Friday, September 27, 2019

Blind Item #9 - Mr. X

Which recently deceased country music legend's widow refused to let the king of documentary filmmakers use clips of her late husband for his latest docu-series unless she got paid for it. The filmmaker didn't cede to her demands and instead just used a stock clip of the singer and simply glossed over his accomplishments probably as a dig to the widow. 

40 comments:

sandybrook said...

George Jones?

sandybrook said...

not recent

MDAnderson said...

Glen Campbell?

Sd Auntie said...

+1000. nursing home bill must have took a big chunk of money. oh well

Gator said...

Wasn't Glen Campbell's wife the one who was alledgedly cleaning out his bank accounts while he was suffering from Alzheimers?

Tricia13 said...

Earl Thomas Comley

sandybrook said...

This may be the frist time I ever got a Mr. X blind wrong.

Tricia13 said...

Wife Lana/Martin Bashir for doc filmmaker?
He does in April in Nashville

MDAnderson said...

Ken Burns for the filmmaker

Brayson87 said...

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/

Brayson87 said...

Ken Burns is always the king of documentary filmmakers to me.

Brayson87 said...

But did she take his truck?

Gator said...

I saw the Ken Burns piece, it was interesting, but it jumped all over the place. He seemed to have a thing for Emmylou Harris, who he spent too much time on, then barely glossed over others. I didn't realize how handsome Waylon Jennings was before he turned into a train wreck mess.

James Howlett said...

Donnie Fritz and Neal Casal died as well. Donny Fritz had been a long running subject of songs. He used to be a wild man, too. I could think of a bunch of them Glen Campbell was probably worth more. The documentary is heart breaking. The Wrecking Crew are underrated.

momo said...

That wrecking crew documentary was very good. And I love Glen Campbell. We watched his tv show when I was young.

Musicians who are friends of mine are already bitching about the content of Burns' doc. Everyone has an opinion. I don't know if I will watch it or not. Surely not paying for it.

AnitaKnapp said...

Definitely Glen Campbell being glossed over in the Ken Burns documentary. Not surprised Glen's widow would do this.

Moose said...

If you watch Burn's Episode 6, which covers the time period when Campbell was the top country musician in the world, you knew something was up. In those four years, Campbell had 7 gold or platinum albums, won 5 Grammys, had a prime time network TV show, and was CMA Entertainer of the Year. Yet he is barely mentioned.

This explains the omission. Thanks, Enty!

Moose said...

@momo - the series is available to stream on PBS's website.
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/episode-1-the-rub-beginnings-1933

@Gator - yea, it could have been more organized, and shortchanged some artists at the expense of others that Burns seems to idolize, but overall I think it's been exceptional. Turned me on to some musicians I had never heard of, and really gave the music a nice showcase.

slipperyGuy said...

It seems that Burns is playing to the PBS demographic in this series. A lot of coverage of folk and bluegrass relative to mainstream country. Also a lot of attempts to tie it in with social protest and race issues, but little on how the actual country audience thinks about these things. He probably doesn't want to know.

Brayson87 said...

@slippery, That's every PBS show, play to the base.

Kikibunny said...

i used to live across the river from burns' NH residence and his crowd were an intellectual bunch who were really into promoting 'roots' music, or 'alternative' country, which is probably who he is playing to

Sd Auntie said...

vince gill segment was quite moving.

jedi757 said...

If you have seen the program it is almost certainly Campbell.

texasrose said...

Agree with above. I watched it and Glen Campbell's legacy was definitely glossed over.

Flashy Vic said...

@Brayson.

At least you Yanks get handy tote bags for paying for your public broadcasters. We get mailed it we don't and our kids fucked by ours.

Flashy Vic said...

Jailed not mailed.

shakey said...

The thing about that show (which I find quite good) is that I hadn't realized how close to Johnny Cash's story Dewey Cox - Walk Hard was.

pegd said...

Agree Gator with both EmmyLou and Waylon comments, but especially the EmmyLou part. Also spent a lot of time on what I felt were some insignificant songwriters instead of the influencers.

Brayson87 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brayson87 said...

@Flashy, Yes that is antiquated, why don't people vote against it?

You've got a point, we got Mr Rogers and you guys got Jimmy Savile, jeez they even knighted him?

Flashy Vic said...

If voting changed anything they'd ban it, as the old saying goes.

Look at the writhing and squirming the establishment are doing to foil Brexit. The BBC are bollocks deep in Al that. At least Pravda was upfront about their propaganda.

Vita said...

Flashy- I had no clue about the mandatory charge until you mentioned it, it is surprising, and will make me a little more tolerant of the fundraising breaks and appreciative of the handy totes.

Thanks, people who have watched the whole documentary, for confirming this is Glenn Campbell and Ken Burns. He was HUGE in the 70s, and it's a shame that he was not proportionately acknowledged. It's great to know the likely reason behind the lack of coverage.

Anonymous said...

I really wish you would leave legends like Glen Campbell out of this blog.
He deserves better. His family deserves better.
They were dealing with Glen's decline from Alzheimers, for a long time.
It is a soul breaking experience for any family.

Studio54 said...

I love Ken Burns, but I would never watch that "thing" on Country Music. It sounds like he is looking at Country through rose colored glasses. It's about the most regressive right wing BS ever. "Stand by your man" has to be one of the most backward songs of all times. The only thing more regressive than country music is disco.

BaronessOrczy said...

I agree. He had a chance to really explore why Nashville promotes those with less talent and he spent way too much time on Harris. American Masters did a way better job.

James Howlett said...

The Donald Duck thing he kept doing really showed his mental state at the time. It made me weep. What a talented man, and in the end, he was just not there. He could act, too!

GentleBreeze said...

Haven't seen the doc, but was surprised to hear it get panned by a reviewer on NPR.
"Stand by Your Man' is redeemed by the line ..."after all, he's just a man."

Tswizzle said...

Has to be Merle Haggard. I'm watching the PBS documentary on country music and he gives some insight yet he passed away in 2016. This special is brand new.

Travelgrrl said...

I thought the documentary was masterful, and I learned a lot. It wasn't just a linear chronology of country music, but rather an examination of how different trends and sounds and parts of the country brought forth variations in the music. Each episode was themed and dwelt on certain performers (unfortunately, to the practical exclusion of others).

But my god, you haven't lived until you've seen an older Dwight Yoakum choke up while he's reciting Merle Haggard lyrics!

GentleBreeze said...

Sounds like a must watch anyway. Love good/masterful/evocative music. Appalachian music evokes Celtic - immigrants from the isles settled there. Hope Burns dives deep into history. African-Gospel-Country.

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