Todd Rundgren and Billy Preston
In this edition of Quick Flicks we screen a new live release from Todd Rundgren and a documentary about the career of Billy Preston.
Todd Rundgren - Liars - Live - (Blu-ray)
Here's an excellent concert film that was shot in Albany, N.Y. in 2005 where Rundgren and his band the Liars (Jesse Gress on guitar, Kasim Sulton on bass, Prairie Prince on drums and John Ferenzik on keyboards) perform a set that consists of more than half of Todd's 2004 album
Liars along with a selection of mostly deep album cuts from other titles. After a pre-recorded intro featuring a snippet from Carl Orff's
Carmina Burana the set begins with "Truth," one of the cuts from
Liars, with Rundgren singing while the band plays the song's gurgling melody. Rundgren is also at the mic without an instrument when second cut, the very catchy "Buffalo Grass" from his
One Long Year album begins, but near the end of the song he grabs a guitar and plays a scorching solo. That is typical of how the whole set goes; Rundgren never plays piano but switches back and forth between just singing and singing and playing guitar. What makes this show so special, beyond the consummate playing from all, is that Rundgren has chosen the set list carefully, so songs like the Iggy Pop-recalling Liars cut "Mammon" fits nicely thematically with tunes from elsewhere, like "Fascist Christ" from No World Order and even "I Hate My Frickin' I.S.P." which laments wasted time spent on the internet. The middle of the concert features a run of half a dozen cuts from Liars including "God Said," "Liar" where Todd gets to show off his scream, "Soul Brother," jazzy pop cuts "Flaw" and "Sweet," both of which recall the blue eyed soul of Robert Palmer, and "Past." The only song here that Rundgren didn't write or co-write is a take on George Harrison's gem for the Beatles, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Rounding out the set with non-
Liars cuts Rundgren plays "Love Science" where he gives a bit of a nod to James Brown both with vocal styling and some fancy dance moves, his co-write with the Tubes "Feel It," the freak out "Born to Synthesize" and the rowdy "The Want of a Nail." For the encore Todd goes way back to 1972 for his big hit "Hello It's Me" and wraps it up with 1973's hopeful "Just One Victory." Rundgren fans will love this show and it will also remind them of what a fine album the mostly overlooked Liars is.
Billy Preston - That's the Way God Planned It
Here's an in-depth and very well-made film documenting the life and career of famed keyboards player, singer and songwriter Billy Preston. The fast moving film begins with a clip of Billy performing at George Harrison's famed 1971 all-star charity event, the Concert for Bangladesh; following that snippet Billy's life is chronicled beginning with his earliest performances in church and then as a member of gospel group The Cogics with Andre Crouch, Sandra Crouch, Gloria Jones; the organist by this time had already performed with the likes of Little Richard, Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke. As the film goes on Billy's work with Billy Porter, Ray Charles and Little Richard is chronicled, with the interaction with Little Richard being particularly important as while on tour with the rock shouter Billy met the Beatles in Hamburg which led to him playing on numerous Beatles titles and at the group's famous "rooftop" show, their final live performance. Billy was not the only one to take on the moniker but his closeness to the Fab Four earned him the nickname "the fifth Beatle." Also covered is Preston's time with the Rolling Stones including a European tour and appearances on five of their albums. Other significant milestones covered in the film include 45 shows with George Harrison, playing on the massive Patti LaBelle/Joe Cocker hit "You Are So Beautiful," playing his own hit "Nothing from Nothing" on the very first "Saturday Night Live," his performance as Sgt. Pepper in the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie, and much later in his career his work on the Ray Charles/Norah Jones song "Here We Go Again." His highs and lows at various record labels are chronicled as are the really low points in his life when he was hooked on drugs, arrested on assault charges and a 1992 arrest for sexual assault on a teenage boy. Preston also struggled to reconcile his homosexuality with his faith and was closeted until he was on his death bed. Among the many interviewed for the film is Eric Clapton who chokes up at film's end when he speaks of Billy's death. Touching, informative and entertaining, the film contains lots of rare live performance snippets and candid moments that you will not find anywhere else.
