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Peter Jackson's "Get Back" Documentary Film Rises From the Ashes of "Let It Be" and Beatles' Fans Are Loving It

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  Screenshot via YouTube Get Back , the three part documentary film, was made by world class director Peter Jackson ( Lord of the Rings trilogy)  from the same film and tape elements that were used in the making of The Beatles last movie Let It Be  and the  Let It Be  album. Even though the Let It Be movie played in theaters over fifty years ago, and even though it has disappeared from circulation, memories of that movie remain strong. The 80 minute run time was divided between The Beatles working in the cavernous Twickenham studio, the basement studio at Apple Headquarters, and the triumphant rooftop concert at the Apple HQ. Despite the good feeling of the final sequence with no narration, the overall effect of the movie was depressing, especially the first part. If you wanted a portrait of a band breaking up, this was it. It's no surprise then that this film did not receive home video distribution. For a short time,  Let It Be was available as a rental only VHS title, but by th
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The Best Music of 2022, Album of the Year: Joan Osborne, Radio Waves; Plus My Picks for the Top Thirty Starring (in the Top Ten, alphabetically) Dr John, Buddy Guy, Marc Jordan /Amy Sky, Brennen Leigh, Alex Malheiros, Keb' Mo', Catherine Russell, Bruce Springsteen, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. and Many More

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Photo courtesy of the artist Welcome to my happily old fashioned list of the best albums of 2022. I'm old fashioned in the sense that I'm a holdout for the idea that the full length album is still an art form. For me, the album is still the thing, as you'll see on my list (below).  The music industry was altered by Covid in so many ways that in 2022 it seemed as if the forces were retooling to resume some kind of new normalcy going forward. A lot of good music was recorded and released. My cut down picks for the thirty best albums of the year was as fraught as any prior year with so many records wanting to be on that list. So, go to the streaming service of your choice and spin these albums while you read a few remarks about why, in my estimation, they are the best releases of the year.   Album of the Year: Joan Osborne - Radio Waves Nevermind that she hit it out of the park on her first try with the album Relish in 1995. Joan Osborne's reputation as a songwriter was c
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One from the Heart (Zoetrope, 1982) Is a Better Movie Than You Think; A Stellar Soundtrack Composed By Tom Waits and Sung By Waits and Crystal Gayle Is a Big Reason Why

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  Images courtesy of Zoetrope Studio Gem from the Record Room and from the Movie Shelf:  Francis Ford Coppola wanted  One from the Heart to be a simple romantic comedy, ostensibly the antidote for his then latest film Apocalypse Now; a ntidote in the sense  that it was intended to be everything that  Apocalypse Now was not. No one would ever accuse Coppola of not thinking big, so perhaps it was impossible for him to make a small picture. For starters, he tried to make  One from the Heart at the same time he transformed the then vacant  Hollywood General Studios, that he had just bought, into the Hollywood home of Zoetrope. Even though the story of  One from the Heart  all takes place in one night in Las Vegas, every scene required the construction of a set there on the lot. As if that weren't enough, Coppola conceived a new kind of electronic filmmaking in which storyboards for each scene were recorded on videotape. The video could be reviewed and revised in real time. These dream
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