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Rating: 
Summary: Superb Soul!
Review: A fantastic movie with Big O. & The Double Dynamite.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Soul!
Review: A fantastic movie with Big O. & The Double Dynamite.
Rating:
Summary: THE GREAT OTIS REDDING!!
Review: ASIDE FROM THE QUALITY AND AGE OF THE FOOTAGE IN THIS FILM, IT IS GREAT. HOWEVER, IF YOU'RE A FAN OF OTIS REDDING, YOU WILL STILL ENJOY THIS DVD.
IT PAYS HOMAGE TO THE GREATEST SOUL SINGER OF ALL TIME!!
IT FEATURES PERFORMANCES BY OTIS REDDING, SAM AND DAVE AND BOOKER T. AND THE MGS.
THESE WERE ALL GREAT MUSICIANS WHO ALL TOURED TOGETHER AND THIS IS A GREAT DVD!!! ENJOY!!!
Rating:
Summary: Entertainment
Review: I see why my people (parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles) had such a great time in the 60's.
I watched this concert and became happy for them as well as myself!
One for the library.
Rating:
Summary: Can be watched many times over
Review: I'm a big Otis Redding fan. The Monteray Pop footage is excellent. The European tour footage is very bad visually but excellent vintage footage. I highly recommend it Otis Redding fans.
Rating:
Summary: Whew...
Review: There's a couple of issues with this DVD that the consumer should know about. First off, the programming of the disc itself is so bad that some lower quality DVD players will certainly have problems with it. (Case in point, my friend's cheap player wouldn't play it at all.)Next, it implies that the entire track listing is of Otis performing live, but two of the songs are Sam and Dave (Something is Wrong and Hold On I'm Coming), and one is of Booker T & The MGs doing Green Onions. And the 'Dock of the Bay' is just a photo montage played over the (admittedly different) second take of the song, from the 'Remember Me' album of outtakes and such. Obviously, Otis never performed that song live. I think they included it in the track listing because they were afraid people wouldn't buy the disc if it didn't have it. In my opinion, if you're a big Otis fan, you know that song was never performed, certainly have one or two versions of it already, and quite frankly will feel a little insulted at it's inclusion. I was. The last thing to consider is that while 'I've Been Loving You' is unquestionably the best song of the Monterey set, the other highlight, 'Try A Little Tenderness,' is also a montage. This is (for a change) no fault of the producers of the disc, as that's the footage available from Monterey. But it's kind of a drag to watch a bunch of shots of hippies making out and getting muddy while Otis is doing his second biggest hit. All that being said, it is, of course, footage of Otis playing live for the most part, and as such is worth owning. I still give it five stars, with the caveat that you should be ready for what you're getting.
Rating: 
Summary: The big O
Review: This DVD seems to be the only film on Otis Redding ( I've heard that through the BBC there also should be a very detailed VHS available). Unluckily not very much is said about his life and how he started in his music career which is imho relevant to his singing. The quality is "ok", too bad that they stuffed in Sam & Dave shows (wtf?) and that during "Try a little tenderness" you can't see him singing actually, only videocaps on people on the festival grounds. Many songs and details about Otis are not shown and I am still looking for a more documentary style video about Otis. Still for any Soul afficionados this is a definite buy.
Rating:
Summary: Soulsville U.S.A.
Review: This is great stuff. A must for any Stax Records fan and highly recommended to any music fan as an introduction to the sounds that came from Soulsville U.S.A. in Memphis, TN, in the '60s. Redding's legendary Monterey Pop performance is here, looking and sounding better than ever. His version of "Try a Little Tenderness" here may be the best example of the power of the Stax sound. With Stax house band Booker T. & the MGs doing what they did best, building climax upon climax until the whole thing explodes, Redding blew away the West Coast audience in the rain at One in the Morning. The only disappointment on this dvd comes during this song. Instead of getting to watch the MGs and Otis knock the song out, we see Mama Cass and dozens of hippies relaxing and grazing in the grass. It's really frustrating at first, but one begins to appreciate the message in the song. Treat your woman right. And it shows why John Phillips (of the Mamas and Papas) once said that Otis could have been an ambassador of good will to the world. Also from Monterey Pop, we get an unbelievably moving and powerful version of Redding's and Jerry Butler's "I've Been Loving You Too Long".
The dvd also includes footage from the now famous Stax tour of Europe in 1967. And this addition is what really makes this dvd such a great package. Not only does it have Otis doing his thing, but also "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" and "Hold On, I'm Coming!" by Sam and Dave, and Booker T. & the MGs playing their first and biggest hit "Green Onions". One of the real thrills of this dvd is watching the late, great Al Jackson, Jr. of the MGs. Never will you see a more cool and in control drummer. Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, who is amazing throughout, and the brilliant guitarist Steve Cropper grew up watching Jackson and talk of how they would go in to see him play with Willie Mitchell's band in Memphis. They would become "Mesmerized" by him. And it is hard to take your eyes off him, he's beautiful to watch.
So, that's it. You get taken to school by the tightest rhythm section ever, Booker T. & the MGs. You get taken to church by the superstar performance of Sam and Dave, and you get taken to heaven by the king of Soul himself, Otis Redding. The only let down is that, just like Redding's life and career, it's over far too early. But this fifty minutes of ecstasy must be seen and heard. It's the closest the world will ever again get to this level of greatness and showmanship.
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