Fillmore: The Last Days

Fillmore: The Last Days

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34040

Published: September 13, 2009
Doug Collette

Various Artists
Fillmore:The Last Days
Rhino
2009

The growing wave of reminiscence around the 40th anniversary of the
1969 Woodstock festival may be just the beginning of a nostalgia tide
for this golden era of rock. Fillmore: The Last Days chronicles not
just the music but also the burgeoning rock business of the time, a
period of growth that nonetheless saw the closing of the famed venue in 1971.

And venue singular it is, because this colorfully packaged DVD,
including astute Ben Fong Torres liner notes inside a fold-out
poster(which would benefit from photos both sides), covers only the
West Coast venue, not its East Coast counterpart. Not that this
content would have been a whole lot different as much of the video
focuses on the acerbic but big-hearted impresario Bill Graham­he
carried his alternately hard-nosed and humorous attitude with him
from coast to coast­but the music itself might have been markedly different.

That said, the selection process would not have altered appreciably.
San Francisco-based groups at every tier of fame, from Lamb and
Quicksilver through Hot Tuna, Grateful Dead and Santana, perform some
of their best-known material. The latter band stands out for
beginning to reveal their foray into the jazz realm by covering
trumpeter Miles Davis' " In A Silent Way." As the final track here,
it accentuates the eclectic range of music that includes bonafide r&b
in the form of Cold Blood, as well as the folk-rooted exotica of It's
A Beautiful Day and their haunting "White Bird." And that's not to
mention the authentic blues of The Elvin Bishop Group playing Elmore
James' "The Sky Is Crying:" while there were elements of this
movement that took itself too seriously, the music nevertheless
benefited greatly by that approach.

Interviews with Bill Graham (and impromptu scenes with artists such
as the late Michael Bloomfield), depict the history of the San
Francisco rock scene because the man was there at the very beginning
in the mid-1960s, and helped in no small way to nurture the growth of
its music. Shots of the show posters arrayed on the walls of Graham's
office may well pique the curiosity of those with more than passing
interest in the history of this movement (much of which is now
available for investigation at Wolfgang's Vault.

Given the fact these dozen plus performances, including a couple of
rehearsal segments, were culled from five nights of concerts, it
seems odd that in rescuing the film from its long out of print
status, there was not a plethora of additional performances and
special features (such as present-day interviews with musicians) for
DVD release: a single 90-minute plus disc might seem to be just about
half of what might have been prepared for reissue.

There are no truly galvanizing performances, but Jefferson Airplane's
is a highlight for the streamlined take­the nifty segue from
reminiscences as well as the multi-screen shots and overlays made
fashionable by the film of the Woodstock festival. As in the footage
of The New Riders of the Purple Sage, with Jerry Garcia on pedal
steel, the correlation with the current jamband scene is
unmistakable. Shots from nearly four decades ago unfold of the small
theatre and the rotating participation of musicians.

Fillmore: The Last Days is the product of a collaboration between
Rhino and The Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, a fusion of history
and charity that gives the lie to the bitterness that pervades some
of the later scenes on the DVD.

Tracks and Personnel: Hello Friends - Lamb; Incident At Neshabur -
Santana; The Sky Is Crying - The Elvin Bishop Group; White Bird -
It's A Beautiful Day; Johnny B. Goode - Grateful Dead; Casey Jones -
Grateful Dead; Rehearsal Jam - Jerry Garcia with New Riders Of The
Purple Sage; Noodle - Jerry Garcia; Volunteers/We Can Be So Good
Together - Jefferson Airplane; Mojo - Quicksilver Messenger Service;
Fresh Air - Quicksilver Messenger Service; Isn't It Just A Beautiful
Day - Lamb; Rehearsal Jam - The Rowan Brothers; Uncle Sam Blues - Hot
Tuna; Candy Man - Hot Tuna; I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be
Free - Cold Blood; You Got Me Hummin' - Cold Blood; In A Silent
Way/Jam - Santana.

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