In the Summer of 1970 a concert tour was held across Canada where the bands were transported from East to West via train called the Festival Express. If you want to get a feel or a flashback for for those times I recommend this movie which recently came out on video. It features Janis Joplin (just a couple months before she died), the Grateful Dead, the Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Delaney & Bonnie, the Buddy Guy Blues Band and several others. The concert footage is excellent, but what's really revealing are the scenes of the musicians partying and jamming in the bar car, especially one scene where Jerry Garcia tells Janis Joplin, "Janis, I've loved you ever since I first saw you!" Recent interviews with the performers tell a lot about what they were experiencing while traveling, especially what they said then and now about the gate crashers at each concert who demanded the concerts be held for free. At the end of the movie Janis is on stage and tells the audience that the tour was the best party she's ever been to and that even she couldn't have thrown a better party. Was this train ride the inspiration for the Grateful Dead's Casey Jones?
I think Casey Jones was made before festival express, but it was a kickass movie...or should I say documentary.
casey jones is a rewrite of an old traditional song 'casey jones'. see if the band Pacific gas and electric is on thier. glenn schwartz is the best guitar player ever(or at least up there with jimi and jerry, only he's still alive)
I rented it, but I didn't like it that much. I had such high expectations, but it just ended up being so boring, and I thought it just dragged on. I guess it has good music, but I'd rather just listen to a CD. Maybe you have to be a Janis fan to enjoy it. (I'm not.)
why do you have to be a janis fan, she only has 2 performances on the acctual doc, and i think one extra n the special features...
