Over the years, decades probably, I’ve watched and enjoyed a lot of documentaries. I have a particular fondness for music and cinema documentaries; I love peeping behind the curtains to see how a scene was shot, a band was formed, a track laid down…that sort of thing. Obviously I have much more interest in bands/music/films that I know and like, but I will take a look at anything really. It’s fair to say that my tastes are fairly catholic.
I have to admit, though, that Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story took me completely by surprise. Based purely on the title, I first thought it was an examination of some sort of religious organisation. Then I read the press release and saw that it was a music documentary. Again, just from the title, I thought it was about Soul music. No problem. I enjoy Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, et al. I actually saw The Drifters live last year.
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Give Me A Word
True to form I was wrong again…story of my life! It turns out that Collective Soul is the name of a band. Sorry, but I’ve never heard of them! Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story is the story of a rock band from the southeast of the USA. Stockbridge, Georgia to be precise. Also, furthering my sense of embarrassment, they have been around for quite a while. They got together in 1992 and had their first hit single Shine the following year.
As is often the case, Collective Soul came about due to other bands failing, falling apart or falling out. Eventually circumstances combined to bring the various elements together to allow the lightning to turn up in Ed Roland’s bottle. Some of those elements were Dean, his brother, Will, the owner’s son from the studio Ed worked at, and past members of other bands Ed had played with. Off they went to make their first record.
Give Me A Sign
Let’s ignore the fact that I hadn’t a clue about Collective Soul and their output and just concentrate on the film as any other documentary. It was entertaining and informative. There are also times when things get very emotional. Let’s be honest, all of us have had some times when things haven’t gone our way or we’ve lost people who were close to us. When these times are brought back to the front of your mind, possibly for the first time in decades, it can be upsetting.
And those feelings are on show. Admittedly I’m not doing justice to Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story because it came to me as a total unknown entity. But even so it was interesting enough, enlightening enough, and entertaining enough to keep me paying attention. A real Collective Soul fan will love it! Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story gets a digital release on 7th July 2025 courtesy of Miracle Media.
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