The Soundtrack to My Life

Dreams and Inspirations

What were your favorite music DVD’s of 2007? For this week’s blog, I thought I would highlight two of my favorites.  

            The first film I watched was the Dixie Chicks Shut Up and Sing. The film documents the Chicks after singer Natalie Maines made her infamous comment about President Bush in 2003 through the making of their fourth studio album, Taking the Long Way, in 2006. Directors Barbara Kipple and Cecilia Peck take you behind the scenes, trimming down three years of footage to a stunning 93 minutes.

            Throughout the film, the Dixie Chicks stand up for themselves, and stick together through a tour that brings protesters with signs and even a death threat.  The camera follows them backstage, at home with their growing families, and into the studio. The result is their best work of art to date, where for the first time in their career, they co-wrote their entire album. Shut Up and Sing is a brutally honest film that took me on an emotional roller coaster with the Dixie Chicks. It made me realize how great music can not only be born of happiness, but out of times when you are forced to stand up for what you believe in, no matter the consequences.

            The next film I watched was Peter Bogdanovich’s documentary, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream. The DVD box set not only includes Bogdanovich’s four-hour cut of the documentary, but also a DVD of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 30^th anniversary concert in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida and a bonus CD of rare and unreleased songs.

            The film documents Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers humble beginnings in the early 1970’s in Gainesville, and even includes rare footage shot by band members of the trip they took to California to try to get a record deal. Bogdanovich interviews all of the band members as they recount the inspirations and anguishes behind their most famous records.

            Petty has long been admired for standing up for his rights as an artist and performer. He has fought with his record company and gained back the copyright to his songs and kept record prices down, and recently stood up to ticket scalpers on his last tour. Bogdanovich follows Petty and his band through the making of over 14 studio albums and side projects, including Petty’s work with the Traveling Wilburys. Nothing is left hidden, including the death of Heartbreaker Howie Epstein in 2003 and Petty’s depression after the divorce from his first wife.

            I strongly advise anyone that has ever gone into Petty’s world of captivating storytelling and timeless music to view this film, and follow Petty on his American dream.

            Music DVD’s, whether they are documentaries or concerts, give me a chance to go into the visual world of the songwriter. I look forward to reviewing more DVD’s in a future blog.