Thursday, May 29, 2008

Greasers Will Still Be Greasers, and Socs Will Still Be Socs



Brothers! Sisters! Lend me your ears,

I can still remember being a 13 year old boy, going to the $3 theatre up the street in Howell, Michigan to see a new movie called The Outsiders. It was a big deal to be a kid, seeing a movie inspired by kids, based on a book written by a teenager.



Legend has it, a class of school kids in Cali loved S.E. Hinton's novel - about three orphan brothers growing up in Oklahoma - so much, they wrote to Francis Ford Coppola, asking him to make a film of the novel. Coppola took the request seriously, read the book, and agreed to make the film. What followed was the making of two films based on Hinton's books(Rumble Fish came after The Outsiders), but not before Coppola assembled one of the most impressive casts of young actors in any film before or since:

C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Leif Garrett, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Waits, Diane Lane, Matt Dillon; the list reads like a who's who of contemporary film and television through the end of the 90's and beyond.



Besides assembling an amazing cast, Coppola made an amazing film. Now, The Master has blessed us all with a great DVD.

The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, reinstates previously cut footage, restoring the integrity of Hinton's original vision. I just saw this DVD the other day and REALLY loved it. Most striking are the scenes between Soda Pop (Lowe) and Pony Boy (Howell), late at night, in the bed they share, having an intimate, heart-felt brotherly chat. Lowe rolls over and puts his arm around his younger brother, in what is one of the most moving scenes in the film. This and other moments of closeness between the brothers were removed from the original movie because test audiences snickered at the scenes, projecting unintended homoerotic implications on what is purely a loving sequence between two young boys, trying to look out for each other in a confusing violent world, where they always find themselves on the "outside."



The other revelation in this film is Coppolla's replacing of much of his father's original score with contemporaneous rock 'n roll music. This completely changes the feel of the film, giving it a much more violent and dangerous immediacy. Still, Carmine Coppolla's wonderful collaboration with Stevie Wonder - "Stay Gold" - is still a gem of a song that does the late songsmith proud even after all these years.

Also be sure to listen to FFC's always engaging commentary track for more insight into the making of this wonderful film.

In music news, my new CD - Blue Turns Black - will soon be available on ITunes (USA, UK/Europe, Canada, Japan), Napster, Emusic, Rhapsody, and Amazon.

Check out the links below to preview the new CD, enjoy free downloads from my previous releases, and explore this site.

Be gentle in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love,
Joe Nolan

Open this browser-based player and preview Joe's entire new CD "Blue Turns Black"

Listen to Joe's music, and enjoy free downloads here!

Support this site! Buy Joe's Music! ...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Blue Turns Black

Bonjour mes freres et mes soeurs,

All power to the people.

It is a beautiful day in Nashville, TN.

These last few weeks we have been blessed with this amazing weather: bright, sunny, temps in the 70's. It feels like Cali, without the sea-salt smell, and the earthquakes.

My new CD, Blue Turns Black, is in the capable hands of my digital distributor, and will soon be beaming around the globe. In addition, the CD's cover art was completed this week. The covers are based on photos, and drawings by yours truly. I got a lot of help from Tony Doling of the Nashville band Bulb with the Photoshop and layout. Thanks Tony!

Take a look at the new cover art on my myspace page. While your at it, add me as a friend.

Front
Back


Open this browser-based player and preview the entire new CD "Blue Turns Black"
Also, thanks to all of you who have watched and commented on the new video for the song REvolution:








Check out the links below to preview the new CD, enjoy free downloads from my previous releases, and explore this site.

Be gentle in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love,
Joe Nolan

Open this browser-based player and preview Joe's entire new CD "Blue Turns Black"

Listen to Joe's music, and enjoy free downloads here!

Support this site! Buy Joe's Music! ...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Say You Want A REvolution?




Hello all,

Nice to be in touch again.

I have been treasure hunting, and am happy to report back to this report, reporting to you all that I have found my nets full, emerging from the depths.

But - first - a story...

As soon as I was able to begin making music on my own computer - in the late 90's - I immediately began to experiment. I have been experimenting ever since. One of the most important breakthroughs of my new CD Blue Turns Black is the fact that Jerry Hager and I made the most technologically informed project we have done yet: The entire CD was recorded on one laptop computer, and J.P. Lilliston recorded all of his parts from his living room in Chicago, and never had to come to Nashville at all.

The first song I completed as something more than a demo was a tune called REvolution. I had been playing the song live and my pal - the visual artist Chris Rubin de la Borbolla - posited the idea of recording the song at a slower tempo, with more of a Pink Floyd feel. Seemed like a good idea. I began working on the song and recorded most of it on my computer. Then I called up Jerry Hager. I added some percussion, Jer played the guitar solos. Some fun editing and mixing and - VOILA - the song was complete.

When Chris heard it he really loved it and it inspired him to make a short film.

In honor of the upcoming online release of Blue Turns Black, I am debuting this short film for the first time. A new version of REvolution was planned to be included on Blue Turns Black, but it didn't make the cut and was replaced by Night and Day.

And now, a short film by Chris Rubin de la Borbolla.
Starring Jennifer Rieger.
With music by Joe Nolan.

REvolution:








Check out the links below to preview the new CD, enjoy free downloads from my previous releases, and explore this site.

Be gentle in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love,
Joe Nolan

Open this browser-based player and preview Joe's entire new CD "Blue Turns Black"

Listen to Joe's music, and enjoy free downloads here!

Support this site! Buy Joe's Music! ...