Jonathan Demme on directing 'Neil Young Journeys' concert film

Filmmaker Jonathan Demme sounded downright giddy when I chatted with him recently about his latest collaboration with one of rock’s great iconoclasts in the new documentary film “Neil Young Journeys.” 

It’s the third concert film from Young and Demme in just six years, starting with 2006’s “Heart of Gold” and then 2010’s “Neil Young Trunk Show.”

“The privilege of teaming with Neil three times — it’s like, 'I got to do that in my life?’ Demme said from his home in Rockland County in upstate New York during an interview for the Neil Young story running in Sunday's Arts & Books section. “He’s been a gigantic character in my heart and brain since I was a hippie like him back in the ‘60s. His music was my companion for decades before I even met him.”

I asked about the distinctly different tone of each of their three films, each using pointedly different approaches to avoid any sense of repetition from one to the other.

“When we did the first one, ‘Heart of Gold,’” he said, “everything about that was conceived for that film: the choice of venue, we made the costumes, we made the backdrops, everything. The angles we wanted to shoot we rehearsed with the band for 10 days before the performance. It was lit exactly for the movie. We just knew everything we wanted to create.

“There was an extra bit of excitement with ‘Heart of Gold,’ in that the audience never would have heard any of these songs before, because it was going to be the debut of the ‘Prairie Wind’ album. ‘Heart of Gold’ turned out to be stylistically exactly what it was envisioned as.”

Four years later, they went almost 180 degrees the opposite direction for "Trunk Show," which was shot during his "Chrome Dreams II" tour.

“As a reaction to the grace and elegance of ‘Heart of Gold,’ we decided it would be a punk shoot—we didn’t plan anything. We went with the lighting of the stage show, shot in the moment, very much like that," Demme said.

For “Neil Young Journeys,” yet another angle emerged organically.

“I just had this thought in my head of this grand maestro putting on a show all by himself, creating a huge orchestral sound all by himself,” Demme said, referring to the solo performance documented in the film -- from Young’s 2010-11 tour focusing on the music of “Le Noise,” the Daniel Lanois-produced album on which Young accompanied himself on prepared acoustic and electric guitars.

“We were liberated from one of the great things about the other two films, which was Neil and his screen interaction with other musicians,” he said. “We really capitalized on that in ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Neil Young Trunk Show,’ so this time, we’re losing a great value we had in the others, but what we gain now is total access to Neil only. Now it’s about Neil and the audience, Neil and the camera, and we just had a blast with that.

“Because it’s just Neil alone, stylistically it wouldn’t be like either [previous] one," Demme said, "but we also thought about: ‘What else can we do here to make this film absolutely different from the other two?’

"Neil was open to the idea of doing a little road trip," Demme said. "Gosh, got so close to that little town in Ontario where he grew up [Omemee]. I felt it would be fun and interesting to give us some suspense of filming him driving to the concert [at Massey Hall in Toronto]. I really loved that part of the film -- especially as a Neil Young admirer, to put it mildly.”

“Neil Young Journeys” opens a limited theatrical engagement on June 29 at the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles and also will screen June 18 and 19 as part of the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival.

Does this mean Demme and Young have finally exhausted all the creative possibilities?

"It would be so greedy for me to go, 'I hope to get to do it again,' he said. "But if they want to do something again, I’m all over it."

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--Randy Lewis

Photos, from top: Director Jonathan Demme on stage at Toronto's Massey Hall during the filming of the 'Neil Young Journeys' concert documentary; Young on stage at Massey Hall. Credit: Sony Pictures Classics.

An appreciation: Herb Reed helped R&B, pop soar with the Platters

Herb Reed of the Platters, who died Monday in Boston at age 83, was the last surviving original member of the great '50s R&B and doo-wop group known for its soaring operatic hits  “The Great Pretender,” “Only You,” “Twilight Time,” “My Prayer” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

Reed’s glorious bass voice anchored the group’s sound, keeping the music rooted to the earth as tenor Tony Williams took those songs and dozens of others upward into the musical stratosphere.

To the casual pop music fan, it’s easy to lump the Platters with the Coasters, the Drifters, the Penguins, the Clovers and other early R&B and doo-wop groups of the '50s. That's partly because, for so many of these vocal groups, their identity began and ended with the name -- they weren't differentiated into superstar guitarists or drummers or even lead singers, but made their living by harmonizing together. Clyde McPhatter left the Drifters to chart a solo career that gave him an individual identity, but for the most part, it was the collective that fans knew and loved.

Reed and Williams first got together with tenor David Lynch, soprano Zola Taylor and baritone Paul Robi here in Los Angeles in the early '50s, and it's usually Williams’ voice that one heard first in their mix. But “My Prayer” provides a great example of what Reed contributed time and again.

After Williams sings the opening line, a cappella, “When the twilight is gone,” the other Platters answer and support him with an elongated “gone” in which Reed's oaky bass is not only heard but also palpably felt.

That's historically the role the bass voice serves in gospel, pop and classical music: It’s the soul, reaching to the deepest parts of the human heart.

It’s appropriate to reference classical music when discussing the Platters because their signature sound tapped much the same sweep and grandeur of great operatic arias.

The group’s manager, producer and sometimes songwriter Buck Ram, who had shepherded the career of the Ink Spots a decade earlier, had a great ear for what would appeal to more than just the African American listeners who still bought the majority of R&B records in the early '50s when the Platters came around.

Ram sweetened their records with strings, and he got the five singers to apply their vibrant harmonies to many songs that had previously been hits in the '20s, '30s and '40s, giving them an air of familiarity to a broad swath of music fans.

“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” had been a No. 1 hit in 1934 for the great bandleader Paul Whiteman, Glenn Miller had reached No. 2 with “My Prayer” in 1939,  and “Twilight Time” had been a top 10 hit in 1944 for the Three Suns. Here's a video of the Platters' version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes":

 

The Platters brought a new pulse and sensuality to the material, but also elegance and sophistication that were more transcendent and ethereal than the gritty sexuality of the likes of Ruth Brown and Etta James. The Platters created a blueprint for towering pop music that would later be exploited magnificently by Roy Orbison and Del Shannon and even can be heard in the sweeping pop-R&B balladry of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera.

Ringo Starr tipped his hat to the group with his version of “Only You” on his second post-Beatles solo album, “Goodnight Vienna,” in 1974.

Although the Platters suffered the fate of many '50s R&B groups over time with spurious versions of the act cropping up in far-flung lounges and casinos, Reed did his best to keep the Platters legacy intact, touring until last year, when health issues prompted him to retire.

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--Randy Lewis

Photo montage of Herb Reed and original members of the Platters. Courtesy of Balboni Communications Group.

Ozzie & Harriet made TV safe for Dick Clark, 'American Bandstand'

Dick Clark, who died Wednesday at age 82, is widely -- and legitimately -- lauded as the man who made rock 'n’ roll safe for mainstream America with the clean-cut image of “American Bandstand” upon its national premiere in 1957.

But four months before “Bandstand” made the jump from its previous status as a popular local show out of Philadelphia, a watershed moment in the generational divide between rock 'n’ roll-loving teens and their fretful parents took place on, of all places, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

On April 10, 1957, then-16-year-old Ricky Nelson, the youngest member of the popular clan introduced  each week as “America’s favorite family,” showcased his love for the music that was sending adults around the country into conniptions in the wake of controversial appearances by Elvis Presley, whose pelvic gyrations were viewed as lewd by hordes of grown-ups.

Ed Sullivan’s endorsement of Presley as “a real decent, fine boy” in 1956 helped calm some fears, but many in positions of authority remained wary, or outright hostile, after watching Presley on his first national appearance in January 1956 on “The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show,” then subsequently on “The Steve Allen Show” and then “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

After those shows, rock and TV remained a fitful marriage at best. When the music surfaced on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” however, the landscape changed dramatically.

The Nelsons were as wholesome as could be. Millions of Americans, first on radio, then on television, heard and watched Ozzie and Harriet’s handsome young sons, David and Ricky, grow up before their eyes.

Ricky’s passion for rock 'n’ roll was no mere plot device. Outside the show, like scads of other teens, he was lapping up the hits of Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and rock’s other originators.

Levon Helm, singer and drummer for the Band, dies at 71

This post has been updated. See bottom for details.

Levon Helm, the widely respected and influential singer and drummer with the Band, whose Arkansas drawl colored the group's signature hits, including "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," died Thursday in New York of throat cancer. He was 71.

One of three lead singers of the group that first gained fame backing Bob Dylan when he "went electric" in 1965, Helm and the Band largely created the template for a genre now labeled "Americana music" for its blend of rock, country, folk, blues and gospel strains.

“Levon is one of the most extraordinary, talented people I’ve ever known and very much like an older brother to me," the Band's guitarist Robbie Robertson said in a statement. "I am so grateful I got to see him one last time and will miss him and love him forever.”

PHOTOS: Levon Helm

Helm had been diagnosed in 1998 with throat cancer, which threatened to end his singing career; he declined a recommended laryngectomy, opting for radiation treatment instead. He died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Over a matter of several years, he regained the use of his voice, enjoying a latter-day career resurgence that yielded three Grammy Awards for his post-illness recordings “Dirt Farmer,” “Electric Dirt” and “Ramble at the Ryman.”

“The Band, more than any other group, put rock and roll back in touch with its roots,” reads the group’s entry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted the Band in 1994. “With their ageless songs and solid grasp of musical idioms, the Band reached across the decades, making connections for a generation that was, as an era of violent cultural schisms wound down, in desperate search of them. They projected a sense of community in the turbulent late-'60s and early-'70s -- a time when the fabric of community in the United States was fraying.”

[Update at 3:32 p.m.: Garth Hudson, Helm's fellow member of the Band, posted the following message today on his Facebook page: "I am terribly sad. Thank you for 50 years of friendship and music. Memories that live on with us. No more sorrows, no more troubles, no more pain. He went peacefully to that beautiful marvelous wonderful place. He was Buddy Rich's favorite rock drummer...and my friend. Levon, I'm proud of you." --Garth]

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Photo: Levon Helm at the drums in 1974 at the Forum in Inglewood on the Band's tour with Bob Dylan. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Levon Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, in final stages of cancer

This post has been updated. See details at the bottom.

The Band singer and drummer Levon Helm is in the final stages of cancer, according to a note posted on his website Tuesday by his wife, Sandy, and daughter, Amy.

“Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey,” the note said. “Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration . . . he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage.”

At Saturday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, former Band guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson prefaced his induction speech for recording engineers Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns saying “Before I start, I need to send my love and blessings to my old band mate Levon Helm,” but he did not elaborate.

Arkansas-born Helm was the only non-Canadian member of the Hawks, a group that first backed early rocker Ronnie Hawkins, and then gained fame in the mid-1960s accompanying Bob Dylan when the singer and songwriter "went electric" to the consternation of many hardcore folk music fans who'd previously supported him. 

The Band worked closely with Dylan after he went into seclusion following a near-fatal 1966 motorcycle accident, recording a batch of influential songs that were widely bootlegged and only surfaced in official form in 1975 as "The Basement Tapes." The Band released its first album on its own in 1968, "Music from Big Pink," to broad critical acclaim. It included one of the group's signature songs "The Weight." It followed with the even more highly lauded sophomore album "The Band," which included "Up On Cripple Creek," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Rag Mama Rag."

As one of three lead singers for the band, along with Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, Helm was the dominant voice on such signature songs as “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Rag Mama Rag,” “Ophelia,” “Don’t Do It” and “Daniel and the Sacred Harp.” Manuel committed suicide in 1986 and Danko died of drug-related heart failure in 1999.

Members of the Band decided in 1976 to quit touring, and threw a gala final concert they called “The Last Waltz,” which was captured on film by director Martin Scorsese. Here's a clip of Helm singing "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" at that concert:

 

After "The Last Waltz," Robertson began pursuing a series of solo projects, while Helm, Danko and multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson engaged in various projects, including Helm's acting role as Loretta Lynn's father in the Academy Award-winning 1979 movie "Coal Miner's Daughter."

The group reconvened and recorded a new studio album, “Jericho,” in 1993, without Robertson, and continued to tour periodically until Helm’s health deteriorated because of the throat cancer diagnosed in 1998.

Following radiation treatment, his voice was little more than a whisper, but he hosted a series of loose performances at The Barn, his home and studio in upstate New York, where he slowly regained much of the quality that distinguished his work in the Band.

In his 1993 autobiography, Helm told of his falling out with Robertson over songwriting credits and publishing royalties related to the group's highly regarded catalog, which was singularly credited to Robertson. The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

Helm mounted a comeback and subsequently released three albums, all of which garnered Grammy Awards. He received the 2007 Grammy for traditional folk album for “Dirt Farmer,” the 2009 Americana album award for its follow-up, “Electric Dirt,” and again for 2011's "Ramble at the Ryman" live album recorded at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.

He was the subject of a 2010 documentary, "Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm."

[Update at 5:27 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Helm had won two Grammy Awards for his post cancer-treatment albums. All three won Grammys. Also it said he had undergone a laryngectomy. He refused the laryngectomy and underwent radiation treatment instead.]

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Photo of Bob Dylan's 1974 "Before the Flood" tour stop at the Forum in Inglewood, where he was backed by the Band (l-r): Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm. Credit: Kathleen Ballard / Los Angeles Times.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' stolen guitars recovered

This post has been updated. See details at the bottom.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ stolen guitars have been located and an arrest has been made, according to our sister blog L.A. Now, but full details won’t be released until 3 p.m. today at a press conference scheduled by the Culver City Police Department.

Last week the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band showed up to rehearse at a Culver City soundstage for a new tour that gets under way this week, only to discover that five electric guitars were missing: two belonging to Petty, one that was guitarist Mike Campbell’s, one of Scott Thurston’s and one from bassist Ron Blair.

Petty issued a $7,500 no-questions-asked reward for the return of the instruments. The band also posted photos and detailed descriptions of the missing guitars on the group's official website.

Fans quickly responded with outpourings of sympathy as well as many calls for harsh consequences for those responsible.

“Catch thieves and hang ‘em at the nearest tree,” Times reader Ken Smith posted after Pop & Hiss reported the theft.

Several fans posted variations on that theme on Petty’s own website, others offering suggestions on how the instruments might be tracked and retrieved. One fan from Colorado even said he’d contribute an extra $250 to bolster the reward.

“Come on everyone! Kick in some money to get some attention from the SOB's that did this,” David Taylor wrote.

Petty’s manager told Pop & Hiss the group will withhold comment until today’s press conference.

[Update at 5:11 p.m.: At the press conference, Culver City police said a man who worked as a private security guard at the Culver Studios soundstage was arrested in connection with the thefts. He was identified as Daryl Emmette Washington, 51, of Los Angeles. The guitars are being returned to Petty and the band, who are on their way to start their tour Wednesday in Colorado. Police Chief Don Pedersen said the suspect had pawned one of the guitars for $250. The collection was valued at more than $100,000. In a statement posted on his web site after the news conference, Petty said, "I am extremely grateful to the Culver City Police Department for a job well done and touched by the outpouring of good wishes and concern from our fans and friends."

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Photo of Heartbreakers (l-r): Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell and Tom Petty during the group's benefit concert performance for KCSN-FM (88.5) in Northridge last fall. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times.

Guns N' Roses reunites minus Axl Rose for Hall of Fame induction

Axl Rose kept his promise to boycott Saturday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, but his former bandmates decided the Guns N’ Roses show must go on without him, gratefully accepting their statuettes before playing several vintage GNR songs with singer Myles Kennedy handling the vocals.

Kennedy, the singer in guitarist Slash’s current solo project and lead vocalist for Alter Bridge, stepped in to round out the lineup that also included bassist Duff McKagan, drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, and guitarist Gilby Clarke in three songs from GNR’s 1987 debut album “Appetite for Destruction.”

Rose’s name drew choruses of boos and catcalls from the audience of about 7,400 at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium, where the ceremony took place. But Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong, who delivered the GNR introduction speech, shot back: “Shut up. He was the greatest frontman to ever step in front of a microphone.” He paused, then added: "But he is ... crazy. And I can vouch for that."

PHOTOS: 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

McKagan took a diplomatic tack to diffuse fans’ disappointment, saying, “I don’t think it matters who’s up here tonight, because this is about the songs that band created.” They offered up “Mr. Brownstone,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City” from “Appetite,” which Armstrong lauded as “the greatest debut album in rock 'n' roll history.”

It was, however, comedian Chris Rock, during his introductory speech for GNR’s fellow L.A. inductees, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who provided what perhaps was the most salient point of the evening regarding Rose.

“A lot of people are disappointed that Axl Rose isn’t here,” said Rock as the ceremony stretched toward the 1 a.m. mark for the Chili Peppers’ performance. “But let’s face it, even if he was going to be here, he still wouldn’t be here yet.”

The Chili Peppers closed the show with an all-star jam including Slash, Faces (and Rolling Stones) guitarist Ron Wood, Armstrong and the funk pioneer hailed by both bassist Flea and singer Anthony Kiedis during their acceptance remarks, George Clinton.

(For the Record: An earlier edition of this post referred to Ron Wood as "Faces (and former Rolling Stones) guitarist. He still is a member of the Rolling Stones.)

Flea, nearly in tears at the end of their extended-jam version of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” told the crowd, “I love the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

A full report on the evening, which also welcomed new Hall of Fame members the Beastie Boys, Donovan, the Small Faces and Faces, and Laura Nyro, will appear in Monday’s Calendar section.

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Photo: Guns N' Roses members Gilby Clarke, Matt Sorum, Duff McKagan, Slash and Steven Adler attend Saturday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Credit: Michael Locciano / Getty Images

Donovan inducted, Chili Peppers teased at Rock Hall ceremony

John Mellencamp took a good-natured poke at the Red Hot Chili Peppers while giving his introduction to inductee Donovan.

Reading from the liner notes on the back of the first record he bought at age 14, Mellancamp invoked the word "ungimmicked," used in those notes to describe the Scottish singer-songwriter.

Mellencamp paused and said, "You know what a gimmick is, right? Like when you wear your hair all puffed up, cuss a lot onstage and maybe come out wearing socks," referencing the Chili Peppers' famed stunt years ago when the group would show up for a performance with only socks covering their private parts. "I'm just kidding!" Mellencamp added.

Photos: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies

Donovan then recited a poem he said the honor inspired, calling his induction "a singular honor ... the brightest searchlight on my music the world can shine."

Mellencamp, who brought Donovan on tour with him in 2005, joined him for "Season of the Witch," the  final number of his three-song set that also included signature hits "Catch the Wind" and "Sunshine Superman."

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Photo: Donovan speaks during the 27th annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland. Credit: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Despite Axl Rose's protests, plaque installed outside Rock Hall

Guns N' Roses fans who might be contemplating a visit to Cleveland now that the band has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can breathe at least a small sigh of relief.

Earlier this week, singer Axl Rose vehemently -- and very publicily -- declined for himself to be inducted, barred anyone else from accepting on his behalf and generally dissed the whole idea of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame itself.

But as of a few hours before this year's induction ceremony was set to get underway near the shore of Lake Erie, Rose had stopped short of commandeering a jackhammer and digging up the brand-new bronze plaque embedded in the sidewalk outside the Rock Hall to commemorate its newest class of members.

PHOTOS: Axl Rose's famous feuds

Rock Hall responds to Axl Rose, confirms Chili Peppers to play

This post has been corrected. Plase see note at bottom for details.

Guns N' Roses founding member Axl Rose had a message Wednesday for the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which will hold its induction ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday without him.

"I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me," Rose wrote in a letter unveiled on Pop & Hiss. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has heard Rose's declaration and now responded.

“We are sorry Axl will not be able to accept his Induction in person," read a statement from a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame spokeswoman.

So ... that settles that? Probably not, as the spokeswoman noted that "other members" of the band are still on the guest list. As of Thursday afternoon, Guns N' Roses slinger Slash was still planning to attend, and longtime bassist Duff McKagan will be in Cleveland promoting a book.  

PHOTOS: Axl Rose's famous feuds

Despite the drama surrounding Guns N' Roses, plans for Saturday's induction ceremony continue, and today the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unveiled additional performers and presenters. The announcement confirms that L.A.'s Red Hot Chili Peppers, who will be inducted into the hall by comedian Chris Rock, will be performing at the ceremony. 

Other members of this year's hall of fame class, including Donovan and pieces of English rock band the Small Faces, will also perform. The latter will appear as the Faces, with Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan joined by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, already on hand as presenters, have been added to a performance tribute to late blues inductee Freddie King, and LL Cool J will join Chuck D in inducting the Beastie Boys.