Customer Reviews

The History of Rock 'n' Roll Gift Set [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Incredibly entertaining; especially for anyone who has lived through the times talked about. Many, many of the songs ARE full-length versions, albeit with commentary provided over the top. But, after all, it is a documentary and not a CD set. I watched it about three times already and have included here what I would have liked to have known, mainly what songs and artists are covered, in essentially the order they're presented in. I may have missed a few, but what follows is 99% correct:

Episode One: Rock `n' Roll Explodes
* With or Without You - U2
* Wild Think - Jimi Hendrix
* Money Honey - Elvis Presley
* Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
* Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
* Shut `Em Down - Public Enemy
* I Just Want to Make Love to You - the Rolling Stones
* Got My Mojo Working - Muddy Waters
* Hey, Good Looking - Hank Williams Sr.
* That'll be the Day - Buddy Holly
* Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean - Ruth Brown
* Caldonia - Louis Jordon & the Tympani 5
* Shake, Rattle & Roll - Big Joe Turner
* I Got a Woman - Ray Charles
* Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
* Blue Monday - Fats Domino
* Maybellene - Chuck Berry
* Reddy Teddy - Little Richard
* Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
* Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & the Comets

Episode Two: Good Rockin' Tonight
* Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry
* Lucille - Little Richard
* How Much is that Doggy in the Window - Patti Page
* Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
* Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley
* Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
* Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis
* Oh, Boy! - Buddy Holly & the Crickets
* Bye Bye Love - the Everly Brothers
* Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel) - Roy Orbison
* At the Hop - Danny and the Juniors
* Words of Love - Buddy Holly
* Calendar Girl - Neil Sedaka
* You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling - the Righteous Brothers
* Be My Baby - The Ronettes
* Searchin' - the Coasters
* Stand By Me - Ben E. King
* The Twist - Chubby Checker

Episode Three: Britain Invades, America Fights Back
* Twist and Shout - the Beatles
* I Get Around - the Beach Boys
* The Way You Do the Things You Do - the Temptations
* Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying - Gerry & the Pacemakers
* House of the Rising Sun - the Animals
* Needles and Pins - the Searchers
* Around and Around - the Rolling Stones
* Satisfaction - the Rolling Stones
* I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits
* A World Without Love - Peter and Gordon
* You Really Got Me - the Kinks
* As Tears Go By - Marianne Faithful
* You Can't Hurry Love - the Supremes
* Do You Believe In Magic? - The Lovin' Spoonful
* Good Lovin' - the Young Rascals
* Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds
* Creeque Alley - Mama and Papas
* Can't Explain - the Who
* Carrie-Anne - the Hollies
* Keep on Running - the Spencer Davis Group (featuring Steve Winwood)
* Paint It Black - the Rolling Stones

Episode Four: The Sounds of Soul
* Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
* Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles/Michael Bolton
* Papas Got a Brand New Bag - James Brown
* You Send Me - Sam Cooke
* Baby Workout - Jackie Wilson
* What'd I Say - Ray Charles
* In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
* I've Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now) - Otis Redding
* Dr. Feelgood - Aretha Franklin
* I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Gladys Knight & the Pips
* Love is Like a Heatwave - Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
* I Can't Help Myself - the Four Tops
* Ooo Baby Baby - the Miracles
* Come See About Me - the Supremes
* My Girl - the Temptations
* Choice of Colors - Curtis Mayfield
* Say It Loud, I'm Black & I'm Proud - James Brown
* A House is not a Home - Luther Vandross
* Ain't that Peculiar - Marvin Gaye
* I Want You Back - the Jackson 5
* For the Love of Money - O'Jays

Episode Five: Plugging In
* On the Road Again - Bob Dylan
* It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan
* Talkin' New York - Bob Dylan
* Mojo Hand - Sam "Lightenin'" Hopkins
* I Ain't Marchin' Anymore - Phil Ochs
* Handsome Johnny - Richie Havens
* Blowin' In the Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary
* All My Trials - Joan Baez
* The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan
* I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms - the Monroe Brothers (?)
* Maggie's Farm - Bob Dylan
* Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
* My Back Pages - Bob Dylan
* Mr. Tambourine Man - the Byrds
* California Dreamin' - the Mamas & Papas
* Surfer Girl - the Beach Boys
* God Only Knows - the Beach Boys
* Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
* Paint It Black - the Animals
* Ball & Chain - Janis Joplin

Episode Six: My Generation
* Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane
* Tell Mama - Janis Joplin
* China Cat Sunflowers - the Grateful Dead
* Foxy Lady - Jimi Hendrix
* When the Music's Over - the Doors
* Up on Cripple Creek - the Band
* Street Fighting Man - the Rolling Stones
* I Feel Free - Cream
* Baba O'Riley - the Who
* Handsome Johnny - Richie Havens
* Fixin' to Die Rag - Country Joe and the Fish
* Soul Sacrifice - Santana
* Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash
* Down By the River - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
* Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
* Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix
* Touch of Grey - the Grateful Dead

Episode Seven: Guitar Heroes
* Black Magic Woman - Santana
* Eruption - Van Halen
* Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
* Won't Get Fooled Again - the Who
* Blue Moon of Kentucky - Elvis
* Hello, Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson
* Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
* Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan
* Sweet Sixteen - B.B. King
* The Last Time - the Rolling Stones
* Train Keep A Rollin' - the Yardbirds
* Layla - Derek and the Dominos
* Dazed and Confused - Led Zepplin
* Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
* Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix
* Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns & Roses
* Bullet the Blue Sky - U2

Episode Eight: The 70's: Have a Nice Decade
* Bennie & the Jets - Elton John
* Reeling in the Years - Steely Dan
* How Many More Times - Led Zepplin
* Paranoid - Black Sabbath
* Whipping Post - Allman Brothers
* Do That Stuff - Parliament/Funkadelic
* Get Up Stand - Bob Marley
* I Want to Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone
* Superstition - Stevie Wonder
* Brain Damage - Pink Floyd
* Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
* Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
* Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss
* School's Out - Alice Cooper
* Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
* Fame - David Bowie
* Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
* Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
* Do You Feel Like We Do - Peter Frampton
* Y.M.C.A. - the Village People
* Refugee - Tom Petty
* Quarter to Three - Bruce Springsteen

* Episode Nine: Punk
* Anarchy in the U.K. - the Sex Pistols
* The Passenger - Iggy Pop
* Sweet Jane - the Velvet Underground
* Back in the U.S.A. - the New York Dolls
* Blank Generation - the Heartbreakers
* Rockaway Beach - the Ramones
* Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
* Gloria - Patti Smith Group
* Garageland - the Clash
* Go There Natty - U-Roy
* Alison - Elvis Costello
* God Save the Queen - the Sex Pistols
* No Fun - the Sex Pistols
* Johnny Hit and Run Pauline - X
* Radio Radio - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
* Jackson, Monk and Rowe - Elvis Costello
* London Calling - the Clash
* Message of Love - the Pretenders
* I Will Follow - U2
* Every Breath You Take - the Police
* Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
* Basket Case - Green Day

Episode Ten: Up From Underground
* Whip It - Devo
* Our Lips are Sealed - the GoGos
* Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? - Culture Club
* The Breaks - Kurtis Blow
* The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
* Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
* Rock Box - Run-D.M.C.
* Walk this Way - Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith
* Fight the Power - Public Enemy
* Sabotage - Beastie Boys
* Justify My Love - Madonna
* Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
* Money for Nothing - Dire Straits with Sting
* Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers
* Express Yourself - N.W.A.
* Escape from the Killing Fields - Ice-T
* My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen
* Let's Talk About Sex - Salt 'n' Pepa
* Even Better Than the Real Thing - U2
* Long View - Green Day
* Radio Song - R.E.M. with Krs-One
* Rumblefish - the Goats

If you want this because you think you enjoyed it on PBS, it's important to know that PBS has broadcast at least two similarly-named 10-hour series on the topic of rock music history. One, titled "Rock and Roll" by "The Experience Project", as I recall, is a little "deeper" and I gained some appreciation of even topics in which I had little interest (e.g. punk rock). The other series, "The History Of Rock And Roll", by Time-Life (now Time-Warner), which is what you see here, is enjoyable but mostly shallow, and I was annoyed that the live performance clips are short (don't expect to see a complete song).

Both series were produced several years ago, and this series has no coverage of recent music.

If you could only afford one series, I would normally recommend "Rock And Roll", not this one. However, PBS seems to have a monopoly on "Rock And Roll", and last time I checked they would sell it only to educators, not the general public.

At $100 for 10 hours, this is not a great value. The price per hour is nearly 3 times the price of, for example, a year's worth of M*A*S*H episodes (24 episodes, each with 22 non-commercial minutes, for about $35).

Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy the series, and if you are
fortunate enough to be able to fit this into your budget, as I was, then I do recommend it.

I purchased this video series for my high school History of Rock and Roll class. I was thoroughly impressed by a majority of the material in this series.

Good points: Excellent footage of rock and roll heroes (Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Led Zepplin, etc.) as well as lesser known groups (The Hollies, Gerry and the Pacemakers, etc.). Outstanding interviews from artists and figures such as Hank Ballard, Carl Perkins, Ozzie Osborn, Dick Clark, Bono, Eddie Van Halen, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Little Richard, Mick Jaggar, Tom Petty, Lindsey Buckingham, and countless others. Footage of various historical events help put the music in perspective (civil rights, Vietnam, sexual revolution, etc.).

Bad Points: Some material may not be for younger audiences. Nearly all volumes (2 & 3 excluded) have some PG-13 language (including Pete Townsend's liberal use of the F-word). A couple of tapes (I'm thinking of volume 6 & 8 in particular) have some female nudity. Anyone thinking about letting a class view this should keep that in mind. Some movements in Rock and Roll are touched on too lightly: Soul, Motown and funk are kind of grouped together, Jazz Rock is barely mentioned, etc.

Final Verdict: Probably the best Rock and Roll series out there now. We need Ken Burns's take on this subject.

I am a 17 year old rock music fan but I love absolutely everything about rock and roll music. My love has led me to the purchase of many, many CDs and the constant studying of everything from the '50s through the '90s. I know a great deal about music but I wanted to learn even more, so I did a project on music for my AP American History class. To help me study, I watched this documentary. I was only partially satisfied and I'd like to review the set by episode:

Episode 1: Rock 'n' Roll Explodes
This episode was basically without form or structure. It set out the explore the roots of rock and roll music but ended up being a 45 minute introduction to the rest of the set. First off, I take offense to the fact that U2 of all bands is the first artist shown performing in the set. I don't understand WHAT they have to do with the early origins of music, and if they are supposed to represent modern music (at the time of the set) why weren't more artists featured? Certainly there are many better than U2. The rest of the hour is spent talking about the very early musicians, such as Bo Diddley and Hank Williams, Sr. who influenced future generations. However, the lack of film from this period necessitates more talking than actual music clips.
GRADE FOR EPISODE ONE: 2/5

Episode 2: Good Rockin' Tonight
This episode is a definite step up from the first one, but not by much. The reasons for the improvements are because there is more footage of actual artists performing, so we don't have to listen to an endless stream of artists hemming and hawing about Elvis. And the comments that are made are much more successful, largely because they are made by the artists who actually lived it such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. In particular, I found Don Everly's comments to be wonderful. This episode also walked a nice line between praising the artists of the past and being critical and fair. However, the episode is still quite slow and especially petters out near the end.
GRADE FOR EPISODE TWO: 3/5

Episode 3: Britain Invades, America Fights Back
This was one of my favorite episodes in the series, not only because I love the music of the British Invasion, but because the episode was presented very, very well. We got lots of great performance clips from well-known artists like the Rolling Stones and the Who, as well as the spotlight shining on artists like Herman's Hermits who have been forgotten with the passing of time. I must, however, complain about the lack of Beatles footage. In fact, throughout the entire episode the Beatles are tossed aside as great pop icons but without the musical merit of other bands. Still, the episode featured a lot of great music and was highly informative, as well as enjoyable.
GRADE OF EPISODE THREE: 4/5

Episode 4: The Sounds of Soul
This episode was actually the most useful for my project in school. I am very fond of soul music (especially Motown) but I don't own a lot of it and I am not as familiar with its artists as that of rock. Therefore, I found "The Sounds of Soul" to be very interesting because of the insight it shed on an entire genre of music. The performances were great (especially those of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and the Temptations) and I was very interested in what the musicians had to say. At times the episode got a little too focused on praising past artists rather than offering insightful commentary, but the emotion was there.
GRADE FOR EPISODE FOUR: 4/5

Episode 5: Plugging In
The 5th episode of the series was one of the best three (along with 6 and 9). It started off as basically a documentary about Bob Dylan, but I think he probably deserves it. However, I must question why Dylan gets a good half hour about himself and the Beatles got merely a passing glance. Anyway, Bob was great form in all the performances and I was delighted to see that he was a funny guy in all of his interviews. After the section on Bob, the episode morphed into the tale of folk music and the beginnnings of the true '60s sound. We touch off with bands like the Byrds and the Beach Boys and then spend a long time talking about the incredible Monteray Pop Festival in 1967, featuring historic performances by Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. This episode was fantastic, with real insightful commentary.
GRADE OF EPISODE FIVE: 5/5

Episode 6: My Generation
Just as good as "Plugging In" on the performance and commentary side of things, and even better on the emotional side, "My Generation" was fantastic. The episode covers the late '60s sound including the San Francisco sound, Woodstock, blues, and folk. The episode was beautifully structured as well. It built up and built up with the energy intensifying and the music just contuning to get better and better and then it descended in a spiral of drugs and death as the musicians discuss those that didn't make it. Pete Townsend in particular was incredibly emotional as he discussed the deaths of his friends and colleagues.
GRADE OF EPISODE SIX: 5/5

Episode 7: Guitar Heroes
I really didn't like this episode. It seemed like an excuse to show lots and lots of guitar solos and I didn't like that it seemed to encompass decades and decades of musical material at random. I didn't learn anything new and I got tired of seeing the same people talk about guitars over and over again.
GRADE OF EPISODE SEVEN: 1/5

Episode 8: The '70s- Have a Nice Decade
This episode tried to cram an entire decade worth of music into an hour and it really didn't work. A lot got left out and some of the most important artists ever were barely mentioned. After the extensive coverage of the '60s, this episode felt really skimpy. It also dismissed a lot of music and ended up sounding very negative and bitter about the '70s. Yeah, there was disco, but there was also David Bowie and Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin and so much more. I also got really sick of the people talking because it seemed they interviewed about six people on the '70s.
GRADE FOR EPISODE EIGHT: 2/5

Episode 9: Punk
Now this is much more like it. This episode felt like a completely different documentary. It was gritty and dark and downright fascinating. I also loved how punk bands that don't get a lot of due were completely covered and talked about. I learned A LOT this episode, but I would have liked to see a few more comments from artists outside of punk talking about it. What did they think of it? There was a lot of great music in this episode and a lot of really excellent performances. This episode was just expertly done.
GRADE FOR EPISODE NINE: 5/5

Episode 10: Up from the Underground
By far the worst episode of the bunch, this episode didn't seem to be about anything. It had the '80s and half of the '90s to cover and we ended up with a depressing mishmash about MTV and rap. A lot of the rap artists, such as Chuck D, talked about how rap music is dismissed as crap by people but I felt like ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC (the title of this documentary remember!) was getting dismissed in this hour. There was absolutely no mention of groundbreaking rock artists like Joy Division, The Cure, or Sonic Youth. And, as others have said, some random horrible band called the Goats end the whole documentary.
GRADE FOR EPISODE TEN: 1/5

Buy or rent this DVD collection only for the few episodes I have liked. However, don't expect in depth coverage. This is just a glance at rock and roll, as well as some other styles of music (I'm sorry, but rap music isn't rock and roll).

In 1995, two -- count 'em -- TWO ten-part TV series on the history of rock and roll were broadcast: the superb "Rock & Roll" on PBS, and this one in syndication. Unfortunately, this is the one that seems to persist; VH1 ran it a few years back, and now it's on DVD. There's really no comparison -- think "I Love The 80's" (minus the humor) vs. "Ken Burns' Jazz".

The whole feeling of the thing is cheap and exploitative. I didn't care for the way ALL the same musicians were quoted about ALL periods and ALL types of music. So you get Tom Petty and Elvis Costello (both of whom I love, don't get me wrong) talking about the Beatles AND Elvis AND punk, etc., as opposed to in "Rock & Roll", where as much as possible the people on camera are the people who were there -- Chuck Berry, Sam Phillips, the earliest rock and roll DJs. Also, other than trying to pander to lowest common denominator segment of the audience, what's the point of singling out rap and disco for the "fair and balanced" treatment -- i.e., giving equal time to musicians who hate that kind of music? Skunk Baxter and Gregg Allman, weighing in on rap ("...short for CRAP!") come off as smug hillbilly bigots.

Pandering is evident in the structure of the show as well. Although the idea of starting in the middle (Bob Dylan goes electric) and then proceeding from the beginning is interesting, I can't be too impressed with later chapters like "The 70's" -- again, I'm biased toward the thematic episodes of "Rock and Roll" rather than the grab-bag approach. The last chapter is almost embarassing in the way it rushes through the final 15-odd years post-1980 to get to Green Day (very hot in 1995, but can you imagine they'd make the cut if this series were made today?).

Long story short, wait for the next PBS pledge drive and watch "Rock and Roll" instead.

This series is a good place to start to learn the history of Rock 'n' Roll music, especially the roots. Most of the time is spent in the early years and highlights the genres that Rock spun out of and the early artists that Rock artists came to emulate. The producers have succeeded in showing how Rock has stayed true to its roots even with the subsequent various styles.

The main problem with the series is that it does offer a shallow look at much of rock's history as it omits many of its offshoots in the later years. None of the early history should be shortened, but a couple of more episodes going more in depth with some of the later variations would have been nice. (Note: This series was released in 1995, so Nu Metal and other genres since 1995 will not be represented.) An example would be that the series does get into how corporate the music became in the 70s, but really gives too few examples of the groups that embody that distinction. While I personally like late 70s and 80s rock, it was corporate and very few of the bands of that era are even mentioned. Hair Metal was not mentioned at all. It was very popular in the late 80s and its media overkill is what really brought on grunge - grunge was NOT a seamless transition from 70s punk like the series portrays. A whole era was simply erased in this documentary. Prog-Rock of the 70s was barely given a notice, with the exception of Pink Floyd. What about the Heavy Metal and Thrash movements (and any mention of the perceived Satanic influence of Rock in general)? Not covered. What about Country Music's crossover success in the early 90s, thus reuniting one of Rock's root sources with its offspring? These eras should have been discussed in a "history of Rock and Roll.

But still, this is a good set to have and did reveal to me more of where rock came from and how it basically has not strayed too far from its roots. This series does explain very clearly how this music did bring people from different backgrounds and cultures together in a perfect (or sometimes not so) harmony. I think that its greatest triumph is that it shows black and white people truly belonging to the same race, and that is the human race. And in this music is the human soul revealed. I highly recommend this series.

While it is certainly fun to watch just to see the performers,this HISTORY OF ROCK simply doesn't jell as a whole.By trying to explain the evolution of the music,the pleasure gets lost along the way.If you are a rock connaisseur,you won't learn many new things if you watch this.What you should do is take it as a starter point and then go further with documents who gets deeper with one particular field(ex:MOTOWN or BRITISH INVASION).As it is,it tries to cover too much ground at once and still manages to forget a few artists like EMERSON,LAKE AND PALMER and KING CRIMSON among others.It costs me $80 dollars (CANADIAN money)for this 5 dvd set, which is too much for what it's worth.Rent it and enjoy the clips.

For many years I'd been hoping someone would make a comprehensive documentary detailing the fascinating history of rock music, which in a real sense is the history of America in the last half of the twentieth century. Then, suddenly, within a three year period, not one, but two excellent documentaries are released: this one, produced by Time-Life; and another, titled simply "Rock and Roll", produced for public television by a PBS station in Boston. "History of Rock and Roll" is marginally better and combines concert footage (some familiar, some rarely seen) with artists, producers, and arrangers, who give their reflections and interpretations of the entire era. My favorite chapter is "Guitar Heroes" which provides a fascinating history of the electric guitar and how it became such an integral part of rock and roll.

Addendum: I originally purchased the VHS edition when it was released. I just bought the DVD set for the better picuture/sound quality, of course, but also because Amazon describes it as having "80 bonus minutes". I'm halfway through,
but have not yet seen any additional footage.

My father and I, both being music nerds, watched this on PBS when it aired in '94 or '95, and dad bought the original VHS box set as soon as it was released. I've watched it countless times since. This series was a pretty good, if not completely comprehensive, cross section of the history of latter twentieth century's most popular form of music.

The first two episodes cover rock's earliest beginnings from its slavery and hillbilly origins to the 1950's. In my opinion these two could be edited together to form a very entertaining two hour documentary in and of themselves. Not only are there interviews with rock's pioneering musicians, but thankfully the background heroes like record label owners, professional songwriters, and DJ's were included, people many documentaries forgo. The racism, puritanism, and paranoia of the then-older generation's attitudes toward the music are also on display and fully discussed. Definitely the best of the set; all ten episodes could have been devoted to this period.

The third episode regards the "British Invasion", which is interesting, but really isn't much more than an "OH MY GOD THE BEATLES WERE AMAZING!" as far as content is concerned. They didn't really explain how rock music affected Britain and the European continent enough, seeing as how it was so radically different than anything people in the Old World listened to, nor does it show how Europe's older generation reacted to the music (which was almost as hateful as America's). However, there was a short section in the episode that talked about the early '60s "teen idol" craze and watering down of rock music into bubblegum pop, and as one interviewee says, "a substitute boyfriend for teenage girls" (something that's never disappeared really). I wish there were more on this subject. All in all a good episode, but some missed opportunities.

The fourth episode on the surface is about the folkie/pre-hippie movement that began in the late '50s and was at its peak in the '60s, and its own effect on rock music. It is good that they included this, in the sense that the "deeper" thoughtful lyrics of the folkies clashed with rock's girl-and-cars lyrics, but as a result many rock musicians took it upon themselves to move beyond adolescent themes and into more intellectual territory. The episodes asserts that Bob Dylan is solely responsible for this lyrical shift in rock music. Is it true? Maybe, but in my eyes it was more of a natural evolution rather than one man's triumph. Much like the third episode, this just turns into tribute, in this case Bob Dylan and his skillful lyric writing being the object of worship. Entertaining nonetheless.

And then there's episode five, which is a bit of an anomaly, because it's not really about rock and roll. It mainly concerns Motown Records, but also the strong mainstream-izing of black soul music in the 1960's. While technically speaking soul and rock are not the same thing, they obviously share a very closely related history, as rock music is a schism of R&B. But by the '60s, they had evolved into different entities, and this episode explains how Motown and Stax Records helped define that split. Many of the soul greats are interviewed (sadly many have also died since this was filmed), as well as rock musicians that share the effects soul had on their own music. While this is a great and very informative episode (especially Smokey Robinson's story about writing songs backstage on the spot before performing them), I'm not really sure why the producers felt the need to include it. I mean '60s soul music did influence rock quite a bit, especially in the production realm, but honestly this subject is too expansive for one episode or the entire series. It rightly deserves its own documentary. Good episode, but doesn't really fit.

Episode six regards the late '60s and the hippie/psychedelia/free love/drugs era of rock. A fair episode, but I thought it was a little too much about the hippie movement itself and not enough about the music. It of course discusses the Baby Boomer generation coming of age and having radically different values and viewpoints than their Greatest Generation parents (something my aforementioned dad knows very well...he graduated high school in '66), the immorality of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and so on and so on. This is all fine and good, but where's the music guys? If I wanted detailed information on that material, there's plenty of other resources for that. I want music, and not just live clips of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. What about new recording technologies that allowed this new musical experimentation? What about the record industry relenting to rock's popularity after it tried to kill it? What about the subject of drugs always being a seemingly necessary part of musician's life? Decent, but they could have done better here.

Episode seven is my personal favorite, probably because I'm a guitar player. It explains a taken-for-granted aspect of rock music, and that of course is the electric guitar. As Jeff Baxter says near the beginning of the episode, "No electric guitar...no rock and roll!", and he's absolutely correct. It's a forgone conclusion how integral the instrument is in this genre and all its splinter groups. Most of the episode postures arguments on which guitarists forged styles and sounds, who is the greatest, etc. Yet again, this is a subject that is far too expansive for a one hour episode, especially when your interviewing guitarists. So many great players are responsible for this music, and so many took it leaps and bounds beyond its origins. Instead the episode focuses on the usual suspects like Chuck Berry, James Burton, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen, all of whom are very important in the guitar lexicon for sure...but so many are forgotten. Hell, you could film ten episodes on this subject alone! Once you get us guitarists talking, there's no stopping us.

Episode 8, which is about the 1970's, is my second least-favorite. It's very meandering and skewed, and I'm not really sure what they're trying to convey with it. The episode mostly consists of '70s artists like David Bowie, KISS, and Alice Cooper telling funny stories about their backstage (and onstage) antics, as well as a section at the end where everyone goes on puerile rants about what a terrible threat disco was and how it's the worst music ever. Umm yeah that's nice, but again, where's the music? Where's progressive rock? Where's heavy metal? Where's funk? Well, they do talk about those genres in a very loose, unfocused way, in such a manner that it sees like they're making fun of them rather than discussing their merits. Ugghh, this episode is just terrible. Not only that, it's insulting and childish. Next...

Somehow, punk rock was able to get an episode completely devoted to itself. I'm not sure how this happened or why. It probably has something to do with it going through a resurgence of mainstream popularity in the early-to-mid 1990's when this series was filmed, with bands like Green Day, The Offspring, and Rancid experiencing very high sales and high-charting albums. Granted, punk rock was always overlooked as a genre by older mainstream journalists in the late '70s and '80s, and unfairly so; Though this is far from the case in modern times where punk is praised left and right. Anyway, the episode does tell a decent story of punk rock's origins in New York and Great Britain, and I was happy that members of founding punk bands like The Ramones and The Clash were interviewed, as well as punk prototypes like Iggy Pop. That said, the information presented isn't entirely accurate, and many important bands like Discharge and Bad Religion aren't mentioned at all. The producers also act as though punk never lasted beyond 1980 (very very much the opposite), nor do they mentioned how punk rock schisms like goth or dream pop came about. So-so I guess.

Episode 10: Ok, I don't know what the hell is going on here. Seriously. I guess this episode tries to combine the advent of MTV (which wasn't the first of its kind), hip-hop (again, NOT ROCK MUSIC), and '90s grunge/punk (lip service to the flavour du jour I guess) all into one gigantic mess. This episode is positively horrible, it doesn't know what it wants to be or say. The content is very garbled and mishmashed, jumping from one subject to another without clearly defining anything. Watching this episode is like talking to schizophrenic patient about the finer points of talking to gnomes. Instead of creating an "epilogue" to the series along the lines of the first episode's "prologue", aka giving rock's earliest roots at the beginning and then speculating about its future at the end, we instead have this amalgamation of crap. And herein ladies and gentle is the weak finish I mentioned in the review title...

So, is this worth getting? Absolutely. If your a fan of music history or a music nerd in general, then you'll find this to be a pretty satisfying documentary. Given some of things I said before this may seem contradictory, but it isn't. There are some glaring problems with this series, but there are also some wonderful tidbits of information here, many of which I haven't read or heard anywhere else, and it's also great to see some legends like Hank Ballard and Carl Perkins speak their peace one last time before the man upstairs took them away. Could it all have been done better? Sure. Has anyone bothered since then? Not really. And for the price of $35, this set is an absolute bargain, given that the original VHS box set cost between $50-$70 or more. Despite the pitfalls, any music fan should dig this documentary.

***1/2

M. Gilkey, in the 2004 review, made a great observation. There are two PBS rock and roll histories. The initial one, "Rock and Roll" was aired circa 1995. I haven't seen "The History of Rock and Roll", which is for sale here. "Rock and Roll" was amazingly well done. It was more or less an academic documentary, not the ratings-grabber of VH-1 years later. The Experience Project of "Rock and Roll" is the way to go. If anyone on here knows how to obtain the original PBS "Rock and Roll", please post. You would be doing a great many people an awesome service.