Janis Joplin, Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills

They proved to the world that they were not just a garage band when their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival secured them a record contract. Big Brother and the Holding Company, sporting the female vocals of Janis Joplin, recorded two albums before Joplin went solo with a more successful career, but it was their second (and final) album that reached a milestone: topping the Billboard album chart for eight consecutive weeks. Cheap Thrills was released in August of 1968, which means the album just celebrated the 50th anniversary. Now, five decades later, a two-CD set featuring 25 unreleased tracks is released and just in time for Christmas. Sure, you can buy a CD of Cheap Thrills for just a few bucks; it has been re-released multiple times. But for fans who thought they heard it all, this new set is spectacular.  

Many times alternate tracks are released alongside the original album, in the hopes of intriguing a new generation of listeners. I would like to state that if you do not have the original 1968 Cheap Thrills, you may want to get it. This two-disc set does not include the original album, just alternate takes.

Among the earliest surviving recordings of Janis Joplin are amateur performances of her singing gospel songs in a coffee house. I kid you not. But as one revisits her four albums, you can clearly tell she sported a love for jazz and blues, including inspiration from the vocals of Billie Holiday. And when Joplin went off on her own without Big Brother and the Holding Company, her work was a beautiful cross between jazz and blues. (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama was the first of her two solo albums without Big Brother, and perhaps her best album -- ever.) Sadly, her recording career was cut short after succumbing from a heroin overdose at the age of 27. As a result, new recordings are rarely made available.

This two-disc set is more of a jazz reissue, and like any talented artist that strives to improve themselves, she never sang the same song the same way twice. There are renditions of the classic songs we grew up with that are raw and unrefined -- a reminder that they truly were a garage band. There is laughing between takes but you can feel the strain between Joplin and producer John Simon. Listen hard and you will feel the tension. But regardless, you could tell Joplin never cared if they were out of tune. She knew they were striving for perfection. 

The original title was Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills, but someone at the recording studio rejected the proposal and against the band's wishes was released in 1968 simply as Cheap Thrills. For this two-disc set, the original title was replaced and thankfully this will allow the newbies discovering Janis Joplin to differentiate between the original 1968 album and this 2018 release. (The 1968 album is not included. I point this out because many 2-disc releases with alternate tracks oftentimes come with the original album.)

Live at Winterland '68,
the other recommended album.

Among the highlights is her rendition of "Ball and Chain" from the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in April of 1968, psych-blues as only Joplin could sing it. 

Also included is a recording of "Harry," which originally opened the second side of the album, but removed at the request of the President of CBS Records. It is a crazy, abstract, free-jazz-freak-out that the band sometimes opened or closed with during their live performances. Now you can hear that recording. 

If you are not a Joplin fan, this two-disc set may not be for you. But as a time capsule embodiment of the San Francisco, psychedelic counter-culture of the 1960s, look no further. 

The Life and Career of Actor Arthur Anderson

Arthur Anderson was a child actor who made a career of acting out the role of dragons, dwarfs and knights in shining armor during the height of the depression. The long-running radio program, Let's Pretend, offered a weekly fairytale for juvenile listeners. The highlight of the program was that the roles were played on the air by children -- which naturally appeared to children who tuned in every Saturday morning to listen.

He was among the cast of The Metropolitan Opera in the mid-thirties, worked with Orson Welles on many of the Mercury Theater of the Air broadcasts, and also worked with Orson Welles on Broadway. Anderson was a regular staple at the Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention throughout the 1990s and wrote a book thoroughly documenting the history of radio's Let's Pretend. The children's radio program was the platform that launched a number of actors into a life-long career including Anne Francis, Dick van Patten, Donald Buka, Jackie Kelk and Skip Homeier.

On television Anderson made guest appearances on Route 66, Dark Shadows, The Defenders and Law and Order. Beginning in 1963 he voiced the cartoon character of Lucky the Leprechaun in those Lucky Charms television commercials you grew up with as a kid.

Arthur passed away in 2016 and all of his paperwork was mailed to me. I took the time to scan everything into digital format and assembled a PDF file. In short, this is a digital scrapbook of the career of Arthur Anderson including photographs, newspaper clippings, convention program guides and other materials.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/emy0xmcz6qo71gx/Arthur%20Anderson%20Scrapbook.pdf?dl=0

How You Can Help Save Popeye the Sailor

In July of 2007, fans of Popeye, the Sailor cheered when Warners released a four-disc set containing the first 60 animated cartoons, in chronological order, from 1933 to 1938. Restoration from archival 35mm negatives, and loaded with bonus extras, we were treated with the promise of future volumes -- also in chronological order. As a fan of Popeye, having grown up with the cartoons on local television (pre-cable TV days), I rushed out and bought my set. In 2008 we were treated to volumes two and three -- the latter of which included the last of the black and white classics. 

And then there was silence...

Where is volume four? many asked. The fourth entry would have started with the color cartoons... But alas, there was no volume four. Now, exactly ten years later, we learn that Warners gave the green light for a fourth volume -- but with one catch. If sales do not exceed expectations, there will be no further restoration or releases.

Now titled Popeye, the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1, this DVD continues where volume three left off. Transferred from the original Technicolor three-strip negatives, complete and uncut. But animation fans need your help. The studio will gauge the sales of this particular release (pictured here) based on the first 60 or 90 days of sales. So click the links below (both BluRay and DVD provided) and grab your copy today. The future of Popeye will depend on you.

As for myself, I bought five. Four of them were used as Christmas gifts.

DVD Release

https://www.amazon.com/Popeye-Sailor-1940s-1/dp/B07KLPTP4G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546297319&sr=8-5&keywords=popeye+the+sailor+dvd

Blu-Ray Release

https://www.amazon.com/Popeye-Sailor-1940s-1-Blu-ray/dp/B07KLPTWGC/ref=pd_sbs_74_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07KLPTWGC&pd_rd_r=1b37bb6b-0d51-11e9-b62b-4defc69ef940&pd_rd_w=Rfibk&pd_rd_wg=hQabs&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=RWW8PYNVFVJ17PQ9N433&psc=1&refRID=RWW8PYNVFVJ17PQ9N433 

Aquaman Movie Review

This is one of those movies that makes you wonder if the filmmakers were testing how keen the public is to watch an overload of CGI. The producers, along with Warner Brothers, are no doubt cracking a bottle of champagne on the basis that the D.C. Cinematic Universe is clearly profitable after reviewing box office receipts from the opening weekend, and because the studio insists on a damn-the-cost attitude with production costs. Wonder Woman was the only film that generated large enough margins, and critical acclaim. While this film will boost the margins, the critics (myself included) are going to speak against it. On a cinematic level of visual storytelling, Aquamanstarts out great and progresses downhill until the last 45 minutes when the film becomes a cluster ----. Sadly, no amount of dark satire or comedic humor will prevent the studio from green-lighting a sequel.

The movie travels at a fast and steady pace, jumping right into the story with little build-up, as any motion-picture should – and few do. The opening scene, before the title credits, sets up the opening chapter brilliantly. An equal and generous helping of not one, but two villains, work perfectly in the script and the special effects of characters floating under water is a feat that even computer could not have provided two decades ago. Regrettably, this is the only saving grace in a movie that involves over-blown computer-generated special effects with a lack of concern for scientific details. How can so much fire-power, liquid lava and explosions (with flame) be accomplished under water? Why is there a cartoon squid banging on drums for music? Why does Aquaman smell his armpits while he is under water?

Even with suspension of disbelief, the character of Aquaman becomes more like a cartoon character for children. Perhaps the best part of the movie is Amber Herd, who is magnificent as Mera, a hydrokinetic-powered princess who will ultimately understand why Arthur Curry (a.k.a. Aquaman) chooses to concern himself with the land folk.

Not a fan of Zack Snyder’s dark take on superheroes who should be making the world a brighter place, and possibly inspired by the movies produced by Marvel Studios, I could not help but notice somewhere in all this scramble it manages to hit the reboot button. There might be hope for this franchise if they can avoid the computer and instead focus more on the story.

For those looking for a faithful adaptation from page to screen, Aquaman has enough to please fanboys. With a plot that is routine and formulaic, such a franchise should not be falling into the paint-by-the-numbers trap. This reviewer has seen so many films that he wishes an opportunity like Aquaman featured good storytelling; sadly, the movie was downplayed to an endless animated rumble.