 BOSTON MUSIC LEGENDS UNITE FOR CONCERT TO SUPPORT COMPLETION OF NEW FILM ABOUT EARLY DAYS OF WBCN Line-up of Legendary Rock and Folk Stars will take the stage at House of Blues on Monday, December 3. Limited tickets now on sale through Ticketmaster. .November 16, 2012 [Boston, MA] — One of the most successful Kickstarter fundraising campaigns in Boston history saw nearly 900 donors last year contribute a total of $114,419 toward production of The American Revolution, a film detailing the early days and impact of legendary rock radio station WBCN, and the underground music and media of the era. Now, stars of Boston’s rock and folk scenes are teaming up for a landmark concert to thank fans and to help raise the additional funds needed to complete the film for its September 2013 release. Fans who donate $104 to the film’s fundraising campaign at KickstartWBCN.com receive admission to the event with their contribution, along with a special thanks in the film and other perks. Additional concert-related donation benefits include exclusive seating offers and tickets to the after-party. Due to the rising number of supporters, the concert, originally scheduled for the Paradise Rock Club, has been moved to the larger House of Blues, which has been donated for the evening. As a result, a limited number of tickets have been made available at Ticketmaster.com. “This will be an extraordinary gathering of musicians, on air talent, and family and friends of WBCN,” says The American Revolution filmmaker and former WBCN DJ Bill Lichtenstein. “Concertgoers will enjoy performances from an incredible line-up of musicians with ties to the radio station and to the region and we’ll all have the chance to share memories of ‘BCN and celebrate its rich history.” Among those performing during the first part of the evening, deemed “The Folk Revolution,” will be Tom Rush, Livingston Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, and “Spider” John Koerner. Up next during “The Rock Revolution,” Billy Squier, members of Boston, and The Uptown Horns will take the stage. Additional performers will include Danny Klein of The J. Geils Band, Peter Case, Jon-Pousette Dart, Kate Taylor, Willie “Loco” Alexander, The Fools, Sandy MacDonald, Johnny A., Tosh1, Barbara Holliday, members of both Duke & the Drivers and Barry & the Remains, with the James Montgomery Band. In addition to performing, Montgomery is serving as musical director for the evening’s festivities. Charlie “Master Blaster” Daniels, original concert emcee at the legendary Boston Tea Party, which stood on the location of the House of Blues, will host the event. The concert will also include light shows from Ken Brown, who oversaw the “psychedelic cinema” films that were a staple at the Tea Party. Portions of the evening’s festivities are being filmed for possible inclusion in the film. “The cultural revolution the station fostered continues to live on in the hearts and minds of those of us who experienced the ‘BCN phenomenon firsthand during the late 60s and early 70s,” says James Montgomery. “Who would have guessed when the station played its first song, ‘I Feel Free’ by Cream, that ‘BCN would become a uniting force of the counterculture that would be felt throughout the nation?” Material from The American Revolution, which tells the story of WBCN and Boston’s underground music, political, and media scene of the era, will be screened throughout the evening, along with photos and video footage from the 100,000+ pieces of archival material that have been shared by the public for the project. This unprecedented archival collection will be innovatively curated by the filmmakers as part of a program sponsored by the Tribeca Film Institute that will feature a comprehensive public online archive with audio, photos, film clips, walking tours of key local sites, and more. WBCN began broadcasting as a free-form station at 104.1 FM in Boston on March 15, 1968 and soon became a powerful and groundbreaking media platform for a young generation driven to challenge social and political norms. Alongside a rock soundtrack from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and others, announcers like Charles Laquidara, Peter Wolf, Maxanne Sartori, Danny Schechter, and J.J. Jackson both reflected and promoted the profound social, cultural, and political counterculture of the era that drove both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon from office and ended an unpopular war. “’BCN was a generational beachhead, an icon in the memories of everyone who was truly there,” says Lichtenstein, who was himself there: at age 14 in 1970, he became the youngest DJ in WCBN history. Known as the “Rock of Boston,” WBCN played a range of rock music styles until August 12, 2009. But for one night in December, WBCN will once again “rock Boston.” * * * To contact The American Revolution filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein, please call 617/682-3708 or email Bill@LCMedia.com. For media inquiries, contact Chris Kelly, Fifth House Public Relations, at 617/532-0574 or ckelly@fifthhousepr.com. Big News: Dec. 3 Benefit for |
 The American Revolution in Public Television Pipeline for broadcast in 2013. (Click for more.) |  "Film revives spirit of rebellious Boston radio," Current, the newspaper of public broadcasting. |
The American Revolution Public Digital Archives Being Developed in Association with
Tribeca Film Institute and Zeega.com
The American Revolution documentary and its unprecedented digital archive of over 100,000 photos and audio and film clips, which have been shared by the public for the production of the film, have been accepted as a project by the Tribeca Film Institute's "Tribeca Hacks Cambridge" program run jointly by TFI and Zeega, a web platform sponsored by the Knight Foundation that creates on-line geo-mapped audio and visual archives.
The interactive digital archives will launch in the Fall of 2012, along with the film. The archives, being developed with New Relic Media, will be viewable on computers and smartphones and will feature audio and video from the era. The digital archives will include two walking tours: one from Harvard Square to the Charles River, and the other from Kenmore Square to the Boston Common. See more at Zeega.org.
The interactive digital archives will launch in the Fall of 2012, along with the film. The archives, being developed with New Relic Media, will be viewable on computers and smartphones and will feature audio and video from the era. The digital archives will include two walking tours: one from Harvard Square to the Charles River, and the other from Kenmore Square to the Boston Common. See more at Zeega.org.
For any questions about the Dec. 3 benefit please
email us at KickstartWBCN@GMail.com
The earliest audio recordings that have been shared with us to date for "The American Revolution" come from Paul Lovell. They are cassettes of broadcasts from Brandeis radio station WBRS-FM, including the program "Sounds from the Underground" from February 29, 1968, two weeks before WBCN went on the air as a free-form station.
Click here to listen to WBRS-FM's "Sounds from the Underground." (2/29/68)
Current, the newspaper of public broadcasting, covered "The American Revolution": "Film Revives Spirit of Rebellious Boston Radio"
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, which started at Harvard Law School and now involves various departments at Harvard University, will be providing assistance to "The American Revolution." They join our advisers Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, from American University, forming a pre-eminent team expert in documentary film rights and fair use. Thanks to all of them.
WBCN Report on Senator George McGovern's Visit To Boston During 1972 Presidential Campaign
10/21/2012
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News report from Danny Schechter, WBCN's "News Dissector" on the visit of Senator George McGovern to Boston during the 1972 presidential campaign. The story includes coverage of the October 3rd visit, and an interview with Rolling Stone's Tim Crouse, who would go on to write "The Boys on the Bus," the book about the press coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign.
Click here to listen to report.
For John Lennon's birthday, here's three audio selections from the archives of "The American Revolution," the documentary film about the early days of WBCN and the story of "how a radio station, politics and rock and roll changed everything."
First, WBCN's News Dissector, Danny Schechter, interviews John and Yoko Ono on June 3, 1973, at the International Feminist Planning conference, at Lesley College, in Cambridge, where Yoko had been invited to perform. John & Yoko gave a taped interview to WBCN's News Dissector, which made headlines internationally after John said that living with Yoko had given him a grasp of the the feminist movement, and even led him to help with the cooking. Second, is a rare tape of "Give Peace a Chance," and finally, "Genius is Pain," bleeped for radio, the satire of Lennon by the National Lampoon, featuring the words from a John Lennon interview as sung by Tony Hendra, who played Spinal Tap manager Ian Faith. (Contains expletives.)
Listen to John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Danny Schechter and more
Click here to listen:
The Making of "The
American Revolution"
.
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