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[B4MD review, continued]
The film serves a good showcase for Dave Matthew's ATO records (and certainly for Doyle Bramhall), but it makes sense, because the company is a genuine alternative to the fat old guard. Chris Tetzeli and Bruce Flohr from that company sound like Record company guys used to. And it's extremely interesting to hear that they only have eleven employees and nine acts. In Nashville, it seems like half the people listening to songs for artists come from the real estate game. (Hell, the Clear Channel gang was just a bunch of car dealers.)
The backstory of Dave Matthews' ATO records startup, with old school A&R guy Bruce Flohr leaving the majors, how they were in love with David Gray's music and ultimately propelled him to unlikely superstardom, that's fascinating, especially in the face of the rest of the movie.
These filmmakers had it so together! Talking to Questlove, the great drummer of The Roots, about how they're the last black "band" with a major label deal, you cannot get this kind of stuff! But they did. Michael Penn's distinction that the majors are no longer in the music business, but only the popular culture business, Bonnie Raitt's testimony about how Black Sabbath and Deep Purple's sales literally made it possible in a "family" business like the Warners of that era to record her, Ry Cooder, and Little Feat, it's precious and important information.
I love Branford Marsalis and Erykah Badu for all the amazing things they felt and said in this film. Marsalis' rap on how A&R is a joke, the most useless job in the universe, some suit standing in judgement of art they cannot do themselves, amen! And Dave Matthews, he was impressively eloquent as well, and came off as an extremely cool person whose friend you wanted to be.
The elder statesmen of the film, Les Paul and Hubert Sumlin made the exact same point from their respective spheres. Music is a thing from the heart. If you ain't got that, you ain't got nothin. Les Paul made me smile, and Hubert Sumlin made me cry. So did Erykah Badu when she said "Don't let anybody infiltrate your dream…it's important to sound like you, to feel like you. To be like you."
My personal quest concerning this great film is to implore our readers to give it for Christmas to all of your friends who care about music. It is a very important and incredibly well done documentary about all that so many of us have held dear our whole life long. •
continue to the interview with director Andrew Shapter
print pdf of the interview + review return to intro
beforethemusicdies.com buy the DVD here or via here
bside.com find a screening andrew's myspace
