2013 Ponderosa Stomp
Clandestine Celluloid screening of Muscle Shoals
October 3rd 2013, 6:30 Doors Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans
Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, Picture Palace Pictures and CAC present a Clandestine Celluloid screening of Muscle Shoals
With Special Guest Spooner Oldham*
*Due to a last minute scheduling conflict with a late night New York talk show featuring a piano playing band leader (and ardent Spooner fan), Spooner Oldham will not be able to appear for the Thursday October 3rd screening. Watch him on television later that night with the Muscle Shoals All Star Band!
“Rising out of the Deep South of 1960s America, a sound emerged that began to attract artists as diverse as Otis Redding, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones. That sound, and the people who helped create it, would go on to leave its mark on music history. The place was Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and this is the story of how it gave birth to some of the most memorable music of our time.”- From the documentary Muscle Shoals, a 2013 Magnolia Pictures release
The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, Picture Palace Pictures and the Contemporary Arts Center present a Clandestine Celluloid screening of the acclaimed new documentary Muscle Shoals.
The film, chronicling the legendary recording studios where hundreds of hits were created, will screen Thursday, October 3rd at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street in the warehouse district of New Orleans, as part of the Ponderosa Stomp Festival. There will be a short introduction by Clandestine Celluloid producer Madeleine Molyneaux. Doors open at 6:30, the film begins at 7pm. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for CAC members and Stomp Music Conference attendees.
“Clandestine Celluloid is honored to present the Louisiana premiere of one of the year’s best films. The award-winning Muscle Shoals is a deeply felt love letter and road-trip tone poem to the sound and the spirit of collaboration across social, racial and sonic distinctions,” explained Molyneaux.
The story of Muscle Shoals, Alabama is essentially the story of two recording studios (Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound) and the music —and music legends— that left an indelible mark on both a small backwater town and on popular culture and music. The film deftly chronicles the sounds (“Mustang Sally”, “Wild Horses”, “I Never Loved A Man”) as well as the legends who recorded there –from Wilson Pickett to Bob Dylan, Lynryd Skynrd to the Staple Singers, and hidden sonic instigators, many interviewed or appearing in performance, including Rick Hall, The Swampers, Gregg Allman, Mick Jagger, Spooner Oldham, Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Alicia Keys, and Bono among others. Also featured: Dan Penn, Donna Jean Godchaux, Donnie Fritts, W.C. Handy, Sam Phillips, Earl Montgomery.
Muscle Shoals also provides a powerful endorsement of the way the town; the studio and the sound transcended the realities of Southern racial politics, as relationships were forged with black and white musicians and musical styles, before and after the Civil Rights Era.
Directed by Greg “Freddy” Camalier, Muscle Shoals is his first foray into filmmaking. A former commercial real estate agent from Boulder, CO, Camalier teamed up with his old friend (and the film’s producer) Stephen Badger for a “Southern Route” road trip a few years back, stumbling one late night onto Muscle Shoals without realizing just how significant the town had been to forging the sound of music they both loved. Stephen Badger had in the past attended the Ponderosa Stomp and was inspired to hear Rick Hall and others speak about the “sound” and its significance. Camalier in Rolling Stone: “The coming together of races at that time, as well as the landscape and this rural, beautiful town, as well as the singing river, as well as these incredible characters and all the other musicians down there – it all sort of came together.”
BUY TICKETS to view Muscle Shoals
For More Information:
Official Film Website
The Contemporary Arts Center
Magnolia Pictures: Event sponsor and film distributor
