Here’s a strange one.
Courtesy of the Kino Library, I half-expected the video below to be yet another one of those banal reels of stock footage of New York City in the 60’s. Technically, that’s what this clip essentially is, although there are elements that really make it stand out from the rest of that pile.
I have no clue as to what this footage was shot for –- nor can I explain the odd bits of dialogue that come from the military chaffeur. The camera appears to be loosely following the expolits of a dashing-but-concerned journalist, of some variety. But there’s an overall surreally claustrophobic and almost nightmarish quality to this video, and that largely comes courtesy of its score.
While I am an unapologetic fan of a lot of progressive rock like King Crimson and Yes, I have absolutely never warmed to the keyboard noodling of Keith Emerson. I mean, I don’t wish him ill or anything, but there’s something about his pronounced penchant for sternuously masturbatory organ fingering (yes, I know -– sorry) that just drives me away. That very sonic blight is well to the fore in this clip, as the soundtrack is none other than Emerson playing his instrumental version of Leonard Berstein’s “America” (more famously from the Broadway play, "West Side Story") with his then-band The Nice circa 1968.
According to Wikipedia, Emerson evidently intended this iteration of “America” to be “the first ever instrumental protest song,” predating –- I suppose -– Jimi Hendrix’s similarly incendiary rendition of the Natioal Anthem at Woodstock by a year or so. While that all may be true, in the context of this filmstrip, The Nice’s trek through “America” provides something of a jarring juxtaposition to the visuals, although maybe that was by design the entire time. 1968 was indeed a fractious era of American history, so perhaps it’s only fitting.
If you can handle Emerson’s organ (yes, I know….sorry, another cheap shot), you may enjoy.
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