Anecdotal but nonetheless significant evidence suggests that the past couple of months have been an absurdly challenging-to-awful period for so many kind people near and far.
I won’t burden/bore everybody with the specifics but things have been very brutal on this particular front since April… For weeks now I’ve been experiencing waves of grief, shock, anger, fear and void-sadness, as well as startling moments of deep joy and gratitude. Just a bundle of super tender nerves, beauty striking as hard as pain.
All gates open, as they say.
Anyways. Thanks to paying subscribers and patrons for your patience while I’ve been preoccupied with treading these rough personal waters and maintaining the nonprofit day job, which has meant pushing Landline to the side. Time has passed, and for what it’s worth, we make a humble attempt at re-establishing the Landline current starting now…
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“At your local magic theater soon.” (Advertisement for The Natural Art)
Temperature’s too high? Fresh ocean/river/lake/swimming hole water too distant, too warm, too crowded? Give in, submit to reality, draw the curtains, crank the HVAC, pour yourself a cold one or three, fire up the roku on your home magic theater and… throw on some quality vintage psychedelic surf films.
I’d never seriously considered this strand of subcultural filmmaking until I saw Providence, RI lifer Xander Marro writing about it so fetchingly almost exactly a year ago on her fantastic Wild Goose Chase substack1…
…The other thing that first lured me towards surfing were the psychedelic surf films of the 60’s and 70’s, which hold their own in dialogue with experimental films of the era. In 2017 Harvard Film Archive curated a mini festival around some of the master works of this genre. It was called The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun: Psychedelic Surf Films 1966-1979, and I went up to Boston to catch a projection of Morning of the Earth being shown on 16mm. As far as experimental film goes, I’ve been a pretty heavy user over the years - not a scholar, but a practitioner and someone who worked for a while in a technical capacity in the field (at a motion picture lab). The vast majority of experimental films are not feature length, largely for reasons having to do with finance and distribution. So I was fairly blown away to learn that the sub-culture of surfing had built a robust feature film touring/distribution circuit from around 1965 to 1975 that supported a number of really long, totally plotless, mostly abstract, slow, and mind boggling beautiful films with equally killer soundtracks. …
“Really long, totally plotless, mostly abstract, slow, and mind boggling beautiful films with equally killer soundtracks”?? WHAT. Gimme.
Scher: Put these on the television and transform your world.
1. The Natural Art Probably the best one for non-surfers: mental editing effects, maximum freak-out features, radical rock ‘n’ roll footage and very heady soundtrack including Sandy Bull and much, much more.
2. The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun Innovative surfer George Greenough [see below] made this killer soundtrack-driven gem by the Farm…
3. The Californians This movie is a treasure, and it illustrates from a deep pocket how surfing in California evolved with the culture in the critical years of 1966-1972. Very classic footage (even some Sunset Strip night-life scenes), and informative as hell. Thanks, Mr. Jamie Budge. The transitional period from longboard to shortboard surfing has never been so well covered.
4. Bad Footage! Great contemporary longboard footage from the brothers Marshall. There’s some radical business on there. Soundtrack by Cass McCombs and a couple from yours truly.2
5. Morning Of The Earth Leave it to the magic Aussies of the early ’70s. There probably wouldn’t be a Tame Impala if there wasn’t a Morning Of The Earth. Wicked soundtrack, groundbreaking surfing, mad travel style.
Returning to Xander’s piece from last year, she (rightfully) gave particular attention to one film, and one particular fellow:
Even in just the cursory overview presented at the Harvard Film Archive, it becomes pretty clear that George Greenaugh sits at the center of this world. His work exudes a coolness that surpasses almost everything. An aloof visionary with a Ramones haircut in platinum blonde. Shoeless and shirtless, usually wearing pants covered with fiberglass resin from a prototype of something meant to float that he is working on.
George Greenaugh
The 1973 masterpiece Crystal Voyagerwas his story (though directed by David Elfick). When it came time to create the soundtrack Pink Floyd came to them to offer their services in exchange for permission to use some of the footage shot by Greenaugh “inside of the barrel” for their live shows. The modern surfboard fin is based on Greenaugh’s design. He hand crafted all of the waterproof housings for the camera gear that he used to shoot inside of a barreling wave for the very first time in Crystal Voyager. It weighed 28 pounds, and despite having a smaller frame, he figured out how to operate it while riding on a kneeboard. It seemed fairly obvious to me on first encounter with his films and the legends around him that if you are an artist/surfer, this is your guy, though I can imagine that engineers and tinkers of all kinds might feel the same.
Here is a youtube playlist featuring all the films mentioned above and a couple more — six full-lengths and two trailers/excerpts — that should help with any stubborn summertime blues. And if you have solid tips for other films of this nature, please reply to this email or comment using the button below…
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