Customer Reviews

Glen Campbell: Good Times Again

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fabulous hour well spent enjoying some terrific songs and performances and Glen (in current day interviews) intros many of the songs.
The other reviewer moaned about what ISN'T on this DVD....but frankly..for $15 I feel I got a LOT more than my monies worth and I will watch this over and over....goodness. Glen could sure play guitar and his guests? The Ricky Nelson clip alone is wonderful...and that leaves Ray Charles, Willie Nelson , Roger Miller, Ann Murray, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, The Smothers Brothers, BJ Thomas, Johnny Cash and lets not forget the late great writer of "Gentle On My Mind" John Hartford....doesn't sound like much to complain about...and I'm not....this is wonderful.

If you're old enough to remember the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on late 60s/early 70s prime-time television, you won't want to miss this. The musical clips are a combination of duets (with the likes of Rick Nelson, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Anne Murray & Ray Charles) and solo efforts. Colour and sound throughout are both excellent, as are the performances. It's enough to make you yearn for the days of prime-time television variety.

A few months ago Glen Campbell released a fabulous new CD (Meet Glen Campbell) with current rock songs done "the Glen way". (See my review elsewhere on Amazon).

Now the folks at Time-Life have released a single DVD of performances from Campbell's 1960s TV show. What a delightful hour! (It apparently also aired in public TV stations during the year but never appeared in my local market.).
Similar to the great 2-DVD set which Sony released of the "Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show", this set focuses on duets which Campbell did during the show's run. There's Glen and Roger Miller, Glen and a very young Linda Ronstadt, and, yes, Glen and Johnny Cash! The duet with Cher is priceless (on an old Sonny & Cher version of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Wanna Do". And there is very little available footage of Willie Nelson with his short hair (and jacket and tie!).

New video of Glen introducing each performance is a great idea and, as a bonus, there is a 15-minute interview with him (where he has his guitar handy to demonstrate a few of the answers he gives). The 72-year-old Campbell still looks great!

The Good Times Hour was produced by Tom Smothers (of the Smothers Brothers) and he give the show an edge in the comedy writing and direction.

It's a shame there is only an hour of material here. There must be so much more in the Campbell-owned archive. We can only hope for a Volume 2 (and 3? And 4?). The quality of the print is great too!

If you own the Cash TV show DVD, grab this one to put next to it on your DVD shelf.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

What memories The Goodtime Hour brought back. Who do we write to to get all the shows released on DVD? I am reliving my younger years. Glen is such a talented performer and I remember some of the funny comedy skits with the guest stars. I was not disappointed with the DVD. I even remember the cute guy, Larry McNeely, who sat next to Glen on the bench when Glen sang all of his hits. Glen's present day comments show that he is just a down to earth guy and has not let stardom go to his head. Calling B.J. Thomas a turkey for his song beating "True Grit" at the Oscars. I personally thought the lyrics in "True Grit" made more sense than "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head".
All fans of "The Goodtime Hour" need to unite and have Glen make sure all of his "Goodtime Hour" shows are released. I will be waiting for more of his shows!!!

The new released DVD of the "Glen Campbell Goodtimes Again" is absolutely MAGICAL! Brought back a lot of memories from when I watched the program every week as a kid! The quality is Digitally Remastered and it has the best picture ever released. The 60 minutes on here goes very fast and doesn't have nearly what should have been released which is a BOXED set or something else close to that as Glen was on for 3 years--makes sense to release ALL the shows/skits. But, this Good Times Again is fabulous and thanks Glen for bringing back some terrific memories for me. I hope in the future that Time/Life will release some more.

This magnificant dvd brings back the magic of the great variety programs of the 1960's. Glens 'Good Time Hour' showcased the best talent of the era. Stunning performances of Ray Charles, Willie Nelson and Bobbie Gentry. The only flawed performance in the entire set is Anne Murray who seems to be competing with Glen for lead vocal. Beautiful Bobbie Gentry on the other hand blends in like butter. The Tommy Smothers skit still funny as ever after 40 years. Glen had it all, Best writers, best performing artists and above all Glens perfect personality for the variety show genere.

This DVD is awesome - I have just viewed it for the first time after following Glen's career for many many years. Songsters........... I've heard most of them and surely the man from Delight, Arkansas is right up there with the VERY best of 'em :) for me the DVD highlite is Cryin' Time with Ray Charles.

There are no serious disappointments on this DVD: It's a collection of solos and duets from one of the best 60s/70s variety shows on TV.

Campbell introduces each song with his memories and insights about the artists or songs; his deliveries are sincere and interesting.

One of the nicest things about this DVD is that each song is complete; there is no editing, no cutting off of the songs, no voice-overs.

I feel the best duet was with Linda Ronstadt; the best solo was Campbell's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." Ronstadt provided a strong balance to Glen's sometimes overpowering vocals (as when he completely drowned out the duet with BJ Thomas). "Phoenix" was sensitive, superb.

I'm deducting one star because the viewer is sometimes toyed with, as when Campbell talks about John Wayne. I expected to see some footage of Wayne, but no, it was just a rather irrelevant introduction to Campbell's solo of "True Grit."

The bonus content could have been better. It is only a series of mildly interesting questions and responses; trivia, memories. No footage, no songs.

As others have stated, this DVD leaves us hungry for the complete shows. Still, it's highly recommended entertainment in the absence of those shows.

After watching this marvelous stuff I've got the same complaint as some others, I need more. It's great quality sights and sounds of Glen at his peak highlighting himself or terrific duets. The versions are fantastic, save the closing song, which is added to give John Hartford his props for having written the most performed song in history. All the tunes are terrific but I found the standouts to be Glen singing harmony with B.J. Thomas on Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, Folsom Prison Blues with Johnny Cash and two Dylan songs, All I Really Want To Do with Cher and the absolutely sensational Don't Think Twice It's All Right with Anne Murray that's got some super sharp Campbell style plucking. I need more and I'm willin' to pay, so come on Time/Life, get with it. For the time being though, I give this DVD my highest recommendation.

This is a true classic!Seeing segments of Glen's Variety show is so cool the quality is quite good for it's age no matter what anyone says.Buy this DVD!!!!!!