Product Details

• Actors: Gillian Welch
• Directors: Mark Seliger
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Mono)
• Subtitles: French, English, Italian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acony Records
• DVD Release Date: November 12, 2002
• Run Time: 59 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000077VP2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,682 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

3 video promozionali ed un concerto live filmato dal rinomato fotografo Mark Seliger (Rolling Stone US). Nel concerto, in rigoroso bianco/nero rollingstoniano, Gillian è accompagnata dal sodale artistico David Rawlings. Il live contiene l'inedito Wichita e 4 cover di Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bill Monroe e Townes Van Zandt.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tender black and white footage of Welch and Rawlings!, December 27, 2003

By 

"purplo" (Santa Cruz, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gillian Welch - The Revelator Collection (DVD)

The Gillian Welch Revelator Collection DVD is 59 minutes of black and white footage of the great folk music duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Though Welch always gets solo billing on the duo's recordings, this disc does reveal that this is a duo act, as anyone who's seen them knows. There are three edited "videos" shot in a studio in Nashville, "Elvis Presley Blues," "My First Lover" featuring Welch on banjo, and the title track. Then there are nine songs filmed live at performances in Carrboro, NC and Knoxville, TN in 2001. The songs are a very tender "April the 14th," the Welch-penned "Wichita" which was a bluegrass hit for Tim O'Brien, a rousing "Red Clay Halo," a beautiful rendering of Bob Dylan's "Billy" from the Pat Garrett soundtrack, Neil Young's "Pocahontas," a second "Revelator," David Rawlings' lead vocal on the Bill Monroe "I'm On My Way Back to the Old Home," Townes Van Zandt's "White Freghtliner Blues," and a "bonus track" of the fine "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll." The moments before "Pocahontas" show Welch and Rawlings humbly discussing the box that is always behind them when they play, and a harmonica that is found inside. This casual discussion best conveys the cozy, improvised feeling that one gets a Welch-Rawlings concert. The Welch-Rawlings CDs are fine, especially Revelator, but the live concert portion of this DVD presents this exemplary folk duo in their truest form. I highly recommend this DVD as the best possible introduction for those who aren't yet familiar with Welch and Rawlings, and as a wonderful souvenir for the faithful waiting for the next chance to see them live in concert.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A few complaints, but not about the wonderful music, April 23, 2003

By 

Michael St John (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gillian Welch - The Revelator Collection (DVD)

I saw Gillian & David perform at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul about a week or two after this footage was shot, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Considering how they were playing in the theatre where A Prairie Home Companion is recorded, I was kinda hoping they might get a live album out of that show, actually.

Not that there's anything wrong with these performances (from Cat's Cradle in NC and The Bijou Theater in Knoxville, TN), but I think the clips don't quite capture the excitement of being in a packed theatre with them and a crowd of a couple thousand hanging on their every note and word for 2 hours. The footage here is shot mostly with a steady, single camera, maybe 20-30 feet from stage in the middle of the floor. You don't see anybody in the audience, and only occasionally hear them.

As somebody has pointed out, the cuts between clips take out much of the applause, audience interaction and banter between songs. One notable exception being the point where someone asks, "What's in the box?" That leads to a discovery of a harmonica, which leads to some fooling around and what seems like a spontaneous decision by Gillian to play "Pocahontas."

I love the moment after David's messed around with the harp and then put it away, thinking that "playtime's over" (he's admitted he doesn't really know how to play it), and then she tells him to get it back out. The way she says it, and the way he responds, is amusing and sweet, and feels like a genuine glimpse into their relationship. I love concert moments like that. It's too bad the director didn't just let the tape roll for two hours to let us see more of those moments.

This is coming out like a bad review, isn't it? I don't mean to make it sound like the DVD isn't worthwhile. The performances are wonderful, and include some songs not otherwise available on Gillian's own albums. I would get this if only to have a recording of them singing Townes Van Zandt's "White Freightliner Blues," but fortunately there is so much more. David's feature is "I'm On My Way Back to the Old Home" (in St. Paul he sang "Big Rock Candy Mountain") and it's a treat to hear him take the lead for a number. The three videos shot in the studio are fun to watch, too.

Highly recommended. Next time I just hope the concert footage runs twice as long, doesn't leave out the moments between songs, and does a better job of capturing the crowd ambience. And, Gillian, please come back to Minnesota soon....

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great disc but way too short, November 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gillian Welch - The Revelator Collection (DVD)

Gillian Welch is one of my favorite artists today. This disc of 3 videos and 9 songs recorded live show her and David Rawlings in top form. But, I was very disappointed in the length of the disc. It clocks it at under one hour. Why not show a whole concert? The disc is shot in black and white which I suppose is for some sort of effect but after a while it gets on your nerves. There are also no shots of the crowd so you really don't even realize it's a live show except for the crowd noise at the end of each song. Also, the disc fades in and out between songs so there is no continuity between songs like you would experience in a live show. The camera angles used a little annoying as well and seem to be a litte out of focus. Maybe that's because of it being in black and white. The music is stunning, offering versions of songs by Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Townes Van Zandt in addition to several by Welch-Rawlings.
This could have been a really awesome DVD but unfortunately there are enough bothersome things about it to make it only rank 3 stars in my opinion.