Professor Jonathan:
France:
...from Prius, as if you didn't already know.
You'll have to excuse me, but I'm in one of those moods: it's three in the morning here in Prius, and tomorrow I have to tell another Perfect Storm - who would certainly fancy himself (if he had ever actually learned to read) as France's answer to Richard Neutra, that he's had his fair share of money for destroying my place under the guise of renovating it, and that it's time to stop so that the next maniac in line can pick up where he's going to have to leave off.
I know you people are sick of hearing about this subject, but not nearly as sick as I am as having to live with it day and night for the last month. All of which has got what's left of my mind moving in strange directions, one of which is all the way back to a post by the admirable Charles Johnson in Little Green Footballs a little more than a year ago....
And here, Professor Jonathan asks the class, "How many of you have ever heard of Chris Whitley?" (Prof. Jonathan counts the hands and continues): Well, people, neither did I....until Johnson posted a YouTube video of the man-child doing his thing in his regulation ripped up wife-beater and advantageous six-pack abs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HdzJ03tsmM
I listened, and I liked. Could it have been Whitley’s long hair that fascinated the crypto-hippie in Professor Jonathan? Yet, Whitley came off as anything but, and I started scratching around Google and YouTube to find out more about the dude. What I found is very nearly a French Story, meaning of course that there's no happy ending.
No Exit, to borrow a phrase from France's late and great Country and Western singer, Jean-Paul Sartre - just ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Which is maybe why I got to thinking of Dust Radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKunQWYsUZ0 which is just the sort of tune that starts floating out of one's frazzled neurons at times like these - along with other haunting tunes like Scrapyard Lullaby or Big Sky Country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-SDmIAJVYo The consensus of industry types and enlightened listeners is that Whitley was the real thing. I tend to think the same, despite a nagging reservation that's so deep that I can't find the words to express it. But who cares, really, since in the end what's important is the music he made. And what’s for certain is that there’s something about it that bridges the distance between wherever the hell he was at and me over here in Prius. What’s also for sure is that he was an authentic burnt-out case – one of many, I should add, averting my own reflection in the plaster-coated bathroom mirror that’s been leaning against my bedroom wall for the past three weeks…. In a certain sense, I guess the real question is whether any of you guys would have let him ride around the block with you. Did Chris have the creds to merit it? Or was it all just smoke and mirrors: crud rather than cred. Does doing a Robert Johnson, dying young and having a (sort of) good-looking corpse cut it with any of the usual suspects around here? Or when all is said and done, is hypnotising flies just as much of an accomplishment? You tell me, and try not to shoot the piano player: he’s doing his best* *From the French expression, "Ne pas tirer sur le pianiste. Il fait de son mieux" - which became the title "Shoot the Piano Player" in Francois Truffaut's** 1960 film starring Charles Aznavour as a once-famous concert pianist trying to escape the tragedy of his past: his wife screwed his agent to further his career and capped it off by jumping out of a hotel window. For some reason, this severely depresses our hero, who abandons everything to become an anonymous musician in a distinctly down-and-out Parisian bar. And that's the most upbeat part of the story: it actually gets even worse from there. Like I say, no happy endings in France. But this funky, grainy, intimiste and bitter-sweet black and white film is still an absolutely kick-ass movie (I can imagine Truffaut rotating in his grave on hearing that) and certainly among any list of a hypothetical ten best... Grab it off a Torrent when you have a moment, and see for yourself.... http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3977775/Tirez_sur_le_pianiste_(1960)_[Criterion_Collection]_[DVDrip] By the way, this half-assed trailer does not reflect the overall excellence of this film, but it was just about the only thing out there that I could find. It's to be hoped that in some cases, even half an ass is better than none.... ** Wikipedia trivia: Persuaded by Steven Spielberg, Truffaut played the French UFO specialist Claude Lacombe in Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When the iconic French director arrived on set, his presence intimidated everyone on the crew, including Spielberg, who could not bring himself to direct him. In one scene, where obsessed citizens are storming Devil's Tower and the military responds with EZ-4 sleeping gas, Truffaut's line was supposed to be: "They belong here, more than we." Truffaut tried his best with his poor English, and the intimidated Spielberg accepted the shot. At the next day's shoot many of the crew wore T-shirts emblazoned with: "Zay bee-long ere Mozambique" Truffaut was embarrassed, but laughed.
Just wanted to thank you for the introduction to Whitley.
Just bought Livin with the Law and love it. Can't believe he was gone before I ever knew he was here.
Bolus is a must read!
Posted by: hewhoone | August 20, 2008 at 08:45 PM