SXSW Film: “Of All The Things”

by | Mar 9, 2008

There’s been a load of compromisin’
On the road to my horizon
But I’m gonna be where the lights are shinin’ on me

I started this year’s SXSW off at 11:00 am yesterday with the world debut of “Of All the Things,” a documentary film by Jody Lambert about his dad–singer-songwriter, producer and performer, Dennis Lambert. It’s a touching film about family, career, fame, perseverance, rebirth and of course, music.

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Dennis Lambert, who is the star and the subject of this film, is a legendary figure in pop music. He’s written over 600 songs, 75 of which have appeared on the Billboard top 100. Some of his instantly recognizable tunes include “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Baby Come Back,” “One Tin Soldier,” “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got)” and “We Built This City.”

Despite his immense success, there’s a scene in the film where Lambert says by the early 1990s the people he knew in the record business had been replaced by a new batch of execs, some who wanted to know who he was and if they should take his calls. That had to be humbling, to say the least. From there, Lambert moved on. He relocated from L.A. to Boca Raton, FL and got into real estate. Yet, he still had legions of fans. Many of whom, as it turns out, reside in the Philippines.

A promoter from the Philippines had been asking Lambert to tour the island nation for over a decade, but to no avail. Finally, in 2007, with prompting from his family, Lambert agreed to the tour. “Of All The Things” documents his historic journey and a return to his love for making music.

The rock doc will screens two more times this week, and hopefully will get picked up by a distributor, so Lambert fans, new and old, can enjoy it.

[MP3 Offering] “One Tin Soldier” performed by Coven

[UPDATE] Here’s a rough cut of my on-camera conversation with Jody and Dennis. And here’s the full text from the interview.