[contextly_auto_sidebar] MUCH of the time, it’s hard to know who the good guys are. Other times, essential things become clear. A few weeks ago I attended an event for the Athens, GA, musicians resource called Nuci’s Space, which was formed in honor or a young man, Nuci Phillips, who took his life in 1996. The place is dedicated to keeping musicians from despair. That night, we heard from a … [Read more...]
New View of General Lee
OKAY, get ready for a deluge of coverage of the Civil War, whose 150th anniversary begins in the new year. One of the first shots fired will be a new documentary on Gen. Robert E. Lee, who emerges as a complex, brilliant, at times tormented, and deeply human character. The doc, which goes up Monday on PBS, avoids the hero-worship of neo-Confederates and a debunking approach that might have been … [Read more...]
Otis Redding Live on the Sunset Strip
Perhaps the most exciting development in West Coast culture this week is the release of one of the greatest R&B records I have ever heard – Otis Redding Live on the Sunset Strip. It should be equally appealing even to people who know classics like Redding’s Live in Europe and other, shorter recordings of these April 1966 dates at the Whisky a Go Go.Peter Guralnick, in his masterly Sweet Soul … [Read more...]
Remembering the Civil Rights Years
LIKE a lot of people, I knew the reputation of Eyes on the Prize, the famous documentary about the civil rights movement in the Deep South in the '50s and '60s. But watching all six hours of it was simultaneously spirit-rousing and soul-crushing as I watched the movement beaten back time and time again.The documentary, which originally broadcast in 1987, has been out of circulation for decades, … [Read more...]