Product Details

• Actors: Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Jimmie Rodgers, B.B. King, Woody Guthrie
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, Compilation, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 4
• Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
• VHS Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005Q65J
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,529 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #13 in	Video > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > Dylan, Bob
  #23 in	Video > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > King, B.B.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
O Brother, wherever thou art, behold what thou and thy kin hath wrought. With the documentary American Roots Music and its spinoffs (including a book and CD collection), producers Jim Brown and Sam Pollard clearly were influenced by the popularity of the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and its music. You won't be seeing Eminem and Mariah Carey here, or even Duke Ellington and Ray Charles, but rather a comprehensive, if flawed, four-part documentary examining the various cultural and ethnic folk traditions that blended together to create the rich, multiflavored brew that is American music.

Narrated by Kris Kristofferson, each of the four parts is a little less than an hour long. Episode One offers a brief overview before detailing topics like the spread of music via Victrolas and radio, the early days of country music and the Grand Ole Opry, the rise of black gospel music, and seminal blues musicians like Son House, Mamie Smith, and Robert Johnson. Episode Two deals with western music (Gene Autry, Bob Wills), Bill Monroe and bluegrass, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and more blues (Leadbelly, Sonny Boy Williamson, B.B. King). Episode Three, perhaps the best of the lot, takes on urban blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf), black spirituals, and the early '60s folk boom, while Episode Four studies Cajun, zydeco and Tex-Mex styles, along with Native American music and more.

The style is standard documentary, with interviews and photos interspersed with new and old live footage. The producers tout the presence of "rare performances" by Guthrie, Waters, Monroe, Clifton Chenier, and many others, and some of them are fascinating. But for whatever reason (lack of time or maybe lack of faith in viewers' attention spans) not a single performance is presented in its entirety. It's a major drawback that prevents a program that is very good from being really great. --Sam Graham

Product Description
American Roots Music is a four-part documentary. This landmark television program explores the development of uniquely American music genres during the 20th century. Each 1-hour episode features seminal historic footage and musical performances by the pioneers of American music and traces the cultural evolution that shaped and influenced our rich tapestry of music. Masters in the fields of Folk, Country, Blues, Gospel, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Cajun, Zydeco, Tejano and Native American music are celebrated. You will see rare footage and hear music from artists ranging from the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Son House, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jimenez, R. Carlos Nakai, Bob Dylan and many more. The astonishing performance footage is placed in context by colorful interviews with some of the artists themselves, their peers, family and friends.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What Were They Thinking?, November 13, 2001

By	Lew Harris (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: American Roots Music [DVD] (DVD)

As an overview of roots music, it's hard to quibble with this fascinating package. But for real fans, there's one serious, serious problem:

There is some amazing footage that I have never seen, that they have unearthed. Live performances by Leadbelly, by Woody Guthrie, by Howlin' Wolf, by Hank Williams. And unlike Ken Burns' astonishing "Jazz," not only are these rare, rare performances cut horribly short...but the narrators talk over them, so you can't hear the artists' performances.

There are some full-length performances on the DVD that were not on the series when it played on TV..but they were of "lesser" artists, for the most part. Here were legends of the '40s actually captured live--including Leadbelly in prison garb--and they have mutilated the performances. Shame.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Weak, Confusing, Disappointing, February 18, 2006

By	P. Kelley (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: American Roots Music [DVD] (DVD)

Its hard to believe someone budgeted a 4-part series that says so little about such a fascinating and important subject. This is truly one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen and in four volumes! The first episode makes no sense, its just bits and pieces of sound clips, film and photos supposedly representing the development of roots music but there's no story that ties it together. For example, gospel music is one of the foundations of roots music. The documentary spends a fair amount of time on the topic but gives no real explanation of what it is or why its so important. You have to already be familiar with the history of american roots music to put together the confusing pieces. Kris Kristoffersen narrates and sounds like he's about to fall asleep. Its very lame, don't waste your money.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Roots Music VHS, January 10, 2002

By	Marilyn B. Glabicki "bird lady" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this series. It is very well-done. They have taken 200 years of music in this country (some goes back farther than that) and made a very interesting story that ties in the many peoples and sounds and styles. You end up with this continuous musical tapestry that has them all woven in. Boy, a lot is packed into a little viewing time. You see nice long excerpts of live performances of all types. There are interesting interviews with performers. The narration is informative and stays on track with what you're watching. I really loved the music - all of it. And there was so much, no matter what your preference. Seeing how music evolved- and seeing where it's going and can go - that was fantastic. When it was over, I felt like I had been left with a timeless gift.