Product Details

• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Rhino / Wea
• VHS Release Date: September 12, 2000
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004YRIV
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,849 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Taped during a 1999 tribute in Pittsburgh, this straightforward, live review honors rock 'n' roll's '50s and early '60s legacy of vocal groups. For oldies fans hoping to bask in nostalgia, the caliber of the hits and the inclusion of most of the groups originally associated with the recorded hits make Doo Wop at 50 a satisfying stroll down memory lane. In light of the focal importance of the songs, rather than the singers, for the majority of listeners the program's choice of material will be sufficient reason to watch, as underscored by the success of PBS's broadcast of the complete concert.

Veteran soul stylist Jerry Butler, who hosts the show, is himself a legitimate bridge between the street corner symphonies of the '50s and the more sophisticated urban pop and soul that succeeded them. In this first of two tapes, Butler shepherds a lineup including current editions of the Platters, the Del-Vikings, Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, the Penguins, and other fondly remembered groups. A competent if not exactly inspired revue band accompanies all the acts, taped performing on a set decorated with oversized portraits of '50s icons like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, with a few vintage hot rods parked alongside to hammer home the nostalgic thrust of the night.

More impassioned doo-wop fans and rock historians, however, will be a tougher sell. If the groups indeed carry the names associated with the hits, many feature reconstituted lineups with few of the members actually heard on the original singles, a practice that can be traced back to the '60s (as with the Platters). Alternatively, more authentic lineups, like The Marcels (heard performing their galloping version of "Blue Moon" for the first time in decades), reflect their advancing years in rough vocal edges or arrangements transposed to lower keys. Given the show's inspiration (Rhino's exemplary Doo Wop Box anthologies, which unearthed both big hits and forgotten gems and placed the music and performers in a rich historical context), it would have been intriguing to provide some documentary context. --Sam Sutherland

From the back cover

Join host Jerry Butler and some of history's greatest doo-wop performers from the '50s and '60s as they celebrate five decades of vocal magic. Recorded live May 11 and 12, 1999, at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

The Platters - ONLY YOU and GREAT PRETENDER
Del-Vikings - COME GO WITH ME
Jimmy Beaumont and The Skyliners - SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU and THIS I SWEAR
The Penguins - EARTH ANGEL
Gene Chandler and Pure Gold - DUKE OF EARL
Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge - 16 CANDLES and WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN
Lee Andrews and The Hearts - LONG, LONELY NIGHTS
The Cleftones - LITTLE GIRL OF MINE and HEART AND SOUL
The Capris - THERE'S A MOON OUT TONIGHT
The Marcels - BLUE MOON
Jive Five - MY TRUE STORY and WHAT TIME IS IT
The Legends of Doo Wop - JUST TO BE WITH YOU, OH ROSEMARIE and GUARDIAN ANGEL
Earl Lewis and The Channels - THAT'S MY DESIRE and THE CLOSER YOU ARE

(70 minutes) (Color)

Created and produced by T.J. Lubinsky
Director - George Veras
Executive producer - Deborah Acklin
Associate producer - Henry J. DeLuca

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Doowop 50 &51 Live, February 8, 2003

By 

doowopsoul (Los Angeles California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doo Wop at 50 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

What a great job that these Groups from the 50's and 60's did. All had a great voice that sounded like it did all those years ago. Earl Lewis & The Channels & The Jive 5 were so great! wooing the crowd with their rendition of "The Closer You Are" & "My True Story". Made chills come over this Doowop Collector! I know that these Artists wont be around for much longer, so you HAVE to get these recordings on either VHS. DVD. or CD. When music made a Lovers Quarrel get back together and brought new loves together. Thank You for putting this together so that I could put it in my folders of my most sweet memories...Joe

4.0 out of 5 stars Still as good as ever, September 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Doo Wop at 50 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you heard these groups in the 50s, you'll be amazed at how good they look and sound today! And you'll realize that the all boy groups of today have a tremendous debt to these groups. Thoroughly enjoyable!