Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
Over the next few months Richard and Retrontario raid Richard’s archives to spotlight some of his older telephone interviews with fascinating local characters. The third in the series features a vintage chat with rockabilly legend Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins.
Watch the whole thing HERE! (audio only on YouTube)
Depending on your age, the name Jimmy Carter can conjure up a variety of images. There’s the elderly man, hammer in hand, leading a construction team for the Habitat for Humanity charity. Older folks may recall him as the president who pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office or the man who famously admitted, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.”
What is lesser known is that, despite his strait-laced image, the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia who became the 39th president of the United States was also a music fanatic. A new documentary, “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President,” which actually might have more appropriately called “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll, Gospel, Jazz, and Country President,” is now playing in theatres and on-line in virtual cinemas (see list below). It charts the connection between Carter and the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and the Allman Brothers. “There were some people who didn’t like my being involved with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and disreputable rock and rollers,” he says in his distinctive drawl, “but I didn’t care because I was doing what I really believed.”
In the film’s opening minutes we see Carter, now in his nineties, at home in Plains. He sits in his comfy chair, a record player at his side. He talks about visitors to the home. Bob Dylan hasn’t been but the Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash have all stopped by. He lowers the needle on an LP—that’s a long player for you Spotifiers—and grins with joy as the opening notes of “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” fill the air. The film could have stopped there, as his love of the music is so apparent, but history demands more.
What follows is a collection of newsreel footage, talking head interviews with family and admirers and some incredible music. Archival film of Ray Charles singing “Georgia on My Mind,” Mahalia Jackson performing “Down by the Riverside” and Boomer faves like Dylan and the Allmans are worth the price of admission. Carter reminisces that Bob Dylan’s songs permeated the governor’s mansion. “My sons and I were brought closer together by Bob Dylan’s songs,” he says.
More importantly it’s a portrait of a deeply principled and decent man who rose from a boyhood home with no electricity of plumbing to the highest office in the land. Director Mary Wharton has made an affectionate film about a time when decency reigned; a movie that seems, these days, like ancient history.
It’s a study in soft power, the ability to attract and co-opt, rather than coerce the electorate. Carter’s genuine love of music, and habit of throwing concerts on the White House lawn, helped shape the public’s opinion of him. That love of music put everyone at ease, including Bob Dylan. The singer says that when Carter quoted his song lyrics to him, “it was the first time that I realized my songs reached into the establishment world. I had no experience in that realm. Never seen that side. It made me a little uneasy but he put my mind at ease.”
Alongside the musical memories are the political high and low lights from carter’s term as president. The two sit side-by-side uneasily. The Iran hostage crisis section, for instance, is followed by a performance of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band. In Carter’s case the political and the artistic two sides of the same coin but the mix and match give the film a disjointed feel.
Despite its flaws “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” is a worthy film about a worthy man.
Find the movie in theatres and on virtual cinema here:
“Coming out of Toronto, you know, we knew anything we did was going to be groundbreaking,” says Wes Williams on his influential hit “Let Your Backbone Slide,” “within the parameters of Toronto and within the parameters of hip hop which was at our time was Toronto, New York City, New Jersey and then there was a guy named Ice-T on the west coast. That was it really, so we thought within our parameters we thought whoever comes out with a hit first is going to be the one. I remember the first day I heard my song played in the club. Oh my goodness. They mixed it in with Heavy D and The Boyz. Me my man Farley Flex, we just jumped around the club like like idiots because we finally reached the final destination. We were considered innovators and we were disrupting what was known at the time.”
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
This week on the season five opener of “Pop Life” legendary musician Robbie Robertson talks about his earliest musical inspirations, how he was booed by Bob Dylan’s audience and how he once almost turned to a life of crime when he couldn’t get gigs.
“It was a revelation to me,” Robertson says of visiting his relatives on the Six Nations Reserve, “because I grew up between Toronto and Six Nations, and when we would go to Six Nations it seemed to me as a young kid that everybody played an instrument or sang or danced. I thought, ‘I just have to join this club.'”
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
The first episode of season five of “Pop Life,” featuring an in-depth interview with Robbie Robertson, airs Saturday September 28, 2019 (8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel, midnight on CTV). The legendary solo artist and leader of The Band talks about finding a love of music on the 6th Nations reservation where his mother was raised, going electric with Bob Dylan, where the idea for the song “The Weight” came from and much more.
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s all-new talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
We’re back! Pop Life returns on Saturday September 28 at 8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel and midnight on CTV, coast to coast to coast. We’ve been working away over the summer putting together shows and I’m excited to share them with you. This week we start with an in-depth interview with Robbie Robertson. The legendary solo artist and leader of The Band talks about finding a love of music from his relatives on the 6th Nations reservation where his mother was raised, playing at a nightclub called The Skyline because the roof was missing and more! Set your PVR or stay up late with a glass of wine or non-alcoholic beer (whatever floats your boat) and hang out with us.
Later in our fifth season we have great chats with Shania Twain about stage fright, legendary photographer Bob Gruen on his friendship with John Lennon, YouTube sensation Gigi Gorgeous on being true to yourself, Tegan and Sara on high school life and how they knew music was a perfect fit and much, much more.
I’m really happy with Pop Life. In the beginning we set out to make a show that put talk and storytelling at the forefront, that engaged with hot button topics and was fun but not frivolous. I think we’ve done it. That’s a credit to everyone who works on the show from our guiding light Lis Travers, to producer Krystle Hewitt, directors Lesley Hunter and Allan Myers, editor Angelo Altomare, stage manager Steve Trebelco, our wine sponsor Domaine Queylus and the crew who make sure the show looks great every week. A special shout out to Randy Lennox and Wendy Freeman who make it possible for us to do this every week. It’s a pleasure to work with them all and I hope to see their faces at work for a very long time.
While I’m thanking people I want to take a moment to thank everyone who watches. It’s a cliché, I know, but without you tuning in I’d just be screaming into the void, making faces at a camera. I know you have a lot of choice in how you spend your time and I appreciate you spending some of that time with us.
As the title suggests “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” is a study of a brotherhood that changed the way music was made in the 1970s and 80s.
The documentary, inspired by Robertson’s 2016 memoir “Testimony,” produced by the powerhouse duo of Ron Howard and Brain Grazer and directed by Daniel Roher, details the guitarist’s early life as the son of Mohawk mother Dolly and “Hebrew gangster” father named Alexander Klegerman who died before he was born. An interest in music and storytelling came from visiting his relatives on the Six Nations Reserve, inspiring him to pick up a guitar and express himself.
His “personal big bang” came with the discovery of rock and roll. An even bigger bang came when the teenaged Robertson saw Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins, a flamboyant, ex-pat Southern American rock-a-billy musician playing in Toronto. The music, a frenetic blend of rock and roll and hopped-up country music, expertly played by a band that included drummer Levon Helm, spoke to Robertson, revealing an aural passageway to a world he had only ever read about. Eventually, at age sixteen, he joined the band, a move that set on the path to helping to take Bob Dylan electric, and form a band that melded Hank Williams, Muddy Waters with roots music into something that had never been heard before. When they played together, talking head and fan Bruce Springsteen says, “something happened that couldn’t happen on their own. Something miraculous.”
The Band, Canadian multi-instrumentalists and singers Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and keyboardist Garth Hudson alongside Robbie Robertson and Helm, made classic albums like “Music from Big Pink,” “The Band” and “Stage Fright,” and formed a logical, if not biological, musical family. “I was an only child so this brotherhood was so powerful,” says Robertson. But like all families there were problems. Unbridled creativity and stardom led to drug abuse and in 1976, after sixteen years together and documenting their final star-studded concert in the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Last Waltz,” they went their separate ways. Robertson says the idea was, “to get back together and make music like never before… everyone just forgot to come back.”
This is Robertson’s documentary. Helm, Danko and Manuel are all gone, while Hudson appears only in archival clips so the film has the feeling of a requiem for a friendship and brotherhood lost. Other than a visit to Helm’s deathbed, Robertson hadn’t spoken to his old bandmate in years. The film chalks up the skism in their relationship to drugs, jealousy and fighting the way only people who love one another can.
With a deep, sonorous voice that makes you wish he would narrate every documentary made from now on, Robertson eloquently shares his story, sometimes funny—having a hypnotist on stage at the Fillmore West to help him overcome nerves—and sometimes heartfelt—”I still loved him but something was broken,” he says of his relationship with Helm. “It was like glass. Hard to put back together.”—in a way that doesn’t lay blame, simply present his side of a much-debated rock ‘n roll feud.
Adding colour to the story are testimonials from Springsteen, Eric Clapton, ex-wife Dominique Robertson and, best of all, Hawkins who livens things up with his reminisces. “There was enough flour and sugar in that to make us sneeze biscuits,” he says of the cocaine backstage at “The Last Waltz.”
The final word on The Band is, of course, the music they left behind. Their musical partnership may have ended amid acrimony but “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” understands that the lasting legacy is in the songs. Music appears throughout but Roher bookends the film with remarkable performances. Early on we see the guys, crammed into a small room, so closely packed they’re almost sitting on top of one another, rip through a version of “Up on Cripple Creek” so transcendent it could only be played by musicians connecting on a spiritual level. Roher finishes things off with footage from “The Last Waltz” that showcases the band in all their ragged glory proving that in the end, it’s the music that matters.
As promised “Carmine Street Guitars,” the new documentary from Ron Mann, is about guitars. Beautiful stringed instruments hand made with love by artesian Rick Kelly. But it isn’t just about guitars. Sure, we hear music, solo performances by pickers and grinners like “Captain” Kirk Douglas, Lenny Kaye, Eleanor Friedberger, Charlie Sexton and Bill Frisell, but it’s about tradition and the personal connections between creators and their instruments.
For decades Kelly and his shop Carmine Street Guitars has been a Greenwich Village landmark. Untouched by modern conveniences like cell phones and computers, Kelly uses tools handed down from his grandfather, salvages old wood from New York landmarks like McSorley’s Old Ale House—the “bones of the city,” he calls them—to create one-of-a-kind instruments he says have a resonance that newer materials cannot duplicate. With him is apprentice, Cindy Hulej, a woodworker who burns beautiful designs into the faces of the guitars she creates.
It’s a slice of life doc, a week in the life of the shop as musicians come in, hang out and talk about guitars. Mann creates a rhythm that echoes the slow pace of life inside the store. Kelly is soft spoken, an old-school artist in a rapidly changing city, somehow dodging the homogenization that is putting people like him out of business. His icy demeanor toward a high rolling real estate agent tells you everything you need to know regarding his feelings toward the people who value glass and steel over heart and soul.
“Carmine Street Guitars” is an ode to tradition, to artistry, to slowing down. It’s an understated hang-out movie that has as much resonance as the old wood Kelly uses to make his guitars.
