Ken Burns turns focus to country music

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by BradOlson, May 30, 2016.

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  1. spanky1

    spanky1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    I fall into the same category, and I felt that these series were geared to the general masses(those who only have a passing knowledge), versus the die hard jazz or baseball fanatics. In those regards, I think his general overview approach is pretty good.
     
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  2. And largely dismisses what follows until the Stray Cats hit the scene. :)
     
  3. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Only one person in the thread seems to have a problem with Burns, and it's based more on his own agenda than on anything Burns has or hasn't done.
     
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  4. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    Oh, lord. "The National Parks," "Mark Twain," "Lewis & Clark," and "The Roosevelts" are all spectacular. A lot of people rave about "Baseball," as well, but I have yet to see it. Burns is not just a gifted filmmaker but a really great writer, as well. (Geoffrey Ward and Dayton Duncan and others have done much of the writing for the films, but some of the best is attributed to Burns himself.)
     
  5. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    Thank you.

    I don't expect perfection, but that's a very impressive body of work. Then when I stack it up against the reality TV drivel being dished out by the networks and cable channels, I just shake my head. How did it ever come to this that only PBS is consistently capable of delivering intelligent programming? It hasn't always been thus.

    And FWIW, my late father, in his 'retirement' years, worked part-time in the electronics department at a New Hampshire Walmart. The job was a way to get out of the house at age 75 and rub shoulders with people vs. stare at the same 4 walls every day. He said Ken Burns came in every so often to shop, and that he was always low-key friendly to everyone he met...including my dad, who loved history. He was thrilled he got to tell Ken Burns directly to his face how much he enjoyed "Civil War".
     
  6. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    The 'Jazz' one was nowhere near faithful, it ignored whole swatches of jazz history and left out the last 50 years. It was largely from Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Grouch's viewpoint, which is not anywhere near historically accurate.
     
  7. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Not crazy about The Roosevelts, but I'd hoped the Baseball doc would be better.
     
  8. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    You must not be that familiar with Burns' ouevre. It ain't me that views the whole of American history through one narrow and distorting lens.
     
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  9. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Why not just hire a diverse writing staff that brings differing perspectives to the subject?
    Burns managed to pretty much do that with The Civil War. Not much since then though.
     
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  10. boyjohn

    boyjohn Senior Member

    Could you give some examples?
     
  11. boyjohn

    boyjohn Senior Member

    The vast majority of reviews on both those sites are positive.

    Could you point out the negative ones that we should look at?
     
  12. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    I think what you have to consider is that history -- recent history, as in the news events of the past 24 hours, as well as history of, say, 100 years ago -- has to be told from the perspective of the individual if it's to be effective. Other voices can, and should, be woven into the material, but in the end, one particular book or film can't present all views on a subject without being a mess of contradictory elements. Burns does a very good job of proving balance and telling the "good" and the "bad" without muddying the waters.

    In his film on Mark Twain, for example, he examined his work ethic and the brilliance of his writing without ignoring the irresponsible manner in which he put his entire family at risk through poor investments and extravagant spending.

    With "The Roosevelts," he dealt with Teddy's wartime heroism and conservationism but also with his unforgivable "bloodlust" and his juvenile preoccupation with hunting for the mere sake of adding more trophies to his collection.

    As for FDR, Burns provided detailed accounts of not just his unparalleled ability to lead the nation (during both the Great Depression and World War II!) but also the effect of the internment camps and his reluctance to embrace the concept of racial equality in the South.

    The "Jazz" documentary may have eliminated a broad swath of what people call "jazz" today, but I think that's because it's an ever-evolving art form and Burns deliberately set out to tell the story of how it came to be, not what it is. (With "The National Parks," Burns did something similar, focusing almost entirely on pre-1980 events that speak to the creation of the parks and the concept behind them. That meant ignoring the past 35 years and virtually all of the nation's historic parks, such as battlefields, and national monuments. I think that was a very wise decision, as it better served the tale he was trying to tell.)

    Burns isn't perfect, but as a historian and documentary filmmaker, he's as good as they get.
     
  13. ralphk

    ralphk Ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more

    Location:
    Texas
    I'm guessing Stanley doesn't like bro-country.
     
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  14. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    Not sure whether this is what you're alluding to, but Burns is most often criticized by many for "political correctness."

    I really do understand why people think that because, hell, even I have thought that at times.

    But then I remember that a central tenet of Burns' work, and of America itself, is inclusiveness and this notion that all of us, regardless of our race or origin, deserve an equal say. I tend to forget that at times, preferring to think of America as defined by people who look just like me. Burns reminds me, with irritating regularity, that my experience isn't the experience of all Americans.

    So in Burns' "The West" and in "Lewis & Clark," I'm reminded of the genocide inflicted on Native Americans. It makes me damned uncomfortable, but it also makes me better informed. That's a very good trade-off, I think.

    Same thing with regard to virtually all of Burns' other documentaries, each of which touches on issues of race and equality. Yeah, at times it may feel heavy handed or "politically correct," depending on the individual viewer, but these are really just reminders of how imperfect we are as a nation and as individual people -- and in that sense they perform a valuable public service.
     
  15. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I'd love a Burns HANK WILLIAMS!!!
     
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  16. boyjohn

    boyjohn Senior Member

    yes! as long as it stops with him and doesn't mention his horrible son.
     
  17. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident

    I love his first, Brooklyn Bridge.
     
  18. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I agree...couldn't warm up to Hank Jr.
     
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  19. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    If Burns' documentaries spark an interest in the viewer for the subject being talked about, then they have done their job. They shouldn't necessarily be viewed as definitive on a given subject, but as an entry point from which the viewer can do more research on their own.

    Does the viewpoint of Burns and his collaborators sometimes color the tone and scope of his documentaries? Of course. But that is to be expected with any documentary. Also, Burns takes on some very wide-ranging topics that have many facets. It would be nearly impossible to cover all aspects of Jazz to everyone's satisfaction, so instead they covered the more traditional forms of jazz... focusing on the earlier years. Yes, Wynton's own bias played a role too, but the end result was still a highly fascinating overview of the early years of jazz.

    They way I see it, the general public has very little background on the history of traditional country music. The radio has long been polluted with sub-standard pop-country that owes very little to its roots. If Ken Burns can re-ignite some interest in the likes of Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Bob Wills, then I would consider that a major victory.
     
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  20. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    In telling that story he also eliminated a lot of how it came to be. He was, IIRC, by his own admission not very knowledgeable about jazz and depended on Grouch & Marsalis to guide him. Unfortunately he picked two people who are prominent but have a myopic view of jazz, its history, and how it has developed.
     
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  21. Steve...O

    Steve...O Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    The linked article says that 38 CMA Hall of Famers were interviewed as part of the 90+ total interviews. Reading the list, there is a wide variety of artists represented that should please most.

    Examples: Little Jimmy Dickens, Jim Ed Brown, Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, the Statlers/Oaks, Charlie Daniels, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Mac Wiseman, Vince Gill and Merle Haggard. These are/were all very articulate and well spoken representatives of different eras/styles of country music.

    For whatever reason, George Jones and Ray Price couldn't or wouldn't be interviewed before their passing. For the latter I suspect it was his health as he was never shy about offering his perspective.

    The article doesn't list the non HOF members but I would hope that Eddie Stubbs was contacted as he is a walking encyclopedia of all things classic country.
     
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  22. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    What didn't you care for and how could the Baseball series have been done better?
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2016
  23. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    What religious undertones?
     
  24. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I haven;t seen the doc, but if it ends with Satchmo as the jazz "ambassador to the world" I'd be happy -- that's where I would have ended it. I think Burns is only really interesting in distant history. The real roots of things.
     
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  25. joefont

    joefont Senior Member

    I'm with you! :righton:
     
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