Wet Willie makes musical cameo in 'Country Strong' | al.com
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Wet Willie makes musical cameo in 'Country
Strong'
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Published: Thursday, January 06, 2011, 6:23 AM
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By Lawrence F. Specker, Press-Register
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So, this famous country singer fresh out
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of rehab shows up at a biker joint, her
personal demons apparently still
untamed, and the next thing you know,
she’s standing on the bar belting out a
Wet Willie tune.
It’s a true story, sort of. The troubled
star isn’t real, but the event is a
significant scene in the movie “Country
Strong,” which opens nationwide on
Friday.
It’s a major, heavily promoted release,
with plenty of star power: Gwyneth
Gwyneth Paltrow plays a troubled country music star in
"Country Strong." (Scott Garfield/Screen Gems)
Paltrow plays troubled star Kelly Canter,
country music heavyweight Tim McGraw plays her husband and Garrett Hedlund portrays a
songwriter with a close relationship to Canter. Leighton Meester rounds out the principal cast as a
rising country starlet.
That means the movie’s use of the 1974 hit “Keep on Smilin’” could perk up some interest in a
Mobile-born band that enjoyed national attention as part of that decade’s Southern rock movement.
For the band, it’s an unexpected bonus. So unexpected, in fact, that lead singer Jimmy Hall first
learned of it when he bumped into a friend in a Nashville-area Home Depot.
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The friend sometimes works as an extra in movies. In this case, Hall said, he’d appeared as a biker
in the bar scene.
“He said, ‘Hey, did you know your song is in this new movie? And I said, ‘No, I did not.’ He said, ‘I’m
in a scene with Gwyneth Paltrow and she’s singing your song.’”
Hall said such arrangements can easily happen without a songwriter’s knowledge; in this case, his
publishing company wasn’t obligated to check with him before licensing the song.
But having lived and worked in Nashville for decades, where his duties include managing Hank
Williams Jr.’s road band, he has a few connections. They led him to Randall Poster, who worked as
music supervisor on “Country Strong.”
“He’s a sweetheart,” Hall said. “He’s a great guy.”
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Poster’s skill at matching film and music is reflected in an extensive and eclectic list of credits. A few
of the many movies he’s selected tunes for are “Velvet Goldmine,” “Revolutionary Road,” “I’m Not
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There,” “School of Rock,” “The Aviator,” “The Darjeeling Limited” and “The Hangover.” He also
supervised the music in the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”
http://blog.al.com/entertainment-press-register/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html
Page 1 of 7
Wet Willie makes musical cameo in 'Country Strong' | al.com
12/10/12 10:37 PM
Hall said Poster told him, via e-mail, that he’d been waiting for years for the right chance to use
“Keep On Smilin’.” Poster confirmed that in an interview with the Press-Register.
“I’m a longtime lover of music, and over the course of time there are certain songs that I love, that I
sort of keep locked away in a safe, just waiting for the right moment or movie, or scene in a movie,
to use,” he said. “And I have to say that ‘Keep on Smilin” was just one that I have just always
adored, and just felt like it would be perfect to re-introduce to the world in a movie.”
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He added that such choices are “always a collaboration” with others, mainly the director.
Hall said the filmmakers had certainly listened to the lyrics, which include the passage, “You’re just
hanging out/ in a local bar/ and you’re wonderin’/ who the hell you are ...” That seems to accurately
reflect what’s going on in Canter’s life at the time, he said.
Poster said he was drawn to the song in part because of “the spirit of it, which lets you transcend the
ordinary and sort of find a joy in the moment. The joy in life, it kind of spoke perfectly to it.
“It was really just a chance for me to take one of my jewels out of the safe and give it a little bit of a
platform,” he said. “So it was a real thrill to be able to use it.”
The movie is all about country music, and “Keep On Smilin’” isn’t a country song. But Poster said the
tune fits both the needs of the scene and the “Southern character” of the story.
“I think what’s enduring about this song is its spirit, and the fact is that it still has a freshness to it,”
he said. “It hasn’t been completely over-used in other things.”
Whether you’re familiar with the song or not, he said, “it’s a great moment.”
That’s music to Hall’s ears, of course. He initially had the impression that Paltrow sang the song solo.
But when he attended a Nashville preview last month, he saw that she actually sings along to a
blasting jukebox.
“So you get to hear my voice, which is cool,” he said.
Hall said he though the movie was “pretty good.” McGraw acquits himself well as an actor, he said,
and while playing a Southern country singer might be a stretch for Paltrow, she delves strongly into
the dark side of playing “a screw-up and a drunk” in the midst of a breakdown.
If there’s a downside, it’s that “Keep on Smilin’” didn’t make the “Country Strong” soundtrack album.
That collection is somewhat unusual in that it features the movie’s stars singing most of its tracks.
But Hall said the use of the song should still bring a little “mailbox money” — royalties — to its
writers. And if it also brings a little notoriety, well, that’s just fine with Poster too.
“Wet Willie is due for a broader re-emergence,” the music supervisor said, “so I hope it happens.”
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BroncDrywall (http://connect.al.com/user/BroncDrywall/index.html)
No, pop music is played on country stations now. Not rock and roll.
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January 6, 2011, 10:59:26 PM EST (http://blog.al.com/entertainment-pressregister/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html/post/2011-0107/13726897.html)
Reply
Juan (http://connect.al.com/user/pleased2/index.html)
The best version of "Keep on Smilin'" I ever heard was by Mike Webber, of the band
Revolver at Norms on Greensprings one dark and stormy night.
(http://al.com/)
January 6, 2011, 7:05:54 PM EST (http://blog.al.com/entertainment-pressregister/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html/post/2011-0107/13724059.html)
Reply
bamva55 (http://connect.al.com/user/bamva55/index.html)
that is so true hoozat. even George JOnes said they should call their music
somethign else these days cause it shore aint country!
(http:
//con WEt Willie lives on and Jimmmy Hall is the best blues singer around STILL !
nect.
al.co By the way, did you see Gyneth tryign to sing a country song on the music awards?
m/us pitiful..
http://blog.al.com/entertainment-press-register/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html
Page 3 of 7
Wet Willie makes musical cameo in 'Country Strong' | al.com
12/10/12 10:37 PM
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January 6, 2011, 5:07:57 PM EST (http://blog.al.com/entertainment-pressregister/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html/post/2011-0106/13722478.html)
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PrettyToney (http://connect.al.com/user/hooperphish/index.html)
could not agree more. also, if you like wet willie, you should check out Sealevel.
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January 6, 2011, 2:53:14 PM EST (http://blog.al.com/entertainment-pressregister/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html/post/2011-0106/13720219.html)
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Hoozat (http://connect.al.com/user/Hoozat/index.html)
"The movie is all about country music, and 'Keep On Smilin’ isn’t a country song."
Understandable, since country music is pretty much dead and rock 'n roll is played on
country stations now.
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January 6, 2011, 10:43:36 AM EST (http://blog.al.com/entertainment-pressregister/2011/01/wet_willie_makes_musical_cameo.html/post/2011-0106/13715716.html)
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