Rating: Summary: exelent Review: vol. #1 #2 i would say are some of the greatest blues dvd's i have seen once i started watching them i could'nt get of the couch to even get a drink! the sound and picture quality for the time are exelent a must have set.
Rating: Summary: An epiphany! Review: Well, okay...but it is revelatory to finally be able to see men like T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) performing live, even if it's only on TV.
This DVD includes 18 excellent black-and-white recordings, most of them taped in a small studio (although a few are "real" concert footage). Otis Rush is here, doing his first and biggest hit, "I Can't Quit You Baby", in front of a solely white (and quite formally dressed) audience. John Lee Hooker does a gritty solo "Hobo Blues" solely for the benefit of the camera. Pianist Eddie Boyd plays his classic "Five Long Years" (a great performance, marred only by his own awful solo). "Mississippi" Fred McDowell (from Tennessee) plays a great acoustic "Going Down To The River". And Lonnie Johnson, then in his mid-60s, does a soulful "Another Night To Cry", introduced by the towering Aleck "Rice" Miller, whose performance of "Nine Below Zero" is another highlight.
Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working" is a bit more subdued than you might have expected, and he doesn't play his guitar, but it's great nevertheless, and Rice Miller on harmonica is an added bonus. And speaking of harpists...Junior Wells performs a slow "Hoodoo Man Blues", and Big Walter Horton is here, too, doing a tremendous swinging instrumental. And Sippie Wallace's spirited and supremely confident performance of "Women Be Wise" is a wonderful thowback to the 20s when brassy female blues belters were the order of the day.
The glossy 22-page booklet is well illustrated, well written, and very informative, and the DVD is worth its weight in gold. Keep 'em coming!
Rating: Summary: ¿The Blues¿ is the news. All blues, all good, all the time! Review: While "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues" is sure to whet many an appetite and with its attendant 20 CDs, 5 CD box set, and 7 DVD box set I hope fans don't overlook the "The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966" DVDs.Let your eyes in on the fun your ears have been having. Not in color you say? I say write Ted Turner. Can you imagine Ansel Adams or The Three Stooges 'colorized'? The picture and sound quality is more than fine. The equipment used was state-of-the-art when these performances were recorded. Our recording technology has improved, but today's videos are the leaves to the to the roots you'll find on these AFBF discs. We're fortunate to have such great archival footage of these legends. As wonderful as they are to hear, seeing them is a really sweet. The bonus tracks truly are. Watch Earl Hooker and see things that Hendrix and Stevie Ray came to do in later years. Each DVD contains over an hour of music for your viewing and listening pleasure, as well as photo galleries. The liner notes are well written, detailed, and informative. A thousand "we're not worthy"s to Reelin' In The Years Productions, Experience Hendrix, and Hip-O Records for collaborating to get these to us (they all have websites ~ visit them!). There's more AFBF to come. I wait with worms on my tongue.
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