Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (2003)

Like a warped fun-house mirror, the song-poem industry has run parallel to the mainstream music business for close to a century; it's estimated that over 200,000 song-poems have been ... See full summary »

Director:

Jamie Meltzer

Stars:

Tom Ardolino, Sonny Cash, Del Casher

Cast

Credited cast:
Tom Ardolino	...	Himself
Sonny Cash	...	Himself
Del Casher	...	Himself
Jo Comberiate	...	Herself
Ellery Eskelin	...	Himself
Gary Forney	...	Himself
David Fox	...	Himself
Van Garner	...	Himself
Will Gentry	...	Himself
Art Kaufman	...	Himself
John Lewis	...	Himself
Gene Merlino	...	Himself
Jean-Paul Monsche	...	Himself
Nilson V. Ortiz	...	Himself
Caglar Juan Singletary

Storyline

Like a warped fun-house mirror, the song-poem industry has run parallel to the mainstream music business for close to a century; it's estimated that over 200,000 song-poems have been recorded since 1900. The genre's durability can be traced to three of our deepest American desires - to be in show business, to get rich quick, and to share and express our deepest feelings. We meet several of the "songwriters" - from an elderly woman to a young African-American man to a small-town Iowan with big-time dreams - each of whom has been in the "business" for awhile, churning out odd compositions that cover the waterfront of American obsessions, from Jesus to genitalia, from politics to Elvis. We also meet the producers (often known as song-sharks) who hold out the tantalizing promise of fame to their eager customers, and the has-been musicians who sit in studios, day after day and year after year, interpreting some of the weirdest lyrics ever written. Through fellow musicians and his son, ...

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

PBS [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 2003 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Complex Corporation

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Tahiti
Ray and Lillian Reynolds
Music by Rodd Keith

User Reviews

Fantastic!

This was absolutely fantastic. One of the best documentaries I've seen in ages. Certainly one of the best about music. I tried to find more info about the flick, but there's just one PBS interview with the filmmaker. So definitely clue into this if you dig on quirky, honest filmmakers like Les Blank or Ross McElwee. The work is warm and respectful and revealing. Everything a cultural doc should be. Sometimes it seems to come dangerously close to mocking its subjects but then a humanist beat equalizes everything and film skirts back into a position of measured observation. As far as I'm concerned this is up there with "Sweet Grass", "Grey Gardens", "Gimme Shelter", "Sherman's March" and "Harland County, USA". It's just that good.