Down the tracks to an unwritten future

I recently watched two good music documentaries, "Down the Tracks" about the music that influenced Bob Dylan before he influenced everyone else, and "The Future Is Unwritten" about Joe Strummer's life before, during and after the Clash.

"Down the Tracks" was interesting, though as one might expect from a film that had no official involvement from Dylan himself, it left me a little wanting at times. Still, the archival footage of various country blues artists like Son House, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, and many others, as well as extensive interviews with many of the Greenwich Village folk scenesters of the 1960s was pretty engaging, and definitely renewed a long-dormant interest in the music that inspired the Bard of Minnesota. Toward the end the director veers off course maybe a little, trying to make an argument that Dylan's flirtation with country music also connect him to Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and others, but it's not as compelling as the part about the country/delta blues players and Woody Guthrie.

The downside is that my credit card is getting a workout the past few days. The upside is, if you're an eBay shareholder at least, there's more business there.

"The Future Is Unwritten" I greatly enjoyed. Joe Strummer, along with Bob Dylan, had as much to do with opening my eyes to the world as anyone when I was an adolsecent. Seeing someone be that political, relentlessly, made quite an impression on me, so watching this documentary was a bit like witnessing a eulogy for an old friend. The interesting part to me was the post-Clash, pre-Mescaleros interlude, which probably only covered 10 minutes in the documentary, but is the biggest blank spot in Strummer's life for me -- though perhaps if I ever got around to reading the copy of "Redemption Song" I bought ages ago that might not be the case. In any event, seeing how Strummer reacted to the rise and fall of the Clash, and his discomfort with the level of fame they reached is quite striking, and makes the brief return to glory he had with the Mescaleros prior to his death in 2002, all the more sweet. Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg3md__8IaQ

And I can tell you, having seen Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros three times in New York (well, ok, twice in Brooklyn, once in New York proper AKA Manhattan) that his last band wasn't his best -- it would be hard to top the Clash from 1977-1982 -- but it was damn close. I still remember my excitement in the fall of 2001, while marooned by work in central New Jersey because our office building was rendered uninhabitable by the 9/11 attacks, sitting on the NJ Transit train into Penn Station, barely able to sit still as I headed toward the City. This was the first time I was going to see JOE STRUMMER since the regrettable "Cut the Crap" tour of 1985 or 1986.

I got off the train and almost ran the 20+ blocks from Penn Station to Irving Plaza that night to see Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros. I don't think I even owned their records at the time, so I didn't know what I was going to hear. But what I did hear was awe-inspiring. A long lost artist leading a new band, looking happy and joyful, and playing new songs that were as strong as his old, even if they did sound like they came from a very different place. That he and the band mixed in about 10 or so Clash songs didn't hurt either.