Joel1963
11-19-2007, 12:55 PM
Got this one in Vermont Sunday for about $10 with a Borders discount. 90 minutes of documentary and TV and film performances, in DTS and stereo (sort of, sort of not), from Reelin' in the Years, the same people who put out the Motown performance DVDs.
Must say, a great job. Lots of it is lip-synched from obscure 1960s TV shows. On the humorous side, Otis was not the greatest lip-syncher, but there's still a lot of footage I personally never saw. The lip-synchs are sinked with original Stax mono single masters, which sound great. (So much for DTS, although the Monterey performance is at least stereo and maybe surround). Included is Otis's last TV performance from Dec. 9, 1967, on the Upbeat TV show, a day before his plane crash. A great, great version of Try A little Tenderness is from that show. A live performance on an Oslo TV show has sound that rivals the studio recordings. The big surprise for me was the color promo for Tramp, which has Otis walking and fooling around, dressed up as a farmer. Too bad Carla Thomas is not in the video.
There are also great interviews with guitarist Steve Cropper, Otis's wife and daughter, Stax supremo Jim Stewart and Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns. A DVD well worth getting.
Anyone else get this one?
Must say, a great job. Lots of it is lip-synched from obscure 1960s TV shows. On the humorous side, Otis was not the greatest lip-syncher, but there's still a lot of footage I personally never saw. The lip-synchs are sinked with original Stax mono single masters, which sound great. (So much for DTS, although the Monterey performance is at least stereo and maybe surround). Included is Otis's last TV performance from Dec. 9, 1967, on the Upbeat TV show, a day before his plane crash. A great, great version of Try A little Tenderness is from that show. A live performance on an Oslo TV show has sound that rivals the studio recordings. The big surprise for me was the color promo for Tramp, which has Otis walking and fooling around, dressed up as a farmer. Too bad Carla Thomas is not in the video.
There are also great interviews with guitarist Steve Cropper, Otis's wife and daughter, Stax supremo Jim Stewart and Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns. A DVD well worth getting.
Anyone else get this one?