Product Details

• Actors: Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• 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: YAZOO
• DVD Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004TJF2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,045 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scholarly, historical look at these Legends of the Blues, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Masters of the Country Blues [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video has clear sound and excellent black and white images of these country blues legends singing and talking at home and around their home towns in their later years. It is a very professional documentary. I f you are interested in the history of the blues and learning pickin' styles you will be very satisfied with this one!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, I got to see these guys performing!, December 8, 2004

By 

Lz Mahner "Tiger" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of the Country Blues - Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins (DVD)

I fell in love with this genre (i.e., blues) about 5 yrs ago and amongst the various blues artists, Hopkins' and Manscomb's music were the ones that hit the right chord within me.

Watching this DVD is very exciting for me thus, as I've been listening to these guys for a long time now but have not seen till now how they perform their music.

The DVD is very well made. The soundtrack is monoaural though, and certainly not of high fidelity, as the original material came from an old [1969?] performance for the Seattle Folk Society, in a session that was shot in what looks like a bare studio.

The beauty of the performances lie therein though, in the "primitiveness" of the material. It sure is fun to watch Lipscomb singing/playing with minimum bodily movements, as compared to the more animated and lively Hopkins.

My only negative comment is that there's not much story-telling that Hopkins made in between or before the songs, which stories are usually as interesting to hear as the songs themselves.

Just the same, on the overall this is a must-see for all fans of Texas blues.

The list of tracks are as follows:

Mance Lipscomb [born 1895]

1. [Taj Mahal Introduction]
2. Sugar Babe
3. Ella Speed
4. Can I Do Something For You
5. Baby Please Don't Go
6. Shine On Harvest Moon
7. You've Got To See Mama Every Night
8. Goin' Down Slow
9. Night Time Is The Right Time
10. Jack O' Diamonds

Lightin' Hopkins [born 1912]

11. [Taj Mahal Introduction]
12. Baby Please Don't Go
13. Take Me Back
14. Hurricane Beulah
15. Mojo Hand
16. Baby Come Home With Me
17. Baby Scratch My Back

Total run time - appx. 45 min.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good Blues and Pre-Blues music dvd, May 31, 2008

By 

D. B Pepper "neonx83" (Plainview, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masters of the Country Blues - Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins (DVD)

The Mance Lipscomb songs, especially "Sugar Babe" and "Ella Speed", are the highlights of this dvd. Lightnin' Hopkins set is very good until the last two songs, which are just mediocre Lightnin'. Sometimes the man produced great recordings; most of his stuff from the late 1940s and early 1950s is great. His Blues Revival-era stuff, which is when this footage is from, is a mixed bag. This dvd originally came out in 1991 according to the copyright at the end of the program, but it seems as if the sound hasn't been touched up very well. This may be due to limitations based on the way these performances were recorded. There's really no need to have Taj Mahal host the dvd if he's just going to read off of cue cards or a teleprompter. At any rate, this is a very good Blues and Pre-Blues music dvd that is certainly worth owning.