Customer Reviews

Rhythm, Love and Soul

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was an excellent, excellent performance. I totally enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. All of the performers were excellent. If I could change anything on this concert, I would allow Blue Magic and The Manhattans as well as the other performers to sing more of their hits. I am very excited about this concert and can't wait to have friends in so they can enjoy it with me. This concert was very well done. Thank you.

Fantastic program with outstanding performances that can put to shame any of the younger acts we see on TV daily...
Now they can see what true talent and great singing is about...
Thanks PBS for putting together such a great show with a great orchestra too...
Now I saw that program when it was aired and it was longer (including performances by Chic, The Trammps and many more), and the title of this DVD says Vol.1... so there's gotta be a Vol.2 in the pipe... Please don't make us wait too long!!!
I'm already in line with my credit card...

Wonder B

I have been waiting for this to be released having seen it on PBS Television,this is definetly a must buy for soul fans and lovers of great live performances.This video serves as a tribute to the late great Edwin starr his performance is Stunning,as are all the other performances.Fantastic to see Blue Magic and The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston.Can't speak highly enough about this dvd.Please PBS keep up these concerts before these truly amazing artists disappear and we loose the opportunity to witness their art.

Someone wondered why Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul. Obviously, they know NOTHING about soul music! Go back, my misguided friend, and just listen to Aretha's first recordings on Columbia Records, starting when she was a mere 18 years old and you will hear WHY she is called "Queen." Franklin made some amazing recordings at that company even before her Golden Years at Atlantic and Arista Records. During the 60s through the 80s, Franklin racked up countless, in-person, electrifying performances, the likes of which SHOULD have been filmed for eternity.

Other female vocalists emulated her and she, above all, brought the black church into secular music. Today, EVERYBODY is trying to sing "soul."

This concert just reminds us of how wounded "soul music" has become in the hands of the hip/hop loosers. THIS NEW CROP CANNOT SING! Just look at American Idol '05. Even the rock singers are outsinging the so-called "soul singers," who are off-key and show no signs of having learned their craft in a black Baptist church. Last year, at least American Idol '04 had Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson holding up the tradition.

This show proves that the best singers today are the one's who were the "best" in the 60s and 70s. Aretha's breathing is obviously hampered by her increased poundage (something she should take care of), but she is STILL a great star and is worthy of all praise. 60s stars didn't need 25 or 30 dancers, fireworks, etc. to give a performance. All a singer like Wilson Pickett or Bettye LaVette need do was walk out on stage, grab the mic and sing their hearts out!

Dennis Edwards (less poundage needed) has always been a marvelous singer, but getting out of shape can slow one down. Edwin Starr never lost any of his fire. He was truly one of the great stage performers...he will be missed. I wanted the beautiful and talented, Mary Wilson, to prove to everyone that she doesn't need the Supremes anymore. Too bad they didn't give her a solo spot.

This DVD will take you back to a time when Love and Romance was serenaded by masters of Soul.
Very nostalgic and allows you to sing and jive with the true artists of timeless music.
A Good buy.

for all soul fans take a trip down memory lane and experience a rare chance to see some beautiful singers still going strong,the performance by edwin starr will knock you for six ,this disc is a must, anyone you show it to will go out and buy it, the sound and picture quality is magical,god bless america and rhythm love and soul.

The line up of 60's and 70's soulsters is interesting - an eclectic mixture of the well known and the not so famous. The backing orchestration and vocals are excellent. However, everything unravels when the lead vocals commence. The singers all sound as if there was a curtain between them and the microphone when the recordings were made. It is not just a matter of 60 year old vocal chords being weaker than 20 year old. It is not the obvious lack of proper balance between the audience noise and the music. The simple problem is that the vocals were not mixed at the correct volume. I can understand such a problem with a 1960 concert. This is a 2003 production! I am perplexed.

it is quite amazing to find all those legends of soul performing under one concert.i just like to thank the pbs for making this dvd a success.i just hope you create more volumes because those musicians are so unique and they do take us all the way back,the 70's soul(the three degrees,lou rawls,the blue-magic,jerry iceman butler,dennis edwards,carl carlton and billy paul),it is a battle of the giants including the queen of soul herself(aretha franklin)this show is so hot and i just kept playing it over and over again,it has got such great audience and the dvd sounds so great and very clear.if you are a philly fan i think this is for you .i will await more and more releases of this kind of concert,and i think we must support them because soul music is forever.

This DVD offers a limited but essentially comprehensive collection of popular tunes, all of which, among the best & most popular at their time & up to this new century too.

ARTISTS & SONGS ARE EXCELLENT. VIDEO IS GOOD. SOUND REPRODUCTION ON DISC I PURCHASED RANGES FROM GOOD TO VERY POOR. HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE GREAT IF AUDIO WAS IMPROVED.