Customer Reviews

Amy Winehouse: The Girl Done Good

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For Winehouse Fans - and for the curious

With Winehouse all over the tabloids due to her drug rehab problems and marital difficulties, the lady with lots of "attitude" and "big hair", plus one hell of a powerful voice has lots of US folks wondering about her life before the mega-hit album "Back To Black".

This late-2007 "analysis" of here career is the latest from the UK company Chrome Dreams in their "Under Review" series. Each of these features six or seven music journalists discussing specific albums from an artist, with video excerpts (I emphasize the word "excerpts") of the songs discussed.

Winehouse started her recording career in 2003 (with the UK album "Frank", which jazz vocal influenced (think Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington). Her next, and only other album was 2006's "Back to Black", which hit the US market in 2007.

With only two albums (both 180 degrees different from each other) in a five-year career, a full 80-minute analysis is a bit of overkill. And, unlike previous "Under Review" discs, not one of the "talking heads" has a bad thing to say about the performer or hints at even one track "might be weak". This is a true "Amy Fan Club".

Still, I was curious about her pre-"Back To Black" days and, while I didn't learn when, or why, she got all her tattoos, or how she met her musician husband, I get find the disc interesting to watch once. The production qualities are of the high standard I've seen in other recent Chrome Dreams DVDs.

If you are looking for a performance video, this is not it. If however, you want to learn more about Winehouse's music career, you'll get what you are looking for. Add a "star" if you are a true Winehouse "fan".

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

I had to buy this DVD when i saw it adverstised, but was somewhat concerned it was going to be a hatchet job like the recent books that have come out on Amy. If you were thinking the same, then put your mind at rest, it's actually an intelligent well made documentary about Amy and her music - with very little time given to the media perception. It features lots of very nice and otherwise unavailable live footage from various concerts, going right back to the beginning of her career. It also has interviews with many who have worked with her like the guy who tutored her at the Jazz school she attended, members of her band and others who have toured with her. There's also the prominent Jazz musician Steve Davies showing the arrangments Amy uses, and showing the parallels in her music with the likes of Billie Holliday, Peggy Lee and others. There's plenty of archive of Amy's influences and inspirations too, and a lot of archive interviews with the girl herself. After all the nonsence in the papers every day, this DVD is a breath of fresh air and the producers should be commended for a first clas job -

I bought this half expecting to be disappointed, but ended up absolutely enthralled for the entire program.

For those who can't really articulate the special something that she has that so many find so appealing, this dvd offers several experts who really know music to dissect it all. I found that I appreciate her even more after understanding the roots of her sound and style. It's hard to believe at 24 that she has absorbed enough musical history to be such a petri dish of artists past. It is all articulated in a way that allows someone like me who doesn't even read music to understand her influences and appreciate her amazingly prodigious musical acumen.

There are also many clips of Amy as well as her many influences performing that serve to connect the dots. I think anyone interested in Amy in particular, or just music in general, will not be disappointed.

I like to say Im one of Amy's biggest fans and I have a massive collection of her stuff and when this was released I was so excited about getting it and when I finally did I was very disappointed. Its just a bunch of old british people trying to analyze everything Amy has ever done in fact there arent that many clips of her in the dvd at all. I paid 17.00 dollars for this thing and I wish I would have kept my money because its the worse Amy purchase I have ever bought. If you like watcing a bunch of old people talking in british accents about why "they" think she did this and that this is the dvd for you....however unless that sound appealing I wouldnt buy this prodict.

If you really really really like Amy Winehouse than you will enjoy this DVD. You certainly will enjoy it more than "Amy Winehouse Revving @ 4500 rpm's & justified" The girl done gone includes interviews with people who have worked with her in the past. What I really liked about it is that it breaks down WHY this lady is such a musical talent.

This is an excellently produced, entertaining doc...really refreshing and informative to see and hear real jazz connoisseurs analyze Amy's work. It's a must see for even the casual Winehouse fan. It makes you realize how truly gifted this woman is.

I bought this video shortly after Ms. Winehouse died; I believe her talent was incredible, and very timeless. It is documentary, so you don't get long video clips but I found it very enlightening and interesting. I also bought the Frank CD at the same time and it is darn good - can't listen to it when the kids are around though!

Amy Winehouse: The Girl Done Good is an indepth documentary on the vocal attributes of Amy's incredible talent. Highly recommended for any Amy WInehouse fan to compliment their Amy collection.

My partner in his late 50's cannot stop playing this DVD,
she has an amazing voice and aura,brilliant!

"Amy Winehouse: Girl Done Good" is a surprisingly alright documentary about the recently deceased diva. This British documentary was released 3 years ago, when Back to Black was a hit, charting in the US and the UK. Her "Rehab" had made it onto the Top 40, she had become a media phenomenon after her debut Frank. Amy Winehouse had inborn talent;she began singing. Her debut album was bluesy jazz;her second had a '50s sound with the Dap-Kings (The Dynamic Sound of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings) She modernized jazz.

This documentary somehow equates Amy Winehouse with Madonna(??) when it comes to her bold sexuality. She gets paralleled with famous blues singers like the equally brilliant&self-destructive Billie Holiday (20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection The Best of Billie Holiday) Still, Winehouse hadn't stood out on her own yet, with only two albums to her name. Various British experts are interviewed on Winehouse's influences. Her Grammy wins were tragically short-lived. One of The Osbournes - The First Season (Uncensored) interviews Winehouse and her ironically-named beau, Blake Fielder-Civil.

Amy Winehouse's recent passing is a tragic, sad waste of talent. This documentary has its powerful musical highlights- especially of Winehouse performing live. She lived on the stage;she sang soulfully. Her music had a heart, albeit a broken one. Her "You know I'm no good, you know I'm trouble" ended up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Her "Love is a losing game" and "Tears dry on their own" show the brokenness in her life sonically.

Amy Winehouse had much to contribute to the musical world;she passed away too soon. RIP (1983-2011)