every now and then some truly wonderful things can happen when you decide to, out of the blue, do a spot of arbitrary, random browsing on one of them "internet" things. it would be this sort of thing, and please note not that sort of thing, which i have found time makes me so prone to do, what with so many unexpected moments available as the invisible war rages on, look you see.
so there i was, on a retailer or two, doing a random search for the term "soundtrack". other than, perhaps more in the past than now, a collector of film soundtracks, i fancied a look, see if any struck me as worth getting, or indeed prompted a wish to watch the movie for which it provided thematic sounds. once it was also true that soundtracks (used) to provide the only means of getting a specific track, quite usually when the song was for the film alone. a superb example of this is Annie Lennox's Love Song For A Vampire, which one could only get (this was all pre-download) via the purchase of the soundtrack for Bram Stoker's Dracula. also, weirdly, for a while it was only possible to get Motown Junk off of Manic Street Preachers in a CD form via buying the Twin Town soundtrack.
anyway, perhaps reflecting how some stores "accidentally" remember my search history and prompt some likely to purchase results as a priority, this cropped up almost instantly. one that, if you like to my shame, i was unaware of such an existence or subsequent release of.
oh, yes, what was this? a documentary concerning the legendary Mick Ronson, a guitar supremo who is rather closely, as the title Beside Bowie gives every indication, associated with Bowie? that was an instant purchase then. and why would it not be, since it was astonishingly, in a "new and sealed" state, somewhere south of £5, postage all in. to be specific, remarkably south of £4.
there is a school of thought (or narrative) which gives every indication of it being quite far to say that i am, at the least, partially educated. from this hypothesis, it would be with some safety that i, after a period of reflection and consideration, concluded that if a soundtrack album existed, then there was every chance that it existed for "something" along the lines of a film or documentary.
with this theory being clung to, in a sort of "see i am coherent i can work things out" way, off i went in search of such a thing. verily and merrily, i shall have you know, it was so that yes, such a thing as a documentary film called Beside Bowie existed, and was not just some imaginary concept conjured up by whoever released the soundtrack album.
it is not quite, exactly or generally, and easily obtained documentary, though. no. apparently it did get a dvd release, but one of those "limited" ones, and so the film in this format costs a lot. how much, you ask. should luck be with you, it can be found for north of £15, which translates to being more than the cost of ordering three (3) copies of the soundtrack cd. a rather good marketing opportunity would have been to do a "special" cd and dvd bundle of it, for which they could have charged a decent (for their profit) price and had some splendid sales, but what do i know.
right, so, skipping over a few steps, let's move the tale here to the point at which i obtained this documentary and subsequently watched it. yes, it can be obtained, with a little bit of looking.
no, absolutely no idea how this film (documentary) both passed me by on release, and had remained an unknown factor in my life up until quite recently. to my shame, maybe, or perhaps i was just quite busy or occupied with other things, and it is even reasonably possible that for some bizarre, inexplicable reason them what made it went all low key and didn't make a fuss or draw attention to it. whichever, or whatever, no matter where you go, there you are.
just what is Beside Bowie The Mick Ronson Story all about? well, despite the ambiguities of the title, it's a film looking at the life of Mick Ronson, who first rose to fame by playing guitar for, or next to, indeed beside, David Bowie. if you were wondering, i can only hope that clarifies it for you.
should you feel somewhat uneasy about the title of this documentary, well, so did i. undoubtedly the name Bowie is a seller of many things, but really? to make a documentary about one person, and then title it after someone else? if, for instance, you made a documentary called Next To Mick : The Keith Richards Story, you'd probably get a punch in the face. indeed, on a similar note, In A Band With Ringo : The Story Of John Lennon (or anyone) would cause an eyebrow raise, or two.
but this is no ordinary rock icon or guitar legend. the title of the documentary is "clever" in two ways. first off is the obvious, i guess - any random decision to have a random thought of Mick Ronson and it is, with deference to all else he did, most probable that you picture him next to, or if you will beside, Bowie. also, the producers of this film would appear acutely aware of that point. one could say that the "beside" is meant also or more to be understood as "what else" he did. which was actually a fair bit.
who was Mick Ronson, then? a highly affable, aimable lad from Hull who seemed quite content to mow lawns for a living, since his band The Rats weren't shaking up the scene. but, a bloke he had played on a record (or two) for asked him to come and play with him some more, and so he became lead guitarists for the Spiders From Mars, providing musical accompaniment to Ziggy Stardust. that is paraphrased, the rest is indeed "history".
the main thing which comes across loud and clear in Beside Bowie is just what a top, wonderful bloke Mick Ronson really was. in archival footage and via the contribution of many people (more on that in a bit), there really is nothing but beautiful stuff. here's the story of a lad who just loved life, was happy doing whatever, had no baggage, no dark side, just wanted to get on with it.
perhaps the most striking, impressive and telling thing about this film is that it features a significant contribution from David Bowie. as in, presumably (obviously) recorded in late 2015, David Bowie provides a significant chunk of the narration for the document. it is a soft spoken, woozy, tired sounding David Bowie, making it somewhat of a pull on the heart of a simple fan like me to listen to, for he must surely have done his contribution aware that his end of days drew close. but, still he contributed, and so still he spoke with love and affection for the man there with him when the ride to fame shifted gear of note.
let me (us, if you are reading) dwell in the murky business of honesty here. truthfully, the first 40 or so minutes of Beside Bowie as a viewing experience is probably (easily) one of the best documentaries about Bowie himself to exist. several reviews i read afterwards complained about this, which is perfectly fair considering the subject is supposed to be Mick Ronson. but, here we are.
i wouldn't call myself expert in anything, let alone Bowie. but it would be fair to say that i am "aware" of a fair bit of the Bowie story, having followed the music, read the books and so on. so, to be fair, i think i can say it's my qualified opinion that the insights into the rise of Bowie provided here were all new and unheard to me, featuring some lovely pictures and footage.
beyond Bowie, who contributes to Beside Bowie? well, here are some of the famous faces to do precisely that.
yes, i have done one of them "collage" things for you. no, it is not a mistake, that is indeed Angie Bowie pictured. it can be said that one "hears things" about Angie Bowie, often directly from her, and that she can be less than complimentary about her ex-husband. let it be known that here she is absolutely wonderful. there is nothing but love and affection in her words and voice for Mick, for the time, and for Bowie.
i am quite reluctant to give you anything which might be interpreted as "spoilers" here. but, i will anyway, especially as it seems particularly difficult to see this documentary. of the many joys the film offers, a particular highlight is the interview with Lou Reed. his telling of the troubles his Brooklyn ears had hearing and understanding Mick Ronson's Hull accent is a true delight. but know also virtually every moment in the documentary is of value. there is next to no fat. in fact, it probably should have gone on a bit longer than it did, but we will get to that.
moving away from Bowie, then. it is so that the 20 or so years of Ronson's life after he finished (regularly) working with Bowie gets considerably less screen time than the 4 - 5 years with him. a lot of it feels rushed and brushed over, but still there are interesting bits, and a few "i did not know that" moments.
like, for instance, the above. i had absolutely no idea at all that Ronson had gone on to work with, for but one example, Bob Dylan. or that it was Ronson who created the sound and the arrangement for Jack & Diane, as in that song of that name by John Mellencamp. and i also didn't know that he was supposed to produce the Private Dancer album for Tina Turner, missing out because, simply enough, he forgot to turn up to do it.
as it is somewhat easier to get your hands on (and sorry for the non-linear narrative), how about a closer look at the soundtrack. yes? good. up front, i can tell you it is well worth buying, whether you see the documentary or not.
for a start, and this is where i don't get those who are happy to settle for the (admittedly convenient) poor sound "download" or "stream" way of music, the booklet and the linear notes are superb. extensive extracts from the narration of the documentary are presented here for reading pleasure. but, of course, mostly the music.
the Bowie completists should take delight in three tracks there. previously you could only get the Freddie Aid recording of All The Young Dudes and the cover of Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone on Mick Ronson's posthumous Heaven And Hull album, which isn't easy to find these days. and making a release debut is Heroes off of Freddie Aid. sadly (or alas), the (in)famous Lord's Prayer is cut from the performance, but hey ho.
no, i didn't know that Mick Ronson had played on a rather famous tune off of (Sir) Elton, either. as for the three Bowie songs selected, well, fair enough representation. they are three excellent tunes, of course. including Time in particular was a good move, as it showcases Ronson's other talent, to arrange and shape the sound of a song. with regards to the others, Cracked Actor is solid ace guitar, whereas for some reason Moonage Daydream is the one tune off of Ziggy Stardust which Bowie (and latterly his estate) have been quite happy to licence wherever, whenever. it might have been nice for them to showcase his most iconic guitar piece, be that Starman or Ziggy Stardust, or his most audacious and ambitious guitar work, which would (for me at least ) be Width Of A Circle. but, you get what you are given, and no complaints.
any omissions from the soundtrack, other than that? yes, and quite significantly from the documentary too. it is fair to say that Morrissey is missing. he may well be a divisive figure in the present day, but Mick Ronson acting as producer on Your Arsenal only gets a slight mention. considering the album was a huge success, and was significant in kicking off a 70s revival in the 90s, a bit more on the subject might have been appropriate.
who knows, maybe Morrissey was approached and declined, maybe he contributed but they didn't feel it suitable or appropriate, or perhaps they know something i don't. but, a minor flaw or oversight, and one can just put on the Your Arsenal album and enjoy anyhow.
remarkable and brilliant are the two words i would select if, for some reason, you requested of me just two words to describe the documentary Beside Bowie. to go further, it's a warm, genuine, affectionate and deeply enjoyable viewing experience. full worthy of just south of two hours of anyone's time to watch it.
right, i would imagine this post ticks off my fairly successful commitment to not write of Bowie at least once a month since i completed all that random bowie business a little while ago. i have every confidence that i shall find something of the same to write about next month. but for now, go buy this soundtrack, and see if you can find the film.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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