It's Trad, Dad!

I never heard of this movie until seeing it tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Who would have thought that Trad meant Dixieland Jazz in Britain? This movie is full of excellent jazz performances but the American rock and roll artists seem out of place. Most of their careers, like Gene Vincent, were on the decline in the US. Chubby Checkers' was on the rise due to the twist craze.

This was the first time I've seen Helen Shapiro though I've heard of her in conjunction with the Beatles. Lovely girl, I never would have guessed that she was only 15 when this was filmed. Luckily I was able to find out more on her web site.

Too bad this movie isn't out on tape or DVD. If it's broadcast again, I'll record it.

This was the first effort of British director Richard Lester (credited here as "Dick Lester") and it's an enjoyable-enough museum piece that tries to cash in on the fleeting popularity of Dixieland jazz among British teeners. To hedge his bets, Lester brought in a few American rock n' roll hold-overs -- Gary U.S. Bonds, Chubby Checker and Del Shannon. Their presence gives the movie a decidedly uneven feel, but there's a great deal of energy at work, and everybody seems to be having a good time.

The movie is a bit like "A Hard Day's Night" in its unrelentingly goofy sense of humor, and in how a very skeletal plot is used to string together a series of unrelated musical numbers.

By the following year, the Beatles had swept all these acts into the unemployment line, but this is a great example of the British rock n' roll movie of the antedeluvian era.

An early Amicus production (before they became Hammer's chief rival making horror films) cramming 25 songs into 73 minutes, which provides a vivid record of that long ago era when pop stars still wore suits and brought together for the first time the director and cameraman of 'A Hard Day's Night'.

Ironically it's all that nonstop trad jazz that eventually proves a bit wearying but like even the humblest production of the early sixties (let alone one shot by the man who a year later would be cameraman on 'Dr Strangelove'), seen today it has enormous period charm and looks great.

I did actually visit the cinema in my home town of Coventry and viewed. its trad dad as a new movie. i did enjoy it at the time and would really like to see it again . i hope my memories will not be dashed but if any person could supply me with a copy and cost ,i would appreciate it very much. if i do manage to have a current viewing i will then update my report. regards mick

When this movie was released the Beatles had just cut their first single and the director would make his next one with them. Its like a British answer to Rock Rock Rock and quite amazing when you realise how many of these artists had or would have links to the Beatles. Craig Douglas for example could claim he'd once been backed by the Beatles while Helen Shapiro,Sounds Inc,Del Shannon and the Brook Brothers would be on Beatles packages. Its wrong to assume the American acts would be on the "unemployment line" as Bobby Vee and Del Shannon carried on with hits through the 60s-the latter cutting the first U S version of a Lennon/McCartney song. And Chubby Checker hit again in the 70s in the UK with the chart topping reissue of Lets twist again. The music which gave the movie its name-trad jazz-was a craze the same as skiffle and really a watered down version of the original New Orleans jazz but Barber,Bilk & Ball all had massive hit singles in the States. As for the story its like a lot of the original U S rock'n'roll opportunist films-absurd on purpose yet the objections about what was really being planned as an open air festival WAS something which occurred in the 60s-remember the Beatles on the Apple roof? This was a long way down from the situation nowadays when you have the Concert In The Park. Still why would anyone object to trad jazz-it was supposed to be the music of the older generation-even in the 60s jazz was the domain of scholars the same as Beatles music is nowadays. What goes around comes around