Terrific piece, Michael. I was not familiar with this movie and sorta wished I had known about it before I finished my book on Jeff Beck (he was a Gene Vincent fanatic, so I’m sure he saw it). I do talk about the huge impact of "The Girl Can't Help It" on Beck. While the script is pretty idiotic, the performances are great and director Frank Tashlin (famous for his work on Looney Tunes) provides a great manic visual flair. Certainly not as sophisticated as Lester, but it's definitely a precursor.
Thanks, Brad, that is so kind of you! Yeah, Beck was a rock-crazed teenager in 1962, he surely ran right out and saw it. The Gene Vincent bit starts at 11:22 — there's a link embedded near the top of my piece. It's pretty weird, if only because Vincent is all in white, and then the arty cinematography. Cool song though. And yes, _It's Trad, Dad!_ is definitely in a lineage with _The Girl Can't Help It_ — not just as a jukebox film but with its behind-the-scenes in the music biz story.
Great piece. For years, my Yankee ass couldn't figure out why in the world Acker $#&@ Bilk and Chris Barber were practically the equivalent of rock and roll stars in that era. The film didn't clarify much for me, but I did appreciate the passion behind the music. (Acker Bilk is still shite, though.)
Yes, the movie takes it as a given that Bilk and Barber were stars — and that's one of the interesting things about it, that it embodies that unique moment, that completely alternative UK pop universe. We don't get that sort of thing so much anymore now, in this globalized world. The best I could do was to give some cultural context for their flourishing.
Acker Bilk was a working class West Country man who did his National Service in Egypt in the British Army during the Suez crisis. His band could really swing, and he had a huge #1 hit with ‘Stranger on the Shore’.
Terrific piece, Michael. I was not familiar with this movie and sorta wished I had known about it before I finished my book on Jeff Beck (he was a Gene Vincent fanatic, so I’m sure he saw it). I do talk about the huge impact of "The Girl Can't Help It" on Beck. While the script is pretty idiotic, the performances are great and director Frank Tashlin (famous for his work on Looney Tunes) provides a great manic visual flair. Certainly not as sophisticated as Lester, but it's definitely a precursor.
Thanks, Brad, that is so kind of you! Yeah, Beck was a rock-crazed teenager in 1962, he surely ran right out and saw it. The Gene Vincent bit starts at 11:22 — there's a link embedded near the top of my piece. It's pretty weird, if only because Vincent is all in white, and then the arty cinematography. Cool song though. And yes, _It's Trad, Dad!_ is definitely in a lineage with _The Girl Can't Help It_ — not just as a jukebox film but with its behind-the-scenes in the music biz story.
Great piece. For years, my Yankee ass couldn't figure out why in the world Acker $#&@ Bilk and Chris Barber were practically the equivalent of rock and roll stars in that era. The film didn't clarify much for me, but I did appreciate the passion behind the music. (Acker Bilk is still shite, though.)
Yes, the movie takes it as a given that Bilk and Barber were stars — and that's one of the interesting things about it, that it embodies that unique moment, that completely alternative UK pop universe. We don't get that sort of thing so much anymore now, in this globalized world. The best I could do was to give some cultural context for their flourishing.
And thanks!
so well-written and well-researched - fantastic piece.
Acker Bilk was a working class West Country man who did his National Service in Egypt in the British Army during the Suez crisis. His band could really swing, and he had a huge #1 hit with ‘Stranger on the Shore’.
Well, tell that to Todd Jenkins!