I’ve already mentioned the great new documentary on Mott the Hoople, but it’s worth mentioning again. The Ballad of Mott the Hoople, just released this week on DVD, would probably work well for certain reasons regardless, simply because of its subject matter: One of the greatest, most underappreciated, interesting bands of the past 50 years, and one that hasn’t been exhumed and discussed to death either in books or on film. But Ballad triumphs for being far better than it needed to be. It’s simply a terrific documentary, telling nearly the full tale of Mott the Hoople, from their somewhat manufactured birth at the hands of madman producer Guy Stevens to their splintering under pressure at the height of their career in 1974.
Ned Lannamann is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. He writes about film, music, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, and other things. More by Ned Lannamann
Trying to slip this in just before Cassano’s post hoping he’ll overlook it next week = too clever by half.
I had no Idea such a movie existed until today. I MUST see it! I must see it on a giant I-MAX theatre! With a bottle of wine ! In Sensurround!