Product Details

• Actors: The Serendipity Singers, The Limeliters, The New Christy Minstrels, The Brothers Four
• Format: Box set, Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
• Run Time: 270 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KRNCYO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,480 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "The Best Of Hootenanny" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Although there are other styles represented among the more than 90 tracks in this three-disc set, The Best of Hootenanny is mostly about folk music. And while folkie superstars like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the Kingston Trio are absent, there are lots of famous names on hand (Judy Collins, Carly Simon, the New Christy Minstrels, Hoyt Axton, the Limelighters), not to mention a host of genre-defining songs ("Green, Green," "If I Had a Hammer," "Five Hundred Miles," "Michael Row the Boat Ashore"… even "Kumbayah," the summer camp moment that's become a new millennium cliché). Problem is, time has not been very kind to folk. No matter how good the performances may be, and some are excellent, this is music that is very much of its time (the early 1960s); nuance-free, with its pure and earnest tales of lusty men and their ramblin' ways, it virtually parodies itself these days--especially in the wake of A Mighty Wind, Christopher Guest's spot-on film satire. Little wonder that the TV show itself was off the air by September, '64, plowed under by the Beatles and other rockers who made folk sound quaint and unfashionable (an exception here would be Ian & Sylvia Tyson's powerful and rocking "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well"). It's the offerings from other genres that still sound great. A duo called Joe & Eddie bring a febrile, foot-stomping gospel vibe to "Jerry," as do the amazing Marion Williams & Stars of Faith to "Packin' Up." The Dillards, Flatt & Scruggs (with banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs), and Richard & Jim, another obscure duo, play some scorching bluegrass; Johnny Cash (whose two tunes include "Busted," most closely associated with Ray Charles) and the Carter Family represent traditional country music, and jazz flutist Herbie Mann's Latin-inflected "Harlem Nocturne" is a highlight. All the clips, including comedy bits by Woody Allen, Louis Nye, Bill Cosby, and John F. Kennedy impersonator Vaughn Meader, were preserved on kinescope (recordings made by filming the picture from a TV monitor), so neither video nor audio is great. The set contains no bonus features. --Sam Graham

Product Description

For the first-time on home video, a deluxe 3-DVD set of the hit ABC show that started the '60s!

In the pre-Beatlemania days of April 1963, a weekly folk music concert called Hootenanny found its way onto the American television airwaves. Originating from various college campuses, the show featured artists that were thriving on the coffee house and college circuit, like Judy Collins, Trini Lopez, Jimmie Rodgers, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Brothers Four and Bob Gibson.

Hosted by Jack Linkletter (the son of TV legend Art Linkletter), Hootenanny was also a showcase for young comedians, including Bill Cosby and Woody Allen. And Hootenanny, not limiting itself to folk artists, also featured gospel, jazz and country performers, including Clara Ward, the Carter Family, Marion Williams, Herbie Mann, Hoyt Axton, Eddy Arnold, Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash--all usually performing in the folk idiom, or something close to it.

A few young future rock performers also made early appearances on Hootenanny. Look for John Phillips, who would later go on to form The Mamas and the Papas, as a member of the Journeymen. Carly Simon performs as one half of the Simon Sisters and Barry McGuire, who would soon have a number one hit with Eve Of Destruction, can be seen with the New Christy Minstrels.

By 1964 the Beatles had arrived in America, essentially ending the folk music craze that had started only a few years before. Hootenanny would soon be replaced by Shindig! All of the videotapes of Hootenanny are lost--most likely erased and recycled during a time when no one imagined folk music would matter again. But fortunately the shows were preserved on kinescopes, films made from a television monitor. These kinescopes of Hootenanny form a musical time capsule of the short-lived era in American popular music--in between Elvis Presley and The Beatles--when folk music was all the rage.

More than 80 songs including: Froggie Went A-Courtin', He Was A Friend Of Mine, Midnight Special, C.C. Rider, Cottonfields, Turn Turn Turn, If I Had A Hammer, Wayfarin' Stranger, Wimoweh and Ole Blue

With performances by:
Eddy Arnold, Hoyt Axton, Leon Bibb, Theodore Bikel, The Brothers Four, Bud & Travis, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Clara Ward Gospel Singers, Judy Collins, The Coventry Singers, Dian & The Greenbriar Boys, The Dillards, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Bob Gibson, Ian & Sylvia, Joe & Eddie, The Journeymen, The Limeliters, Trini Lopez, Miriam Makeba, Herbie Mann, The New Christy Minstrels, Richard & Jim, Jimmie Rodgers, The Rooftop Singers, The Serendipity Singers, Mike Settle, The Simon Sisters, The Tarriers, The Travelers Three, Doc Watson, Josh White, Jr., Beverly White, Marion Williams

And comedy by:
Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Vaughn Meader, Louis Nye, Jackie Vernon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lot Of Fun, January 23, 2007

By	H. Silver (Park Forest, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Over the past years, we 've become very accustomed to the pristine digital sound and high-def images of the modern DVD. As such, the not-so-sharp black-and-white images and less-than-perfect sound quality of this DVD might turn off some audio/video purists. [The sound and picture are not bad by any means; they are just not up to modern-day standards.]

I am not such a purist, so I was easily transported back to Saturday nights in 1963 and 1964 watching "Hootenany" on the old black-and-white TV. Jack Linkletter was an affable enough host, who would give a brief plug for the college campus they were on and then introduce the folk acts. Most of the major folk acts were there and did two songs at a time: The Chad Mitchell Trio, the Limeliters, the Brothers Four, Judy Collins, Bob Gibson, Theodore Bikel, Joe and Eddie, Ian and Sylvia, the Travelers Three, the New Christy Minstrels, et al.

The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary were not on the show. The story I always heard was that it was in protest for Pete Seeger not being allowed on the show (because of his McCarthy-era blacklisting). Or maybe they just didn't need the exposure Hootenany gave the other acts. Given that the show did allow the Chad Mitchell Trio to do their famous broadside "The John Birch Society" (it's on the DVD), apparently the producers weren't that afraid of offending the right-wing nuts of the day.

It's fun to contrast the acts on the show with current acts that one sees on Saturday Night Live, Leno, Letterman, etc. Nowadays, the performers all sing and play into their own mikes, wear T-shirts and jeans, and have scruffy hair. Back then on the Hootenany show, almost all the performers in a group sang and played their guitars into a single mike; all the men wore white shirts, skinny ties, and sport coats (or Mr. Rogers-type sweaters), and the women all wore dresses; and they all have short hair. (I'm not passing judgement on either era; I was just amused by the contrast.)

The acts included a mix of mostly folk, with some bluegrass (e.g., Flatt and Scruggs and the Dillards), gospel (e.g., Clara Ward Singers), old-timey (e.g., the Carter Family), blues (e.g., Leon Bibb), and comedy (e.g., Woody Allen and Vaughn Meader doing his famous John Kennedy spoof -- pre-assassination, of course).

On many of the songs, the audience was invited to sing along (after all, it was billed as a hootenany). As a graying baby-boomer, it was a lot of fun for me to relive the innocence and optimism of the early 60's before the assassinations, the war, the riots, Watergate, the culture clashes, etc. It was just a lot fun.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hootenanny is FINALLY on DVD!, December 12, 2006

By	David Mandau (Takoma Park, MD) - See all my reviews

Even though it was a hit show, Hootenanny was blown out of the water by the British Invasion, and soon replaced by Shindig and other shows. Hootenanny disappeared off the face of the earth, never to go into syndication or see a home video release.

Finally, though, Shout! Factory has found sources for 3 DVDs worth of shows, making them available in the beautifully packaged Best of Hootenanny. There's lots of Kingston Trio-styled folk, to be sure, but also some amazing performances by non-folk artists like Johnny Cash, Herbie Mann, Clara Ward, Marion Williams, Bob Gibson, The Carter Family, Bill Cosby and Woody Allen.

The result is an amazing time capsule--complete shows that haven't been seen by ANYONE in over 40 years!

A must-have for fans of popular music of the '60s.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable for folk fans and nostalgia, April 4, 2007

By	Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is one of those shows that should be on DVD because it has become a cultural relic of the Kennedy years when there was a folk music boon. Where else can you see a very young Vaughn Meader, Judy Collins, Woody Allen, and the Chad Mitchell trio in one show? It was innocent, squeaky clean, and brought back a lot of memories. This captures a unique moment when middle class america was discovering its own folk music tradition and relishing it. Not great entertainment but a wonderfully nostalgic peek back in time. Some will be bored by this; others will think that they ar ein heaven.