Setting the record straight
And with the right subject matter, even historical documentaries provide an entertaining afternoon. Especially if the historical period coincides with with my own experience. It all comes down to the music.
Some years ago, in a misguided attempt to set the record straight, Hollywood produced a historical fiction about the life and times of Jim. The Jim. Morrison. Mojo Risin’. And the movie was an epic fail from my seat. I mean, other than the soundtrack, there wasn’t much of substance in there. You don’t play with one of the icons of an age and get a free pass.
This afternoon, the record was repaired. The documentary When You’re Strange (with narration by Johnny Depp, who might actually be an acceptable avatar for the Mojo Risin’) doesn’t reveal any new truths. Instead, it simply uses existing video footage to help the rest of us understand.
Jim Morrison didn’t “march to the beat of a different drummer”. He didn’t need a drummer. As near as I can tell, he was a poet that happened to sing, occasionally. The rest of us were his fans, not the other way around. Although he may have “drawn energy” from others, he didn’t need us. We were along for the ride.
I really appreciated seeing the actual musicians at work (unlike the other movie). A drummer who liked to drum. A guitarist with no need for a pick. A keyboardist that made the missing bass player a simple oversight in the original choice of members. And when you make music that still sounds fresh, more than a few decades later, you were doing things right. I give this movie two thumbs up.
