The
Music Legacy Of The Linda Ronstadt
One
of the most successful female vocalists of all time, Linda Ronstadt
started having hits in the late 1960s with her band Stone Ponys.
Different
Drum
was written by Monkees' member Michael Nesmith and was enough of a
hit that she decided to go solo the next year. Staying at Capitol
Records, she had two more hits with Long
Long Time,
You're
No Good
and When
Will I Be Loved,
but soon moved to Asylum records where her career really took off.
In an era of remakes (marked by 1950s nostalgia and George Lucas'
American
Graffiti
(1974)),she was the queen with huge hits out of classics like Tracks
Of My Tears,
Heat
Wave,
It's
So Easy,
Ooh
Baby Baby,
Hurt
So Bad
and Get
Closer.
Along
with Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy, Diana Ross, Donna Summer,
Carole King, Roberta Flack and Barbra Streisand, she was one of the
1970s top singers, continuing in the 1980s with new arrivals like
Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston and so many others. By then
she was doing movie themes, duets and two ambitious albums that were
critical and commercial hits: the Trio
album with Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris and What's
New
album, where she teamed with the great Nelson Riddle to do covers of
Cole Porter classics. The latter is now one of the most imitated
albums of the last 40 years.
If
all the artists who decided to do style/genre switching albums sent
Ronstadt a royalty for what she pulled off there, she could have
bought LucasFilm!
A
stickler for sonic fidelity, her music sounds as fresh as when she
first recorded it and usually made the songs her own, or at least
came up with remakes that made sense and made the songs popular all
over again. But it was her all out vocal effort and clever phrasing
(think how amazing her work on Blue
Bayou
really is) that made her such a huge success. She loved music, had
the voice and always gave it her best efforts and then some when
cutting her music.
We
recently found out that due to the awful illness known as Parkinson's
Disease, she will soon no longer be able to sing. We have seen bad
health hurt many performers (Kris Kristofferson and Glen Campbell
dealing with Alzheimer's Disease among the many
should-have-been-cured-by-now illnesses hurting us all) and yet, it
is always a shock when the next person is hit with it, especially a
well known name of someone we love, grew up with and have such huge
respect for.
Ronstadt
could have only had a few hits, but people just loved her, loved her
work and she kept coming back again and again in ways that were
always great. It is sad what is happening to her and it is also
great she has such strong support from her friends and loved ones in
and out of an industry that is not as supportive of its artists as it
used to be. She is an American Original who by loving and backing
Americana and its music became a permanent part of it and that is why
we'll all always love her and her work.
Thank
you all for your continued support and usage of the site. As we
enter our 12th
years, we could not have done it without you. In speaking of music,
one of our most discussed interviews follows (wanted to keep it up
for a little bit longer) and have been seeing a nice increase of
interesting music materials of late. Hope that is a continuing
trend. Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments and
enjoy...
An
Interview With Joe Mardin
He
is a music producer, Grammy nominated filmmaker and the son of
legendary music producer, composer, arranger, musician, conductor and
genius, Arif Mardin. Joe Mardin not only continues music in the
tradition and to the high standards his father set for the industry
internationally, but has completed a remarkable documentary biography
on his father entitled The
Greatest Ears In Town,
which we recently covered and is easily one of the best music
releases of the year. Now we get a chance to talk to him about
music, family, industry, legacy, his late father Arif and completing
a massive album his father was in progress on working on up to his
passing.
1)
Thank you for joining us. Most of these questions will only scratch
the surface of your father Arif Mardin's work and legacy in making
unforgettable, enduing, lasting music, but it is important for our
readers to understand the massive extent of his success and what a
giant in music he really was. I wanted to start with his arrival at
Atlantic Records, where he at first joined in a bureaucratic
capacity in 1963 until record label co- founder Ahmet Ertegun found
out what a music talent he was. This led to the pairing of your
father Arif Mardin and groundbreaking producer/engineer Tom Dowd
becoming this dynamite team of music makers, often joined by or
joining Jerry Wexler. When were you first aware of this teaming and
its groundbreaking nature?
I
was aware from a very young age but it was not Ahmet but Nesuhi
Ertegun who hired my father and it was Jerry Wexler who eventually
added Arif to the team of Wexler and Tom Dowd.
2)
Your father's first big production, The Young Rascals' Good
Lovin'
in 1966 was a big #1 hit across the board and put him and the group
in the map, while keeping Atlantic Records one of the most important
records labels around. Any interesting untold stories about the
song and its success you can share with us?
The
only thing that comes to mind immediately is that when the Young
Rascals signed to Atlantic, they insisted their contract stipulate
that they would self-produce.
When
Tom Dowd and my father were brought in to work with them, even though
they were acting as producers, if you look on the records, they are
credited with supervision.
3)
After
years at Columbia Records, Aretha Franklin moved to Atlantic hoping
for success that had eluded her, then she met Mr. Wexler & your
father, started to work with them and her reign as The Queen Of Soul
began in what become more landmark music and some of the most
important music this country ever produced, including socially and
politically. This included an amazing combination of talent and
chemistry. Why do you think this worked so brilliantly?
Credit
must first go to Mr. Wexler. He had the vision and really, the
chutzpah to think he and Atlantic could provide more success for
Aretha than she had managed to achieve with the great John Hammond
[who discovered Miss Franklin and...
For
the rest of the interview, go to this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/interview/12488/An+Interview+With+Joe+Mardin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank
you for visiting (and in many, many cases, returning) to our
ever-expanding independent coverage of film, music & TV on
Blu-ray and DVD, plus older formats like CDs and newer ones like
SA-CD and Blu-ray 3D; a site that is now over 11 years old thanks to
all of you. Your input is always appreciated and we thank you for
your support. For 3D fans, here is the link to our ever-expanding
list of Blu-ray 3D titles in the format (over 100 now for us &
counting) and most of them so far have offered pleasant surprises:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11274/Blu-ray+3D+Reviews+List
---------------------------------
Art,
Ike C, Charles Constantino on 56th Grammy Entry List
'Around
the World' appears on the 56th Grammy Entry List in the categories of
Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration,
and Best Rap Song.
Friday,
November 15, 2013 - The
Recording Academy
has selected the original version of Around
the World,
the rap/sung collaboration by Art featuring Ike C, for inclusion on
the 56th Grammy Entry List in four categories. Around
the World
appears
in the entry categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best
Rap/Sung Collaboration, and Best Rap Song. Members of the Recording
Academy vote from the 56th Grammy Entry List for the nominees for the
2014 Grammy Awards.
Click
here to listen to a clip of Around the World.
The
Grammy Award for Record of the Year recognizes the artist; the
tracking, mix and mastering engineers; and the producer. Chaz
Peacock tracked Around
the World.
Charles Constantino and Chaz Peacock mixed the song. Garrett Haines
mastered the Charles Constantino production of Around
the World.
The
awards for Song of the Year and Best Rap Song recognize the
songwriters. Steven "Art" Williams wrote the rap lyrics
for Around
the World.
Isaac "Ike C" Cummings and Charles Constantino wrote the
sung lyrics. Charles Constantino wrote the music for the song. The
Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration recognizes the artists.
Charles
Constantino Publishing--a
member of ASCAP,
the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers--is the
exclusive publisher of Around
the World.
CoreCre8,
a division of Core Media House L.L.C., released the song.
Core Media House cofounder and chief creative officer Charles
Constantino produced and co-wrote the Somerhill recordings of Free
Your Mind (Tara Na)
and Today
or Tomorrow.
Both of the Somerhill recordings appeared on the 52nd Grammy Entry
List in the categories of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
with Vocals and Best Rock Song.
The
original version of Around
the World
is available at Amazon,
Google
Play,
iTunes,
and other Internet retailers. The song is available in FLAC, MP3-320
and MP3 file types at CD
Baby.
On March 17, 2013, Around
the World
reached number two on the list of the bestselling MP3 songs in neo
soul at Amazon.
Click
here to request additional information.
###
Click
here for a PDF version of the preceding press release,
“Art,
Ike C, Charles Constantino on 56th Grammy Entry List.”
---------------------------------------
Besides
our constantly
changing sidebar highlighting the best new discs available, we have a
master list of key Blu-ray titles we originally updated often, but
will now use as a guide to the best early releases so fans and
collectors can catch up. Also, the prices are great on many of these
titles now. The link to these highlights can be found at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4249/Highlights+of+software
You
can also put "Blu-ray"
in our search engine for the latest coverage of software releases, at
2,400 titles alone (including many single texts with more than one
Blu-ray release and the Blu-ray 3D format as noted above) and
counting including import titles you will not hear
about or read about anywhere else and likely would want to add to
your collection. Keep checking in (and on our sidebar) for exclusive
analysis of all the latest releases, including many that most other
sites and magazines have not covered!
As
we always say, we offer a rich, alternative website for Blu-ray, DVD,
book and film coverage that extends to music and television; we are
in our seventh year and invite you to search for anything you are
interested in. Based in the United States, we search for the bets
material anywhere in the world we can find it, so you can find it.
At this point, you are likely to find something on just about
anything you can think up.....
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We
would like to thank all those who have been ordering products from
AMAZON.COM because of the work on this site. We appreciate it, glad
we are encouraging you to do it and want you to know it supports the
site. All purchases are appreciated.
Thank
you!
The
Best Film Magazine On The Market!
Though
it is hard to argue the importance of film publications like American
Cinematographer,
Indie
Slate,
Cineaste
or Moviemaker
and what they deliver, but
so much of film history and production is not being covered properly
or of key films that deserve whole new audiences. If you love film,
you'll love the new hit magazine Cinema
Retro,
which is getting bigger and bigger. You may want to see about
subscribing now while supplies last on the latest issue. You can
visit their site at:
www.CinemaRetro.com
"CINEMA
RETRO" IS THE NEW MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO CLASSIC & CULT FILMS
OF THE '60S & '70S. WRITTEN ABOUT AND BY THE ACTORS &
FILMMAKERS OF THE ERA. EVERY ISSUE A LIMITED EDITION COLLECTOR'S
ITEM!
Their
site offers film news you cannot even find on IMDb, Variety, Deadline
Hollywood, The Wrap or The Hollywood Reporter websites. Then there
is their amazing magazine, one of the best of its kind on the entire
market and a must for any serious film fan, so good that many issues
are selling out. One of the best issues yet, ISSUE #29 includes:
Visiting
The
Great Escape
German
film locations - then and now - plus David
McCallum attends
a 50th anniversary screening of the film.
Exclusive
interview with director William
Friedkin (The
French Connection,
The
Exorcist)
about restoring his controversial masterpiece Sorcerer
-
and the hellish experiences of bringing the 1977 film to the screen.
Exclusive
interview with actress Nancy
Kwan,
who discusses breaking racial barriers in Hollywood.
The
Wicker Man
40th
anniversary. A tribute to the classic British horror film and
exclusive interview with director Robin
Hardy.
From
Glamor to Gore:
how horror films saved the careers of aging acting legends such as
Bette
Davis, Joan Crawford and
Shelly
Winters.
.
Paying
tribute to the superb supporting actors of All
the President's Men:
Jason
Robards, Martin Balsam and
Jack
Warden.
Analyzing
Sam
Peckinpah's
crime classic Bring
Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.
From
Rio
Bravo
to El
Dorado:
A look back at the Howard
Hawks/John Wayne Western
hits...
Lee
Van Cleef in Death
Rides a Horse
and
Sabata:
the new Blu-ray European special editions.
Memories of legendary
007 cinematographer Alec Mills. .
The
Oakmont Story
series continues with the company's little-seen WWII flick The
Last Escape
starring
Stuart
Whitman.
The joy of collecting
movie memorabilia
Raymond Benson's ten
best films of 1988
Darren Allison reviews
the latest soundtrack CDs
Plus the latest DVD and
film book reviews.
Contact
the producers of this amazing publication and get any issue (still in
print, that is, as they sell out quickly) to see for yourself. By
the way, back issues are running out as the magazine expands and does
so worldwide.
They
also have an amazing one-shot limited edition issue on Dr.
No,
the underrated thriller Kelly's
Heroes
is available
while supplies last (their amazing issue on Where
Eagles Dare
already sold out, but a new expanded edition is in the works) and an
equally terrific second edition on the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood
"Man
With No Name"
Trilogy (A
Fistful Of Dollars,
For A
Few Dollars More,
The
Good The Bad & The Ugly,
being reissued on Blu-ray again with upgrades) with all kinds of rare
stills, text and other items that make them serious collector's
items, so be sure to check things out over there if you love movies.
In
the meantime, FulvueDrive-in.com continues to be about providing the
most direct, expert, detailed (without ruining anything for first
time viewers and listeners, as we are not into spoilers),
informative, fun, bold, vital information we can come up with. That
fun, yet College-level and all accessible way in which we cover
material here benefit all our readers. Some of them are getting the
hang of our technical section, but others are starting to catch on.
We are doing our best to stay on top of the latest releases and what
is happening or being released that you may not have heard about. If
it is something you know about, we will likely have information and
observations you will get nowhere else.
Now
for some other sites worth checking out...
High
Def Disc News is an Ultra HD and Blu-ray-only website with reviews
and more run by Justin Sluss and loaded with a large number of
reviews and a long stream of news items. They are one of the best
and most uncompromising independent sources. See more at
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/
Our
writer Dante Ciampaglia's Crazy
From The Heat
blog is always worth checking out for comments on film, media and the
world at large. You can read him up at:
http://danteaciampaglia.com
Daniel
Johnson also has a solid movie blog. He is a fine writer and
implores "For
amazing movie articles, crazy cinematic lists, and riveting reviews
go to Film Babble Blog!"
The link is:
http://filmbabble.blogspot.com/
Continuing
their winning ways is DVDBeaver, a site that covers Blu-rays, DVDs
and films from all over the world like no other, and is one of the
only other sites besides ours to do so. Their link is:
www.DVDBeaver.com
We
believe that we are one of the few sites that manage to cover both
the technical parts of filmmaking, as well as the content and form of
the films themselves more thoroughly than you would usually find on
other sites or in print. They have reviews as well, but our favorite
section is their ever-growing Blu-ray/DVD Comparisons section, which
features very technical details on several versions of a given film.
Often, they are even from different DVD Regions and Blu-ray regions,
but they are always accompanied by still images from each DVD
covered. Gary W. Tooze's site is everything the net is supposed to
deliver and we will be adding anything we can to contribute to their
efforts as they do ours.
www.cinegeek.com
is run by Stephen Lackey and has its own love of anything Sci-Fi,
Horror, Fantasy or Cult. The web needs more alternative sites like
this, so be sure to visit them.
--
The Management
