The Return of Courtney Love | |
---|---|
Written by | Will Yapp |
Directed by | Will Yapp |
Starring | Courtney Love, Linda Perry, Billy Corgan, Carrie Fisher |
Narrated by | Will Yapp |
Music by | Courtney Love |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Will Yapp, Juliet Rice |
Cinematography | Simon Fanthorpe |
Editor | Liz Rowe |
Running time | 46 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | More4 |
Release | 26 September 2006 |
The Return of Courtney Love [1] is a 2006 documentary film by Will Yapp documenting the progression of musician Courtney Love's second studio album, How Dirty Girls Get Clean, as well as her recovery from drug addiction. The documentary was first broadcast on More4 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 26 September 2006. [2]
The documentary begins with director Will Yapp arriving at Courtney Love's rented home in Beverly Hills, California in March 2006 to find her chanting with friends in her living room — a routine, as Love practices Nichiren Buddhism. Love goes on to explain her religious and spiritual experiences.
The next focus of the documentary is Love's ill-fated 2004 solo debut, America's Sweetheart . Co-writer and partial producer, Linda Perry — also a friend of Love's — explains the circumstances surrounding the album's recording, citing Love's drug abuse as the reason for the album's ruin. As well as this, Perry and Love's friend Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins state that the reason for the album's critical and commercial failure was Love's public image, which at the time was plagued by constant court appearances and an infamous appearance on Pamela Anderson's Comedy Roast . [3]
After Love's recent background is explained, the documentary focuses on the recording of her then-upcoming solo second album, How Dirty Girls Get Clean. As Love and her solo band perform a rehearsal version of the title track, Love explains the album's songs, calling them "all acerbic [...] none of them are tender love songs or very nice. They're all songs about disaster." Love also explains her motivation for the album. Later in the documentary, the focus again switches back to the recording of How Dirty Girls Get Clean with in-studio footage, as well as documenting the song-writing and production process with Linda Perry and Billy Corgan. After three weeks of recording, a fully produced version of "Sunset Marquis" is previewed.
The next segment of the documentary focuses on Love's late husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, their relationship, and his death. As well as showing never-before-seen private home footage, Love shows the coat that Cobain killed himself in, [4] becoming emotional and saying that "it freaks [her] out." Further explaining their relationship, a clip of Love performing "Pacific Coast Highway" — a song rumoured to be about Cobain — is shown. Further in the documentary, legal issues concerning Love's rights to Nirvana's back catalogue are highlighted, as well as Love's financial state.
Love's other non-musical projects are also showcased at one point in the documentary, specifically her book Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love . At this point, Love also explains her childhood and upbringing, referring to it as "Dickensian." Incidentally, Love's relationship with her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain is also explored. Love then visits her personal mentor, Carrie Fisher, and discuss methods for Love to avoid attention in British tabloids and Love's romantic history.
As the documentary ends, Love talks about her future ambitions and the release of the album.
The Return of Courtney Love's highlight is the music previewed throughout the documentary. Rehearsal clips, demo previews and in-studio recording footage showcase the progression of songs later released and provide a unique insight into Love's song-writing process.
Music featured in the documentary includes:
Four of the featured songs in the documentary appeared on Hole's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter , in 2010. Nobody's Daughter — which was the final product of Love's unreleased How Dirty Girls Get Clean — was originally due to be the reworked version of How Dirty Girls Get Clean, however, was rerecorded as a Hole album in 2009.
Though well-received with Love's fans, Tim Teeman of The Times criticised the documentary's content and director, noting that it "wasn't painful viewing for the reasons its subject intended [...] but for the cowed awe of Will Yapp, the film's writer, director and producer. It's one thing to ingratiate oneself with a subject to elicit their secrets, but this was something else. Yapp seemed to want to be Love's friend, not her inquisitor." [5]
Courtney Michelle Love is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989. Love has drawn public attention for her uninhibited live performances and confrontational lyrics, as well as her highly publicized personal life following her marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In 2020, NME named her one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years.
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establishment persona, his compositions widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was heralded as a spokesman of Generation X, and is widely recognized as one of the most influential rock musicians.
Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.
William Patrick Corgan Jr. is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan is credited with helping popularize the alt rock genre. He has also been the owner and promoter of the National Wrestling Alliance since 2017.
With the Lights Out is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The title comes from the lyrics of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the third track on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released by DGC Records in September 1993. It was one of two songs on In Utero remixed by Scott Litt prior to the album's release, due to the band's dissatisfaction with the original mixing by producer Steve Albini. The Litt remix also featured additional vocal harmonies and guitar by Cobain, which were the only elements on the album's 12 main tracks not recorded during the original sessions with Albini in February 1993.
"Rape Me" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.
"Something in the Way" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the 12th song on their second album, Nevermind, released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, although most copies of Nevermind also feature the hidden track "Endless, Nameless", which occupies the same track as "Something in the Way" and begins after approximately 10 minutes of silence.
"About a Girl" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third song on their debut album, Bleach, released in June 1989.
"Do Re Mi" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It first appeared on the band's rarities box set, With the Lights Out, released in November 2004. A second version appears on the deluxe edition of Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings, released in November 2015.
Ask for It is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside (1991). Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents were recorded by an earlier lineup of the band between 1991 and 1992. The EP comprises three songs by Hole as well as several cover versions of songs by the Wipers, Beat Happening, the Velvet Underground, and the Germs.
"Opinion" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. Never performed in concert and not confirmed to have been recorded in the studio, the song was initially survived only by a heavily-bootlegged solo acoustic version, recorded by Cobain during his appearance on the KAOS (FM) Boy Meets Girl radio show on September 25, 1990. In 2015, a brief clip of a second version, believed to be a demo, appeared in the Cobain documentary Montage of Heck, directed by Brett Morgan. The full clip of this version appeared online in April 2024.
"Beautiful Son" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, co-written by frontwoman Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson, and drummer Patty Schemel. The song was released as the band's fourth single in April 1993 on the European label City Slang. To coincide with the song's lyrics, Love used a photograph of her husband, Kurt Cobain, at age 7 as the single's artwork.
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour. It was also the first single to be released following the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in June 1994.
"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written in mid-1991, and was performed live between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's earlier tours, eventually appearing as the opening track on the band's second studio album Live Through This (1994). The song was released as the group's seventh single and the third from that album in early 1995.
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love's first solo record, America's Sweetheart (2004). At the urging of her friend and former producer Linda Perry, Love began writing material while in a lockdown rehabilitation center in 2005 following a protracted cocaine addiction and numerous related legal troubles. In 2006, Love, along with Perry and Billy Corgan, began recording the album, which at that time was tentatively titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean.
Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love is a memoir by the rock musician and actress Courtney Love, published by Faber & Faber in October 2006. It contains journal entries, letters, poetry, handwritten song lyrics, artwork, collages, school and juvenile hall entries, show fliers, photographs and notes.
"Samantha" is a song by the American alternative rock band Hole. It is the fifth track on the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter, released on Mercury Records on April 23, 2010. Written by vocalist Courtney Love, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and music producer Linda Perry, "Samantha" was originally planned as the album's lead single. "Skinny Little Bitch" was later released as the album's lead single on March 12, 2010, and "Samantha" did not receive a single release reputedly due to the controversy over its composition.
"Letter to God" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written solely by music producer Linda Perry. The song was released as the band's sixteenth single, and third and final single from their fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter, on April 20, 2010, as a digital download. The song was featured in the short animated film, Dark Night Of The Soul, directed by Michael Mouris. It is the last single released by the band.
"Old Age" is a song first released by the American rock band Hole, composed by Kurt Cobain of Nirvana with lyrics later written by Courtney Love. At the time of Hole's recording of the song, Love was married to Cobain.