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Charlie Chaplin dans le 21ème siècle (VII) |
Fellow Performers: Part I
Musician-Lynyrd Skynyrd's Michael Cartellone
This month will begin three months of my
interviews with fellow performers. The first
is Michael Cartellone. I became acquainted
with Michael initially from the newsletters,
or maybe it was my website, I can't remember.
But we emailed back and forth for a couple
of years about various little pieces of
Chaplin information. He mentioned to me
that he's been an admirer of Charlie's since
his childhood, which I always find fascinating.
Then this year, Michael offered me tickets
and backstage passes to a Skynyrd concert
near to me and so my man Hank and I happily
accepted the offer. The visit backstage
with Michael was outstanding. He is a very
gregarious, down-to-earth sort of individual
and we couldn't have felt more welcome.
And, since Michael is from Cleveland, Ohio,
his mother, father, sister and family and
brother all attended the show and we got
to visit with everyone during that incredible
hour backstage. Michael's father let loose
of some candid stories about Michael and
his boyhood Charlie devotion. Great stuff!
Anyway, after enjoying an amazing concert
from the fourth row and watching all the
acrobatics involved in playing the drums,
I think I understand it all now. I'm very
interested in the special sort of affinity
some performers seem to have with Charlie,
and so let's allow to Michael get started
telling us all about just that.
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Michael Cartellone is a multi-platinum
recording artist and drummer for the legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
His other recording and/or touring credits include: Damn Yankees, Peter Frampton, John Fogerty, Cher, and Freddie Mercury.
Michael is also an accomplished painter and has exhibited in Art Galleries from New York to Los Angeles.
You can view his Artwork at www.michaelcartellone.com.
How did you initially become
interested in Charlie Chaplin's work
and why do you think you've stayed interested
for so long?
When I was 15 years old, I saw The Gold
Rush in a film history class in school.
I loved everything about it. I can vividly
remember my first glimpse of Charlie,
shuffling across that glacier with the
bear following him. How could you not
laugh out loud? Also, it was my introduction
to someone using pathos so brilliantly,
as he did throughout his career. Shortly
afterward, I discovered PBS was airing
the First National and Mutual shorts
on television. I remember how much I
would look forward to those and my lifelong
admiration was cemented. The more I
studied Charlie's work, the more connected
I felt to it and what he was trying
to say. His films actually improved
my sense of humor, made me look at life
a little differently and I believe,
helped make me a better person. I've
read other people's accounts of their
introduction to Charlie and have seen
that I'm not alone in these sentiments.
He really knew how to reach the everyman.
Charlie's films have never lost this
impact on me.
Unlike some of the other
Chaplin admirers that I've interviewed,
you have a special connection with him
because of your musical talents. How would
you say you relate to Charlie as a fellow
musician?
Charlie's acting is visually very rhythmic.
I noticed that on my first viewing of
The Gold Rush, with "The Dance of the
Rolls." Being a drummer, I actually hear
and feel a pulse when I watch that scene
in the silent form. His movements have
been compared to a ballet dancer and I
believe this is because of his natural
musical sensitivity. As you know, he wasn't
a trained musician, which underscores
the fact that he had this ability within.
He wrote beautiful, haunting melodies
for his films, which I love and find myself
humming often. His use of flowing bass
lines, which were dark and moody, were
also ahead of their time. I even hear
some of Charlie's musical influence popping
up in contemporary music. For example,
Phillip Glass recently composed the soundtrack
to a film called The Illusionist- which
I find very Chaplin-esque, musically.
John Barry also made sure to evoke Charlie's
musical spirit, when he composed the soundtrack
for Richard Attenborough's beautiful film.
Of course, this tipping of the hat is
the biggest musical tribute of all.
In addition to your admiration
of Charlie's creative work, I know that
you are also a collector of Chaplin
memorabilia. Can you talk about your
collection and maybe focus on one or
two of its most important items and
how you came by them? Why do you think
you collect (how did you get started)?
Like others, I started collecting all
the films and books I could find, perhaps,
to feel physically connected to Charlie
in some way and to learn more about him.
In 1984 on a whim, I wrote a letter to
Oona Chaplin and was happily shocked to
receive an answer. I have alovely return
letter (which included a photo she took
of Charlie on the set of A Countess from
Hong Kong) framed in my home. Also, from
an auction house in Greenwich, Connecticut
a few years ago, I purchased a Chaplin
bamboo cane. Charlie had given the cane
to actress Gloria Swanson on the City Lights set.
In 1977, she had given it to a famous
New York City radio personality, Joe
Franklin. He auctioned it about thirty
years later to me. I met Joe at a movie
screening in NY recently and introduced
myself. He was happy the cane found
a good home and made sure to impress
upon me that I should never sell it-
needless to say, I don't plan to. Honestly,
you'd be hard pressed to find a more
important Hollywood relic than Charlie
Chaplin's cane. I couldn't be more proud
to own it.
I understand you are also a painter
and as such, working on a painting that
Charlie is in. Can you talk about your
choice of Charlie as such a subject?
I had an idea to paint my heroes sharing
a moment together: Charlie, Harry Houdini
and my father. Being fascinated with
the 1920's and loving my adopted home
of New York City, I combined all of
the above in a photo realistic black
and white painting. Consequently, the
painting shows the three of them, sitting
on a bench (my Dad between Charlie and
Houdini) in a busy street scene, sharing
a laugh- it's very Norman Rockwell-esque.
Charlie is wearing a cap, casual suit
and tie and is not made up in his Tramp
persona. He is aged about 40, as are
Houdini and my Dad, so they appear to
be contemporaries. Actually, Charlie
and Houdini did meet in Hollywood once
and took a photo together, which you
may have seen. It was fun painting Charlie
in this context, but only the studied
Chaplin fan would recognize him. I did
this purposely- so it was about the
men themselves and what they mean to
me- not their public personas. This
is easily the most personal painting
I've ever done.
If you had
the chance to meet and talk with Charlie
today, what would you discuss-what would
you want to know?
This is a great question, Lisa. I've
often wondered this myself. I recall
Charlie being in a few dreams of mine
actually, but I seem to remember being
awestruck. Anyway, those who know me
would tell you that I've never been
one to start political conversations.
But, I would be curious to talk with
him about what he went through with
the "Communist Witch Hunt" part of his
life and being barred re-entry to the
United States. It was such an unfortunate
thing that someone like Charlie who
had brought so much happiness to people
for so many years was forced to endure.
I think he may like to express those
feelings and would appreciate that someone
would ask. As impressive as that may
seem, I probably couldn't resist following
that thought provoking question, with
asking how he filmed the lion cage scene
in The Circus (which I try to figure
out every time I watch it). It would
also be fun, just reliving some of his
fond memories of the early Hollywood
Pioneer days as well. Of course, I would
like to think I could make a meaningful
impression upon him. I don't know if
I could, honestly. The one thing I would
surely do is thank him for everything
he gave to us.
It is interesting
to me that Charlie seems to have so
many rock 'n roll connections. His nephew
was Jefferson Airplane's drummer Spencer
Dryden, who just died recently, and
he's been immortalized in songs such
as Lou Reed's "City Lights" and more
recently J-Five's "Modern Times." Do
you think this is a coincidence, or
do you see some deeper connection between
the non-conformist or anti-authoritarian
personae that many rockers embody and,
possibly, similar attributes possessed
by Charlie's Little Tramp character-or
maybe some other connection?
Well, the Little Tramp (and for that
matter, the real Charlie) had an anti-authoritarian
quality that most rockers have, which
is an interesting connection now that
you mention it. However, I can tell
you another rock connection to Charlie
that I experienced first hand. His studio
lot in Hollywood at one point was the
home of A&M Records (now of course,
the Jim Hensen/Muppets Company owns
the lot). A&M built a state of the art
recording studio on the grounds (where
the studio swimming pool used to be)
and I had the good fortune to record
there a few times. The first time, I
made sure to explore every inch of the
place. Knowing the original layout,
it was fun to discover that some buildings
(and their contents) remained completely
untouched. The carpenter's workshop
still had ancient tools, for example
(although now I've seen them side by
side with Miss Piggy heads, which was
bizarre). I've been back to the lot
many times and have seen more and more:
the film developing lab and it's storage
vault directly below, the main soundstage
(where I'm a little ashamed to admit
playing catch with a football), Charlie's
personal office/dressing room and on
the last visit, the screening room (restored
to its original splendor). I have to
say though, the memory I cherish most
was from my first visit, when I walked
in Charlie's footprints in the cement
sidewalk.
I can't even put into words
what that experience was like. For those
of you who don't know: when the studio
was first built, Charlie put on his
Tramp shoes and shuffled through wet
cement. He then wrote his name in the
last section where his feet had come
to a stop. The comedian Red Skelton,
who later owned the lot, took this piece
of the sidewalk when he sold the studio.
I would have done the same thing. Even
now, I still find it very surreal visiting
the lot and maybe it's me, but you can
feel Charlie's presence.
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