The Other Side of Nashville leads you to believe, during the opening scene, that the movie is going to be about honky-tonk singers who are struggling to make it in Nashville. The movie then takes a turn with a host of stars bemoaning the fact Country Music has become too citified. Even Chet Atkins, who helped create "The Nashville Sound" joins the chorus. What The Hell....the man who was instrumental in pushing out "real" country music in order to line his own pockets with money, NOW, or at least in 1983 when this movie was made, thinks country has lost its roots. Maybe it goes back to the old saying "You don't miss your water, till the well runs dry".
As each of the country artists (most who would now (2011) fall into the category of Alt, Outlaw, or Americana) give their take on what's wrong with country music, the movie features song performances from that artist or the artist they are discussing. Musicians interviewed or in performance clips featured in The Other Side of Nashville include: Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Carl Perkins, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Scaggs, Terri Gibbs, Gail Davis, Jerry Reed, Porter Wagoner, Charlie McCoy, Rattlesnake Annie, and Bob Dylan.
Near the end of the movie, the point of the movie changes direction again, when Willie Nelson says "Music is Music", no matter who is making it, that all musicians have a similar outlook on what they are doing. The Other Side of Nashville then goes back to some of the artists who now contradict their earlier statements and seem to agree with Willie. I realize the movie was edited this way, still it was odd seeing this turnaround.
The movie returns to the honky-tonk from the first of the film and ends with Owen Davis singing his song "The Other Side of Nashville". I never could quite grasp what point The Other Side of Nashville was trying to make, since it kept changing directions. On the other hand, it was an enjoyable film due to all of the song performances. And where else are you going to see/hear a movie narrated by Bob (Is It Running, Bob?) Johnston.
There's just a little bit of plot in Jamboree that holds the musical performances together. The story centers on a girl, Honey Wynn (Freda Holloway), and a boy, Pete Porter (Paul Carr), trying to break into the music business as solo acts. Their managers, Grace (Kay Medford - think Penny Marshall crossed with Eve Arden) and Lew (Bob Pastine), used to be married to each other. The managers come up with a plan to make them a duo and they're a big success. Pete's manager Grace conspires to break them up and make him a solo star. Through some underhanded dealings she succeeds, but he's not happy without his girl, who by the way hasn't had any success as a solo act. Eventually Pete's manager realizes that she has made a mistake and with the help of her ex-husband they reunite the couple for a happy ending.
The plot is used to wrap around the musical performances. First up is Carl Perkins. He's doing a recording session and since he never uses all of his studio time, Honey and Pete get their first tryout in the recording studio after Carl has finished. It should be noted that Connie Stevens voice is dubbed in for Honey's singing. The duo record a hit song and we don't get another musical act until we find Honey's manager auditioning Frankie Avalon in the studio.
Next up is a device the movie makers obviously thought up in order to give them a lot of free publicity. They use DJ's from across the U.S. and Canada, and a few international ones, to introduce acts at a big telethon hosted by Dick Clark. Dick says my favorite head scratching line in the movie: "they have raised $70,000 to help in the fight against this terrible disease".....WHAT DISEASE....no one ever says! Most of the DJs are pretty run-of-the-mill, except for Jocko Henderson who appears in a spaceman's suit! The marathon includes performances by Jodie Sanders, Jerry Lee Lewis or The Jerry Lee Lewis Trio as they are introduced in this movie, Louis Lymon (Frankie's brother) and The Teenchords, and Ron Coby.
Pete goes on his solo tour to England and we get performances by Slim Whitman (with that mustache, he always reminds me of a used car salesman) and The Four Coins. After Pete's tour, we then return to the U.S. and get the final offering of musical stars at the Music Operator's Convention. Here we get to see Count Basie, Joe Williams, Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen, and Fats Domino. The fake duo of Honey and Pete close the show and are joined on stage with their managers singing along.
The main reason for this movie being made was to showcase the musical talent and it was great seeing SOME of the stars in this movie, others could have been left out completely, in my opinion; but I guess everyone would have their own favorites when viewing Jamboree. My favorites in the film were Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Louis Lymon, and of course, Fats Domino. I was in New Orleans once when Fats was performing at a free show outside The Riverwalk Mall. I had never seen Fats live in concert, but the closest I could get was a view from the side of the stage, and then all I could see was Fats' leg pumping his piano.....That was still a thrill for me!!
