Yuri
08-27-2009, 08:57 AM
What about the voice of Geddy Lee?
Ben Kaplan,* National Post* (August, 27th, 2009)
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1933709
Coutesy of CBC
Don't expect to learn about Gordon Lightfoot's love life or Trooper's backstage antics in This Beat Goes On and Rise Up!, two documentaries about the Canadian music scene in the 1970s and '80s made by the team of writer Nicholas Jennings and director Gary McGroarty. The films, which feature a combined 200 interviews and will be airing on CBC on four consecutive Thursday nights, are designed to honour Canadian songwriters, not drag them through the mud.
"When you think about Bruce Cockburn and Wondering Where the Lions Are?, you don't think about if he got drunk one night or threw anything out the window -- there's nothing there," says McGroarty, who managed the Canadian band Cano in the late-'70s and recently made a documentary with David Crosby about activism in music. "Americans haven't been celebrating songwriting for the past 10 years; it's all cult of personality. We wanted to celebrate the Canadian art of writing and recording a song."
The songs that the duo were able to round up include everything from classics by the usual subjects, records by Anne Murray, Rush, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, but also influential, forgotten favourites, singles by bands like The Viletones, Rough Trade, Leroy Sibbles and The Kings. With interviews and live footage, the filmmakers -- whose earlier documentary, 2006's Shakin' All Over, looked at Canadian folk rock in the '60s -- explain how the Canadian music industry was born.
"I want to bring Canadian music back for people who may have forgotten, or introduce it to people who may never have known," says Jennings, whose book Before the Gold Rush, about the coffee shop scene in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood during the '60s, was the impetus for the film series.
Jennings says that he's a fan of huge Canadian records like Takin' Care of Business and Hot Child in the City, but that it's the lost classics such as Willie P. Bennett's 1970s records or a Truth and Rights song from a decade later that make this project so fun.
"Canadian musicians draw inspiration from the artists from Canada who came before them," says Jennings, adding that the team intends to make two more music docs that will cover Can-rock from the '90s to today. "Artists now see themselves as part of an ongoing journey. One of the great revelations for me in making these pictures was how Canadian music is linked."
The documentaries, featuring interviews with Nash the Slash, k-os, Burton Cummings and everyone from Corey Hart to Geddy Lee, highlight the music from all across Canada, from D. O. A to Great Big Sea.
"I think Canadians, more than anybody, are known for songwriting," McGroarty says. "Who wouldn't want to celebrate that?" - This Beat Goes On premieres tonight at 9 p. m. on CBC, and continues every Thursday until Sept. 17.
(attached photo - Rush, Nash the Slash, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell)
Ben Kaplan,* National Post* (August, 27th, 2009)
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1933709
Coutesy of CBC
Don't expect to learn about Gordon Lightfoot's love life or Trooper's backstage antics in This Beat Goes On and Rise Up!, two documentaries about the Canadian music scene in the 1970s and '80s made by the team of writer Nicholas Jennings and director Gary McGroarty. The films, which feature a combined 200 interviews and will be airing on CBC on four consecutive Thursday nights, are designed to honour Canadian songwriters, not drag them through the mud.
"When you think about Bruce Cockburn and Wondering Where the Lions Are?, you don't think about if he got drunk one night or threw anything out the window -- there's nothing there," says McGroarty, who managed the Canadian band Cano in the late-'70s and recently made a documentary with David Crosby about activism in music. "Americans haven't been celebrating songwriting for the past 10 years; it's all cult of personality. We wanted to celebrate the Canadian art of writing and recording a song."
The songs that the duo were able to round up include everything from classics by the usual subjects, records by Anne Murray, Rush, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, but also influential, forgotten favourites, singles by bands like The Viletones, Rough Trade, Leroy Sibbles and The Kings. With interviews and live footage, the filmmakers -- whose earlier documentary, 2006's Shakin' All Over, looked at Canadian folk rock in the '60s -- explain how the Canadian music industry was born.
"I want to bring Canadian music back for people who may have forgotten, or introduce it to people who may never have known," says Jennings, whose book Before the Gold Rush, about the coffee shop scene in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood during the '60s, was the impetus for the film series.
Jennings says that he's a fan of huge Canadian records like Takin' Care of Business and Hot Child in the City, but that it's the lost classics such as Willie P. Bennett's 1970s records or a Truth and Rights song from a decade later that make this project so fun.
"Canadian musicians draw inspiration from the artists from Canada who came before them," says Jennings, adding that the team intends to make two more music docs that will cover Can-rock from the '90s to today. "Artists now see themselves as part of an ongoing journey. One of the great revelations for me in making these pictures was how Canadian music is linked."
The documentaries, featuring interviews with Nash the Slash, k-os, Burton Cummings and everyone from Corey Hart to Geddy Lee, highlight the music from all across Canada, from D. O. A to Great Big Sea.
"I think Canadians, more than anybody, are known for songwriting," McGroarty says. "Who wouldn't want to celebrate that?" - This Beat Goes On premieres tonight at 9 p. m. on CBC, and continues every Thursday until Sept. 17.
(attached photo - Rush, Nash the Slash, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell)