Singer-songwriter Judee Sill packed a lot of living into her 35 years, much of it hard. Drugs, reform school, losing her father when she was just 8. Of her mother she said, “She was mean on top of being dumb.”
In her late teens, in the early 1960s, she got involved with a bad hombre in Southern California and they pulled off a few armed robberies. In one incident, she reportedly told a guy behind a liquor store counter, “Okay, mother sticker, this is a fuck up!” Humor she did not lack.
As a child Sill learned piano at an upright in a saloon owned by her dad. She mastered other instruments, including bass and guitar. In juvenile hall – where she was sent after an arrest for forging checks – she played the organ. Somehow, through cracks in the unpolished concrete of a difficult youth, a flowering talent emerged. She could draw, she could sing,...
In her late teens, in the early 1960s, she got involved with a bad hombre in Southern California and they pulled off a few armed robberies. In one incident, she reportedly told a guy behind a liquor store counter, “Okay, mother sticker, this is a fuck up!” Humor she did not lack.
As a child Sill learned piano at an upright in a saloon owned by her dad. She mastered other instruments, including bass and guitar. In juvenile hall – where she was sent after an arrest for forging checks – she played the organ. Somehow, through cracks in the unpolished concrete of a difficult youth, a flowering talent emerged. She could draw, she could sing,...
- 5/5/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, a documentary about the gifted singer-songwriter who was equal parts talented and tortured.
The film directed by Andy Brown and Brian Lindstrom (Alien Boy: The Life & Death of James Chasse) premiered at Doc NYC in 2022. Greenwich plans to release Lost Angel in theaters on April 12. Watch the trailer below.
“An intimate portrait of a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter from 1970s Los Angeles, the documentary charts the life of Judee Sill from a troubled adolescence that included armed robbery and prison through her meteoric rise in the music world and tragic early death,” notes a description of the documentary. “In just over two years, Judee went from living in a car to a deal with Asylum Records and the cover of Rolling Stone. As told by Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, David Geffen and Jd Souther...
The film directed by Andy Brown and Brian Lindstrom (Alien Boy: The Life & Death of James Chasse) premiered at Doc NYC in 2022. Greenwich plans to release Lost Angel in theaters on April 12. Watch the trailer below.
“An intimate portrait of a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter from 1970s Los Angeles, the documentary charts the life of Judee Sill from a troubled adolescence that included armed robbery and prison through her meteoric rise in the music world and tragic early death,” notes a description of the documentary. “In just over two years, Judee went from living in a car to a deal with Asylum Records and the cover of Rolling Stone. As told by Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, David Geffen and Jd Souther...
- 2/6/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
From the Swiss Alps to a submerged volcano in the Cyclades, Big Thief’s Buck Meek took to the mountains for his new solo album Haunted Mountain, out August 25.
Meek also accompanied the announcement with the title track, a serene pedal steel stunner he performs with his band in the below video. He co-wrote it with Jolie Holland, who collaborated with him on several of the tracks. “It’s about being humbled by the thing you’re drawing power from, only at which point an actual, fair relationship begins,” Meek said.
Meek also accompanied the announcement with the title track, a serene pedal steel stunner he performs with his band in the below video. He co-wrote it with Jolie Holland, who collaborated with him on several of the tracks. “It’s about being humbled by the thing you’re drawing power from, only at which point an actual, fair relationship begins,” Meek said.
- 5/24/2023
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
The avalanche of music docs over the past decade has left very few stones unturned — and more than a few films that can barely justify their running times if not their existence. But one overdue and heretofore untold story is that of Judee Sill, a brilliant, innovative early ‘70s singer-songwriter who was the first artist signed to David Geffen’s Asylum Records, and was labelmates and/or a contemporary of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Joni Mitchell. Sill was frequently compared with the latter (to her great annoyance) and although there are few direct musical similarities, they were both among the most original and innovative singer-songwriters of the era: Her music fit early ‘70s Southern California vibe of her label and milieu, but it was stranger, with deep classical influences, wildly unusual structures and voicings and often dark subject matter.
The latter factor was...
The latter factor was...
- 11/15/2022
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
Everyone from Jackson Browne to Weyes Blood reflects on the brilliance of Judee Sill in a new trailer for an upcoming documentary about the widely revered, if little-known, singer-songwriter.
Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill will trace Sill’s remarkable rise from a troubled teen responsible for a handful of armed stick-ups to one of the most promising and revered artists of the Seventies. But tragically, Sill died of a drug overdose in 1979, never reaching the same heights as some of her peers, like Browne, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt,...
Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill will trace Sill’s remarkable rise from a troubled teen responsible for a handful of armed stick-ups to one of the most promising and revered artists of the Seventies. But tragically, Sill died of a drug overdose in 1979, never reaching the same heights as some of her peers, like Browne, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt,...
- 11/2/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Here’s to 50 years of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, the masterpiece that’s always waiting to be discovered. Even back then, no one quite knew what to do with those introspective, nakedly elegiac songs — or the man who created them. “Nick Drake: Out of Obscurity,” read the headline in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News in 1972. “It is true that no one knows where Nick Drake lives …Drake is unreachable, does no tours … It is as though he interacts only with nature, yet is ever studying man’s existence.
- 2/25/2022
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Happy 50th anniversary to Judee Sill, one of the greatest, most underrated albums of the Seventies that could easily be the long-lost cousin of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. From the acoustic opener “Crayon Angels” to the euphoric penultimate track “Enchanted Sky Machines,” her self-titled debut acts as both a fan favorite and a starting point for new listeners.
Take “Jesus Was a Cross Maker,” the album’s lead single, which Sill wrote about her devastating breakup with J.D. Souther. Joni Mitchell’s producer Henry Lewy worked on the album,...
Take “Jesus Was a Cross Maker,” the album’s lead single, which Sill wrote about her devastating breakup with J.D. Souther. Joni Mitchell’s producer Henry Lewy worked on the album,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Bartees Strange has released a visual for his song “Flagey God,” off his debut album Live Forever. The black-and-white clip shows Strange singing the club-influenced track, intercut with footage of a woman dancing.
“‘Flagey God’ came from a really natural and comfortable place for me musically, despite its moodiness thematically,” Strange says of the track, which is inspired by his visit to Flagey Square in Brussels.
“No one knew me there,” he adds. “I was super lost in my life at the time and confused about what to do next,...
“‘Flagey God’ came from a really natural and comfortable place for me musically, despite its moodiness thematically,” Strange says of the track, which is inspired by his visit to Flagey Square in Brussels.
“No one knew me there,” he adds. “I was super lost in my life at the time and confused about what to do next,...
- 6/1/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
One night in 1971, J.D. Souther stopped by a small club on Melrose Avenue at the urging of David Geffen. “I was just complaining about how stupid most pop artists are and how most songwriting doesn’t really get much beneath the surface,” Souther, who co-wrote several of the Eagles’ biggest hits, recalls with a laugh. “And he said, ‘Go see this girl I just signed, Judee Sill.’”
Souther found a seat in the crowd, and placed his eyes on a 27-year-old musician with long honey-blond hair and round wire-rim eyeglasses holding an acoustic guitar.
Souther found a seat in the crowd, and placed his eyes on a 27-year-old musician with long honey-blond hair and round wire-rim eyeglasses holding an acoustic guitar.
- 3/16/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Bartees Strange and his band performed an NPR Tiny Desk concert in the basement of his studio in Falls Church, Virginia — not too far from both his and NPR’s home base in Washington, D.C.
The indie artist played several songs from his debut album Live Forever, released last year; in light of the intimate setting, Strange smoothed out the hardcore and emo-inspired rough edges of tracks like “Boomer” and “Mustang” into a sound more reminiscent of neo-soul.
Between songs, Strange took the time to shout out artists and...
The indie artist played several songs from his debut album Live Forever, released last year; in light of the intimate setting, Strange smoothed out the hardcore and emo-inspired rough edges of tracks like “Boomer” and “Mustang” into a sound more reminiscent of neo-soul.
Between songs, Strange took the time to shout out artists and...
- 2/22/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Luis Buñuel (left) and Jean-Claude Carrière (right).The great Jean-Claude Carrière has died. The prolific screenwriter worked across genres and penned scripts from Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and more recently, Philippe Garrel's The Salt of Tears. Revisit Notebook contributor Lawrence Garcia's overview of Carrière's wide-ranging career here. Actor Christopher Plummer, one of the last links between Classic Hollywood and today, has also died. Throughout his long and illustrious career, Plummer worked with filmmakers like Nicholas Ray, Sidney Lumet, Anthony Mann, Robert Mulligan, Anatole Litvak, Michael Mann, Spike Lee, Terrence Malick, and Pete Docter.The International Film Festival Rotterdam has come to an end, and the winners of this year's awards can be found here. The Berlinale is continuing...
- 2/10/2021
- MUBI
Bartees Strange made his late-night television debut with a performance of “Boomer” on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday, January 25th.
“Boomer” is the perfect introduction to Strange’s singular mix of styles, and the performance found him effortlessly moving between the verses, which mix hip-hop cadences with indie guitar licks, to a chorus that’s pure arena rock. “You can’t save me, I been buried alive by the devil that’s in them hills,” Strange sings on the bridge, which rumbles with a little heartland blues. “You can’t touch me,...
“Boomer” is the perfect introduction to Strange’s singular mix of styles, and the performance found him effortlessly moving between the verses, which mix hip-hop cadences with indie guitar licks, to a chorus that’s pure arena rock. “You can’t save me, I been buried alive by the devil that’s in them hills,” Strange sings on the bridge, which rumbles with a little heartland blues. “You can’t touch me,...
- 1/26/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Lorenzo Wolff has teamed up with Bartees Strange for a cover of Judee Sill’s “The Pearl.” The track is off Wolff’s tribute album Down Where the Valleys are Low: Another Otherworld for Judee Sill, out March 12th via StorySound Records.
The Heart Food cover is accompanied by an animated video, featuring the late singer-songwriter exhaling a puff of a starry night sky. “Beautiful pearl, oh when will you reappear?” Strange sings. “Mysterious unfurl and become so clear/When I feel you near.”
“Anyone who’s had someone in...
The Heart Food cover is accompanied by an animated video, featuring the late singer-songwriter exhaling a puff of a starry night sky. “Beautiful pearl, oh when will you reappear?” Strange sings. “Mysterious unfurl and become so clear/When I feel you near.”
“Anyone who’s had someone in...
- 1/25/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
So, How Was Your 2020 is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
Hayley Williams redefined her musical style with her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, released this past spring during the chaos of Covid-19 lockdown. Williams largely wrote the album in a self-imposed isolation, following a post-breakup stay at an intensive therapy retreat. The result is a soothing and inspired record that couldn’t have come at a better time,...
Hayley Williams redefined her musical style with her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, released this past spring during the chaos of Covid-19 lockdown. Williams largely wrote the album in a self-imposed isolation, following a post-breakup stay at an intensive therapy retreat. The result is a soothing and inspired record that couldn’t have come at a better time,...
- 12/1/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
In the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic tore through New York City at terrifying speed, Robin Pecknold stayed home in his rented one-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. “I wasn’t being creative at all,” says the Fleet Foxes singer-songwriter, 34. “There were some dark weeks where I would end up waking up at 7 or 8 p.m. and stay up until noon. The world just seemed like it was more sane at night.”
On top of everything else — “the stress that we’ve all been going through, just by being alive...
On top of everything else — “the stress that we’ve all been going through, just by being alive...
- 9/22/2020
- by Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
In continuation of her self-serenades/amateur hour cover song sessions on Instagram, Hayley Williams performed an intimate, acoustic rendition of Björk’s “Unison.”
In the black-and-white video, Williams sits on a couch and jumps right into a later verse from the Vespertine track. “I thrive best/hermit style,” she sings. “With a beard and a pipe/and a parrot on each side/but now I can’t do this without you.”
View this post on Instagram
someone asked me to do a @bjork song a while back. to be honest,...
In the black-and-white video, Williams sits on a couch and jumps right into a later verse from the Vespertine track. “I thrive best/hermit style,” she sings. “With a beard and a pipe/and a parrot on each side/but now I can’t do this without you.”
View this post on Instagram
someone asked me to do a @bjork song a while back. to be honest,...
- 7/16/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Asia Argento is doing alright as she continues to cope with her boyfriend Anthony Bourdain’s suicide.
One day after the Parts Unknown host was cremated in France, the Italian actress posted a photo on social media describing her mental state.
In the image, Argento — who is currently in Berlin, spending time with friends — could be seen holding a piece of paper with the words “I’m a f— mess inside” crossed out and replaced with the following message: “I’m fine.”
She also shared a photograph taken with one of her friends, which she captioned: “Berlin Sisterhood.”
Hours later,...
One day after the Parts Unknown host was cremated in France, the Italian actress posted a photo on social media describing her mental state.
In the image, Argento — who is currently in Berlin, spending time with friends — could be seen holding a piece of paper with the words “I’m a f— mess inside” crossed out and replaced with the following message: “I’m fine.”
She also shared a photograph taken with one of her friends, which she captioned: “Berlin Sisterhood.”
Hours later,...
- 6/14/2018
- by Maria Pasquini
- PEOPLE.com
Anthony Bourdain‘s ex-girlfriend is using music to cope with his suicide.
On Wednesday, five days after Bourdain’s death, Asia Argento shared photos and videos of Judee Sill’s 1971 breakup song “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” on her Instagram Story during a get-together with actress and close friend, Rose McGowan.
Though she did not mention Bourdain in her Story, Argento’s song choice does draw parallels to the Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown host, who was cremated in France on Wednesday.
The chef, TV show host and author, 61, was found dead of suicide in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France...
On Wednesday, five days after Bourdain’s death, Asia Argento shared photos and videos of Judee Sill’s 1971 breakup song “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” on her Instagram Story during a get-together with actress and close friend, Rose McGowan.
Though she did not mention Bourdain in her Story, Argento’s song choice does draw parallels to the Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown host, who was cremated in France on Wednesday.
The chef, TV show host and author, 61, was found dead of suicide in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France...
- 6/13/2018
- by Karen Mizoguchi, Jordan Runtagh
- PEOPLE.com
In this Golden Glut of TV drama, it's hard for any new drama to break through and find an audience, because there are so many options out there (not to mention easy access to most of the great dramas of the previous 50 years). It's harder still for a show that has an audience and loses it to get those people back, no matter how good it becomes. Case in point: FX's "The Bridge," the current belt-holder for Best Show You're Not Watching. In season 1, the ratings weren't huge, but they were decent enough for FX to order a second season. The problem is that the original batch of episodes — translating the Scandinavian series "Broen" from the Denmark/Sweden border to the one dividing the U.S. and Mexico, complete with a relatively faithful rendering of that show's serial killer story — wound up turning a lot of viewers off as the season went along.
- 9/10/2014
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer, whose first two features debuted at the Sundance Film Festival — including The Usual Suspects in 1995 — was one of the industry figures named to the Sundance juries that will judge this year’s films when the festival begins next week. Singer, who has X-Men: Days of Future Past due in May, will be one of five members of the U.S. Dramatic Jury. Other members of the juries include Tracy Chapman, Lone Scherfig, Leonard Maltin, and screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus). A complete list of the juries, courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival, can be viewed after the jump.
- 1/9/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
The Multiverse Theory has nothing to do with lengthy poetry. Also known as "eternal inflation" -- a concept to which all payers of college tuition can relate -- it suggests that our universe is but a nano-particle in an infinitely vast megacosm. If this is correct, then somewhere out there may be an Amerika identical to ours except for one thing: Great records that never made the pop charts on our shores -- whether due to a twist of fate or a lack of payola -- comprise the smash hits and timeless classics in that far-off realm. In Part 1, we traveled to a galaxy in which Judee Sill, Graham Parker, Jackie Deshannon and Bessie Banks were the brightest stars. In another corner of space-time, these are the golden oldies: 1. Jesse Winchester, Sham-a-Ling-Dong-Ding If you're looking for an echo, you can't beat...
- 7/14/2010
- by Michael Sigman
- Huffington Post
There's a scene in Noah Baumbach's latest film, "Greenberg," in which Greta Gerwig's character, Florence Marr, is going through her voice mail. As she listens to an awkward yet sincere message from Roger (played by Ben Stiller), there's a mesmerizing close-up of her face, and you see the true beauty of the equally awkward yet sincere Florence. In other words, Gerwig has arrived. The actor formerly known as the "Mumblecore Queen" definitely has what it takes to play with the big boys.Aside from her role as the sassy best friend in last year's "The House of the Devil," Gerwig's credits—including "Nights and Weekends," "Baghead," and "Hannah Takes the Stairs"—are all within the recent Diy filmmaking movement dubbed mumblecore. Think $1,000 budgets, hand-held digital cameras, and often inarticulate dialogue improvised by filmmakers serving as actors—hence the term coined by sound mixer Eric Masunaga."We didn't know...
- 3/19/2010
- backstage.com
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