I bought a used DVD of this on eBay. I had heard of the Holy Modal Rounders but was not familiar with their music. Robert Christgau, a great writer about music, is a big admirer of theirs so I thought I would give the film a chance. The Rounders started in the early 1960s but most of the film takes place between 2000 and 2003. The music has been called psychedelic folk.
Here is the trailer and the entire film. I don’t normally post entire films but IMDB doesn’t show it streaming anywhere and the DVD is out of print.
I recommend the film. It certainly is honest and one of the two main performers, the late Steve Weber, doesn’t usually come across well. His behavior, to put it kindly, is erratic.
Peter Stampfel, who is still around, seems much more reasonable.
There are lots of performance clips and interviews with folks such as Christgau and Dave Van Ronk. Sam Shepard, who was in the band for several years, is also interviewed. There is even a clip of their appearance on Laugh-In.
Sad! 