Once again, a flood of new DVD releases have made their way onto store shelves and into the review pile. While not quite as overwhelming in terms of sheer quantity as their CD counterparts, they provide an impressive influx nonetheless.
One trend that continues unabated is the combined packaging of CDs and DVDs, making one or the other an added “bonus.� Two of the best examples of this “duo disc� approach arrive via the Legacy retrospectives for the Byrds (There Is A Season) and Bruce Hornsby (Intersections 1985 – 2005). While the CD portions of these sumptuous box sets do the usual thorough job of unearthing rarities alongside obvious hits and album tracks, it’s the DVD quotient that adds the intrigue. The Byrds set provides a number of archival performances from the band’s earliest days (“Mr. Tambourine Man,� “Turn Turn Turn,� “Please Let Me Love You�) and proceeds along a chronological tangent that brings them into their psychedelic stretch (“Eight Miles High,� Mr. Spaceman�). Despite the primitive aspects of the early black & white footage and the cheesy effects that accompany “Eight Miles High,� it’s a fascinating glimpse back at five musicians who altered and influenced the course of American rock ‘n’ roll. Of special interest is the reprise of “Mr. Tambourine Man� by the band circa ‘67, sans Gene Clark, obviously savvier in their outlook and approach.
The Hornsby disc also provides a bounty of rare performances, both in terms of early videos (“The Way It Is,� “The Valley Road� et. al.) and various collaborations with the likes of Robbie Robertson, the Grateful Dead, Pat Metheny, Bonnie Raitt, and even Roger Waters (via an extraordinary 1991 concert performance of “Comfortably Numb�). Hornsby’s had a remarkably prolific career and even those who have had only casual encounters with his work will find it hard to remain unfazed after glimpsing this extensive recap of some of those more eclectic outings.
Son Volt enters the DVD fray with 6 String Belief, an exhausting 31-song set recorded in September 2005 at a club called the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina. The disc finds erstwhile leader Jay Farrar leading a revamped Son Volt through a collection of the band’s staples, with the emphasis on tracks taken from their comeback of sorts, Okemah And The Melody Of Riot, a set that boasted an obvious anti-war venom. Here, the music is delivered with an earnest if somewhat perfunctory alt-county effectiveness. The new Son Volt seems most effective in the club’s intimate environs, but after awhile the sameness in sound blurs the distinction of one song from another. The bonus interview with Farrar adds perspective while reinforcing the fact that this is definitely one for diehard devotees.
JJ Cale gets the DVD documentary treatment with To Tulsa & Back: On Tour With J.J. Cale, and is, as its title implies, a travelogue of sorts that finds the enigmatic singer/songwriter venturing back to his Oklahoma environs via story and song. Cale, now 65, comes across as a grizzled though unassuming good old boy, and his own recollections and those of his friends and colleagues – Eric Clapton among them – affirm that notion. Cale’s visit to his boyhood home provides a poignant embrace, as does the vintage footage that help retrace his roots, but the music remains remarkably laidback and unpretentious. Cale’s influence on Clapton and Mark Knopfler has always been evident but actually witnessing the normally reclusive performer talk about his early days while performing his staples is nothing less than a revelation. A duet between Cale and a beaming Clapton on “After Midnight� at a Crossroads benefit is, in itself, more than worth the cost of admission.
An emerging series of concert DVDs, the Definitive Montreux Collection courtesy of Eagle Eye Media, adds several intriguing titles, mostly by artists rarely seen in live performance. For starters, there’s the remarkable double disc set from Irish blues great Rory Gallagher, a brilliant guitarist who initially gained fame with the power trio Taste in the late ‘60s and thereafter settled into cult status as a solo performer. While Gallagher never really reaped any “hits� per se, his genial presence and firebrand virtuosity made him a singular presence. This set tracks his performances at Montreux over the course of 20 years, beginning in the mid ‘70s and through to a 1994 set recorded only a year before his tragic death due to complications from a liver transplant in 1994. By then, the beaming, vibrant denim-clad, checked shirt visage of the youthful Rory had become an older, slightly bloated figure, but his playing remained, thankfully, as impassioned as ever. That’s evidenced throughout, but especially in a stirring medley that incorporates “Amazing Grace,� “Blue Moon Of Kentucky� and “Walking Blues� while featuring an unlikely assist from Bela Fleck on banjo.
Michael Oldfield Live at Montreux 1981 provides a rarely seen stage view of the man best known for the studio wizardry and one-man extrapolation of “Tubular Bells.� Here, Oldfield fleshes out his tour-de-force with a full band and vocalist Maggie Reilly, while also delivering other opus compositions such as “QE2� and “Ommadawn,� before capping his set with his good-humored rebuke to the punk generation, the sprightly “Punkadiddle.� Oldfield’s more a multi-instrumental virtuoso than flashy showman and consequently, this disc offers little in the way of flashy pyrotechnics or, for that matter, even much in the way of personality. Nevertheless, the performances are dazzling throughout and consistently compelling.
On the other hand, Alice Cooper has crafted a career on stage spectacle and his DVD/CD set, recorded just last year in Montreux, revisits the trademark lunacy and mayhem that’s made the Cooper character so enduring for the past 37 years or so. Fans already know what to expect from dear old Alice, and true to form, the show is a spectacle that includes all his trademark tools – guillotine, straitjackets and all manner of garish devices. As the liner notes point out, this is hardly the sort of thing would expect to find at a hallowed jazz venue like Montreux, but Alice’s theatrics have, like it or not, made him something of an institution. Thus, Alice rolls out the hits, from standards such as “No More Mr. Nice Guy,� “Billion Dollar Babies,� “I’m Eighteen� and School’s Out� to similarly intentioned recent fare like “Dirty Diamonds,� culled from his recent and surprisingly well-received album of the same name. Despite his age and attempts at respectability, Alice’s shtick remains entertaining in a campy sort of way, and though he’s hardly the menacing shock rocker he once was, his show still provides a curious albeit somewhat, guilty pleasure.
Alice isn’t the only old-time trouper resurrected at Montreux. Deep Purple get the spotlight for a pair of performances, recorded in 1996 and 2000. This is the rarely-seen newer incarnation of the Purple progression (line-up numbers seven and eight!) but the standard-bearers are still keeping company – vocalist Ian Gillian, drummer Ian Paice, keyboard player Jon Lord and bassist Roger Glover, along with more recent recruit, guitar ace Steve Morse. And while they show their age in a physical sense – two guys wearing bandanas suggest they’ve folically challenged while someone should tell Gillian NOT to wear sleeveless shirts – the old Purple perspective is as sonically astute as ever. Aside from rocking retreads of “Fireball,� Speed King� and “Woman From Tokyo,� the band bring back “Smoke On The Water,� the song that originated with a fiery incident at… Montreux. FYI, for those unfamiliar with the song’s saga, Gillian offers a recap by way of a special bonus bite.
Finally, two new entries from a pair of successful series made a bow recently. A 1981 Kris Kristofferson appearance from the “Austin City Limits� program is one of the latest additions to New West’s wonderful Live From Austin, Texas collection. As with previous volumes, it doesn’t include any bells and whistles; it’s a basic 16-song set running just short of an hour. However, it’s a well-stocked set at that, featuring an ample array of Kristofferson’s best known material, including “Help Me Make It Through The Night,� “Me And Bobby McGee,� “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)� and “Sunday Morning Coming Down.� Kristofferson himself is in fine form, still the young and dapper ladies man adept at turning a tune with his rough-hewn vocal and down-home style.
Also of note, a new addition to the Under Review series of documentaries, focusing on Morrissey and his mates, otherwise known as the Smiths. While some have decried the Under Review titles as little more than a bunch of talking heads offering critical analysis, the inclusion of rare footage and classic performances – in this case, “This Charming Man,� “How Soon Is Now,� “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now� and “Hand In Glove� among others – only serve to enhance those insights. It’s safe to say that Smiths aficionados will find it fascinating.
Lee Zimmerman
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