Customer Reviews

Mahalia Jackson [VHS]

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3 star:		(1)
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There is no one in the world like Mahalia Jackson. She was the best!!!! I loved it!!!

Dear Fans of Mahalia Jackson:

I would like to inform you that there was nothing wrong with this video in my opinion. As for the color on the film being poor - what do you expect people? The footage was shot between 1969 and 1972 cameras were not as high tech as they are today!! The original documentary that was filmed by Allen Miner in the summer of '69 for the US State Department was not filmed as intended because he met opposition from a lot of the promoters of Mahalia's concert that year. But he put together the footage from the concerts, her press conferences, her rehearsals and even her wake and funeral on this tape after her passing, to give fans a glimpse as to who Mahalia was; her beliefs; her faith and her dedication to singing the gospel. I loved it. Having seen Mahalia perform years ago we never really got to see the human side of her much. You know, the everyday hardworking Mahalia. It also gives you a glimpse of the Holy Ghost filled singer who could make the most convinced of atheists shout amen. If you don't believe me, watch the video and watch her sing "Great Gettin Up Mornin'" or "I Thank God" or even "Just A Closer Walk With Thee"...Mahalia Jackson does not deliver a testimony...she is a testimony...a living witness to how God can take someone small and insignificant and make her great!! And she brings out her gratitude in every song she has ever sung...this video is no exception to that fact. Buy the tape folks!!!!

Dear Fellow Mahalia Fans,
I was so taken by the sheer intimacy of witnessing a very personal side of Mahalia Jackson. One felt as if they were traveling with her and accompanying the Grand lady throughout Europe. The traveling scenes on the Rolls-Royce and the trains or seeing her feed the swans was truly captivating. Mahalia is seen walking into the great halls and gaze up at the ceiling with reverance.

The footage is fast paced and evident of the technology of its time but the singing quality is superb. I actually felt as if I was there, listening and witnessing her every movement. Mahalia demonstrates great ease and flexibility with every nuance of voice range and dynamic rhythm. One can feel the vibrations of an awsome spirit as she delivers powerful songs from her vast collection of gospel songs. She even tells the piano player when he is going too fast. She is in full command and she wants ultimate perfection in the timber and range of her power contralto voice. This documentary is great because it gives a full dimension of Mahalia Jackson, the Singer and the true Servant of the Lord. This tape is a must for the libraries of all Mahalia Fans.

Noel Serrano
Mahalia Jackson Group-2009
Yahoo Group and Hi5.com network
(Join the Mahalia Jackson Group on Yahoogroups)

This could've been a great concert film of what I assume was the legendary lady's last tour. Instead it gets bogged down in minutia, as if the director wanted every inch of film shot included in the final cut except the concert footage. It shows Mahalia sleeping on an airplane. It shows her exiting a Rolls Royce. It shows her riding on a train and, in an obviously scripted moment, a woman passing by her compartment, without a word, hands her a baby. It shows her signing autographs. Without any warning the film cuts away to Mahalia literally in a dentist's chair! ("Does this hurt?" the dentist askes the open-mouth Mahalia. "No," she says. "Well, it should," says the dentist. Bud-da-bing! But seriously, folks, are my arms tired...) Despite the incessant droning of a narrator, there's even a bizarre death scene, literally, in what I assume is a close up of Mahalia in her coffin -- the lighting was bad, so all that's visible is someone in a blue dress.
I knew there would be trouble after the first two minutes of this video. Mahalia is singing a great version of Come On Children. She's jumping around, sweaty-faced, hand-clapping, really getting into it, then all of a sudden the narrator chimes in and drowns her out for the rest of the song. And that's really how it is for the entire movie. No songs from beginning to end, just partial performances, mediocre camera work, and superfluous narration. I think the director just didn't have enough faith in his subject's talent, which is unwarranted. From these partial performances, it's obvious why she was so acclaimed.

It was a great joy to see this video. Mahalia doesn't sing a song, she "lives" it. The audience feels that she direct cable to God. Never before I heard such a great version of "We shall overcome". She sang it in the church of Uppsala, Sweden. Every person in the audience and every viewer of the video feels the presense of God. Just a little bit sad is, that the director of this video made some mistakes. So, it was not Mahalias last Europe Tour. This video depends on her tour of 1969. Her latest Europe tour was in summer 1971. I saw her at Hannover in September 1971. Some days later, in Munich, she collapsed. And there are other wrong comments, too. It would have been better that the director had read L. Goreaus biography "Just Mahalia, Baby". There you can read everything about her Europe tours of between 1952 and 1971. But inspite of that, it's a great video about a wonderful woman. There will be no other Mahalia. She is the greatest!

The quality (lighting, etc.) of the concert footage is not always the greatest, but that is a minor issue. The performances are inspiring and the footage in between gives us a good idea of what Mahalia the person was like. I highly recommend this DVD.

It was a great joy to see this video. Mahalia doesn't sing a song, she "lives" it. The audience feels that she has got a direct cable to God. Never before I heard such a great version of "We shall overcome". She sang it in the church of Uppsala, Sweden. Every person in the audience and every viewer of the video feels the presense of God. Just a little bit sad is, that the director of this video made some mistakes. So, it was not Mahalias last Europe Tour. This video depends on her tour of 1969. Her latest Europe tour was in summer 1971. I saw her at Hannover in September 1971. Some days later, in Munich, she collapsed. And there are other wrong comments, too. It would have been better that the director had read L. Goreaus biography "Just Mahalia, Baby". There you can read everything about her Europe tours between 1952 and 1971. But inspite of that, it's a great video about a wonderful woman. There will be no other Mahalia. She is the greatest!

A majestic, magnificent artist, who, judging by this film and by the sounds I've heard on vinyl, on cassette, yes even on youtube, "lived the Life I sing about in my songs". I agree somewhat with the earlier reviewer whow as bothered by the song fragments - it's an inscrutable thing to me, as I've watched in exasperation for decades, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Little Richard partial performances on videos, DVDs, etc. The same approach is found on this production, so it is surmised that the producers/directors/editors, were going by "formula". Very recently I bought a James Brown DVD documentary with some of the rarest clips imaginable...overruled by that narrator telling us stuff we already know.
Songs include "Didn't It Rain?", also associated with Sister Rosetta Thorpe and Little Richard, "Eliger Rock", "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho", "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", and "Let There Be Peace On Earth" (in different takes, one greater than the other).
Of course, this European tour is reported as her *final* tour, and the sadness near the end of this tape is compounded by the limitations of the documentary-film technique. It's very tough to watch. At one point, she rests in the dressing room following another strong performance, asks for a glass of water, and declares she will not see the Doctor, when a concerned attendant suggests that she should.
Mahalia Jackson was a Superstar in he field and this documentary successfully brings out that she did seem to enjoy the trappings of fame, something I assume many fans wouldn't easily accept.
With that fame and global adoration, naturally came the grueling tours, for a secular of non-secular star. Did "the road" ultimately take this treasure from us?

Because of the fact that I met Ms. Jackson at a very early age and she and my Aunt belonged to the same church - Greater Salem Baptist Church under the pastorate of the late Rev. Petty and the late Rev. Leon Jenkins, Sr. I could say that I am biased. However, this was an excellent documentary and it gives an up close and personal look at her life and her craft. She truly was working for the Lord! She was dedicated unto death to her master our Lord and Saviour - Jesus Christ! I wholeheartedly recommend this and have bought several as gifts for those that love real and original Gospel Music and for those who loved the QUEEN of Gospel - Mahalia Jackson! I repeat the Queen of Gospel!!! Get a copy and your life will never be the same!

Granted the production values are poor, even by 1970s standards, many of the performances are edited, and the narrative often gets in the way, but the power of each performance is staggering.

It is November 1, 2004, fewer than 24 hours before American voters choose between hope, charity & love and fear, greed & hatred. I am watching We Shall Overcome and feeling in my soul that one day, everything *is* going to be alright -- it may or may not be tomorrow, but that day will come.

JJWL