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Welcome To The Club - The Women Of Rockabilly
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Release: 2001
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 60 min.
Producer: Beth Harrington
Director: Beth Harrington
Writer: Beth Harrington
Dir. Photog.: Kyle Kibbe
Editor: David Timoner
Sound: Michael Gandsey
Research: Cathleen O'Connell
Narrator: Rosanne Cash
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Synopsis
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Their stage
antics were sassy, bordering on aggressive. Their vocal styles featured
distinctly "unladylike" growls, hiccups and moans. Their lyrics
spoke of parties and hot rods, flirtations and teen angst. To say that
women such as Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin and Lorrie Collins
were ahead of their time is a gross understatement.
Uniquely
American artists, yet loved by enclaves of dedicated fans the world over,
these were the women of rockabilly music, rock and roll's country cousin.
For a few brief moments, they burst onto a predominantly male scene with
an unprecedented musical message of female assertiveness.
They not only
bucked the staid notion of what was appropriate to sing as a country star,
but they also rejected the models of post-war femininity that were being
marketed in the wider culture, models of suburban wedded bliss and a
return to "traditional" motherhood.
Some of these women
were part of a natural evolution in country music, others were the product
of calculating music producers looking for a Rockabilly Queen to Elvis
Presley's King.
Although their day in the sun was short-lived, many of
these women perform today and speak with pride of a time when were genuine
trailblazers, personifying an exuberance, sexuality and defiance that was
burgeoning in the music of 1950s America. Welcome to the Club - The Women
of Rockabilly is their story. A presentation of the Independent Television
Society.
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Background
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I first got the idea for Welcome to the Club - The Women of Rockabilly
over
20 years ago when I came across an anthology of women rockabilly artists and
I realized, with just a few exceptions, that these gals were completely
unknown to me. The songs were great, the performances were killer, the
recordings were the equal of anything of the period.
So, why hadn't I heard
of them? It really begged the question: "Who writes history?" I thought that
question and this topic would make an interesting film someday. Two decades
later I finally got around to it. |
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Reviews
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"More than just an example of the 'Female Elvis,' Welcome to the Club
showcases a sense of American history...Only a filmmaker as skilled as
Harrington could properly tell such an important story and she does it very well."
- The Austin Chronicle
"Most thumbnail sketches of '50s rockabilly make it look like an exclusive club
of young, wild men...But filmmaker Beth Harrington knows better...Harrington
clearly states her argument: These and other rockabilly women made raw, powerful
music deserving of more recognition, both now and then."
- Country Music
"Packed with tales of oppression, born-again Christianity, romance, divorce,
second chances, and foot-stomping, barn-burning rock 'n' roll, the documentary
Welcome to the Club - The Women of Rockabilly is as captivating as any
episode of Behind the Music."
- Nylon
"Welcome to the Club demonstrates the overwhelming talent of these women
and skips the preformulated, shoved-down-your-throat argument altogether. Just
don't be surprised when it gets you talking."
- Seattle Weekly
"Former Boston singer and filmmaker Beth Harrington... travels the lost highway of
American music history and comes back with a gem: the story of the fire-breathing, foot-stomping,
fringe-shaking, rule-breaking, trailblazing women of 1950s rockabilly."
- The Improper Bostonian
"...[a] subtle exploration of all the forces working against female renegades of rock."
- Willamette Week
"...the film recounts the challenges and joys of these unique and unsung heroines
of rock...[an] inspiring tribute."
- Rockrgrl Magazine
"...[one of the] highlight[s] of the six day festival... sold out at the local
premiere..."
- The Boston Globe
"......a rockabilly girls' Mount Rushmore come to life..."
- RockabillyGirls.com
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Awards
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Grammy™ Nomination
Cine Golden Eagle
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