Movie Review: Immediate Family (9/10)

The Immediate Family – Cruel Twist You Tube screen capture

Immediate Family (9/10)

by Tony Medley

102 minutes.

NR.

The Wrecking Crew (2008) celebrated the sessions musicians who played behind many of the great recordings of the 1960s. Except for Glen Campbell, they remained relatively anonymous, their names unknown. Directed by Denny Tedesco, he follows it up now with this celebration of the sessions musicians who came next. These guys, though were different in that they actually went on tour and played behind such singers as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt.

Val Garay, a producer and Engineer, says, “They say they are the best cover band alive, which is true because all the covers they are playing are all the songs they produced or wrote. I have over 100 Gold or Platinum records and they probably played on 95%.”

The family consists of Russ Kunkel, drummer, Leland (Lee) Sklar, bassist, Danny “Kooch” Korthcmar, guitarist and producer, and Waddy Wachtel, guitarist. They are all interviewed together and separately in depth and tell fascinating tales of their experiences. What comes across are their love of music and their love of each other.

But also interviewed are Ronstadt and Taylor and Carol King and Don Henley and Stevie Nicks and Keith Richards and Lyle Lovett and others who uniformly sing their praises. Eventually they formed a band and played together on tour, just them, calling themselves The Immediate Family.

For anyone who knows the music of the late 20^th Century, this is a must see.

Tony Medley is an MPAA accredited film critic. His reviews are published in The Larchmont Chronicle, Telicom Magazine, The Tolucan Times, CWEB.com, robinhoodnews.com, on Rottentomatoes.com, the Movie Review Query Engine, and at www.tonymedley.com.

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