Nuova musica, nuovi rumori: nuovo cinema

A Firenze, molti anni fa, suonavo con il gruppo “Nuova Consonanza” e il nostro era un programma straordinariamente sperimentale. Tutta la prima parte di quel concerto verteva su questo tipo di spettacolo: si cominciava quando la gente ancora non era entrata nella sala del concerto. E questo il pubblico non lo sapeva. C`era un signore che stava in sala e quando la gente entrava, saliva sul palcoscenico. Tutti pensavano che fosse un operaio. Una volta sul palcoscenico, si toglieva il cappotto e lo appendeva a un attaccapanni. Poi saliva su di una specie di soppalco e incominciava a lavorare con una scala che stava lì appoggiata. Con le mani muoveva le due assi che tengono i pioli facendo uscire dal legno degli strani suoni. La gente, intanto, continuava a entrare, non sapendo sempre che lo spettacolo era già iniziato: aspettava che lo spettacolo cominciasse. E lo spettacolo continuava così. Dopo quaranta minuti, il pubblico cominciò a capire che lo spettacolo era iniziato e cominciò a fare silenzio. Il cigolio con la scala andò avanti per un'altra mezz`ora. Alla fine, il signore sul palcoscenico si rimise il cappotto, scese dal palcoscenico e uscì. Così finiva la prima parte dello spettacolo. E il pubblico non si accorse egualmente che era finita la prima parte dello spettacolo. Per me questo è stato un insegnamento fondamentale. La filosofia di questo esperimento era che qualsiasi suono della vita, quello della campana della chiesa che stiamo sentendo in questo momento, quello di una mosca, di una goccia d`acqua , messo al centro di un silenzio, isolato da tutti gli altri suoni diventa un suono e acquista una importanza completamente diversa da quella della sua natura. Diventa fondamentale questa nuova espressività del suono tolta dalla sua paternità iniziale.

 Quest’ episodio che vi ho raccontato l`ho raccontato anche a Sergio Leone e lui riuscì a fare, all'inizio di C'era una volta il West, una sequenza che io ritengo straordinaria e che costituisce l”inizio del film. Credo che questa sequenza sia particolarmente riuscita per la considerazione che il regista ha dato alla chiarezza dei suoni e che questi suoni, proprio per la loro chiarezza, assumono, dentro l’immagine, una grandissima importanza.

Ennio Morricone, Il cinema è musica Centro Studi Cinematografici Anno XX n. 1-2 gennaio/aprile 1990

HEAD, the album

The Monkees had been haphazardly recording since late 1967 for "The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees". They all went into the studio and recorded separately and were left with too much material to fit on one album. When it became definite that they were to make a movie, work on the soundtrack album officially began in early 1968. Although not all of the songs were specifically written for the film ("Can You Dig It", for example, was demoed during the Headquarters sessions), the songs that eventually became the soundtrack were handpicked by Rafelson, Nicholson and the other Monkees. 
The first song recorded for HEAD, "Circle Sky", was first recorded on December 9, 1967. "Circle Sky" was recorded by Mike and his friends Bill Chadwick, Keith Allison (among others) and is the source of much debate between Mike and Peter. This recorded version took three sessions to complete and was originally not going to be on the soundtrack. Another version of "Circle Sky" was recorded nearly six months later, only this time it was a live concert by the Monkees at Valley Auditorium in Salt Lake City, UT on May 21st. Rafelson had envisioned a concert sequence for the film, so the Monkees trekked over to Utah to give thousands of Monkees fans a full concert where they were to play "Circle Sky" live for the movie. They recorded everything but the vocals that day, and returned to the studio three days later to cut Mike's vocal. Yet sadly, this energized performance of "Circle Sky" was left off the soundtrack album in place of the original studio version without the other Monkees. The inclusion of this version is unknown, some suspect that Mike or Jack Nicholson may have included it on the soundtrack for various reasons. No one really knows why, not even Nez himself; "I don't have any idea how that happened. I think that The Monkees always played it better. I can't remember a studio version being better than the way we played it live. 'Cause live it was just pure unbridled energy." Nevertheless, the live version remains the more popular cut today and is the version that appears on all box sets. 
The second song recorded for HEAD was another Nilsson tune, "Daddy's Song", which was in Davy's "Broadway rock" style. "Daddy's Song" features the usual Monkee cohorts (Keith Allison, Bill Chadwick, Eddie Hoh), and Monkees' (Mike Nesmith ). Interestingly, this song was originally sung by Mike (that version appears as a bonus song on the HEAD CD) in January of 1968. When it was decided that the filmmakers needed a song for Davy's dance sequence, the Monkees recut it in April of 1968 with Davy on vocals. This song was originally considered as a strong second single from HEAD, though it ended up only being released in the U.K. 
Peter's two HEAD tracks, "Long Title" and "Can You Dig It" were recorded in January 1968, along with his other songs "Lady's Baby" and "Merry Go Round". Peter's songwriting around this time was more prolific than ever, yet none of his compositions except for the two on HEAD were ever released. "Long Title" was a rousing power trio song that he had written in mid 1967. He explains; "I remember very well that the song just fell out of me one day. I was just playing those chord changes on the guitar and opened my mouth, and that's what popped out. Once I had the first verse, the second verse followed the theme for the first verse. The weird thing is that the song has been prophetic. I had no idea that that was going to be my attitude about anything having to do with music when I wrote the song. It just came out that way. I wrote the lyric in London." The song features Peter's pal Lance Wakely on guitar, Buddy Miles on drums, and Peter on guitar, bass, and vocals. 

"Can You Dig It?" was something Peter had been messing around with since his college days. He demoed an instrumental version during the Headquarters sessions, with a slightly different guitar part. The lyrics were written on the set of the TV show and were inspired by the Tao Te Ching. This song was first recorded on January 28, 1968 with Peter on electric guitar and bass, Lance Wakely on accoustic guitar, Dewey Martin (from the Buffalo Springfield) on drums. Buddy Miles is supposedly on the track, and it's rumoured that Stephen Stills played some role. Who knows. The song was originally recorded with Peter on vocals, but Schneider asked if Micky could sing it, since the song was to come right after Micky's solo scene in the movie. "CYDI" was recut with Micky on vocals in March of 1968. The movie version of "CYDI" actually has a different mix than the one on the soundtrack. I must say, I think the movie version kicks ass a tiny bit more than the soundtrack one. But maybe that's just me. 
The next song recorded, "Porpoise Song" began the phase of recording specifically for the movie. "Porpoise Song" was a psychedelic, dreamy, acid trip of a song that was specifically written for the movie by Gerry Goffin. The song was recorded with minimal Monkee input, chosing to use session players like Leon Russell, Ken Bloom (from the Lewis and Clarke Expedition) & Danny Kortchmar making the only Monkee involvement the vocal work by Micky and Davy. Micky insists to this day that Goffin wrote this song with him in mind; "I was told that by somebody. If you listen to it, it's about me committing suicide. It was written for the movie. It wasn't a song that she pulled out of a drawer. 'Riding the backs of giraffes for laughs,' I'm sure, was a reference to Circus Boy. At least I was told that." "Porpoise Song" was the only HEAD track released as a single, and it didn't fare well, mainly because it was unlike any other Monkee song to ever be released as a single. The teenybopper's didn't want their idols releasing psychedelic, drug induced songs. Needless to say, the song only got to #62 on the charts, and was only on there for six weeks. 

The last full song to be recorded for HEAD was "As We Go Along", a roaming, mellow accoustic number penned by Carole King and sometimes Rafelson paramour, Toni Stern. "As We Go Along" was recorded on May 30th, 1968 and features an incredible combination of the best session players and producers. None of the Monkees were involved, other than Micky's vocals, instead, "AWGO" features Neil Young (!!!!!), Ry Cooder (!!!!), Ken Bloom (from Lewis and Clarke Expedition), Carole King (!!!), and Danny Kortchmar on guitar. No wonder it's a kickass song. Neil freakin Young plays on it. Legendary arranger Jack Nitzche also participated. Yet even with these heavy names, "As We Go Along" never charted. It was released as the B-side to "Porpoise Song" and ended up bubbling under at #106 on the Billboard Charts. Yet even today, the song remains a favorite to many Monkees fans, and to the Monkees themselves. Peter remarks; "Carole King is an astounding creature. The 'Porpoise Song' is a great song, and I think 'As We Go Along' is even better. Carole King could write with anybody. She could write with Mike Nesmith, after all!" Micky agrees; "That was a bitch to sing. It was in 5/4 time or some bizarre signature. I had a lot of trouble picking it up. Typically, we didn't have a lot of time to rehearse this stuff. We were filming. I'd go in, and they'd play the song a few times. I remember that was a tough song to sing, but I loved it. I still love it. It's actually one of my favorites." 
The last two 'songs' recorded for HEAD were Ditty Diego, which was recorded in July of 1968, and Happy Birthday To You, which was recorded in August. "Ditty Diego" is unique in that it's probably the only pop song that Jack Nicholson received writing credit for. "Ditty Diego" (original title: "Movie Jingle") is the unofficial theme song of HEAD and serves to sum up the plot of the film. "Happy Birthday To You" was recorded to complete the "MIKE BIRTHDAY PARTY" sequence and featured three part chanting from Peter, Micky, and Davy. 
The remainder of the album consisted of collages of sound bites from the movie and Ken Thorne's instrumental tracks put together by the album's co-producer, Jack Nicholson. "Opening Ceremony", "Supplico", "Gravy", "Superstitions", "Dandruff", "Poll", and "Swami-Plus Strings" all serve the purpose of promoting the film and filling out the rest of the album. These sound bites are noteworthy, however, because of Nicholson's witty editing techniques. 
HEAD the album was released to the public on December 1, 1968 and was their first album not to reach the TOP 5 on the album charts. By this point in time, the Monkees' popularity was waning, as they were all getting older, getting married, and not in the public eye as much. This added to the fact that teen magazines were promoting newer and groovier teen idols like the Cowsills, Bobby Sherman, Sajid Khan and Brenden Boone (whoever the fuck that is), caused their fan base to look elsewhere. HEAD did reach #45 on the charts, perhaps buoyed by the single "Porpoise Song", but it was not on the charts for long and even today, it hasn't gone gold. The release of HEAD was an important one in Monkee history. It was the last Monkees album of the 60s to feature all four Monkees, the only Monkees album in the 60s not to feature a song by Boyce and Hart (maybe that's why HEAD is so good?), and it was the last Monkees project to have involvement from Rafelson and Schneider. It also is considered one of the Monkees' best works as a group. With the failure of the movie and the soundtrack, the Monkees began to start re-thinking their role in the whole Monkee project, and after HEAD, a lot of their interest in the band and project was lost. HEAD the album expresses the themes of the movie as well; the fight between the band and those who try to control them. While Mike and Peter both participated in the recording and writing of the songs on HEAD, the 'singles' and most of the songs were authored by the same people that were hired by Donnie Kirshner, and feature minimal Monkee involvement. This is perhaps to say that while they did "overthrow" the PTB during Headquarters, ultimately, the PTB never lost control of the Monkees music career. This concept is summed up in the movie of HEAD with the prophetic ending when Big Victor (aka RCA Victor, who owned Columbia/Colgems) captured the Monkees in the tank. 
But enough analysis, HEAD remains the weirdest Monkees album in history and also one of their best. I highly recommend it to anyone. 

L'originale è qui:

http://www.psycho-jello.com/monkees/headman.html

Carnevale al Kinefotografo

Kinefotografo - Lo spettacolo di Via, Pozzoleone, 39, va prendendo voga ogni sera più.

E' una continua ressa di gente che vuol godere dell' interessante passatempo e che ad

ogni rappresentazione gremisce la sala soddisfatta della nuova serie di vedute veramente originali e belle.

La Partita a carte, la Ballerina, la Via Piccadilly a Londra; sono davvero dei quadri di grande effetto.

La scena comica, la Cuoca, fa ridere di cuore grandi e piccini.

Stasera l'Impresa, per comodità delle famiglie che vogliono condurre i loro bimbi

a divertirsi, incomincerà alle ore 5 p. m.

Ecco il nuovo programma:

1. Domatore di cavalli, 2. Partita a carte,

3. Lavandaie, 4. Ballerina, 5. La cuoca,

6, La famosa via Piccadilly a Londra.

Cedendo al desiderio di molti, intanto, la Impresa ha deciso di ridurre ,il prezzo entrata,

per questi giorni di carnevale, a 25 centesimi.

Pubblicato sulla Gazzetta di Messina e della Calabria

Headzapoppin

Scrivere su Head (1968) di Bob Rafelson è circoscriverlo. Non è sul film ma intorno ad esso. The Monkees è stato più un fenomeno commerciale che artistico. Nato nella metà degli anni 60 dalla mente di Bert Schneider e Rafelson, sulla scia dei Beatles, allora più luminosi della folgore. L’opera non fa altro che raccogliere situazioni già sperimentate nella serie televisiva omonima, esportata in tutto il mondo americanizzato. Ma c’è Jack Nicholson. Se Robert De Niro è uscito fuori dal post Vietnam e Marlon Brando dal secondo conflitto mondiale, Jack Nicholson è quello venuto fuori dalla rivolta di Berkeley. In Head appare per qualche momento indossando la stessa camicia che rivedremo poi in Five easy pieces capolavoro del 1970 dell’accoppiata Rafel/Nichol-son. Qui egli è sceneggiatore insieme al regista e forse suo aiuto come autore di testi eseguiti da Monkees, e chissà cos’altro. The incidental music è di Ken Thorne ma le principali canzoni canonizzate dal gruppo portano la firma di Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Carole King & Tom Stern, Harry Nillson, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, questi due ultimi , componenti della band. Tutte nascono dalle situazioni poco normali della pellicola, una, eseguita live, da un concerto montato apposta per far vedere l’isteria che il gruppo produceva sulle ragazzine americane che saranno ancora infantili nella vecchiaia. Tra queste canzoni c’è uno dei migliori motivi di quegli anni, dovuto alla penna di una cantautrice che ancora oggi viene scoperta e periodicamente riscoperta: Carole King; la canzone porta il  titolo As We Go Along, alla cui esecuzione pare abbiano preso parte pure Stephen Stills, Neil Young e Grace Slick regina della psichedelia. Se classifichiamo il film nella psichedelica è dovuto, come già detto, ai vari episodi che nel film si creano e dove il quartetto esce ed entra dai set canonici del cinema USA: il western, l’horror,i l sentimentale, il musical e via di questo passo. Senza dubbio si può affermare che è una produzione America International Picture di Roger Corman con la spesa di qualche dollaro in più. Il momento più psychedelic è situato pochi minuti dopo l’inizio del lavoro, ripreso poi verso la fine, quando con il sottofondo di Porpoise Song i quattro nel profondo del mare, o della mente, nuota in un incanto di supporto negativo/positivo solarizzato, controtipato e colorizzato presso gli studi della Technicolor – il tutto manualmente quando ancora il creatore di Adobe Premiere e Photoshop doveva essere concepito – insieme a sirene e sirenette. Ma lasciamo ad ognuno la sua personale visione, come del breve ciclo Cine-Psycho-elico.

Michael Corleone illustra scarpe

Il bar all'ingresso di Savoca location de Il Padrino (1972)

e sulla soglia la signorina Maria, dai modi rudimentali, famosa anche per le sue granite di vero limone

e tazze di tè bollente come pietra lavica, rigenerati per una ditta di scarpe

Angelo Infanti - Al Pacino e Sergio Citti arrivano al bar Vitelli

Cine_Psyco_Delic

Il breve ciclo che oggi si presenta ha come tema la musica giovanile; in particolare quella esplosa in America sul finire degli anni 60 del secolo scorso: la psichedelica. Questa ha partorito a sua volta l’acid e il progressiv. Alla prima psichedelia si rifà Head  di Bob Rafelson e, culmine, Psych-out   di Richard Rush. All’acid  rimanda Zachariah  di George Englud ed ultimo , 200 Motels  di Frank Zappa, al progressiv.  200 Motels di Zappa, che appare come attore in Head, ha pure connessioni al suo interno che vanno a sconfinare nell’avanguardia, specie europea, come anche nel jazz e nel musical. Volendo in esse possiamo trovarvi anticipazioni o rimandi all’ Easy Rider di Dennis Hopper o allo Zabriskie Point di Michelangelo Antonioni, opere molto più ricordate di quelle che scorreremo. Le additiamo per il clima che fermentava in quegli anni nella West Coast degli USA e getta.

et ne nos inducas in tentationem

OGGI

Clint Eastwood è stato sempre un signore, oltre che dio. Nei titoli che scorrono in apertura, davanti ad un’attrice di razza lascia sempre il primo posto. Gli capitò solo due volte però: la seconda si mise dietro Maryl Streep nei Ponti di Madison County del 1995 e la prima in questo, dove è dopo Shirley McLaine, sempre brava,  dovunque posava i piedini.  Gli avvoltoi hanno fame (1970) è un nato sotto una buona stella. Lo si deve a Budd Boetticher per la scrittua, Albert  Maltz per la sceneggiatura, le luci di Gabriel Figueroa, le note alla soda caustica del Maestro. La confezione è firmata Don Siegel. Partirono tutti per il Mexico, tranne Figueroa che in quella mitica nazione vi abitava. Non voglio di più che vederlo e rivederlo, bello anche con Pino Locchi che doppia il dio. Se volete saperne di più sfogliate il web e troverete fans a non finire e come dice Ghezzi: buona visione.