Comprehensive information and links about A Mighty Wind

A Mighty Wind is a 2003 mockumentary about a folk music reunion concert and the three groups that must come together to perform on national television for the first time in years. The film was directed (and co-written) by prolific "mockumentarian" Christopher Guest. The title probably alludes to the folk standards covered by many singers of the early 60's.

The film was inspired by a the 1982 documentary film for this film—Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Paul Dooley, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Rachael Harris, Don Lake, Jane Lynch, Larry Miller, Jim Piddock, and Parker Posey are just a few of the actors who are returning to do their second, third, or even fourth film with Guest.

One of the songs from the movie, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, and was performed at the 76th Academy Awards by Levy and O'Hara (in character). The song was written by McKean with his wife, actress Annette O'Toole.

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After the death of an influential folk music producer (Irving Steinbloom), his children organize a reunion concert for the three most successful groups he ever worked with, in order to pay tribute to Irving's life. "The Folksmen", "The New Main Street Singers", and "Mitch Mickey" all have their own issues with getting prepared for the concert. The New Main Street Singers are mostly new to the genre (being a reincarnation of the original Main Street Singers) and have a manager with a painfully bad sense of humor attempting to organize their antics. The Folksmen see the concert as an opportunity for a comeback, and while they express contempt for folk groups that have compromised the integrity of the genre for commercial success—an issue that comes to a head when a miscommunication about the concert playlist is discovered—they must find ways to engage a new generation of fans and accommodate a band member's unexpected life shift. Mitch and Mickey haven't spoken since a traumatic break-up decades before—now Mitch is a barely coherent emotional wreck, Mickey has married a model train enthusiast, and neither of them has played music in years. For these three groups to perform successfully on national public television, live, from New York City's Town Hall, will require a miracle of immense proportions.

The Folksmen

The Folksmen are a trio consisting of Mark Shubb (bass vocals and upright bass, played by Harry Shearer), Alan Barrows (tenor vocals, guitar, and five-string banjo, played by Christopher Guest), and Jerry Palter (baritone vocals, guitar, and mandolin, played by Michael McKean). They appear to represent a parody of Peter, Paul and Mary, The Weavers, or The Kingston Trio. According to the film, the Folksmen released six albums on the Folktown Records label: , which broke with the tradition of using only acoustic instruments and single-word titles without final g's. Their biggest hit, "Old Joe's Place," reached position 17 in the charts. The appearance of The Folksmen in A Mighty Wind was not their first reunion performance. Before , The Folksmen appeared on the 3rd November 1984 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by McKean, which saw an earlier reunion of The Folksmen and the performance of "Old Joe's Place". In 2001, the band "reunited" as the opening act for Spinal Tap's "Back from the Dead Tour". Old Joe's Place: their only hit song. Contains silly lyrics, such as a puppy in the parlor and a skillet on the stove. The Folksmen even sang the song on SNL.Never Did No Wanderin': describes, in amusing detail, how the singer has never traveled anywhere. Covered by the New Main Street Singers.Barnyard Symphony: a child-like song about a farmer and his animals. Contained audience participation.

The nine pastel-clad "New Main Street Singers" are patterned after The New Seekers, The New Christy Minstrels and The Rooftop Singers. Writers Levy and Guest's initial outline for the film had this neuftet singing in unison as a musical joke.

That idea was dropped and John Michael Higgins's intricate vocal arrangements were used instead. In the film, the original Main Street Singers had released such albums as (featuring "Fare Away"), before breaking up in 1971.

The New Main Street Singers were formed by George Menschell (Paul Dooley), the sole survivor of the original Main Street Singers. They are managed by the obnoxious Mike LaFontaine (Fred Willard), whose fifteen minutes of fame came by way of the failed TV program "Wha' Happen'?" which lasted less than one season during the 1970s. The new group is centered around Terry Bohner (John Michael Higgins) and his wife Laurie Bohner (Jane Lynch). Laurie is a former adult film star (something Terry is oblivious to) and is the co-founder, together with her husband, of Witches in Nature's Colors (WINC), a group of modern-day witches that worships the power of color.

Songs:

autoharp, played by Catherine O'Hara) may represent a number of folk music duets, including Ian and Sylvia, Richard and Mimi Fariña, or perhaps Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. In the fictional reality of the film, they released seven albums together: (which contains the song "One More Time" and whose cover looks suspiciously like that of Meet the Beatles!), (featuring the song of the same title). The font used for the group's name is the same font that folk group Peter Paul Mary used and the covers for "Together Forever" and "Live at Folk Place" have references to PPM album covers. After their breakup, Mitch went on to record three poorly received solo albums: A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow: their 1966 hit, which in reality was nominated for an Academy Award.

All three folk groups, along with the audience, sang "A Mighty Wind" together. This was the finale of the concert.

Trivia

In an interview done during the film's publicity, Annette O'Toole stated that many of the songs were written when - in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks - plane groundings meant she and husband Michael McKean had to drive from their home in Los Angeles to Vancouver, where O'Toole's show