Customer Reviews

Rock and Roll at 50

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

To be honest,I really expected this music DVD to be totally lame,with most of the artists to be lifeless old farts and hags that could hardly carry themselves properly onstage.Glad to see that I was very wrong about that.As it turns out,'Rock&Roll At 50' is quite entertaining to watch.Many very good/well produced performances by the likes of Bo Diddley,playing his namesake "Bo Diddley",Jerry Lee Lewis,with "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On",Brian Hyland-"Sealed With A Kiss",Gerry Marsden(of Gerry&The Pacemakers)doing two of his gems,"Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" and "Ferry Cross The Mersey",one time hit maker Paul&Paula with "Hey Paula",The Manfreds playing "Do Wah Diddy Diddy",pajama pop idol Lesley Gore giving us "Maybe I Know"(looking good at 59,Lesley)and Darlen Love(of the Crystals)with "He's A Rebel".Those are just the highlights.Total of 22 songs.Recommended for true pop fans over the age of 55.

I already had the "Doo Wop at 50", "Doo Wop at 51", and "Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop" DVDs before buying this one. I must admit that it lacks all the magic the previous shows had. At first, it seems that PBS didn't have the same budget to produce this show. The stage layout was extremely simple, which isn't a bad thing, but when it reflects something like "the last show standing", it makes you a bit sad.

Nevertheless, the show did have some highlights. I was wondering why The Heartbeats weren't on the previous shows. It was a delight to see them on this one. Other artists that were great to watch were Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Tillotson, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Paul and Paula. Terry Johnson's Flamingos were nice, but it's just not the same without the original members.

Now, for the bad part...DVD production. On Doo Wop at 51, they started overdoing it when it comes to pre-recorded cheering and clapping. This time it bothered me up to a point where I decided that I wouldn't buy any more PBS DVDs if they made another show. I was really anxious to see Danny & The Juniors, but unfortunately I only only got to see 2/3 of them, since it was the last song of the show, and the rest of the screen was used to show the credits. The people from PBS should learn about production and editing by watching "Soul Comes Home", a show/tribute to the Stax Records artists, that had a great stage layout and great editing, which makes us feel like we're there.

Overall, Rock and Roll at 50 is nice to have, since they're all great artists. But do get the previous DVDs before you get this one.

This is an excellent concert part one of two...from pbs.Like doo wop 50,51,and so much more,they keep the music alive...Part 2 has not yet been released,except through pbs.I own all the oldies concerts from,disco folk ,and british rock as part of the great american soundtrack...Rock and roll at 50 contains 23 super live tracks...If you are a fan of great rock and roll,you will love this dvd...I own and highly recommend this disc..Thank you stewart L.

I was really pleased with this DVD, as was my husband. It was good to see some of the rock & roll singers performing today. They all looked good and sounded good. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of rock & roll.

great concert with all the singers that made you feel good in the early years! incl. jerry lee lewis ,bo diddley,paul&paula,and a lot more of the greats have fun!!

Rock and Roll At Fifty is a must for pop music fans. Performances by
Jack Scott, Brian Hyland, Johnny Tillotson and Lesley Gore are first
class all the way plus all the others on this five star DVD are just
sensational as well. This is a thoroughly professional production with 22
solid performances plus backstage interviews with Bo Diddley, Darlene Love and Paul and Paul. As I said, it's a must for pop music fans.

We enjoy listiening and watching this DVD on our HDTV. We play this when have friends over with the volume low and find them humming or singing along.

IT'S AN EXCELLENT OVER-VIEW OF AN ACTUAL LIVE PBS DOO WOP PERFORMANCE 2003 IN COLOR WITH THE ORIGINAL PERFORMERS. THEY'RE OLDER BUT THERE VOICES HASN'T CHANGED.
THE SONGS ON THIS DVD ARE NOT ON THE PBS COLLECTION. THIS IS THE BONUS DVD. ADD THIS TO YOUR COLLECTION.

My first doo-wop dvd set was the PBS concert over 10 years ago. It is wonderful! I have bought 4 DVDs promoted as "PBS" programs in different decades and genres. I decided I wanted similiar dvds in the different eras, as I now am retired and have the time to watch. The recent purchases are all disappointing. There are a lot more conversations between hosts, really a bummer when the included memorial tribute has a slideshow of many artists while Jerry and Betty sing "let it be me" with various copycat efforts on most of the 4 recent purposes. I have yet to watch all 4 as you get really bored after about 15 minutes. The performances themselves are ok, though several on each have really bad acoustics (cannot understand Bo Diddly words nor music). The first I tried to watch had pretty much 3 performances and 4 "conversations, plus the above noted Ttribute" in less than 20 minutes. Just remember you get what you pay for in these lesser dvds. In closing, if you want a documentary these are ok, but concerts they are not.

I totally loved this Special and at 42,I was not even around for most of this but loved seeing all the acts that I have heard on the radio.Buy This,you,ll love it to.