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The Wrecking Crew | Movie | Trailer
Skate and Annoy » Archive » Joe Farrell: Skate Board Park
Here I’m fowarding the latest Wrecking Crew Movie newsletter entirely. These are not my words, but the words of the movie’s creator Denny Tedesco (yes, Tommy Tedesco’s son).
quoting:
Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts
– Ruth GordonWell here are the facts that I will face and conquer, as well as a few questions that need to be addressed.
Why has the film not been released yet?
- I have to pay off the licensing before we can distribute. Pretty easy to understand when you have 133 music cues the majority of which are huge hit records, but without them there is not a story!
- Once we pay off the licensing we will hit the road with the film. Small art house theaters, special events-fund raisers, universities, local music stores. (if they want it, we’ll be there)
- The DVD of the film will have a companion DVD of out-takes. I continue to shoot more interviews to be included in the 2nd DVD.
- We hope to have a compilation soundtrack to go with it. (CD and LP— dust off the turntable)
Why haven’t I given up?
That wouldn’t be a great example to my children. The screenings that we have give me hope and faith by the encouraging words from the audiences at Q&As as well as the emails that follow. If they were walking out, then I’d quit. Neither my father nor his friends ever gave up their dream of playing music for a living so I will keep going to share their story.Why is this film and other music docs of this era important?
If you were an art student and someone asked, “Who is Michelangelo, Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci?”, they know who they were (hopefully). Well I feel the same way about these musicians and artists in the 20th century. Thousands of years of making music, but we are the only generation in the history of mankind to experience the first recordings. We know exactly what the artist meant the piece to sound like. The only way to teach any subject is to know the fundamentals, and what came before us influences what we produce in the future. This is not just music but everyday life.I guess Ella says it better.
Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong – Ella Fitzgerald
One Last Request…
I received an email from a fan of the movie in Europe. He loved the film which is very gratifying, but then he said he bought it on the internet. Oh wow! I hope that’s not true. If it is, I beg you with all of my heart -? please, please don’t buy this film until you receive an official announcement from me that it’s available to purchase. You’ll be the first to know if you’ve signed up on the website.I have spent 14 years of my life, trying to make this dream come true. I can’t even imagine the kind of person that would do that. That is bad Karma.
(If you want the Wrecking Crew Film with Dean Martin as Matt Helm — that’s different… go for it)
My other request goes to others who have made copies from screeners without my permission. Some of you I know. (this is different then selling it)
I truly thank you so much for the greatest compliment by bootlegging the DVD. And the buzz is the best thing that keeps others wanting to see it which is awesome. But it doesn’t get me across the finish line.
Ask any musician how they would feel if they found out someone didn’t buy their album because they already had a copy. (hit home?)
But please at least send a donation to help me pay for the rights. It’s tax deductible. Send me the matinee price if you watched it during the day. But if you watched it at night with a room full of musicians, please think of it as a cheap night out with friends.
If you’re one of the many tour buses that had the chance to view it and liked it, dedicate a song from your band. (details on website).
Enjoy the out-takes and please tell others to sign up on the site. It’s the most important need next to raising donations.
Thanks.
Denny
www.wreckingcrewfilm.com
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Today I googled for Vincent Bell’s name because I couldn’t believe Danelectro didn’t mention him in their promo for the Coral Hornet re-issue now called Dead-On-67. He designed those in the sixties along with several other classic and unique models like the Bellzouki (first electric 12-string) and the Coral Sitar (electric guitar with 12 bordun strings and a sitar bridge). Anyway, so I came across this great page by Moe Thomas for the first time. He says he’s a long time friend of Mr. Bell and when he visited the legendary guitar player’s basement he took pictures of the sheer mass of historic and unique guitars and prototypes – many built by Vinnie himself. He’s a very inventive guy thinking up things like the first wahwah or his trademark underwater sound as heard on Moon Gas and apparently various practices and machinery used in guitar manufacturing – all while making a living as one of the east coast’s busiest studio session men.
Here are links to some highlights of the collection:
photo of Sitar prototypesthe sitar-shaped Bellzouki as portrayed on the back of Joe Harnell’s Bossa Now! albumVinnie Bell’s personal 6-string bass (who knows how many records we have heard this one on?!!!)one of a kind Coral Scorpio-style 12-string Sitar (a dream instrument of mine)Vinnie Bell model Stratocaster as presented to him by Fender Musical Instruments (note straight bridge pick-up)the banjo he played on Louis Armstrong’s recording Hello Dollythe mandolin Bell played on The Godfather-soundtracks
also visit www.vinniebell.com
When I was asked to DJ Exotica music on a boat recently I had to burn some vinyl of mine to CD. So I could see the sound waves and made two screenshots of the perfectly mastered Arthur Lyman album Bahia.
The reason I chose this one was that the loudest and first track I ripped peaked at 0dB without the limiter catching it. I just left the dials to their own devices and hoped I can capture the entire album with this “magic” setting. It was just plain luck. So I ripped this particular vinyl record without any additional limiting or compression, peaking at 0dB and all the music of that album perfectly relative to that peak.
When you see the soundwaves you will recogn that each one has got its own shape. This means that the creativity of the musicians is reflected in the volume at any given point in time, allowing for drama, surprises and expression. Sure there was some kind of processing going on even in those days, but it was to get a good, hi-fi sound at the end-consumer, with the goal being a natural room impression – heavy compression doesn’t allow that. See that one very quiet track – it’s meant to be that way. How they made it? They played their instruments softer. You have to be quiet yourself to clearly hear it, you start interacting with the music.
It all made me realize on a new level, what beautiful works of art music masters can be.
Here are two Heavy Metal soundfiles for comparison. It’s the same track, the upper, more dynamic one was given to a game company, the lower one is from the CD album. Wether this was a mistake or the less dynamic sound was considered more desireable I don’t know.
related posts:
Turn Me Up! | Bringing Dynamics Back To Music
Loudness Wars Explained
Article on Metallica‘s new album at Wired.
This screening is in LA, quote taken from an e-mail sent out by wreckingcrew.tv
Event: Don’t Knock The Rock Film Festival
Time: 8:00PM
Date: Thurs., July 3rd, 2008
Location: Silent Movie Theatre
611 N. Fairfax Avenue
tickets linkHi Wrecking Crew supporters!
Thank you for making the LA premiere at the Grand Performances a Great Success but if they missed it and want to send a friend, this is a great event. After playing to great response at SXSW, Buffalo, Nashville and Seattle Film Festivals (see reviews), we are very excited that “The Wrecking Crew” documentary will screen as part of the “Don’t Knock The Rock” Film Festival at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax in Los Angeles.
Join us for a beautiful tribute to those brilliant musicians who made some of the best records of our lifetime, yet rarely the picture on the record — now they get the spotlight. In fact, if you showed up to The T.A.M.I. Show Sunday night, you heard them, but you barely saw them — they were the house band for all those great acts. This evening is all about them!
A Q&A with Denny Tedesco will follow the screening and Boyd Rice DJ’s Wrecking Crew classics and novelties from Rodney Bingenheimer’s personal collection, while Kari French and her Go Go Troupe do the hippy hippy shake to Rice’s collection of rare 60s Scopitones!