Customer Reviews

Music Scene - The Best of 1969-70

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

 

 

Music Scene was a show that only lasted about four months, and from this disc it's easy to see why it failed. It was far too eclectic with each show having one pop act, one progressive rock act, one C&W act, one black act, etc. For the militant pop music fan of the day, the show would have made you endure three things you weren't interested in for every one you were. That being said, if your tastes are broad, there's lots of great stuff here. The show was tuned in to what was popular at that very time. It's not a bunch of bottom top-forty material. Still, some is memorable and some deserved to stay locked in the time capsule.

The show interjected comedy routines between the musical numbers and, man, are they lame. Most of them. The bit that Tommy Smothers does before "Okie From Muskogee" is priceless. The chapters stops on the DVD are set so that if you skip ahead a chapter you hit the beginning of a musical number rather than the comedy bit. So you can easily skip past all the comedy (recommended).

Some favorite numbers, including some unexpected surprises: CSNY, "Down By the River," with a great hippie guitar freak-out; an interesting medley by the Everlys showing they were still cool in 1969; Isaac Hayes with "Walk on By" from "Hot Buttered Soul; Jerry Lee Lewis; Little Richard; Paul Anka doing *his* song, "My Way"; Ten Years After; a gospel version of The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar"!?; The Temptations; some awesome performances by Sly & the Family Stone; Janis Joplin. There are from 40-50 numbers total.

The DVD has a clean, colorful picture. The sound was decent considering that most of the music was vocal-oriented. I listen through TV speakers, so if the sound is superior I don't really know. But it did seem that the instrumentals were muted for some numbers, e.g. "Walk on By."

No doubt had I watched this series 35 years ago, I would have run out of the room when guests like Bobby Sherman or Steve Lawrence came on. And like many of the reviewers here, I would have questioned the intelligence of putting so many performers of different musical background all on one show. But I remember that Ed Sullivan's show had a similar mismatching of musical talent every week (not to mention puppet shows and ballet!). That was the sign of the times. The title of this show sums it all up: Music Scene. It is a terrific time capsule of the entire music scene of that era. It's all so innocent and unsophisticated to us now, but that's why most of the show is extremely enjoyable to watch. This show was right on the cusp of the next wave of television that was soon going to splinter into specialized programming. Previous to that, as we can see in this show, there was a lot of pressure to make sure that all the programming had something for everyone. I'm glad that it did splinter into programming that offered more intelligence and sophistication, but I'm also glad that there is this record of the America of decades past. One can appreciate how "radical" the sixties was on mainstream America when they see its musical extremes back-to-back. I think this series is a wonderful kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the most amazing times in our history, musically and culturally.

FEATURED PERFORMERS: James Brown, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Oliver, Three Dog Night, Tom Jones, The Rascals, The Dells, Roger Miller, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Bobby Sherman, The Music Scene Singers, Sly and the Family Stone, Merle Haggard, Pat Williams, Steve Lawrence, The Temptations, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smith, Ten Years After, Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, Isaac Hayes, The Archies, and special gusts hosts Tommy Smothers and Michael Cole (reciting Rod McKuen - aagh!). BONUS TRACKS: Mary Hopkin, Lou Rawls, Marva Whitney, Joe Cocker, Captain Ely. Tommy Rose, Spirit, Della Reese, Gary Puckett, The Grass Roots, Lulu, Edie Gourmet, Little Richard, BB King, Paul Anka, Charley Pride, Buffy Saint Marie, The Everly Brothers, 4 very brief (non-musical) promos by The Rolling Stones, and more "Sugar Sugar" than you could ever hope for (actually, I really enjoyed the gospel rendition!).

After reading the reviews here I wasn't expecting Volume 1 to be as great as it is! Sure there's lots of filler, but the gems are incredible! High points include:

Baby It's You - by one hit wonders "SMITH" featuring Gayle McCormick who sings the HECK out of the song. Maybe its because she knew that Janis Joplin would be following her on the same night?

World - James Brown sings about tolerance and understanding to a stage full of extras giving him the cold shoulder!

I Want To Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone tear this song up in a medley that includes "Don't Call Me Nigger Whitey!". Probably the first time that word ever got sung in prime time!

Down By The River - Crosby Stills Nash and Young rock out! Neil Young looks like a teenager! And he's sooooo good!

Walk On By - Isaac Hayes struts his ultra cool black stuff!

Maybe - Janis Joplin picks up the gauntlet thrown down by Gayle McCormick and does her one better!

I could go on and on. And don't forget this is a DOUBLE SIDED DVD, flip it over for an incredible rocking medley by The Everly Brothers (go figure?) which includes the Beatles "The End!". Other flip side highlights include James Brown's sexy protege Marva Whitney, B.B. King, Lulu, Joe Cocker, Little Richard and more!

By the way folks, these are mostly LIVE performances ( But I think the Temptations "I Can't Get Next To You" is lip-synched.)

Of the two volumes in this series, this one, Volume 1, is probably the weakest. Not that it's bad, but it took the producers a few weeks to fine-tune this show (pretty much just in time for the show to be cancelled).

There are some flat-out funny moments here, and some aren't intentional. Notice, for example, that during the CSNY piece, Graham Nash, playing away on the piano, is virtually ignored by the cameras. If you didn't know who was who you'd think the drummer must be Nash; he gets more camera time.

David Steinberg's "antics" (I use the term lightly) range from pretty darn funny to just goofy.

Musically, the proof is here; Richie Havens, Isaac Hayes, and even Mama Cass is pretty good. And Jerry Lee Lewis takes the cake, as "The Killer" ofen does.

Be sure to buy volume 2 of this set as well. As the show sped towards oblivion the comedy got stranger, the guests got louder and if I didn't know better I'd bet you that last-show's guest-host Groucho Marx is still cracking jokes in that studio.

Hard to believe anyone could find reason to gripe about all this, "in living color" no less. This wasn't a case of these performers not being ready for prime-time. It was a case of prime-time not being ready for them. The show was eclectic, eccentric, and electric. Get it, or forever be deprived. Oh, and be sure to check my "did this review help you" box. After all, who else gave you what you really wanted to know?

SIDE A

Chapters
September 22, 1969 (First Show)
1. Open
2. James Brown - World
3. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Down By the River
4. Buck Owens - Tall Dark Stranger
5. Oliver - Jean
6. Three Dog Night - Easy To Be Hard
7. Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall in Love Again
8. Music Scene Singers - Sugar Sugar
9. Program Close

October 6, 1969
1. Open
2. The Rascals - People Got to Be Free
3. The Dells - Oh What a Night
4. Roger Miller - King of the Road
5. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Here I Go Again
6. The Rascals - Carry Me Back
7. Roger Miller - Where Have All the Average People Gone
8. Bobby Sherman - Little Woman
9. The Music Scene Singers - Sugar Sugar
10. Program Close

October 20, 1969
1. Open
2. Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People; Dance to the Music
3. Merle Haggard - Okie from Muskogee
4. Pat Williams - Music Scene Theme
5. Bobby Sherman - Little Woman
6. Steve Lawrence - The Drifter
7. Tommy Smothers - Comedy Routine
8. Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime; Don't Call Me
Nigger, Whitey
9. The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
10. Program Close

October 27, 1969
1. Open
2. Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire
3. Ten Years After - Bad Scene
4. Smith - Baby It's You
5. Richie Havens - Rocky Raccoon
6. Jerry Lee Lewis - She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye
7. Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues
8. Michael Cole - Rod McKuen Railroad Poetry
9. Isaac Hayes - Walk on By
10. The Archies - Sugar Sugar
11. Program Close


SIDE B

Bonus Tracks
1. Mary Hopkin - In My Life
2. Lou Rawls - I Can't Make It Alone; Just Squeeze Me
3. Marva Whitney - Things Got to Get Better
4. Joe Cocker - Delta Lady
5. Lily Tomlin - Comedy Routine
6. Three Dog Night - Eli's Coming
7. Tommy Roe - Dizzy
8. Spirit - 1984
9. Della Reese - Wedding Bell Blues
10. Lou Rawls - Your Good Thing (Is About to End)
11. Gary Puckett - This Girl is a Woman Now
12. The Grass Roots - Heaven Knows
13. Lulu - Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You, Baby)
14. Bobby Sherman - Sounds Along the Way
15. Eydie Gorme - Tonight I'll Say a Prayer
16. Little Richard - Lucille; Tutti Frutti
17. B.B. King - Just a Little Love
18. Paul Anka - My Way
19. Charley Pride - Louisiana Man
20. Buffy Saint Marie - He's a Keeper of the Fire
21. The Everly Brothers - Medly: Rock and Roll Music; The End;
Aquarius; If I Were a Carpenter; The Price of Love; Games People Play

What a wonderful discovery on DVD!

There are two DVD's that comprise the complete series, which was only on from September, 1969, to January, 1970. David Steinberg is great as the host, and was one of the writers of the show. What a great showcase of the talent of the late 60's! It's an interesting variety of musical artists, and a neat time capsule of pop culture.

One of the coolest episodes, in my opinion, is the very last one, co-hosted by Comedy Legend Groucho Marx!! They did a little 'chat' session with Groucho and David Steinberg which is a classic!

Apparently this show was cancelled due to low ratings and competition from 'Laugh-In' And 'Gunsmoke', and I bet the producers/writers/performers never thought it'd ever see the light of day in any form after cancellation, but HOORAY for the DVD's!!!!

Some of the best things about the DVD's are all the Extra Bonus Material! It appears to be segments/songs/musicians cut from the original episodes! It's some killer stuff, and I'm amazed that all this fabulous material got the AXE during the original run of the show! Well, they only had 45 minutes per episode to get so much material in, I guess....

This is a must-see for fans of pop culture and music of the late 60's!

I highly recommend it!

Yep, it's sublime, at times sleep-inducing, and only a rare glimpse of something truly funny... BUT, it is an opportunity to see some of the biggest hit makers of the era do their hits in front of a camera. And not all lip-synced either!) We're all spoiled today with videos coming at us from every imaginable medium. Many are over-produced, dazzling digital 5 channel sound, mind-blowing special effects. But all we have now came from shows like this. This is how it was folks, in all it's "blue-screen-halo" glory. The digital quality is simply fantastic for 34 year-old color video tapes. Their existance and preservation onto DVD is a fine decision, and MPI Video is not stingy. 4+ hours on the DVD? Hey, it's worth every cent to see the Cartoon Video of "Sugar Sugar," and Gayle McCormick (with Smith) in a sing-scream session on the same program as Janis Joplin doing "Maybe." And some of the political commentary in the skits were suprising to say the least considering all the late 60's controversies regarding politics and drugs and war. Tommy Smothers faking a drag on an invisible joint while introducig "Okie from Muskogee" is a gem. And the First skit on the First Show portraying a marriage between a Black Man and a White Woman? We wouldn't look twice today, (at least I'd hope we've progressed), but in 1969? I'm suprised the show lasted 16 weeks! It's money well spent to throw yourself back to a different world. (Or was it really that different then?) Anyway, I'd like to see MPI come up with a DVD of the show that FOLLOWED Music Scene on ABC for those 16 weeks. "The New People" is plugged in nearly every Music Scene show.

If its hard to imagine someone waiting all week to see both Ten Years After and Bobby Sherman the only explanation I can offer is that hey, we didn't have 900 channels.

The music here is mostly disposable (as are all the comedy routines) but its pretty interesting to see how television shows were put together and how we struggled with Vietnam as a backdrop.

In one amazing segue, Tommy Smothers introduces someone "from the other side". Its Merle Haggard and he sings he's proud to be an Oakie. The performance ends with Merle in a sea of flags. This was a pretty common sight back then only it was usually coffins (the politicians have gotten smarter and now they don't allow this).

Anyway, I thought Jerry Lee Lewis was insanely cool. The Rascals were great, too (drummer Dino Danelli was something). It was almost frightening to watch Janis Joplin struggle to hold it together. Della Reese and Edie Gorme were not to my taste but Different Strokes For Different Folks-yeah! And then there was Buffy Saint Marie, perhaps the only pop musician my dad and I ever agreed on.

I can't see why anyone would want to own this but if you can rent it, by all means do.

THIS SHOW WANTED TO BE DIFFERENT.THEY MIXED HARD ROCK,FOLK,COMEDY,AND MORE.THE SHOW WAS TO APPEAL,TO A YOUNGER CROWD.TRIED TO BE HIP.THERE WERE A LOT OF GREAT GROUPS. SOME LIVE,AND SOME LIP-SINKING,PERISH FORBID.THE TRIED TO DUPLICATE THE SUCCESS OF HULABLOO,BUT FAILED,AND WAS CANCELED IN LESS THAN 1/1/2 YEARS.THERE ARE SOME VERY SPECIAL AND RARE MOMENTS.I WOULD DEFINITLY SPRING FOR THIS DVD. 4 STAR RECOMMENDED. I OWN THIS DISC.

I bought this because of rave reviews, but 75% is lip-synced junk or at best live singing over backing tracks. If you're an obssesive fan of CSNY and Sly & Family Stone like I am, then you have to buy this for their real live songs. That adds up to a great 10 or 15 minutes. The Rascals, Janis and a few others are live and decent, but wait till you can get this for $5 bucks, not $20. James Brown without his band! It's a crime against humanity. Most of this you will watch once at most.
I mean Smith? They walked right out of the Billy Jack movie.
Do you want to see David Steinberg and Lily Tomlin before they were famous, or funny? Some day Sly and CSNY will put out decent DVD's of all their live performances. C'mon Neil!