R&R Hall of Fame DVD Box include Eddie singing for the Doors
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Box set marks 25 years of rock Hall of Fame
KEVIN O'HARE; STAFF
Sunday Republican (Springfield)
18 October 2009
The Republican (Springfield, MA)
ALL
G01
COLUMN: PLAYBACK
Various Artists, "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live" (Time Life - DVD). 4 (Four) stars.
If you've ever had the pleasure of going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, you may have spotted some of the high-quality film clips shown there from the various induction ceremonies held through the years.
The films have never previously been commercially available, but the situation is, at last, getting resolved thanks to this massive nine-DVD box set being released in conjunction with the hall's 25th anniversary.
For $119.96, it is available for purchase exclusively online at either www.RockHallDVDs.com or www.TimeLife.com. In what's being termed as a "recession-friendly" move, a trimmed-down, three DVD version will be available in stores at a suggested retail price of $39.95.
The material on the nine-DVD package is frequently astounding, occasionally sloppy, but mostly jaw-dropping thanks to a steady stream of superstars performing their classics, often with some surprising guest stars. The pack age includes 125 performances featuring Rock Hall of Famers ranging from Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen to James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, Bonnie Raitt and dozens and dozens more. An additional 54 complete Hall of Fame induction speeches are included as bonus material, as well as rehearsal footage.
Here's the biggest problem with the box: It's not chronological. For some bizarre reason, the producers elected to present this box thematically with each disc titled individually, for example "Whole Lotta Shakin'" or "Light My Fire." But that also means that when you play the DVDs - which cover 1986 to 2009 - you frequently can be watching as decades bounce back and forth and some of the same players look young in one clip then ancient in the next while the audio and visual quality jumps around in similar fashion. It's awkward, it's uncalled for and it's disappointing for a box of this magnitude.
But if you love rock history, you've still got to have this.
The ceremonies have evolved through the years. In the beginning, these were not necessarily envisioned for massive public consumption and the musical performances were actually just very loose jams at the end of the ceremonies, which have usually taken place at New York's Waldorf Astoria. As the years have gone on, for various reasons, the jams - which sometimes got massively disorganized - have been tabled in favor of more structured performances. The video and audio quality has gotten a lot better through the years, too.
But the spontaneity of those early jams led to some amazing collaborations, especially in the early years. For example, the Beatles were inducted in the 1988 ceremony and Disc 1 starts with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen and many more playing "I Saw Her Standing There." Not a bad band.
Here's just a smattering of some of the many other highlights from the 125 performances: Santana playing "Black Magic Woman" with the song's writer Peter Green in 1998; a very young Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam filling in for the late Jim Morrison and teaming with the Doors on several powerhouse cuts in 1993; Prince playing a staggering guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in an ensemble that included Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and others; Jagger and Tina Turner doing a duet on "Honky Tonk Woman" in 1989; U2 and Springsteen playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" together in 2005; Aretha Franklin singing a sensational tribute to Ahmet Ertegun in 2007; Cream's historic 1993 reunion, their first time playing together in 25 years; a guitar-heaven blast through "The Train Kept-a-Rollin" with Beck, Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Joe Perry, Flea and Metallica in 2009; Johnny Cash's "Big River" from 1992; and Bonnie Raitt joined by Melissa Etheridge and Bruce Hornsby on John Hiatt's "Thing Called Love" in 2000.
And that's just a fraction of the story.
It's all topped off with Disc 9 which features portions of the 1995 live concert for the Hall of Fame in Cleveland, with performances by The Kinks, Fogerty (with Booker T and the MGs), James Brown and a brilliant take of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," courtesy of Al Green.
One could quibble at length about all that's not here, and the performers who have played these events but apparently are nowhere to be seen on DVD, whether due to royalty issues, ego issues - or perhaps because their reunions were just musically disappointing, like in the case of the great Lovin' Spoonful debacle. But there's plenty enough to keep you or your favorite rock lover locked into the TV for hours and hours and hours. Now if they had only put the shows in the correct running order, it would have been very close to perfect.
Box set marks 25 years of rock Hall of Fame
KEVIN O'HARE; STAFF
Sunday Republican (Springfield)
18 October 2009
The Republican (Springfield, MA)
ALL
G01
COLUMN: PLAYBACK
Various Artists, "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live" (Time Life - DVD). 4 (Four) stars.
If you've ever had the pleasure of going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, you may have spotted some of the high-quality film clips shown there from the various induction ceremonies held through the years.
The films have never previously been commercially available, but the situation is, at last, getting resolved thanks to this massive nine-DVD box set being released in conjunction with the hall's 25th anniversary.
For $119.96, it is available for purchase exclusively online at either www.RockHallDVDs.com or www.TimeLife.com. In what's being termed as a "recession-friendly" move, a trimmed-down, three DVD version will be available in stores at a suggested retail price of $39.95.
The material on the nine-DVD package is frequently astounding, occasionally sloppy, but mostly jaw-dropping thanks to a steady stream of superstars performing their classics, often with some surprising guest stars. The pack age includes 125 performances featuring Rock Hall of Famers ranging from Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen to James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, Bonnie Raitt and dozens and dozens more. An additional 54 complete Hall of Fame induction speeches are included as bonus material, as well as rehearsal footage.
Here's the biggest problem with the box: It's not chronological. For some bizarre reason, the producers elected to present this box thematically with each disc titled individually, for example "Whole Lotta Shakin'" or "Light My Fire." But that also means that when you play the DVDs - which cover 1986 to 2009 - you frequently can be watching as decades bounce back and forth and some of the same players look young in one clip then ancient in the next while the audio and visual quality jumps around in similar fashion. It's awkward, it's uncalled for and it's disappointing for a box of this magnitude.
But if you love rock history, you've still got to have this.
The ceremonies have evolved through the years. In the beginning, these were not necessarily envisioned for massive public consumption and the musical performances were actually just very loose jams at the end of the ceremonies, which have usually taken place at New York's Waldorf Astoria. As the years have gone on, for various reasons, the jams - which sometimes got massively disorganized - have been tabled in favor of more structured performances. The video and audio quality has gotten a lot better through the years, too.
But the spontaneity of those early jams led to some amazing collaborations, especially in the early years. For example, the Beatles were inducted in the 1988 ceremony and Disc 1 starts with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen and many more playing "I Saw Her Standing There." Not a bad band.
Here's just a smattering of some of the many other highlights from the 125 performances: Santana playing "Black Magic Woman" with the song's writer Peter Green in 1998; a very young Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam filling in for the late Jim Morrison and teaming with the Doors on several powerhouse cuts in 1993; Prince playing a staggering guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in an ensemble that included Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and others; Jagger and Tina Turner doing a duet on "Honky Tonk Woman" in 1989; U2 and Springsteen playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" together in 2005; Aretha Franklin singing a sensational tribute to Ahmet Ertegun in 2007; Cream's historic 1993 reunion, their first time playing together in 25 years; a guitar-heaven blast through "The Train Kept-a-Rollin" with Beck, Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Joe Perry, Flea and Metallica in 2009; Johnny Cash's "Big River" from 1992; and Bonnie Raitt joined by Melissa Etheridge and Bruce Hornsby on John Hiatt's "Thing Called Love" in 2000.
And that's just a fraction of the story.
It's all topped off with Disc 9 which features portions of the 1995 live concert for the Hall of Fame in Cleveland, with performances by The Kinks, Fogerty (with Booker T and the MGs), James Brown and a brilliant take of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," courtesy of Al Green.
One could quibble at length about all that's not here, and the performers who have played these events but apparently are nowhere to be seen on DVD, whether due to royalty issues, ego issues - or perhaps because their reunions were just musically disappointing, like in the case of the great Lovin' Spoonful debacle. But there's plenty enough to keep you or your favorite rock lover locked into the TV for hours and hours and hours. Now if they had only put the shows in the correct running order, it would have been very close to perfect.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
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