What Was Left Out Of The Movie

[Refugee]

Someone from the officials mentioned this...I thought it an interesting question.

What's your opinion?

[Refugee]

What happened to Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh when they got the call from Tom that Mudcrutch wasn't happening, at least not for them.

How did Jim Lenahan go from being lead singer to light/set/stage/director person for the band.

[Flower]

Maybe Jim was ok with it. He seemed to be happy. I bet he's taken care of. Some people weren't ment for the spotlight. That would be a good question to ask him.

[Starfish]

I was disappointed that we didn't hear more about Leadon and Marsh, too. Maybe that's part of what had to be cut out.

[AmyLou]

more discussion about the fans... not exactly sure how it would work - but a little something about their rabidly-dedicated long time fanbase!

[Magnolia]

^ All good points. Also, what about the Fillmore shows? Someone mentioned
that on the officials. I sure would love to see a "director's cut" - I'll bet there's
still TONS of good stuff laying around somewhere!

[Mudcrutch]

what about information on the new Mudcrutch album? they should have worked some sort of teaser in at the end.

[Mary Jane 49]

Well I haven`t even seen it yet but you are all making good points here

[wildgator]

I would've liked more background info on Mike. Like pictures of his family and older pictures of him as they did with Tom and Ben.

[Athena]

This is only slightly off topic...Relic and I noticed a couple of things missing Monday night that we did see the first time around at the premier. (Unless we just missed them the second time around). One was Tom talking about Benmont really enjoing playing with the Watkins at, "some small club in Los Angeles". I can't remember the other thing. Maybe Relic can recall. It will be interesting to see if it is included on the DVD.

Back on topic, it would have been nice to have a section on the loyal fans. Didn't they interview some people at the shows last year? Even 30 seconds of that, maybe after the credits, would have been fun.

[Marion]

I was wondering about the Fillmore shows from 1997. They didn't even touch on that. It's a big deal to play a 20 night gig in one place, isn't it? Also film footage from that time would have been nice with all those special guests. It's rare to catch any of that on film. There is lots of audio around but no video.

The Vic, Soundstage & The Olympic shows.

The crazy tour with the big tree! It would have been cool to see how that idea became a reality because I believe Jim Lenahan designed that set. He went from lead singer to set and lighting designer. He has a cool history with the band.

They also didn't mention Tom's radio show, his King of the Hill show or the movies he did.

[Relic]

Athena wrote: "it would have been nice to have a section on the loyal fans. Didn't they interview some people at the shows last year? Even 30 seconds of that, maybe after the credits, would have been fun."

I have been thinking about that -

As others have said, it would be great to cast a little light on the people behind the band - the lighting and sound guys and gals, the stage hands and equipment transportation people, the folks in the 'front office', the 'geek' (giggle) that runs the web site. I'm pretty sure the fans fit in there somewhere too.

But this was a film about the artists and their music.

Maybe these other ideas will fit into volume 2 (or is that 3?) of the documentary :)

PS: I read one of the linked interviews where Peter was asked about the difficulty of 'clearing' the material used in the documentary. ('Clearing' meaning getting permission from the various artists, copyright holders, etc.)
Peter said it was 'Hell'. So to whomever did all the leg work to make that happen, THANK YOU!

[Refugee]

I also would have liked to see some more on the band and the other work they do outside of the Heartbreakers. Especially Mike, Benmont and Steve. They talked about Tom and his other projects, why not the band?

[Echosoftom]

Good points you guys. I have a feeling Peter B. was working with his hands tied.

I agree about the side projects for the other band members. And not even a mention of The Dirty Knobs. :085:

[wildgator]

I thought it was quite funny when Mudcrutch was talking about trying to get Mike to sing. Now, look at him! :D

[Refugee]

I also wanna know, who thought of the bankruptcy defense? Was it Tom? Tony D? Another lawyer? I mean, let's face it, that was brilliant.

[Relic]

A 'bankrupt' guy holding a pocket knife........

Oh to have video of the 'suits' faces in that meeting.......

As for Peter having his hands tied, I truly got the feeling that as far as access to the artists goes, Peter had basically unfettered access to everyone with the exception of Stan who evidently chose not to participate in the documentary. The disappearance of the mention of one of Benmont's current outside collaborations from the theatrical release at least suggests that someone may have had concerns about that material being included for wide-spread release, but that is speculation on my part.

I had mixed feelings about that being mentioned - It was really cool to cast some light on one of the Heartbreakers many worthy collaborations outside of TPATH. That is a list which is long and distinguished indeed! What do you put in and what do you leave out?

But I also had some concern that overtly revealing info about ongoing collaborations might result in the character of these collaborations being impacted by external forces. From what I have been blessed to see myself, these collaborations absolutely stand on their own (based upon their own merits) and doing anything that could possibly 'tamper' with that might be ill advised indeed.

[Barnburner]

All valid points, folks. My thought - and maybe I'm the only one who noticed or cared - but my thought was that there wasn't much background given on the "newer" guys in the band (Steve & Scott). And yes, some info on the boys' side projects wouldn't have hurt.

[Refugee]

^ I agree.

[Miami Steve]

Was there any mention of his tonsillectomy? Maybe it wasn't considered important since he was quickly back on his feet.

Also, I've always wondered what ever happened to Backstreet Records but no mention of that. It must not have been a big deal at the time.

And it would have been nice to hear Stan's opinion of Tom's musical direction during the Full Moon Fever - Into the Great Wide Open - Wildflowers period. Obviously he didn't like it but to see what direction he thought the music should have gone would be enlightening. More so than Conversations or other interviews, I think the film brought out how the change in Tom's approach to recording at that time really affected the group dynamic. It's interesting to think how the music would have turned out if they hadn't gone down that path.

[Dynabeat Tim]

It had to be tough getting "fans" permission to use their faces when the band are talking about showing the European ladies some "american hospitality". These women would be about 30 years older and are probably "respectable" ladies by now ! Personally I would rather have a section devoted to the guitar collections, and equipment used and the recording end of things than fans talking. But thats just me. I would hope someday a nice hard cover book would come out about their guitars. (there was a short piece last year on Tom's and Mike's in Vintage Gtr) but it only scratched the surface.

[Wingspan91089]

Just a random thought: The Beatles Anthology was about 12 hours long (maybe) and they were only together 10 years. Bogdanovich crammed 30 years into 4 hours, so a lot of stuff missing (most of which had been said here already). I personally think the film moved too fast (perhaps I was enjoying it too much? lol) and I would have liked to see it longer.

[worldview]

Aside from others excellent "missing" comments, I would have liked to have seen some of the Fillmore '97 live footage. Not that I was unhappy with 'Room At The Top' or 'Swingin' from '99. But those 20 shows in '97 were so powerful. Someday something from them will come to light...

[Aimee Wilbury]

I hope they do a Volume 2 and maybe even Volume 3. Or skip Volume 2. (Wilburys reference.)

[knebworth_1978]

I too wish there would have been more focus/background on the other members of Mudcrutch and Heartbreakers. It's their story also! And why in the world was Danny Roberts erased out of the group Mudcrutch shot?

To not have Fillmore '97 mentioned in there is inexcusable. Tom said over and over that was one of the high points of the band's career.

There was nothing about the tonsil issue, either.

I know Tom mentioned that Bob Dylan wanted a band to play with him at Farm Aid, but I'm pretty sure he didn't say that was due to Dylan's terrible Live Aid performance, which I believe is pivotal and necessary to include.

I enjoyed all the photos though throughout--so many that I hadn't seen before.