101 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Complements the Rhino nine disc box set well., November 15, 2005
This review is from: The Ed Sullivan Show: Rock & Roll Classics Box Set (3 DVD set) (DVD)
Collectors will want to purchase this three disc set and combine it with Rhino's nine disc set released in Sept. 2002. Some of the performances overlap (I counted nineteen), but most are great additions. This set, with just three discs, packs over sixty performances (plus it's reasonably priced). The three discs are divided into genre schools, with the first covering R&B Greats, Legends of Soul, Sounds of the Cities (more soul) and Fabulous Females; the second offers Folk Rock, Groovy Sounds (the Rascals, Turtles, Fifth Dimension, etc.), West Coast Rock and a full segment on the Mamas & the Papas; the third presents The Bad Boys of Rock 'n' Roll (Stones, Brown, the Animals, Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis), Gone Too Soon (Elvis, Janis Joplin, the Carpenters, etc.), the Lennon & McCartney Songbook (artists covering the Beatles' catalog) and Great Groups. The two clips of the Beatles are edited and the Rascals doing "Good Lovin' " is missing the second verse. I'm still waiting for clips of Sam Cooke, the Rays, Frankie Lymon, the Everly Brothers, Chubby Checker, the Dave Clark Five, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, the Doors doing "People Are Strange" and the Stones doing "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Honky Tonk Women." Maybe one day those will finally be officially released on dvd.
The full tracklist for The Ed Sullivan Show: Rock 'N' Roll Classics:
Ike and Tina Turner Revue - "Proud Mary"
Stevie Wonder - "Fingertips"
James Brown - medley: "Please, Please, Please"/"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"
Temptations - "I Can't Get Next to You"
Stevie Wonder - "For Once in My Life"
Marvin Gaye - "Take This Heart of Mine"
5th Dimension - "Up, Up and Away"
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - "I Second That Emotion"
Jackie Wilson - "Lonely Teardrops"
James Brown - "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World"
Gladys Knight & the Pips - "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Sam & Dave - "I Thank You"
Ike and Tina Turner Revue - "Bold Soul Sister"
Diana Ross & the Supremes - "Love Child"
Janis Joplin - "Raise Your Hand"
Dusty Springfield - "Son of a Preacher Man"
Gladys Knight & the Pips - "If I Were Your Woman"
Supremes - "You Can't Hurry Love"
The Band - "Up on Cripple Creek"
Byrds - "Turn, Turn, Turn"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Down on the Corner"
Lovin' Spoonful - "Daydream"
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - "Abraham, Martin and John"
The Rascals - "Groovin' "
Turtles - "Happy Together"
The Rascals - "Good Lovin' "
Spanky & Our Gang - "Sunday Will Never Be the Same"
5th Dimension - "Stoned Soul Picnic"
Oliver - "Good Morning Starshine"
Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"
The Mamas & the Papas - "California Dreamin' "
5th Dimension - "California Soul"
Turtles - "She'd Rather Be with Me"
Friends of Distinction - "Grazing in the Grass"
Beach Boys - "I Get Around"
The Mamas & the Papas - "California Dreamin' " (version 2), "Monday, Monday," "Dedicated to the One I Love," "Creeque Alley," "Twelve Thirty," "I Call Your Name"
Rolling Stones - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Animals - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
James Brown - "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Feel Good"
Jerry Lee Lewis - "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on"
Bo Diddley - "Bo Diddley"
Animals - "Bring It on Home to Me"
Janis Joplin - "Maybe"
Elvis Presley - "Peace in the Valley"
Buddy Holly - "Oh, Boy!"
The Mamas & the Papas - "Words of Love"
Bobby Darin - "Mack the Knife"
Carpenters - "We've Only Just Begun"
Beatles - "Ticket to Ride"
Bobby Rydell - "A World Without Love"
Peter & Gordon - "I Don't Want to See You Again"
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas - "Bad to Me"
Petula Clark - "The Fool on the Hill"
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - "Yesterday"
Beatles - "Help!"
Bee Gees - "Words"
Byrds - "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Four Tops - "It's All in the Game"
Temptations - medley: "My Girl"/"I Know I'm Losing You"
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95 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More Ed Sullivan Show DVD frustration......, December 13, 2005
This review is from: The Ed Sullivan Show: Rock & Roll Classics Box Set (3 DVD set) (DVD)
I have to issue a disclaimer at the beginning of this review - I haven't viewed these particular DVD's. However, I own the previous releases and, based on the first two reviews of this new compilation, I have to keep scratching my head at how these great historic musical performances from the Ed Sullivan Show keep getting butchered for the public.
There is no greater collection of 50's and 60's rock n' roll performances than those from this historic show - period - existing in both crystal clear black-and-white and color video. Previous releases have been marred with narration by actor Jay Thomas and edited performances; this release sounds like more of the same.
Andrew Solt's marvelous book on The Ed Sullivan Show, "A Really Big Show", lists all of the performers who appeared on the program with the number of times they performed. It's amazing to me how much of this has yet to see the light of day - yet we continue to see so much of the same material re-released.
Why not issue the COMPLETE performances from these historic artists? Why preface the performances with meaningless narration - information that the buying public knows about anyway, backwards and forwards? Why not issue ALL of the performances by each artist on the same DVD, so you don't have individual songs by a particular performer on separate discs? Why keep issuing DVD sets where 50% of the performances have already been previously released?!?
If I were in charge, I'd start over and put EVERY performance by each performer (unedited) in chronological order (per performer) without narration - and let it run (eg. 'Herman's Hermits' were on the show five times; let me see all five performances on the same disc). I'd categorize the music under different genres (British Invasion, Motown, Surf Music, San Francisco, Bubblegum, etc.) and include the lesser names with the superstars; just give me an opening bar across the screen telling me who the performer was, what the song was and when it was broadcast.
When somebody wised up a few years ago and issued the complete Beatles 1964/1965 Ed Sullivan programs with commercials, I thought we were heading in the right direction. Judging from the information on this release, we're taking two steps back. I apologize for the 'crankiness' of this review; I just sincerely care about this treasure trove of great material and I hate to see it get treated so shabbily.
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