Peter Case: A Million Miles Away (2023) DVD Review

It took me a while to learn that the music that I loved wasn’t necessarily known and appreciated by everyone else on the planet. That is, in fact, why I started this music blog, to let folks know about some of the great music that is out there, to get them interested. And that is also part of the point of the documentary film Peter Case: A Million Miles Away, to introduce folks to an artist that they really should have known about and loved already. Because, truly, once someone hears Peter Case, it is damn near impossible to not love him, and I would be suspicious of anyone who claimed otherwise. But this documentary does a whole lot more than simply make people aware of an extraordinary artist. It also functions as a source of inspiration, to keep at whatever it is you love, no matter the struggle, no matter the lows. And it reminds folks of the power of music to combat darkness, both personal and societal, something that is more and more important in this country.

As the film begins, there is footage of The Plimsouls performing their hit song “A Million Miles Away” in Los Angeles in 1982, then shifts to Peter Case performing at McCabe’s in Santa Monica in 2019. In between those two bits of footage is the question, “What happened?” David Geffen asked that of Peter Case, who then turned the question back at him: “You’re David Geffen, you tell me what happened.” And indeed, why didn’t The Plimsouls become more popular? “A Million Miles Away” was a hit, and the song was featured in the 1983 movie Valley Girl. And in fact you can see the band perform the song in the movie (and see the band’s name as the characters enter the club). So, what happened? The movie does get into that question a bit, but I suppose the more important question is what happened next, and that’s what this documentary really delves into. When The Plimsouls did not sell as many records as expected, what did Peter Case do next?

But first the movie goes back in time a bit to give some biographical information, with Peter Case briefly acting as tour guide in Hamburg, New York, where he grew up, and mentioning that his influences were blues musicians and poets like Allen Ginsberg and Robert Frost. He recounts the time when he hitchhiked to Boston and spent his last couple of dollars to see Lightnin’ Hopkins perform in Cambridge, a show that had a big impact on him, showing him just what a solo performer could do. The film then takes us to San Francisco, where he used to jam with people on the streets, like at Broadway and Columbus. The documentary features some great old footage of him in San Francisco. Peter Case says, “While other people my age were going to college to get a higher education, I was on the street, getting a lower education.” But he was also getting a more normal education at the City Lights book store, where he read as much as he could and sometimes slept. And it was in San Francisco that The Nerves were founded, this documentary including a good interview with Jack Lee, the band’s guitarist. About The Nerves, Peter Case says, “If The Nerves would have gotten along with each other, we probably could have taken over the world.” But, instead, Peter Case founded The Plimsouls.

After The Plimsouls, Peter Case went solo, and a whole new career began. He played a gig at McCabe’s, and then soon opened for Jackson Browne. The movie gets into the making of his Sings Like Hell and Full Service No Waiting albums, and then takes us to Boulevard Studios in 2019, where Lady Blackbird and Chris Pierce are recording “Two Angels,” a song that Peter Case wrote. About songwriting Peter says: “I really don’t know what I think about things or what I feel about things without writing a song about it. That’s why I write. It’s a way for me to, like, be alive and know myself and know what I think and know what the world is.” Earlier in the film, he says, “I think it’s a magical act, writing.” Peter Case is one hell of a fantastic songwriter.

In addition to interviews with Peter Case, this movie features interviews with Steve Earle, Victoria Williams, Denise Sullivan, John Lombardo, Jeff Davis, Greg Allen and Cheryl Pawelski (co-founders of Omnivore Recordings), Gary Calamar (who used to host a fantastic music series at The Federal Bar), Willie Aron, Ben Harper, Van Dyke Parks and many other folks. And of course the film contains plenty of great music. And toward the end, it does get into the current state of the music business, mentioning how streaming doesn’t generate revenue for the artists, and the changing ways people approach music, how in general folks don’t pore over the liner notes anymore. But I imagine the people who watch this documentary are the sort of folks who do still care about the information contained in liner notes, that do still listen to complete albums, that do still care about the artists. The kind of people who attend benefits for musicians, like the one for Peter Case when he had to have heart surgery and did not have insurance.  This documentary is for anyone for whom music is important, which is basically anyone who would care enough to read a music blog. It was directed by Fred Parnes, and released on DVD on June 13, 2023. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.