RSS 2.0 FeedMay 27, 2009, Film
"Cowtown Ballroom" is an entertaining revelation
CORRECTION: In the May 27th review of "Cowtown Ballroom," it was incorrectly written that the El Torreon eventually served as the location for The Vanguard when in actuality the latter was at a separate location at 4305 Main St. Here it is again...
For 38 months in the early 1970s, the Cowtown Ballroom was the hottest place for live music in Kansas City, yet its place in our city's history has been obscured by time and remembered only by those of the "Baby Boom" generation who experienced it. Now everyone can relive that brief but remarkable period by viewing the enlightening independent documentary Cowtown Ballroom... Sweet Jesus.
Co-produced and Co-directed by Joe Heyen and Anthony Ladesich, Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus embarks on a surprisingly complex journey that spans not only the countercultural revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but also the height of the Kansas City's unique jazz sound in the late 1920s and 1930s. This is primarily done with an avalanche of interviews involving concertgoers, musicians and promoters alike that date back to when the Cowtown Ballroom was known as the El Torreon in 1927.
With insights from musicians like the legendary B.B. King, who was familiar with both venue incarnations, Heyen's film portrays Kansas City as being a nexus point for a variety of sounds like delta blues, big band and jazz. Furthermore, in King's eyes Kansas City was a unique place where black Americans had an opportunity to flourish and experiment with music.
Eventually, the El Torreon was used as a skating rink, but as the psychedelic wave crashed onto Kansas City from both coasts, a vision was born to foster local music talent and in a nutshell the Cowtown Ballroom was born. For 38 months, until its owners were forced to close it because of economic reasons, the venue played host to acts like the Kansas City Philharmonic, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, Linda Rondstadt, B.B. King, Foghat, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
Despite the brevity of some of the interviews, every musician who played at the Cowtown Ballroom remarkably seems to remember their one appearance there and how much they enjoyed it. Interviews with former hippie concertgoers are often the most entertaining of the bunch as their recollections of events sometimes varies with seemingly how much LSD they took at the time. Heyen and Ladesich smartly gave this documentary some scholarly weight too by including interviews with Chuck Haddix, director of the Marr Sound Archives at UMKC's Miller Nichols Library, and UMKC history professor Dr. Mary Ann Wynkoop.
Cowtown Ballroom... Sweet Jesus is quite insightful and coincidentally provides a nice counterweight to the darker Kansas City documentary currently in theaters - Black Hand Strawman. Heyen's effort, which has excellent production qualities all around, is also a great time capsule in that it shows how the music business was before it became as corporate as it is today.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus receives an A- .
Cowtown Ballroom...Sweet Jesus is unrated and has a running time of 80 minutes.
Now Showing
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO.
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
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