happy tunesday! bleed me a river (the marc whinston project)

 

Continuing with the tracks from my album, Track number four is "Bleed Me a River."

For reference, previous entries in this series were:

• about the album as a whole;
• about track 1;
• about track 2;
• about track 3;

I don't actually remember where the idea came from. But I do remember walking around the Tucson Botanical Garden with an early version of this in my head. I was trying to write a Western song, thinking about such fare as "Run the Ridges," (by John Stewart) I wanted to wrote a song that told a story about the old West. I don't really remember a lot of those original lyrics. Which is probably just as well.

That was more than ten years ago.

Particularly helpful was the realization that a story song doesn't have to tell the whole story. It can allude to elements without spelling them out. And I think that this strikes a reasonable balance between elements that are spelled out explicitly and those that aren't.

As of a year ago, I was still struggling with some of the lyrics to this, but Keith and Christina Crocker brainstormed with me and helped me get the rest filled in.

I originally wrote this in a major key, but when I approached Toby he suggested that a minor key would work better. He was right.

Tom Patterson's vocals were, I think, perfect for this. I asked Toby if he could find someone who sounded like Kris Kristofferson or Johnny Cash. This was more like Country Dick Montana, which is even better.

Enjoy.

"Bleed Me a River"
Song by: Marc Whinston, Christina Zuber Crocker, and Keith J. Crocker
Lead vocal by Tim Patterson
All instruments and backing vocals by Toby Wilson
Arranged and Produced by Toby Wilson for Tobias Wilson Music, Ltd.

cinema history class: earth vs. the spider (1958)

The session: "A tribute to Mr. Big: Bert I. Gordon Month"
This month we pay tribute to director Bert I. Gordon, who passed away this past March at age 100

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 1: Earth vs. The Spider (1958)
Directed by Bert I. Gordon

My Impressions Going In:

I knew nothing

Plot:

A small town battles a giant mutant spider

Reaction and Other Folderol:

There's something really satisfying about these simple-storied 1950's mutant animal movies. They promise a nice fun romp that you don't have to think too hard to enjoy.  And the better ones, such as this, really deliver.

That's not to say there aren't flaws; there are plenty. For starters, what's with the 40-something year-old high school students? As a consumer of mass entertainment, I've gotten used to shows and movies with high school students being portrayed by actors who are too old for the part. But this takes it to a new level. There's that one guy who looks like he's in his forties. The movie was inconsistent about the spider's size, and the effects were the kind of cheesy you'd expect from a low budget movie of its era. Oh, yeah -- and it really bugged me when the scientist kept referring to the spider as an insect. But I guess that's me.

The script alluded to some kind of complex backstory about Mr. Flynn, the spider's first victim. We are led to believe that he is less than reliable -- maybe he drinks, maybe he cheats on his wife. That's hinted at just enough to whet the appetite, but there's never really a payoff. And I found that kind of annoying.

In the end, Eath vs. Spider is much more enjoyable than it is good. It is a perfect exemplar of its genre, and a really fun movie to watch (assuming you don't have arachnophobia. And that's worth a lot.

Ratings

Me: 8.5

Bob-O: 9

Christina: 8.9

Dave: 9.5

Ethan: 8

Joe: 10

cinema history class: where east is east (1929)

The session: "Happy 140th Birthday, Lon Chaney, Sr."
This month we watch silent movies starring the one and only Lon Chaney, Sr.

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 4: Where East Is East (1929)
Directed by Tod Browning

My Impressions Going In:

I had heard of this, but knew nothing about it.

Plot:

A professional trapper (and all around adventureman) is happy for his daughter when she gets engaged. But things get complicated.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

The big story of this movie is that Lupe Velez manages to steal the scenes from Lon Chaney. I've noted in the past that Chaney was so great he would steal whatever scenes he was in in other movies. But here, the fabulous Lupe Velez outshines the master.

There's great chemistry between Chaney (as Tiger Haynes) and Velez (as his daughter, Toyo Haynes); they play well together and off each other. Perhaps, however, too well. In many of the scenes they're in together, they (as father and daughter) seem a little too flirty. Almost incesty. And that's in the context of a plot wherein Toyo's mom (Madame de Sylva, played by Estelle Taylor) is trying to seduce Toyo's fiance. Ick. And I don't mean to say "ick" in the sense of of calling this a bad movie. I do mean that it's kcreepy in a way I don't expect from a 1920s film. But it's really good. 

The movie never does explain why de Sylva is so bitter, why she's going after her daughter's fiance. But I suppose it doesn't matter. But, other than that question, it does manage to tie things up nicely. And, of course, you can't go wrong with a gorilla ending.

Ratings

Me: 9.7

Bob-O: 10

Christina: 8.1

Ethan: 10

Joe: 10

happy tunesday! write a song about me (the marc whinston project)

Continuing with the tracks from my album, Track number three is "Write a Song About Me."

For reference, previous entries in this series were:

• about the album as a whole;
• about track 1;
• about track 2;

In 2012 we were taking a family road trip to California. We stopped at GameStop in Nebraska to buy the kids some more entertainment. The place was staffed by some college kids who seemed kind of bored. As we waited in line to pay, I couldn't help but overhear some of their conversation. One of them complained that he didn't know what to write about for his English paper. "Write about me," replied the young lady who was working with him (and who seemed to be attracted to him), "I like when people write about me." And an idea was born.

The song itself has kind of an odd structure. There's no bridge, and it's V-C-V-C. And the two choruses aren't even the same. I'm not 100% sure why I wrote it that way. It was at least partly due to the fact that I wrote two different choruses, and I liked them both enough that I didn't want to discard either one.

When I wrote this, I was imagining it as being sung by a woman. I think it's the only song I ever wrote with a woman's voice in my mind. Toby, with his array of contacts, had no problem finding a suitable female vocalist. But when he sent me an mp3 with his vocal (which would serve as a guide for the hired female vocalist), I started to have second thoughts about whether it needed a female vocal. But I decided to stick with my vision and go for the female vocal. But then, when I heard Bryony's version I had another idea. I asked Toby if we could experiment and create a duet, seeing as we had a version with his vocal and one with Bryony's. All I had to do was decide which parts would be sung by the man, which by the woman, and which by both. It worked way better than I had hoped.

When I was first sequencing the album, I put this track first because it's one of my favorites and because it's probably the most upbeat song on the disc. But a Eytan Mirsky suggested I move it so as not to open with a duet. Don't use all your powder right away. That made sense, so I moved it to the third spot.

I also included the female-only and male-only versions of the song as bonus (never-before released!) tracks at the end of the album. There were many personal jokes that I was tempted to throw into the project -- fake names in the "special thanks" section...stuff like that. But I decided to treat this project seriously, and so left out all the jokes. Well, almost all the jokes. I did include the four "bonus" tracks at the end, packaging everything to look as if this was a rerelease of an earlier album. Just a small joke. I couldn't resist. Three of those tracks are alternate versions of tracks on the album.

Enjoy.

"Write a Song About Me"
Song by: Marc Whinston
Lead vocal by Toby Wilson and Bryony Ward
All instruments and backing vocals by Toby Wilson
Arranged and Produced by Toby Wilson for Tobias Wilson Music, Ltd.

cinema history class: west of zanzibar (1928)

The session: "Happy 140th Birthday, Lon Chaney, Sr."

This month we watch silent movies starring the one and only Lon Chaney, Sr.

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 3: West of Zanzibar (1928)
Directed by Tod Browning

My Impressions Going In:

I had heard of this, and had seen the 1932 movie, Kongo, based on the same play. In fact, I saw it at Keith's.

Plot:

Phroso, the magician (Lon Chaney) gets crippled in a fight. So he builds a life for himself in the African jungle, where he can dream of revenge.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

For information, we saw the 1932 film,  Kongo (which is a remake of this), in class about 2½ years ago. I wrote about that here.

Going in, I was expecting to like this better than Kongo. Admittedly, that's a tall order -- I gave Kongo a 10. But this starred Lon Chaney who was arguably the best actor in cinema history. And we were going to watch him playing a paraplegic two weeks after we saw his amazing performance as a double amputee. Surely this would be a walk in the park for him. Since I will compare the performances, I am including a clip of Walter Huston in Kongo:

Comparing the two performances is tough, as they are both so strong.  Chaney was better at playing the paraplegic. The way he let his legs act dead was completely convincing. I was particularly taken with the way he would use his arms to pick up his legs and cross them. Huston was good, but not as good. There were a couple moments where it appears that he is putting weight on a leg. On the other had, I think Huston's overall look was more appropriate for the role. The scraggly hair and beard, and the big scar across the nose just work well. I won't say that Chaney looks wrong for the part -- just that he's not as good. And that brings us to the voice. Huston, in the role of Flint, has the perfect voice. It's exactly what I'd expect from that grizzled and bitter old man. Of course, we don't get to hear Chaney's voice because West of Zanzibar was a silent film,* so you can't really compare. Of course, that's not really Chaney's fault. And it's not even a flaw in the film. Still, the voice aspect of Kong does give it an edge.

West of Zanzibar does have a fuller backstory, which makes Chaney's version of Flint a more sympathetic villain. That's consistent with what I've seen in the several Lon Chaney films that I've seen recently (including the ones in Keith's class. It's kind of interesting -- Chaney plays a venal, hateful character with a backstory that makes him understandable and almost likable.

I also liked the ending to West better, as it's darker and more haunting.

Ultimately, West was a great movie. And there were ways that it was better than Kongo. But all things considered it wasn't quite as good.

Ratings

Me: 9.5

Bob-O: 10

Dave: 9.6

Ethan: 10

Joe: 10

____________________________________________________

*In fact, Chaney only did one talkie in his career -- 1930's The Unholy Three, which was a remake of the 1925 silent film of the same name (which also starred Chaney).