Philly Music!
A FINE TRIBUTE
It's rare to see tribute songs. But that's what's on Philly band Vesuvian's 2023 album "More Treble". The song is "Best Supporting Actress", which is a story about Lee Grant, who was targeted and blacklisted by Joseph McCarthy's House Unamerican Activities Committee, dashing her hopes to win the best supporting actress academy award. Last week I went to Century to see Vesuvian do a show.
On their Bandcamp site, Joey DeGrado, who is the mastermind of Vesuvian. said, as they were putting together the album, They say write what you know, so I wrote an album about rock singers, actresses, horror movies, and the ancient Mediterranean.. And the album shows he does a good job in all those areas.
"Best Supporting Actress" traces Lee Grant's life as she encountered HUAC and how she afterwards withstood years of unemployment and hardship.
"Life lived on the margins
Trying to stay the course
That kinda thing would kill most of us"
Trying to stay the course
That kinda thing would kill most of us"
In the end she worked her way back, and, in 1975 did win Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Shampoo".
She expanded her career beyond acting to do documentaries, and in 1986 won Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for "Down and Out in America". She's said to be the only person who has ever won both those academy awards.
"Best Supporting Actress" is a comprehensive and caring tribute.
Here are the song's complete lyrics along with the rest of the band's music ::: "Best Supporting Actress" lyrics - Vesuvian Bandcamp page (CLICK HERE). It looks like Bandcamp is Vesuvian's main online presence.
An oddball night. While I did go to Century to see Vesuvian's show, I did wind up missing them (personal scheduling complications).
(pic is from band's Bandcamp page)
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