Stephens,Duren came to the attentionof none other than
AndrewLoog Oldham,one-timemanagerof The Rolling
Stones,who took the youngartist under his wing. With the
additionalsupportof Jon Tiven,a musician,writer and bud-
ding impresario,Durenmovedto Connecticut,wherehe re-
cordedthe 1977 albumAreYouSerious?and its follow-up,
1980’sIdiotOptimism, which would sadly not be released
for two decades.
As many of the intervieweesfeaturedinWaitingmake
clear, the hype aroundDurenat the time was significant–
althoughcomparisonswith Paul McCartneywere perhaps
a little hyperbolic(and, by the late 1970s,arguablynot even
desirable).AreYouSerious?revealsan artist of consider-
able songwritinggifts, with echoesof Todd Rundgren,
JacksonBrowneand those oft-malignedgroupsfrom the
1970swhoseso-calledmiddle-of-the-roadsoundbelied
originalityand musicalsophistication,such as Chicagoor
Bread.Duren’sbest musicis certainlyup there with these
luminaries.And the questionunderpinningWaitingis that
of why this artist, seeminglywith the world at his feet, ab-
ruptly disappearedfrom view to become a mere footnote
in rock’n’rollhistory.
One day in early 2016, Jackson– a Sydneymusician- came acrossDuren’smusic via his Twitterfeed. He imme-
diatelysharedit with Carey,his friend and a band manager,
and the two becameso smittenwithAreYouSerious?that
they decidedon the spot to make this documentary– writ-
ing, producingand directingdespitehavingnofilmmaking
experiencewhatsoever.The two men jumpedat the pros-
pect of this ambitiousodysseynot only due to a love of
Duren’smusic,but also becausethey were both at low
ebbs at the time; betweenthem, they were enduringa
failed marriage,businessupheavaland a brokenleg. We
know all this becausethe story of Jacksonand Carey’s
journeyis just as importanttoWaitingas Durenhimself.
The film is a combinationof the hallmarksof musicdocu-
mentary(interviews,photos,old stock footage,the music
itself) and a seriesof video diariesby Jacksonand Carey
as they make preparationsin Sydneyand then traversethe
UnitedStatesconductingdozensof interviewswith people
who were connectedto Duren over the decades.Speaking
to-camerain these snippets,the pair confesstheir fears for
the project(whichwas entirelyself-funded),celebratetheir
victoriesand offer a runningcommentaryon their travels
in the name of this forgottenartist, whomthey eventually
meet in Memphisfor their final interview.
‘We never set out to be in the film,’ says Carey.‘We were
documentingthe makingof it for us privately,and also to
maybeuse for socialmediacontentor a DVD release.It
was kind of an accidentwe were in it.’ Indeed,the deci-
sion to includethe privatevideoswas made after the film’s
third producer,JonathanSequeira(who wrote and directed
the 2017 documentaryDescentintotheMaelstrom, about
Australianband RadioBirdman),urgedthem to use this
materialas the spine of the film. Granted,these to-camera
messageswere never intendedto be part of the completed
product,but these sectionsdo sometimesveer towards
clichésand slightlyvapid commentary– and there are only
so many high fives and bro hugs the viewercan take. Yet,
on the whole,Jacksonand Careyintegratingthemselves
into the story in this way workswell; they are, as Carey
puts it, ‘shootingfrom the hip’ in an unwittingexercisein
gonzo journalism. It brings an intimacy and relatability to
this quest to uncoverthe truth about Duren,the two friends
displayingan enthusiasmthat any vinyl crate–diggerwould
understand.It also producessome of the film’s stand-out
moments,includingthe duo meetingDurenfor the first
time; trackingdown the only vinyl copy ofAreYouSerious?
in Australiaat a Melbournevintagestore; and procuringthe
originalmastertapes for Duren’s recordings, for which he
had lost the copyright.
Of the interviewsthat Jacksonand Careysecure,the
biggestcoupsare arguablyStephensand Oldham,who
admitshe has no memoryof workingwith Duren due to his
alcoholismat the time. But it is Tiven, who producedDuren
and was one of his biggestchampions,who drivesthe nar-
rative;it is largelythroughhim that we discover why Duren
never achievedlastingfame.
In partnershipwith the controversial,eccentricman-
ager and producerThomas‘Doc’ Cavalier,Tiven oversaw
the small label Big Sound– whichsignedDuren– and
its studioTrod Nosselin New Haven,Connecticut.After
helpingDurenrecordAreYouSerious?and embarkingon
IdiotOptimism, Tiven beganto noticeseriouscracksin the
enterpriseand suspectedthat Cavalierwas, in his words,
‘screwingall of [them]’.Furthermore,and mostdispiritingly
for Duren,Cavalierwas approachedby a major label look-
ing to sign the singer,only for him to refuseunlessthe
label took Big Sound’sentire artist roster rather than Duren
alone.Castinga shadowover all of this was the Churchof
Scientology,to whichCavalier(who died in 2005) adhered,
and whichattemptedto recruitnew membersfrom the stu-
dio and label – Duren and Tiven included.Tiven revealsthat
he escapedthis toxic scene as soon as he could,but Duren
stoicallystayedon to completeIdiotOptimism. Furtherrup-
tures with Cavalierensuredthat the albumwas not released
until a tiny Japaneselabel put it out in 1999 – and, worse,
Cavalier(alongwith his estate)and Trod Nosselheld the
rights to Duren’smusicduringall these years.
As Jacksonand Carey explainin one of theirvideo-diary
entries,they seizedon the issue of the ownershipof Duren’s
songsas an importantthreadinWaiting, and,in astunning
gesture,the pair promiseDurenthey wouldfind a way to
returnthe song rights to him – in part so they could use
his musicin the film. Thoughit doesn’thappenon cam-
era, a visit to Trod Nosselin the presentday leads to an
aggressivebrush-offand even a restrainingorder against
Jackson.The sour taste left by the studionever really lifts
withinWaiting, but Jacksonand Careydo end up securing
the all-importantmastertapes and song rights for Duren–
even if we are completelyin the dark as to how and through
whom,due to a non-disclosureagreementthe pair signed.
This omissionis unavoidable,given the legal restrictions
on Jacksonand Carey,but there are other holes inWaiting
that might have been addressed.In particular,it unfortu-
nately does not really offer in-depthanalysesof Duren’sac-
tual music,his songwritingprocessor the formationof his
artisticself. These,as the aforementionedfilm about Gene
Clark demonstrates,can be amongthe most fascinating
and inspiringingredientsin a musicdocumentary.Aside
from a brief mentionof how Durenwas affectedby seeing
The BeatlesonTheEdSullivanShowin 1964, there is little
insightofferedas to how the musiciangravitatedto his
particularstyle, how he wrote his most celebratedsongs
(such as ‘GrowYourselfUp’ and, my particularfavourite,
‘Andy, Please’) or his creative choices in the studio. Given98 • Metro Magazine 201 | © ATOM