-preservation, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them—giving way to a work culture that would sustain them. The film celebrates the freedom that allows the band to make music without losing themselves, their fans, or the music lovers they’d always been.
“When I set out to make this film, my mission was to assemble the best-of-the best from Pearl Jam’s past and present and give audiences a visceral feeling of what it is to love music and to feel it deeply—to be inside the journey of a band that has carved their own path,” said Cameron Crowe. “There is only one band of their generation for which a film like this could even be made, and I’m honored to be the one given the opportunity to make it.”
Crowe was among the band’s inner circle when they formed and has maintained a close friendship with the band since his days as a reporter for Rolling Stone in Seattle. Almost 20 years after the band’s inception, Eddie, Jeff, Stone and Mike gave their longtime friend the okay to raid the vault and assemble from it the story no one but those closest to them ever knew.
As part of their year-long celebration, Pearl Jam is also releasing a Pearl Jam Twenty soundtrack and book of the same name, to accompany the film. The soundtrack is comprised of a selected track listing by Cameron Crowe—making the album a true companion piece to the film. Published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and
Atlantic Books in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the Pearl Jam Twenty book is an aesthetically stunning chronicle of the band’s past two decades. Compiled and written by veteran music writer
Jonathan Cohen with Mark Wilkerson, the book includes a foreword by Cameron Crowe (and material from all his own band interviews) as well as original interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Dave Grohl. In addition, the band recently announced tour dates in Canada in September as well as two shows in the U.S over Labor Day weekend at Alpine Valley outside of Chicago.
After two-decades, Pearl Jam remains a giant musical force and one of the biggest and most magnetic touring acts in the world. With over 60 million albums sold worldwide, they continue to create and perform great music—all on their own terms. Pearl Jam is currently in the studio recording their 10th studio album, marking the bands’ second record released through their label, Monkeywrench Records.
ABOUT PJ20
2011 is a yearlong celebration of Pearl Jam’s twenty-year history. The band started off the year with the release of a new live compilation album, Live on Ten Legs, followed by the expanded reissues of Vs. and Vitalogy in March. Things kick into high gear in September with the Alpine Valley Labor Day anniversary weekend concert, a ten-date Canadian tour, followed by the theatrical release of Cameron Crowe’s film, Pearl Jam Twenty in September with accompanying book and soundtrack album and subsequent PBS airdate of October, ending the year with the DVD of the film available in October. For the latest Pearl Jam happenings, visit www.pearljam.com
That’s right. Today is Bob Dylan’s 70th Birthday. Cameron has covered Dylan over the years including this 1978 Rolling Stone piece on his Universal Amphitheatre concerts and his massive liner notes for the box set, Biograph (sorry, I still haven’t transcribed that yet..it’s a beast!).
You don’t want to miss the recent Rolling Stone issue dedicated to Bawb. It covers “The 70 Greatest Dylan Songs”, “20 Overlooked Classics”, “My Favorite Dylan Song”, Photos, Bootlegs, his first Rolling Stone interview and much more. Cameron participated by talking about #60 on the list of Greatest Dylan songs, “Buckets of Rain”. A fitting choice as I heard that song was played quite a bit on the set of We Bought a Zoo. Here’s what he wrote:
#60 – “Buckets of Rain” – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
ONE OF THE GREAT GIFTS BOB DYLAN HAS IS TO slip a grace note into an album, something that doesn’t cry out to be noticed, but is unforgettable. To me, that’s “Buckets of Rain,” the perfect grace note for Blood on the Tracks: melancholy, loping and bittersweet. It’s sly and unpretentious, but has huge power. Any room I’ve ever played it in has changed as a result.
The one little thing in the corner of an album, a movie or any piece of writing can be the most important element of all. The quiet little song makes Blood on the Tracks complete, and one of his greatest albums.
Dylan was in a middle period when he wrote it. I heard he went back to Minnesota and was living on a farm. He had a notebook, and the lyrics of Blood on the Tracks were honed in that period. He was going to get personal. It was going to hurt to hear, but it was going to be revelatory. It turned out to be the confessional Dylan album that people had been craving for a long time, and he hasn’t really gone back there since. He put up a lot of roadblocks and disinformation about it, but Blood on the Tracks is his Blue – his confessional album about relationships. I can’t think of it without “Buckets of Rain.” Dylan’s stuff continues to inform every generation – it just lives and lives, and a song like “Buckets of Rain” breathes with a simple truth about real life. After a blistering heartache comes a soothing rain.
Cameron Crowe
May, 2011
Happy Friday everyone. As part of last year’s Station to Station deluxe re-release, Cameron provided liner notes to David Bowie’s 1976 landmark album. He recalls watching Bowie record part of the album in the studio and being on the road for the subsequent tour. It’s a short, but sweet look at the album and its endurance 30+ years later.
Wild Turkey – Self Titled
We got three more San Diego Door album reviews from November, 1972 to share with you today. Cameron is mixed on Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes (produced by David Bowie). Cameron is less enamored with the Rowan Brothers and Wild Turkey releases, but he’s got some funny things to say about each album. With these three new additions, the Journalism section now has 162 articles, interviews and reviews.
Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes
It’s a big day if you are a PJ fan. Pearl Jam Twenty will make its television debut as part of PBS’s American Master series on October 21st. Cameron’s documentary was culled from more than 1,200 hours of archival footage (along with more than 24 hours of footage that Cameron shot). The photo you see above is the first released still from the documentary. In addition, Pearl Jam has announced a 2 day festival concert in East Troy, WI for Labor Day and a ten date Canadian tour! On top of that, a few more details have emerged about the Pearl Jam Twenty book and soundtrack. This info comes directly from Pearl Jam’s official site:
Cameron provides the humorous and touching introduction to Teenage, a 2003 book by Joseph Szabo. It’s a wonderful collection of photographs that Szabo took while teaching on Long Island in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Cameron uses the opportunity to recall some of the colorful characters from his high school and the parts they played. The book is now out of print and highly collectable, but you can find out more about Szabo over at his official site. Here’s just a taste at some of his deeply moving black and white images.
I’m pleased to share two new Eric Clapton pieces with you today. Both were published in late 1975 and were most likely culled from the same period of time that Cameron spent on the road with “slowhand”. First up, is a more of a career overview done for the L.A.Times entitled “E.C.’s Been Here, There and Everywhere”. Cameron chronicles his early days with The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes. This dovetails nicely into his solo career, along with his trails and tribulations.
The 2nd article is a more comprehensive Q & A with Clapton that Cameron conducted for Rolling Stone entitled “E.C.’s Here Again: ‘There’s Always Someone Faster'” and goes in-depth about his heroin problems, stage fright, rumors about joining the Rolling Stones and the music. While a few quotes overlap the L.A. Times, it’s a much more exhaustive and informative talk with Clapton. I thoroughly enjoyed transcribing both articles and hope you like them too!
