Customer Reviews

Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll Classics, Vol. 3 - The Soul of the Motor City

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

 

 

"The Ed Sullivan Show" was an American television institution that was on every Sunday night from 1948 to 1971. For an hour a homely newspaper columnist with awkward gestures and an idiosyncratic way of speaking that everyone in the country could imitate brought an incredible array of entertainment into the living rooms of the nation. Within a single broadcast we would see classical ballet and Broadway showgirls, slapstick comedy and scenes from Shakespeare, and grand opera along with rock 'n' roll. That last one is the focus of "Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll Classics," the third volume of which focuses on the great stars of Motown and "The Soul of the Motor City."

There are three "episodes" of "Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll Classics" on this DVD but there is no attempt to come up with thematic differences despite the titles; the Supremes, the Temptations, and the Jackson 5 appear in all three. But these do provide a way of telling you what you get to see and hear on this DVD:

"Motortown Review": Smokey Robinson & the Miralces, "Doggone Right"; The Supremes, "Love is Like an Itching in My Heart"; Diana Ross & The Supremes, "Love Child"; The Jackson 5, "I Wonder Who's Loving Her Now?"; Stevie Wonder, "You've Met Your Match"; and The Temptations, "I'm Going to Make You Love Me."

"The Sweet Sound of Soul": The Supremes, "Come See About Me"; The Jackson 5, "ABC" and "I Want You Back"; James Brown, "Prisoner of Love"; The Righteous Brothers, "Turn On Your Love Light"; The Temptations, "Run Away Child, Running Wild"; and the Four Tops, "Reach Out and I'll Be There."

"Motor City Magic": The Temptations, "Get Ready"; Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, "I Second That Emotion"; Stevie Wonder, "For Once In My Life"; Four Tops, "Reach Out," "Sugar Pie," and "Bernadette"; The Jackson 5, "I Want You Back"; and The Supremes, "In And Out of Love."

The extras for this DVD consist of a trivia track that keeps a constant stream of information flowing across the screen during the songs. The introductions to each song provide a modest sense of music appreciation for the time (e.g., the importance of "Run Away Child, Running Wild" as the advent of social consciousness in Motown). Although Berry Gordy, Jr. is mentioned as the founder of Motown in 1959, it is clearly Smokey Robinson who gets the credit for being a one man hit machine who wrote, produced, performed, and scouted new talent. Given that we are talking the 1960s, well before the birth of the music video and MTV, "The Soul of the Motor City" remains a nice historical artifact for videos of live performances of some of Motown's biggest hits by most of its biggest stars.

Those of you who are old enough to remember this will feel warm all over (I vaguely recall seeing the J-5 on this when I was 5, but I recall all these songs). Those who don't may still be entertained and educated. This set contains most of the Jackson 5's appearances on Uncle Ed's show on Dec. 5, 1969 and May 10, 1970 (amusingly, Ed tells the J5 to "enjoy their Christmas presents, not realizing they were Jehovah's Witnesses). Very exciting to watch and is on a par with the Beatles and Elvis appearances for it's historical importance.

Oprah Winfrey has said that seeing Diana Ross and the Supremes' Dec 27, 1964 appearance on the Sullivan show (four days after I was born-how bout that?) changed her life and filled her with aspirations. Considering that few Blacks appeared on TV in those days, one has to put that in context. Diana makes some really wild looking bug eyed faces in that performance (which she often did in those days until the Motown charm school made her stop that). But by their 1966 appearance that is also on this disc, the rough edges are off and they are excellent performers (check out Mary Wilson doing the monkey)!

The Godfather (JB, not MB) does his famous cape routine and as always is filled with excitement. The Temptations are also quite good (they perform "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" without the Supremems and still sound great) and watch Ed Sullivan, the king of uncool, try to dance like the Tempts and the Four Tops. It adds to the fun. Oh yeah, Stevie and Smokey are along for the fun, too.

Overall, since so little video exists of great Soul performers in their prime, it's very valuable and fun to watch.

This DVD brought back so many memories for my family. We sat in front of the TV like back in the day when we used to wait for The Ed Sullivan Show to come on every Sunday night. This was one of the best entertainment that I have seen in a very long time.

The Jackson 5, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Little Steve Wonder, James Brown & The Rightous Brothers.

This is a must see, must buy DVD of all times.

This DVD has a number of great, classic soul performances that are worth seeing and having. The DVD doesn't get a higher rating because I didn't like the way the performances are organized into different sets on the DVD, not in cronological order. Also, there is a subtitle commentary/facts track you can switch on that, with few exceptions, provides little if any relevant information on the performances or performers. Instead, factoids are provided relating to the lyrics of the song, such as how many homeless people there are in the USA or even which football team won the NFL the year the song was performed. I would have preferred in the commentaries knowing the story of how the band got on Ed Sullivan, where they were in their career at that point, what problems they may have had, where they got their inspiration, etc. Fortunately, there is some of this information during the playing of the DVD itself. Great performances; mediocre DVD production.

THIS DVD DOESN'T HAVE ANY OF THOSE ARTIST MENTION ON THE LIST WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SUPREMES AND THE FOUR TOPS. ARTIST ON THIS DVD ARE THE ROLLING STONES, SONNY & CHER, THE ASSOCIATION AND OTHER ARTIST THAT WERE NEVER WITH MOTOWN. THE DVD IS O.K. AND THE ARTIST ARE REFRESHING BUT I WANTED TO SEE MOTOWN.