Kansas interview and documentary....very cool
- Thread starter TAE
- Start date
Mick Doobie
Resist We Much
Knew of it, recently ran across it free on the youtubes. Loaded with commercials, but pretty good. Funny Walsh's speaking voice vs singing voice. Some guys are like that. Guy had some pipes. I think it was drummer Phil Ehart who said even they weren't aware of the full power until they all dapped out of the studio while Walsh did some vocal takes and upon returning heard the play back. Met Walsh, have a story about it I won't repeat...didn't go well around these parts. 
He is kind of a weenie. Little wonder why Steinhart handled master of ceremony duties.
Yeah, Livgren writing some of that stuff concurrently while in the studio, pretty damn impressive.
No interviews included, Device Voice Drums(I think it's called) concert DVD is pretty good, though Livgren was no longer in the band. Walsh's voice still sounded pretty good, pushing it out. Years of pushing that chest voice eventually did him in.
He is kind of a weenie. Little wonder why Steinhart handled master of ceremony duties.Yeah, Livgren writing some of that stuff concurrently while in the studio, pretty damn impressive.
No interviews included, Device Voice Drums(I think it's called) concert DVD is pretty good, though Livgren was no longer in the band. Walsh's voice still sounded pretty good, pushing it out. Years of pushing that chest voice eventually did him in.
TAE
All you have is now
Dude ad guard...The trick with the Youtube is it will pop up and say hey man no ad guard shit and then shut the video down...I turn adguard off for a few days and then turn it back on and no ads for a few weeks or so...then it pops up again and shuts the video down...It's been at least a month since I last turned it back on and still just that first little ad in the beginning that I skip after 5 seconds...no other ads...ads suck
TalismanRich
Well-known member
I saw this one several years ago on AXS Tv, and then it was on Showtime without commercials. I've been a big Kansas fan since I first heard Song For America. I just saw them last spring. The replacement members did a really good job on the classic Kansas songs. Ronnie Platt has a very strong voice. The only original members were Rich Williams and Phil Ehart, and Phil only played on the two songs of the encore. Phil had suffered an arm injury and was unable to play a full concert. It was one of David Ragsdale's last performances with the band.
I just saw that Phil Ehart recently suffered a major heart attack. This is keeping him off the road. His drum tech will fill in again when they go back on the road.
I just saw that Phil Ehart recently suffered a major heart attack. This is keeping him off the road. His drum tech will fill in again when they go back on the road.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
I had wanted to see this documentary for quite a few years. And I'm so glad that I never bought the video or had to pay for it. This is what I wrote in the YouTube comments section about it:
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I found that this documentary was something of a whitewash, a ridiculously sanitized version of their story. It was so incomplete. There was not a word about the 2 versions of Kansas that pre-existed the lineup that signed with Kirshner, White Clover barely rated a mention and the convolution of how they all came together is not mentioned, let alone explored. On top of all that, the story stops in 1977 and the fractious history of the band from '79 onwards, which is a major component of their story, doesn't get aired. If one was to take this documentary on face value, then everything was all lovey-dovey. The exits of Walsh, Livgren, Hope and Steinhardt, the awkwardness of Livgren's conversion to Jesus, then followed by Dave Hope's and then Jon Elefante's entry into the band ~ all these things weren't even mentioned. Bits of it were interesting, like the importance of Robbie's violin in getting the band signed, but overall, this is a fairytale of a documentary. If you want a more rounded picture, you'll have to read "Seeds of Change" by Kerry and a host of Steve Walsh interviews. I don't want to say this was a dishonest documentary because it doesn't actually lie, but sometimes, omitting vast swathes of a story is almost as good as,,,,,,
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I think that the documentary is something of a falsehood. Had I not read Kerry Livgren's "Seeds of Change" I might not have thought this way, but having read that book and a few Steve Walsh interviews, there's no way I can smile at it. It's like telling the story of Goldilocks without the porridge and the bed !
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I found that this documentary was something of a whitewash, a ridiculously sanitized version of their story. It was so incomplete. There was not a word about the 2 versions of Kansas that pre-existed the lineup that signed with Kirshner, White Clover barely rated a mention and the convolution of how they all came together is not mentioned, let alone explored. On top of all that, the story stops in 1977 and the fractious history of the band from '79 onwards, which is a major component of their story, doesn't get aired. If one was to take this documentary on face value, then everything was all lovey-dovey. The exits of Walsh, Livgren, Hope and Steinhardt, the awkwardness of Livgren's conversion to Jesus, then followed by Dave Hope's and then Jon Elefante's entry into the band ~ all these things weren't even mentioned. Bits of it were interesting, like the importance of Robbie's violin in getting the band signed, but overall, this is a fairytale of a documentary. If you want a more rounded picture, you'll have to read "Seeds of Change" by Kerry and a host of Steve Walsh interviews. I don't want to say this was a dishonest documentary because it doesn't actually lie, but sometimes, omitting vast swathes of a story is almost as good as,,,,,,
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I think that the documentary is something of a falsehood. Had I not read Kerry Livgren's "Seeds of Change" I might not have thought this way, but having read that book and a few Steve Walsh interviews, there's no way I can smile at it. It's like telling the story of Goldilocks without the porridge and the bed !
Mick Doobie
Resist We Much
I don't know, I kind of like that they didn't go into a bunch of drama. Probably better for them as well. Keep good blood between a bunch of guys who had a pretty good run for a while. Robbie isn't around to provide his side of the story. If there was anything possibly unfair about it was the exclusion of any mention of Billy Greer. He's been with them since I think the mid 80s, and could be argued was the reason Walsh was able to hang on vocally for as long as he did. Watch some of the live stuff. If you weren't watching closely, sometimes very closely, you might not realize it was Greer who was taking the heat off of Walsh by singing a lot of the high stuff, Walsh in a sense being the solo vocalist while Greer took Walsh's part during a fair amount of the harmony vocal passages. It gave Walsh a break. It was almost painful to watch Walsh sometimes squeezing out the vocals. Compare that to Walsh's younger days when he would sing seemingly effortlessly, no pained look on his face, no obvious strain on his vocal cords. Watch their appearance on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert TV show, them doing Icarus Borne on wings of steel, Walsh seated, effortless vocal power. Compare that to the same song on the Device Voice Drums concert DVD they released maybe around 2000. Walsh still got it out, but it was obvious it took every ounce of effort. Yeah, it was his job, he had to do it, but it was causing great harm to his vocal capability. The writing was on the wall, his days were numbered. It was good while it lasted, I reckon.
I mean, they could have gone into that as well, yeah? Did he bow out gracefully, was he sort of asked to leave? At this point, does it matter? I first saw them probably 79-80, it was incredible, Walsh's vocal was best as I can explain it like a trumpet. As of that point I don't think I had witnessed anything like it.
Now, I wish them all well, but I wouldn't go see them. Walsh was too much of why I was a Kansas fan. Maybe it is unfair, but Walsh doesn't seem particularly an interesting and/or intelligent guy, but on stage he embodied the lyric content, perhaps particularly on the subject of the American Indian... Cheyenne Anthem, for instance. He used to have a website where there was a question/answer section. Fans, asking questions, his answers often curt. "Love the music, Steve! Saw Kansas the last time you were in (location), are you coming back this way on the next tour?!" His answer, "I don't know, we keep touring. I go where they tell me to go, gotta keep toilet paper in the house." Though adopted, besides the American Indian theme in some of their songs, he looks somewhat native American. That and he would at times wear NA accoutrements on stage, beads, feathers, etc. Someone commented on the positive representation of his "heritage". His response, "I have no heritage." At some point he or someone closed that section of the website. Probably for the best, apparently he couldn't be bothered to be nice to people who still gave a damn and were responsible as fans for whatever wealth and recognition he may have acquired. People who kept toilet paper in his house.
In a nutshell, the documentary in question, would it have added anything of interest to provide Walsh an outlet for that kind of negativity? Like I said, there was probably good reason Robbie acted as MC talking between songs rather than the main voice of the band Walsh back in the day. I don't know, maybe I'm being unfair.
I mean, they could have gone into that as well, yeah? Did he bow out gracefully, was he sort of asked to leave? At this point, does it matter? I first saw them probably 79-80, it was incredible, Walsh's vocal was best as I can explain it like a trumpet. As of that point I don't think I had witnessed anything like it.
Now, I wish them all well, but I wouldn't go see them. Walsh was too much of why I was a Kansas fan. Maybe it is unfair, but Walsh doesn't seem particularly an interesting and/or intelligent guy, but on stage he embodied the lyric content, perhaps particularly on the subject of the American Indian... Cheyenne Anthem, for instance. He used to have a website where there was a question/answer section. Fans, asking questions, his answers often curt. "Love the music, Steve! Saw Kansas the last time you were in (location), are you coming back this way on the next tour?!" His answer, "I don't know, we keep touring. I go where they tell me to go, gotta keep toilet paper in the house." Though adopted, besides the American Indian theme in some of their songs, he looks somewhat native American. That and he would at times wear NA accoutrements on stage, beads, feathers, etc. Someone commented on the positive representation of his "heritage". His response, "I have no heritage." At some point he or someone closed that section of the website. Probably for the best, apparently he couldn't be bothered to be nice to people who still gave a damn and were responsible as fans for whatever wealth and recognition he may have acquired. People who kept toilet paper in his house.
In a nutshell, the documentary in question, would it have added anything of interest to provide Walsh an outlet for that kind of negativity? Like I said, there was probably good reason Robbie acted as MC talking between songs rather than the main voice of the band Walsh back in the day. I don't know, maybe I'm being unfair.
Mick Doobie
Resist We Much
^^ I could be wrong, I'd have to go back and take a look...but im pretty sure im correct...
Carry On, live, Greer actually sang Walsh's part during the opening, the chorus, the main theme, the main vocal during those harmonies. Pretty impressive. Hopefully he got an equal cut, gotta keep toilet paper in the house...one might say.
Carry On, live, Greer actually sang Walsh's part during the opening, the chorus, the main theme, the main vocal during those harmonies. Pretty impressive. Hopefully he got an equal cut, gotta keep toilet paper in the house...one might say.
Sky Blue Lou
Well-known member
I saw them in 1975 backing up Queen. Very good. As far as albums - Leftoverture. One and done for me. It's only howlin at the moon.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
It's an incomplete story. What is it that the video is supposed to be getting across ? The partial story of the band up until 1977 ?
It's not about getting in the drama and saturating it in negativity.
But even if it was about their story up until "Point of Know Return," it's woefully incomplete and actually gives a false picture. One of the most interesting aspects of Kansas' story is how the band came together. Just the fact that there were 3 Kansases and 3 White Clovers and the way the bands dove-tailed is fascinating and gives a good background on how their eventual sound developed. And it didn't even have to take up much time.
Ho~hum.
There are some great documentaries, some good ones, some average ones, some 'meh' ones and some pretty shitty ones. 'Meh' about covers this one for me.
Mick Doobie
Resist We Much
Maybe for some die hards......just my opinion take it or leave it.... there wasn't much to talk about after Point of Know Return. Heyday. Arguably it was all downhill from there. Why not end the doc on a high note rather than drag it out, much of which few people care and might tune out. They know that, I would think.
They had sort of an inside joke in the band, I guess a self awareness type thing. "Dust and bolt." A segment of the audience who came to see their shows, Dust in the Wind, that's all they were interested in hearing and then the audience thinned.
*shrug*
They had sort of an inside joke in the band, I guess a self awareness type thing. "Dust and bolt." A segment of the audience who came to see their shows, Dust in the Wind, that's all they were interested in hearing and then the audience thinned.
*shrug*