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In the last couple weeks, we lost Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Lee Hazlewood.
Following the above links will give you all the biographical background, but I thought I'd give a small personal tribute.
First off, how can you link all three?
Well, obviously, Bergman and Antonioni were prolific, influental European filmmakers.
Bergman was Swedish.
Lee Hazlewood spent a good part of his life as an ex-pat in Sweden--his moody, psychedelic 1970 album is in fact called "Cowboy in Sweden". And when I was in Sweden a few years back, I heard his music on the radio, in between current pop hits.
Antonioni and Hazlewood.....hmmm. I'd have to do some research. Antonioni was fond of putting avant-rock in his 60's movies...there must be a connection somewhere.
Anyway, personal influence:
Antonioni:
In 10th or 11th grade I rented his 1966 movie "Blow Up". Mostly because I wanted to see the footage of the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. But I dubbed a copy (it's destroyed now anyway, so come and get me, Interpol, FBI, KGB).
But what I saw influenced me in a few ways--mostly fashion-wise (and it is about a swinging London fashion photographer).
The lead guy, played by David Hemmings, wears a blue button down and white cords with Beatle boots through much of the movie. This became one of my stock outfits for that period.
Also, there's a rather risque scene (for then or now) where a couple of model wannabes (one of which is played by Jane Birkin) who keep badgering him for a photo session end up getting much more than they bargained for.
I think that, along with Emma Peel from the Avengers, these two girls kind of gave me "what to look for when choosing a mate". Plus, besides "Head", it was probably one of the first avant-garde films I ever watched. And none of my friends liked either film.
Lee Hazlewood--
I was turned onto him while living in Hadley with my bandmates in "Princess" (1993-94). One of them had the best of nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood on vinyl. I immediately loved it. "it's like psychedelic music for the adults of the 60's!" I exclaimed. I realized that "Summer Wine" was just like a slow version of the Electric Prunes "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night".
And "Sand" and "Some Velvet Morning" and "Sundown"....
A few years later I got my own copy on cd.
Lee Hazlewood was from a wealthy oil family, and made his own million by writing and producing "These Boots Were Made For Walkin" for his singing partner nancy Sinatra.
He was from the Elvis/Johnny Cash school of trad country/rockabilly, but somehow, the hippie thing really fascinated him. So, you get backwards guitar solos, songs about young girls with flowers in their hair, trippy dreamscapes...but all with a sense of humor.
His 70's solo stuff is even weirder. He had nothing to lose, so he lived and partied in Sweden, I guess.
I like the album "13" with its 70's horns and gameshow theme arrangements. Plus, in "Ten or Eleven Towns Ago" he finds himself in San fransisco, "existing on Nabisco/cookies and bad dreams/and dodging paranoia".
The Sitting next to Brian song "Follow" was my attempt at writing a Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra type song. Thus, it's moody, twangy, trippy and the vocals are drenched in reverb (and there's a backwards guitar solo).
Lastly, Ingmar Bergman.
I've only seen a fraction of his films, but went through a brief binge of his work during the solitary winter of '05-06. It was a weird, transitory, not happy period, and Bergman put it all in perspective. I remember halfway though "Wild Strawberries" having to just pause it and go for a walk in the freezing night. It was late on a weeknight so the streets were deserted and desolate and I could make believe I was in Sweden during their 20-odd hours of darkness. There was so much to think about, both in the film and the lessons it was teaching me, I just had to stop and absorb it. In fact, on that walk I came up with a song idea that made the grade.
Then I came back inside, and watched the rest of it. What else did I watch those weeks? "Persona" for sure. Jeeze. I'm blanking.
Anyway, there's my half-assed, poorly researched, personalized, off-the-top-of-my-head tribute to these 3 men. They sure did make their mark.
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