A History of Rock n' Roll in Film and Rock n' Roll Jay R Smith

Today we finish up Ritchie's story with some more background on the filmmaker and the movie I've come to love even more and apparently get goddamn defensive about.
Reviewing the legacy of the film via a look back with Valdez and Lou Diamond Phillips TV Tropes about "La Bamba!"  My takeaways about the making of the film in 3 parts A look back at Luis Valdez's career and activism featuring a note about his cousin ("that vato?") Caesar Chavez and the work of Teatro Campesino  A brief look at the historical significance of American Pauchocos with a detour into some James Ellroy because I wanted to and it's my show, dammit More of Ritchie Valens' life story and rock n' roll legacy continued from last episode  Me getting REAL cranky about a douchey Pitchfork article I read while conducting research for this one An update on the show's ongoing relationship with Radish Mattress, Inc  
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From time to time, I will populate the main feed with a Patreon episode that's at least a year old so casual listeners might get a taste of all the extra scholarship that does occur, but lands nowhere near a published episode: 
Today: A return to Tosches! Checking in on the state of the Stones as they prep for a return to American crowds in '69. And an exploration of the relationship between SUN and CHESS records from 1950-1951, around the time of "Rocket 88", as well as why it's called "The first Rock n' Roll record" by some. It's really not, but the question of what actually is is kind of dumb anyway. 
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From time to time, I will populate the main feed with a Patreon episode that's at least a year old so casual listeners might get a taste of all the extra scholarship that does occur, but lands nowhere near a published episode: 

Today we have: Ed Ward, Nick Tosches, Christopher Hitchens, a bad Nine Inch Nails biography, 70s DEVO origins, and lots of guitar modulation effects.


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I don't know how to warn you I might get a little wibbly-bibbly in the wobbles during this one. Verklempt, if you will. Similar to the way I was on the CROW episodes processing the loss of Brandon Lee all over again. Ritchie was clearly a marvel and a unique talent in ways I didn't understand until now. To be a guitar hero and a hit songwriter and a teen idol at the same time is a hurculean accomplishment for a 17-year-old kid from Pacoima, California in 1958. And I struggled a bit when jumping on the mic right after my research. This goes back to me being a little kid when I saw the film and begged my dad for a cassette tape of the soundtrack, which I treasured. Rock n' Roll, baby. Rock n' roll. 
It's gonna be a bit of this n' that:
The first impressions of Ritchie by his most prominent biographer, Beverly Mendheim, while she struggled to suss out his ethnicity as an impressionable teenager The career struggles and ongoing activism of Lou Diamond Phillips, who is more consistently successful as an actor than many would realize (Me. I mean me, until now) The masterful music editing of Curt Sobel on La Bamba! while working closely with Los Lobos and director Luis Valdez (more on him in the next episode!!!) Ed Ward's dumbass take on Ritchie in the modern era that rivals even his awful reviews of The Beatles back in the late 60s Readings from a very concise, but effective bio on Ritchie taken from a guitar tab book that I highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Ritchie-Valens-His-Guitars-Music/dp/1574243802
https://www.salon.com/2021/03/09/lou-diamond-phillips-adverse-prodigal-son-representation/
(Bev's out of print book) https://archive.org/details/ritchievalensfir00mend/page/n5/mode/2up
movie scene comparisons

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I shared a link to this youtube video when it came out, but providing audio now for anyone who would like to listen. It's been a couple months, so I don't feel like this cuts into their Youtube traffic at all. And even if that was the case, I'm unsure as to whether this interview series will even continue now that Glenn himself is no longer with the brand. Enjoy!
Original desc: "Long time Pacific Northwest Entertainer Jay Smith joins the cast to discuss his Podcast; A History of Rock N' Roll in Film and Rock N' Roll, as well as his ongoing music projects; Double Cross Committee and Late September Dogs." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV1kCtoujII&list=PL64PJyRQtqg3MxPE4Z2JzA7iaM00Q-xEj&index=3
 
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Hello and get ready for so much Van Halen once again! And Better Off Dead! So much good stuff that could have only happened in the 1980s converging in one place. Along with more 70s Van Halen history too, of course. We'll cover stuff like:


Savage Steve Holland's real life experiences that went into his script, and later work in children's cartoons Michael Anthony's first meetup with Sammy Hagar Eddie's challenges in early life as a shy kid would couldn't speak english in America His challenges shaking off the controlling influence of David Lee Roth and Ted Templeman making "1984" the way HE and Alex and Donn Landee wanted to John Cusack's initial hatred of "Better Off Dead" and his eventual backpedal The Van Halen family's journey from The Netherlands to Pasadena by boat and by train My shock at finding out Alex's drums on certain songs were actually an electric kit Al, Mike, and Sammy's soundcheck routines and gear specs on the 1993 tour  The AC/DC songs Eddie says inspired "Panama" and "Drop Dead Legs" The making of Van Halen 2 and how it was intentionally different from the debut album How "Fair Warning" influenced what happened on "Diver Down" which in turn influenced "1984" Eddie's on-the-road-all-night-every-night initial fling with Valerie Bertinelli that morphed straight into their marriage What happens when a couple of lucky young dudes from Pennsylvania get to party with Van Halen and MTV doesn't know how to keep up with it all  AND SO MUCH MORE. Including lots of my musical interludes and suprise voices from throughout time and space! Even more than usual. 
Please remember that Rock n' Roll is the best, and so are you!
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https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/eddie-van-halen-tribute-1081034/
https://youtu.be/7qviaKsnb5Q?si=SAqlSYo-TY3PQ0Ng
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/75810/13-better-facts-about-better-dead 
https://www.insidehook.com/film/director-steve-holland-cult-classic-better-off-dead-john-cusack 
https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/eddie-van-halen-looks-back-van-halen-1984-album-5150-studios