James Dean Garage Band
Based on a short story by Rick Moody (author of The Ice Storm), The James Dean Garage Band is a fictional account of the day the legendary screen idol died in a car crash on a California Highway, his departure to the afterlife and his ten-day rock ‘n roll journey in between.
Synopsis
What if you were supposed to die in a head-on car crash, but by some miracle walked away from it? And what if you were the soon-to-be cinema legend, James Dean?
The James Dean Garage Band follows the young actor as he stumbles off from the deadly wreck that cut short his life on September 30, 1955, and wanders down a deserted rural highway towards the town of Lost Hills, California. Hours later, he's taken in by two teenage boys, WALLACE and COLE OWENS, who live in a small clapboard house with their widowed mother, ALICE. The boys have never heard of Dean, but are enthralled with the raw new sound of rock 'n roll and are trying to put together a band of their own. When they hear Dean pound out the conga rhythms he’s in the habit of playing, they think they’ve found their drummer.
Dean has his own ideas, however. He tries to recover his car and head back to LA, but is frustrated in his attempt by an enigmatic mechanic, PETE ANGELO, who runs the garage and country store in town. It's Angelo who makes the self-absorbed actor realize there’s a purpose to his reprieve from death, which he has only 10 days to discover.
Meanwhile, the fledgling garage band gets a gig playing country-western at a local barn dance. Dean, however, refuses to perform with them unless they play rock ‘n roll. At a time when rock is being denounced and even banned because of its raucous beat and sexually suggestive lyrics, the boys are reluctant to cause trouble. Prodded by their new mentor, they take the stage rockin’. The teenagers respond wildly, but an overzealous local moralist pulls the plug on the band.
Dean, the rebel without a cause, sees this as a sign that this is what he's meant to do with his remaining time. With his gift for projecting alienation and attitude, Dean is a natural. When the band plays a second gig in a Bakersfield honky-tonk, he takes over as lead singer for Cole, who gets cold-cocked by an angry redneck for playing "negro music".
Conflicts between the two brothers, however, threaten to tear the band apart. Wallace sees music as a way out of Lost Hills, while Cole feels obligated to work in the oil fields like his deceased father did. When the band takes on a feisty young female singer, ROCKET, to sing the slow songs that Cole, as a rockabilly devotee, refuses to perform, both boys fall for her, leading to an open confrontation. Dean's task becomes not only to keep the band together, but to give them the confidence to continue on without him. Just before he's called to meet his destiny by Angelo, Dean sets up a final gig for the band at L.A.'s legendary Palomino Club that will determine their musical future and reveal the true purpose of Dean’s 10-day reprieve.
The James Dean Garage Band re-imagines the death of Dean as a pivotal event in the birth of rock 'n roll, and features some of the great early rock 'n roll songs, including "Good Rockin' Tonight", “My Gal Is Red Hot” and "Shake, Rattle and Roll", as well as Dean’s self-penned farewell song, “Ghost On The Highway”.