A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE BIG STAR DOCUMENTARY "NOTHING CAN HURT ME" PLUS THE RASPBERRIES

Since this involves music, I will post my thoughts on the Big Star documentary NOTHING CAN HURT ME here instead of my film blog.

What I liked and didn’t like about this film.

First what I didn’t like

1.) It’s incredible whiny.  It’s too bad Big Star weren’t more successful but that’s life.  It does seem they made some choices about the recording business and their music that caused this.  Granted, they were youngins and didn’t know any better.

2.) People who discuss Big Star are incredibly sanctimonious.  I thought Velvet Underground fans were bad (and I am a big VU fan) but the people interviewed (musicians and others) act like before there was Big Star there was no rock and roll.

3.) After Big Star’s THIRD record it moves ahead awfully quickly.  I didn’t get a strong sense of what happened in between other than Alex Chilton really liked punk rock.

What I liked

1.) Taken as a film, this is an excellent documentary because it thoroughly covers all aspects of the scene, the place where Big Star came together and recorded - Memphis.  One gets a very strong of sense of what was going on around them.

2.) Chris Bell’s contribution to Big Star is methodically listed.  He is given his true place in history.  I also liked how they show what he did afterwards.

3.) This is a detailed, honest, rich presentation that isn’t just for fans of the music of Big Star but for anyone who likes to analyze a work for what fed into it and consequently what it spawned.

I like Big Star’s music....#1 RECORD and RADIO CITY that is.  The third one just sounds like dicking around in the studio to me although there are a few gems like “Thank You Friends” on it.

However, it took me a long time to get into them and they don’t hold a candle to the music of their peers Badfinger and even more so The Raspberries.

The four albums Eric Carmen and company made RASPBERRIES, FRESH, SIDE 3, STARTING OVER are all superb and feature Carmen’s beautiful McCartneyesque ballads in Beatles juxtaposition with other band members writing more rocking tunes.  The Raspberries are the greatest of what is known as power pop because they recognize the completeness of Beatles as founding fathers template and Carmen had a real gift for ballads something many power pop bands including Big Star couldn’t quite master.    

I am hoping and waiting for a Raspberries rediscovery and resurgence.

LOU REED RIP - MORE THOUGHTS

After re-reading what I wrote about Lou Reed the other day, it seemed a bit rough and impersonal so I thought I’d take another stab at what particularly grabbed me about him.

Strip away all the hype and Lou Reed’s greatest strength was his unflinching honesty. His ability to capture a scene and get it down in verse and slip in his own thoughts of what’s happening whether documenting drug abuse or S&M or beautiful, unconditional love or the differing and evolving social conditions of New York City.

I’ve heard a lot of comparisons about Lou Reed and Bob Dylan in the last week since he died.  To me, they are not very accurate.  They come from the same influences but are almost polar opposites.  Dylan is all metaphorical and allegorical and surreal and Reed just told it like it is.

Musically, I think Reed’s high point was THE BLUE MASK/ LEGENDARY HEARTS/ NEW SENSATIONS era where he worked with a smoking back-up band including Robert Quine on guitar and Fernando Saunders on bass.  When he stripped the music down to its foundation, that’s when his music worked best.

Here’s my thoughts on his solo records….

Top tier records – LEGENDARY HEARTS, STREET HASSLE, BERLIN, THE BLUE MASK, NEW SENSATIONS

Second tier – SONGS FOR DRELLA, TRANSFORMER, GROWING UP IN PUBLIC, ECSTASY

The rest fall somewhere below.

Always felt his two best known solo albums were slightly overrated.  TRANSFORMER is a good record but the singles, the famous songs (Satellite of Love, Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side, Vicious) are much better than the album tracks most of which seem like filler. NEW YORK finds Reed very inspired and animated but his anger and bitterness are too in your face as he has really stripped down the music.  Very little humor there.  Also comparing Arafat to the KKK is just disgusting.

As far as the Velvet Underground goes, all four VU albums are brilliant with the order of preference being 1^st, 3^rd, WHITE LIGHT/ WHITE HEAT and LOADED.