– Bob Seger. “He was great to work with,” says Johnson.
“He had no ego.” Muscle Shoals is a movie that makes me
nostalgic for my youth. The scenery, the sounds, just everything about it reflects my
South.Magnolia trees, cattle in the fields, aged barns, old buildings, ancient gas stations with rusted pumps, children playing in the street on some country back road - this is the South that I love. Of course, there cannot be a
Muscle Shoals documentary without mentioning the great contributions of Duane Allman. His brother Gregg tells some great stories here, as does Jimmy Johnson. There are plenty of photos and video clips through- out the movie that I, as a South- ern music historian, had never even seen before. This documen- tary runs as deep as the Ten- nessee River. During the final scene in the
movie we are treated to an out- standing in studio performance by Alicia Keys, singing a beautiful Gospel number called “Personal,” while Rick Hall mans the mixing board and the Swampers provide the backing track. Of course, I find it absolutely fitting that
the last song heard on the movie’s soundtrack is “Sweet Home Alabama.” The anthem. If I were using a rating system of stars, which I’m not, I would have to give this one five out of five stars. At least.
- Michael Buffalo Smith
Jayne Mansfield’s Car After waiting two years, I finally got to see
Jayne Mansfield’s Car, thanks to the magic of Amazon instant video. I suppose if I waited
Now, some of you may recall how I spent
my birthday two years ago on the movie set down in Cedartown, Georgia. I went in with Bubba Bruce, the drummer for the Boxmas- ters and hung out all day. It was quite a rush for me. And it was great to see my buddy Billy Bob Thornton again. A couple of months prior to that, I re-
ceived a call from Bubba telling me that he was going to be in my neck of the woods the next day. Apparently, Billy Bob and company had located an old Shure p.a. system from the 1960s on Craigslist and Bubba was driving to Anderson, South Carolina to pick it up. He in- vited me to come along for the ride. That was another adventure I will never forget. So I had a vested interest in seeing this
movie, not only because of my friendship with Billy and the others, but because I simply love Billy Bob’s work. In a day and age when most
for the movie to come here to Spartanburg, South Carolina, I would be waiting a long time. I don’t know why, but so many of the more cerebral and artistic movies never make it to my hometown. Sure, you can go see blockbuster movies all day long - you know, lots of explosions, car chases, super heroes, zombies, etc. While I really wanted to see this one on the big screen, I had to settle for my big screen television, with my Mac piping Amazon into it.
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