CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, August 07

R Running Time: 74 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Scott Crawford’s film throws viewers back to the days of rock and roll being unpredictable, wild, and outrageous.

  • Opens eyes to the impact Creem Magazine had on not just its devoted readers, but the music industry itself.

  • Great stories and anecdotes from numerous writers, editors, and contributors illuminates the careening, chaotic atmosphere which surrounded a publication which survived almost in spite of itself.

NO

  • Music journalism stories may simply not appeal to you, nor would learning about a magazine that pushed the envelope as provocatively as Creem did.

  • Slick, conventional and almost counter-intuitive to the nature and temperament of its subject matter.

  • Can a film be too long and too short at the same time?


OUR REVIEW

If “rock and roll” is truly dead, then new documentary CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine documents a tumultuous, raucous two-decade period where the publication positioned itself directly in the crosshairs of capturing the genre’s chaos and unpredictability. The brash, uncompromising publication not only pushed boundaries and envelopes in a free-wheeling and more carefree era, but Scott Crawford’s film also documents the unconventional leadership that led to the manic nature of the magazine, its content, and its presentation.

At 74 minutes, Crawford works through a narrative that somehow feels too long at times, and too short in others. The film is full however of anecdotes, stories and first-hand accounts from writers, editors, and contributors with boots-on-the-ground knowledge of the wild world of CREEM.

Born in 1969 in Detroit, its offices existing above a record store and far away from the music scenes of Los Angeles and New York City, the magazine developed a contrast to Rolling Stone, which at the time was positioning itself as the preeminent music and culture publication in the country. After an upheaval early on between the founders, Barry Kramer and Tony Reay, upstart 19-year-old Dave Marsh was named editor of the magazine, replacing Reay and a love-hate relationship soon developed between Marsh and Kramer throughout the 1970s and their tenure working together.

On the pages of CREEM, the content largely targeted teenage boys and young men, while also providing a wealth of opportunity for female journalists. The content - full of articles, reviews, and interviews - featured scantily clad women and female musicians, provocative advertisements, and phrases like “Creem in Your Jeans,” all regularly making print.

The magazine’s famous logo, Boy Howdy!, was created by underground comic artist R. Crumb, who traded the artwork for money he needed for medical procedures he could not afford. The smiling bottle character became synonymous with the CREEM name and was worn on T-shirts by musicians far and wide.

For the female writers, many of which are featured in the film, opportunity was created alongside a certain exploitation, which admittedly those same writers largely shrug off. Wayne Kramer of the MC5 described CREEM as rock and roll’s social media, before social media was ever a thing. Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers talks effusively about the influence and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam describe buying CREEM as akin to scoring a Playboy if you were a teenager.

Lester Bangs’ arrival, after a stint at Rolling Stone, was a jolt of electricity to the magazine. Bangs, young in age but cantankerous in spirit, was a blunt-force critic whose divisive reviews of new records and concert experiences and antagonizing interview style stood out in rock journalism.

As the magazine found its way, they moved headquarters, and people worked around the clock. Relationships developed and people drank, drugged, and wore themselves out. They were renegades, making the rules up as they went along.

Crawford paints this picture well. The magazine was a place where people loved the work, not always the people they worked with. However, in the 1970s, in the throes of rock and roll, and many living an excessive, consumptive lifestyle, the intoxication of being in that environment was too sweet for many to pass up.

CREEM survived the 1970s and weathered the untimely deaths of Bangs and Kramer in the early 1980s for a little while. Kramer’s widow, Connie, kept the magazine alive, before selling it in 1984. CREEM would eventually shutter its doors in 1989.

During these scant 74 minutes, the film is missing a deeper dive on the legacy and cultural impact of the magazine. Questions abound: Is it fair to simply time capsule the publication to those 20 years of existence? How influential was the magazine overall? And did Barry and Connie’s son, J.J., really become Chairman of the Board at the age of 4, when Barry died? (Spoiler: He did!).

In a capsule review of the film, Rolling Stone referred to the film as “an incredible primer,” and calling the film a primer seems accurate. Though the film could have added more depth and context to CREEM’s cultural impact on mainstream pop culture, not just inside the world of rock and roll, CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Magazine is a fun, quick watch, which may have you looking online for old issues, reading some Lester Bangs, and building some really awesome playlists.

CAST & CREW

Documentary Featuring: Dave Marsh, Jaan Uhelszki, Connie Kramer, J.J. Kramer, Jeff Ament, Cameron Crowe, Alice Cooper, Jeff Daniels, Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett, Wayne Kramer, Thurston Moore, Chad Smith, Michael Stipe, Peter Wolf, Lester Bangs, Barry Kramer (archival footage).

Director: Scott Crawford
Written by: Scott Crawford, Jaan Uhelszki
Release Date: August 7, 2020
Greenwich Entertainment