I’m not putting up a Christmas tree this year, but if I were to, I’d top it with Yoda… and his lightsaber. He’s available for purchase over at the NetoShop for $59.95. 
 

 
The beauty in this film footage is not so much in the fashions but in the hand-tinting of the celluloid itself.

Paris fashions of 1926
 

 
Beatle George Harrison died ten years ago on November 29, 2001.

Below, you can watch the entire historic Concert For Bangladesh performance featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Badfinger, Jesse Ed Davis, Klaus Voorman and Mother of Invention Don Preston.

Harrison walks onstage at 22 minutes in—after a fiery opening set by Ravi Shankar—and the supergroup (led by bandleader Leon Russell) launch into his blistering anti-Macca number “Wah Wah,” one of the best songs on his sprawling All Things Must Pass album.

(You might not want to wait too long to watch this one, who knows how long this is going to last on YouTube…)
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:

‘Little Malcolm’: George Harrison’s lost film starring John Hurt and David Warner
George Harrison sings on Eric Idle’s ‘Rutland Weekend Television’
‘The Kid’: Paul McCartney talks about George Harrison
Raga: 1971 film featuring Ravi Shankar and George Harrison remastered

 
The film director Ken Russell died peacefully in his sleep yesterday, he was 84. Russell was one of England’s greatest, most important and influential film directors, whose work revolutionized television and cinema. Russell will be remembered for his original TV docu-dramas, Elgar, The Debussy Film, Delius: The Song of Summer, and Dance of the Seven Veils, and for his cinematic work, Women in Love, The Devils, The Boyfriend, The Music Lovers, Savage Messiah, Mahler, the rock opera Tommy, Altered States, Gothic, Crimes of Passion, Lair of the White Worm, Salome’s Last Dance and The Rainbow.

The term genius is over-used these days to describe third-rate karaoke singers, but in its proper use, as a person of extraordinary intellect and talent, Ken Russell was a genius, and his films are without question some of the greatest cinematic works ever produced. As film writer Tim Lucas noted this morning:

I am reading that Ken Russell has died, and there is nothing else to do but damn the mediocrity that’s outlived him and be immensely grateful for all he gave us—in my case, many films that changed my way of seeing things, and a few that literally changed my life. There was no other film director like him, and we will not see his like again.

Born Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell in Southampton, England, on July 3 1927, to Ethel and Henry Russell. His father owned a shop and was distant and bad tempered, which led to the young Ken spending much of his childhood with his mother watching films in the local picture house. It was here that he saw Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen, which inspired Russell towards film-making.
 

 
Ken Russell’s full obituary, after the jump…
 

Modified Casio keyboard by Tablebeast
 
Noise may not be to everyone’s taste (in fact by definition noise is classed as “unwanted” sounds) but to the hardcore few it’s a way of life. This documentary follows some of those artists and shows them performing live, often on homemade or radically modified kit, and talking about the philosophy and influences behind their work. You won’t have heard of many of these performers but that’s the point - they are not in it for fame or money, they are simply following their muse in as unhindered a way as possible.

Most of the artists featured in People Who Do Noise are based in Portland, Oregon, and here’s a bit more info via the site filmbaby:

The film takes a very personal approach, capturing the musicians working alone with no interference from a live audience. What often took place in crowded basements or dark smoky venues was stripped bare for the cameras, providing an unprecedented glimpse of the many different instruments and methods used.

Covering a wide range of artists and styles, the film features everything from the absurdist free-improvisations of genre-pioneers Smegma, to the harsh-noise assaults of Oscillating Innards and everything in between. Many of the artists in the film, such as Yellow Swans and Daniel Menche, have performed and sold records all over the world. In spite of such successes, noise music remains one of the least understood and most inaccessible of genres.

OK, so most of this is pushing at the very boundaries of what we call “music”, but that’s pretty much the point. Casual observers (and listeners) may not make it very far into this doc because of, well, the noise, but it’s worth resisting the urge to skip forward as you may miss some very interesting interview footage. While some of these performers come across as pretentious, regardless of what you think of the sounds they create you can’t help but admire their freedom and lack of constraints:
 

 
Have a Hippie Thanksgiving.

01. “Love Years Coming” - Strawberry Children
02. “Walking Through The Streets Of My Mind” - Beethoven Soul
03. “I Don’t Mind” - Fat Mattress
04. “Better Way” - The Rainbow Press
05. “AM I The Red One” - Mick Sofetly and The Summer Suns
06. “Now” - The Paisleys
07. “The Man In The Moon” - Village
08. “Flashing Lights” - Screaming Lord Sutch
09. “Bottom Of The Soul” - Bonniwel Music Machine
10. “Machines” - Manfred Mann
11. ” My Degeneration” - The Eyes
12. “Lemonade Kid” KAK
13. “Pink And Green” - Shirley Hughey
14. “She Moves Me” -  The E-Types
15. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” - Neil Young
 

 
I’ve been going through a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young kind of “phase” for many months now since reading Barney Hoskyn’s great book about the Laurel Canyon rock scene, Hotel California, so when I heard about this new DVD documentary about 60s British Invasion legends the Hollies, I perked up a bit. When I found that it was released by the “Reelin’ In the Years” team (via Eagle Rock) I got even perkier (more on this below).

First off, The Hollies: Look Through Any Window (1963-1975) is fun to watch, with charming interviews of Graham Nash, Alan Clarke, Tony Hicks and drummer Bobby Elliott talking about the history of their criminally underrated band. Nash and Clarke met when they were six-year-olds at school in Manchester. They bonded over a mutual obsession with the Everly Brothers (and Buddy Holly) and formed a group. Those gorgeous vocal harmonies The Hollies were so famous for, they developed them the old-fashioned way, by practicing their hearts out.

Most American music fans are probably more familiar with the 1970s, post-Nash, almost easy listening sounds of The Hollies, say a ballad like “The Air That I Breathe,” or the ultimate middle-of-the-rad anthem “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” but as the DVD proves, they had much more to offer. They’re hovering somewhere at or just below the level of The Zombies or The Animals in the 60s beat pantheon, if you ask me. Personally, I’d go for “Sorry Suzanne” or “King Midas in Reverse” if I wanted to turn someone on to The Hollies’ sound.

And that’s what great about the DVDs put out by “Reelin’ In the Years”—they give you the ENTIRE clips seen in the documentary. There’s nothing worse than a tantalizing blip of something for 30 seconds in a rockumentary. The idea to give the punters unedited clips without people talking over them is what elevates the “Reelin’” productions above all others: They give you the whole song! You can watch the doc straight through or you can choose to watch just the music clips. Look Through Any Window contains 22 complete musical performances in all, plus footage of the Hollies recording at Abbey Road Studios in 1967 and backstage “home movies” shot on tour. (“Reelin in the Years” have similar DVDs out on Dusty Springfield and The Small Faces that are also worth checking out, to say nothing of their outstanding jazz releases.)

Although the string of chart topping singles petered out around 1975, The Hollies have never broken up and continue to perform. In 2009 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Below, “Bus Stop” on German television, 1968.
 

 
After the jump, a nice performance (post Graham Nash) of “Carrie Anne” from 1969.

 
John Waters in rattling good form on Clive James’ chat show Saturday Night Clive from 1990.

Antipodean James started off as a sixties folk singer, before establishing himself as a respected TV critic and presenter. James is left mainly as a spectator as Waters brilliantly improvises on deviants who make adverts; how he’d like to cast Mother Theresa as a hooker; why Jayne Mansfield was the first “female female impersonator”; American fashion; his fan mail from prisons; and how his failure as a juvenile delinquent led to his first film.
 

 
Via Psychotic Cinema
 

 
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Charles Bukowski’s semi-autobiographical movie Barfly, with Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, director Barbet Schroeder and the great, Bukowski, who explained the film’s title:

‘I was the barfly. I would open the bar and I would close the bar and I had no money. It was a place to be. It was my home.’

Bukowski wrote the script for Schroeder, who was so passionate about making a film with the poet, that when backers Canon planned to exclude the project form its production schedule, the director threatened to cut-off his own finger with a battery-powered saw if he didn’t get the finance to make it.
 

 
Late 1970s/early 80s dance grooves intermingle with beautiful hand-tinted and b&w vintage movie clips to create a rhythm you can dream to.

01. “Hard Times” - The Human League
02. “Why Can’t I Touch It” - The Buzzcocks
03. “Journey” - Delta 5
04. “Keeping Up” - Arthur Russell
05. “Theme For Great Cities” - Simple Minds
06. “Pata Piya” - Manu Dibango
07. “We Don’t Need No Fascist Groove Thing” - Heaven 17
08. “Death Disco” - Public Image Ltd.
09. “Warm Leatherette” - The Normal
10. “The Jezebel Spirit” - Brian Eno/David Byrne
 

 
Alternative mix after the jump…