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The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music NerdsAuthor: The Vinyl Guide
Nate is a record collector, music lover and vinyl maniac. Join him on his journey to discuss, share and review all things related to vinyl records. We feature stories about and interviews with musicians, artists and people of knowledge in the area of vinyl records. Additionally we share information on desirable pressings of records, how to tell a 5 pressing from a 500 pressing and care and maintenance for your cratedigging hobby. Subscribe and share with your record-nerd friends. Cheers! Language: en Genres: Music, Music History, Music Interviews Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep542: Music Documentary Producer Jeanne Elfant Festa
Episode 542
Thursday, 2 April, 2026
Documentary producer & record collector Jeanne Elfant Festa has made films about The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Pavarotti, Bee Gees and more. Today she discusses her latest movie on Billy Preston — revealing rare archive footage, Olivia Harrison's key role, and Eric Clapton's emotional on-camera tribute and a lot more. Check outtrailer and documentary screenings here Topics Include: Jeanne lost her entire vinyl collection in the Palisades fire. Her family and animals all escaped the fire safely. A custom-built, mathematically designed sound room housed the collection. Rebuilding takes time — the turntable alone hasn't been replaced yet. Music passion began with her Brooklyn-raised parents' rich jazz collection. Her dad snuck into the Apollo Theater via the fire escape. He carried a saxophone, jamming with musicians at the loading dock. The family soundtrack: Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker. Jeanne and her dad bonded over Bruce Springsteen's sax player. Her father did house calls exclusively for one patient — Miles Davis. Storytelling instincts came from parents who loved plays, movies, and performance. Her own record collection ranged from Rage Against the Machine to Supertramp. Vinyl's tactile magic: liner notes, textures, and each album's unique smell. Albums are movies — side one plays straight through, no skipping. Documentary filmmaking is passion-driven, not a path to big money. The Foo Fighters doc came from being in the right place. Business partner Nigel Sinclair's credits include Bob Dylan and George Harrison docs. Billy Preston first entered her life through her parents' living room stereo. Filming subjects who've passed requires diaries, archives, and extraordinary research teams. A granddaughter's undeveloped home movies transformed the Beach Boys documentary entirely. A stranger's undeveloped Beatles footage, found under a childhood bed, changed everything. Olivia Harrison unlocked archive footage and connected the team to Ringo and Clapton. Eric Clapton opened up in a way rarely seen on camera. Documentary ethics: three sources minimum, no gossip, no stunt casting ever. The Billy Preston film explores forgiveness, contradiction, and the full human condition. Extended and High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide Apple: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-ios Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-spot Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-amazon Support the show at Patreon.com/VinylGuide
