Customer Reviews

American Splendor

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Here's something useful, the track listing:

Paniots Nine- Joe Maneri
Blue Devil Jump - Jay McShann
Chasin' Rainbows - R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders
On the Sunny Side of the Street - Lester Young and the Oscar Peterson Trio
Oh, Lady Be Good - Dizzy Gillespie
Ain't that Peculiar - Marvin Gaye
Longing Suite: The Shortest Weekend/After Alice (So Sweet, So Sad) - Mark Suozzo
Stardust - Dizzy Gillespie
Hula Medley - R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders
T'Aint Nobody's Bizness (If I Do) - Jay McShann
My Favorite Things - John Coltrane
Time Passes Strangely:(Cancer Treatment/Retirement Party)
Ain't that Peculiar - Chocolate Genius

It does strike me as odd that unlike virtually every other CD here on amazon.com, there is no track listing for this album. Does this have anything to do with the fact that the title track - which I do like - is not included?

Either way, the tracks that ARE included on the album are nothing to get too excited about, not much representation for the obscure "sides" Pekar's known for collecting.

If this CD had only Chocolate Genius doing "Ain't that peculiar" as the only song, it would be worth the price. However, it has much more, with an excellent selection of interesting and diverse songs. Also, those who question whether Harvey Pekar approved of the songs on this CD need only examine the liner notes that come with the CD. He has only positive things to say about it.

Some folks may be convinced they hear Blue in Green because there was a clear intent to write a knock-off of it, as well as of the tune Freddie Freeloader. Very well done knock-offs indeed.

Great movie, great soundtrack.

The quitar player on "Ain't Nobody's Business" is believe it or not-John Schofield. Its from the great album "Last of the Blue Devils" which was originally on Atlantic Records and was reissued on the Koch label.

The song American Splendor is NOT the title track to this film. Yes, it does share a title with this film, but I have always understood that the title track for a movie was the song that played DURING the opening titles. Therefore the title track would be Paniots Nine, which is CLEARLY on the CD. (Anyone looking for the American Splendor song will find it on the DVD as a free bonus item.)

Nobody seems to mention the bonus items that come with this CD. It features comic book style liner notes which are written by Harvey Pekar. The American Splendor movie site and DVD both feature a wonderful screensaver. This CD gives you the same one along with 2 extra screensavers. (One shows the liner notes comic book and the other shows American Splendor comic covers.) You also get the exclusive AIM icons, a comic book, cover gallery and web links.

The biggest bonus of all, for me, is music I may have never discovered without seeing the movie. This CD is a very interesting collection, from the avantgarde jazz tracks to the obsecure pop selections. (Even the original film music holds up pretty well without the film.) I normally don't like to pay $14.99 for a single CD, but this one was worth every penny.

This song alone was worth the price of the CD to me. Does anyone know who the guitar player is? Or does anyone know which album this particular recording of the song came from? McShann seems to have recorded this song many times over the years but I'd like to hear more from the group he recorded this version with.

I loved this movie so it would be inevitable that I would also be very fond of the soundtrack. That will not be, all together, how I measure the quality of this soundtrack. A person can enjoy this without being in any way connected to the movie.

I'm a huge music fan, have an affinity for jazz yet, outside of the mainstream, obvious artists, I do not know that much about jazz and yearn for collections like this to expose me.

It opens with the fast-paced, swing-type, avante garde sax driven Paniot's Nine by Joe Paneri. Things get a bit more conventional with pianist Jay McShann two songs. Dizzy Gillispie has 2 songs including a powerful vocal with "Lady be Good". John Coltrane's famous 13 1/2 minute re-working of "My Favorite Things" is haunting and emotional. Underground cartoonist and, sometimes dixieland banjo player, Robert Crumb, has a couple songs that are certainly listenable but not in the same league with the music by the more noted artists. Although it comes out of nowhere it does not seem out of place is Marvin Gaye's "Aint that Peculiar" which may be explained since it's jazz counterpart is also here in the form of Chocalate Genious', slowed down, jazzy, instrumental version of the same song.

Now, on it's own, this is a brief yet nice assortment of a variety of jazz styles. Although you do not need to be familiar with the movie to enjoy this, it WILL enhance the listenability of this if you know what the movie is about. "American Splendor" is about an everyday guy named Harvey Pekor who has the idea of taking the everyday trials and tribulations of the common man and using that [supposedly, but not really] mundane life as a storyline for a comic book charactor (as illustrated by his buddy, famous comic book artist Robert Crumb).

Pekor is a passionate jazz fan and record collector and that is fundamental within the movie. These songs act as a soundtrack to HIS life which is very effective in the movie.

Since you get a nice assortment of jazz songs, from a truly diverse array of artists, this acts as a great sampler into the world of jazz, punctuated by a classic Marvin Gaye,soul song.

Loved the soundtrack. I listen to it often. I have a few favorites and include it in my CDs I make for friends as gifts.

I think the track everyone is wondering about may be Freddie Freeloader by Miles Davis from Kind of Blue.

Someone was inquiring about the song being played during the opening credits of American Splendor. It's Paniots Nine by Joe Maneri - the first song on the soundtrack. Amazing stuff. Joe Maneri's other work is heavy on Klezmer-inspired sounds; he's considered somewhat of a groundbreaker in avant-garde jazz.