Customer Reviews

The McGarrigle Hour

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're a fan of the McGarrigles -- or Loudon Wainwright -- or even Rufus Wainwright -- you'll love this DVD. A "live" recording of their great album "McGarrigle Hour" this features songs that range from Stephen Foster to the best of the duo's 20+ year career...also some beautiful songs by Loudon Wainwright and his children Rufus & Martha. This might be the best textbook on harmony that you could find. Also nice interview clips and 4 "bonus" songs from a 1981 Concert. A beautiful collection.

This DVD presents the extraordinary musicianship, smart lyrics and heart-piercing harmonies of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, one of the finest singer-songwriter teams of the past thirty years. With no need for "flash" effects, smoke, strobes or hyped-up lighting because there's real talent on stage, this is just a presentation of brilliant singing and playing, pure and simple. The sound and picture quality are very good but the performances themselves, by the McGarrigles, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III and more are incredible. Having grown up in a large extended family in which we might break out in an impromptu song fest on weekends, I found the "family" feel of this concert to be especially moving and touching. Songs by Cole Porter, Stephen Foster and the McGarrigles -- does it get any better?

This DVD is a complete joy to watch! Everyone in it does an excellent job. The harmonizing of this family is beautiful! It is well worth the cost, and I enjoy viewing it again and again. I too, as the first reviewer, had went though three copies trying to get it to play on my new Toshiba DVD player. I learned that my player needed a software upgrade. I returned it to the dealer, who exchanged my player. Only then, did the Mcgarrigle Hour play. It was worth all the inconvience, though, because this is what DVD should be.

If you haven't heard of the McGarrigle Sisters, you're not alone. I'm honesly a little too young to have known about the music of the McGarrigle Sisters or Loudon Wainwright. As a matter of fact, I only found out about the folk singers because I love the music of their son, Rufus Wainwright. I figured that if his music was so original, his parents must be great musicians, too. I was right. The McGarrigle Hour VHS was highly entertaining. The video, which is a live performance of the songs from The McGarrigle Hour compact disc, features Kate and Anna McGarrigle and their family and friends, including folk singer Loudon Wainwright (Kate's ex-husband) and their children Rufus and Martha Wainwright (who are up-and-coming stars in their own rites), and Emmylou Harris and Lind Rondstadt. I'd like to give the video the full five stars, but the video isn't perfect for everyone. If you're not already a fan of the McGarrigles or Wainwrights, or you're not open to music that is not mainstream, you may not thoroughly enjoy this video. Your best bet it to sample the CD version first if you're not a brave music listener. For fans of the McGarrigles and Waiwnrights, though, this video is exciting to watch. It's always nice to put a face with the voices and names, and the video gives you a nice family feeling. The fact that McGarrigle may not be a household name shouldn't let you miss out on this highlight of the McGarrigle Sisters' and some great American songs that will leave you with that warm and fuzzy feeling.

This commentary was used to review the CD version of "The McGarrigle Hour". The only added comment necessary is the addition of other musicians like Linda Rhonstadt and Emmylou Harris make this more of a harmonic delight than the already great harmonies on the CD.

Over the past period this writer has reviewed the music of Loudon Wainwright III, the late Utah Phillips, his very much alive old friend Rosalie Sorrels and now the McGarrigle Sisters, Kate and Anna, (including, when appropriate, their family and kin musical entourage). What joins this reviewer and this gathering of folk giants together is one person and one place, Lena and Café Lena's coffeehouse in Saratoga, New York. That place was (and today continues to be on a lesser scale) the Mecca in upstate New York for the gathering of much folk talent, folk wisdom and just plain whimsy, including the talents of most of those mentioned above.

I know Saratoga and its environs well and if New York City's Greenwich Village and Cambridge's Harvard Square are better known in the 1960s folk revival geography that locale can serve as the folk crowd's summer watering hole (and refuge from life's storms all year round). From the descriptions of the café `s lifestyle and of the off-beat personality of Lena, as presented in a PBS documentary about her and the place many years ago, it also was a veritable experiment in ad hoc communal living). Thus, I know the names and work of the McGarrigles well. For those not so fortunate, and to bring the younger crowd up to date, Kate McGarrigle is Rufus Wainwright's mother (and Loudon Wainwright, of course, is his father). That will tell much about Rufus' pedigree.

But back to Kate and Anna. Of course they came out of Canada, like compatriots Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, and placed their stamp on a late portion of the folk revival, particularly with their beautiful harmonies, their great instrumental versatility and their songwriting replete with many memory-induced songs from their old country (including some very nice traditional songs in French). Those memory songs, perhaps, are their trademark-covering and creating a certain kind of folk music that is very traditionally driven without being maudlin as many of the very early songs in the North American Songbook tended to be. And their lyrics and melodies backed by a wide range of instruments from the banjo to the fiddle blend very nicely together.

I will give one example, the one that caught my ear long ago before I knew much of Lena and Café Lena. The McGarrigle song "Mendocino" (out in Pacific California) is written in honor of Lena. Lena, as mentioned above, was very troubled in many ways, although something of a fairy godmother to the upstate New York folk scene. One single line of "Mendocino" captures Lena's turmoil very concisely- "never had the blues from whence I came, in New York state I caught`em". That line in combination with the almost ethereal melody line that evokes the spray of the ocean gives just the right sense about the plight of that troubled lady. This is the kind of thoughtful presentation that dominates their working ethos. Listen up.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle (and friends, family, etc) have gone all out to give an entertaining radio-like hear at many parts of the American (or better, North American) Songbook. Old Tin Pan Alley tunes, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, some Broadway numbers, traditional folk numbers, late 1950s rock and so on. Oh ya, some Kate and Anna McGarrigle too. Sticks outs here- of course the above-mentioned "Mendocino", Berlin's "What'll I Do", Stephan Foster's "Gentle Annie", the Sonny James classic "Young Love" and an incredible group harmony on "Johnny's Gone To Hilo". Nice stuff here.

Exhale, and wow! There were so many moments during this that I simply held my breath with excitement and sheer amazement over the lovely sounds I was hearing. This is a family, led by Kate and Anna, who have music flowing in their veins, and does it show! Hats off, hats off indeed.

Having been in love with their music for 25 years now, seeing this -- my 1st time to EVER see Kate and Anna on film -- was a joy. There is simply nobody else out there quite like them, and the heart-wrenchingly gorgeous sounds they are capable of. For lovers of music, as opposed to the latest flavor of icecream that comes and goes, I could not endorse this more than I do. The entire DVD was a joy to witness and to experience, as you will discover yourself...

If you want to actually receive this dvd or any other dvd for that matter do not order from the "company" that calls itself dvdfactory. If you ever receive your order it will arrive very late. I was promised 1-7 days and it has now been 25 and I still have nto received my order. Oh yes they have gotten their money. What a way to do business, huh.

If you can get this DVD to play on your DVD player, it's worth it! I bought two copies from amazon, neither which would play. (They were OUTSTANDING about trying to replace it and make it right.) Amazon was great, but if you've got a Toshiba player, it won't play. And Toshiba doesn't care. They say "read the fine print on the owners' manual about kinds of DVDs that it plays"...like anyone does that. Palmpicture (the company that presses the DVD) also sent me a copy AFTER they had verified that it plays on their players. The problem is with the Toshiba player.

This dvd gave endless pleasure to watch....being a BIG fan of both the McGarrigles and Loudon Wainwright, it was nothing short of compulsory viewing!! The extra features are nice with both Kate and Anna offering insight into the whole family during their interview. I have the audio cd, so the package is complete!!!.....God Bless Kate and may her memory live on. As Loudon Wainwright accepted his Grammy recently for a latest release, it was appropriate for him to pay tribute to Kate, his ex, for teaching him how to frail on banjo!!! All in all, a joyous concert to watch on dvd.....I only wish I'd been sitting in the audience on one of the lounge chairs at front of stage!!!

First of all, The McGarrigle Hour as far as I can see has nothing to do with Paul Blackthorne, so that's annoying. However, the DVD features Rufus, Martha and Loudon Wainwright, so I purchased it based on that and curiosity about the McGarrigle sisters who figure in Canadian folk music history. (Kate was married to Loudon and is mother to Rufus and Martha.) I enjoyed the musical selections and the family dynamics. There are welcome revelations about the childhoods of Rufus and Martha as well as Kate, Anne and Jane in the interview features. The music is mesmerizing.
It is a bit of history that was preserved at the right moment. The McGarrigles were important in North American folk circles. Seeing them perform with offspring who have gone on with their own singing careers was touching from a generations-bridging perspective.