All you need is Love - Tony Palmer

[alfarkel]

Does anyone remember this doco shown all those years ago?

http://www.allyouneedislovedvd.com

"In the mid-70s, at the suggestion of John Lennon, the celebrated journalist and film director Tony Palmer decided to document the "Story of Popular Music" and set about interviewing and filming all the major players in the industry at that time, past and present. Even in the mid-70s this was seen as a monumental task, but despite the scale of the undertaking, Tony Palmer made a series of films that set the standard to which all subsequent biographers and documentary makers aspired to.

The critically acclaimed All You Need Is Love was broadcast across the world between 1976 and 1981."


Is it good enuff to shell out these kinds of bucks? My dollar is turning to dust and these items from Britain are getting pricey for us yanks. So, I'm dialing down my purchases.

[Rael]

I've not see this doc. But I did see Palmer's "The Space Movie" recently. I wasn't very impressed, even with the Mike Oldfield soundtrack.

[Gloi]

I remember watching this avidly at the time. I thought it was good then but I haven't seen it since so I wouldn't like to say what I'd think of it now.

[Jack White]

I remember watching this avidly at the time. I thought it was good then but I haven't seen it since so I wouldn't like to say what I'd think of it now.

I remember it being more an editorial/ opinion documentary rather than an objective chronicle, with Palmer's POV and narrative style being rather smug and pompous at times.

I still have the companion book.

P.S. Palmer was also involved in the production of one of the worst music related films of all times, the truly awful "All This and World War II".

[Gloi]

I remember the editorial style too. I think it was the fact that there hadn't been much else to compare it to at the time that meant it was required watching. I wish you hadn't reminded me of "All This and World War II", that was as bad as the 'Sgt Pepper' film with Peter Frampton in it.
Tony Palmer's earlier film "All My Loving" was an interesting piece of history, that one IS worth a watch.

[wayneklein]

I remember the editorial style too. I think it was the fact that there hadn't been much else to compare it to at the time that meant it was required watching. I wish you hadn't reminded me of "All This and World War II", that was as bad as the 'Sgt Pepper' film with Peter Frampton in it.
Tony Palmer's earlier film "All My Loving" was an interesting piece of history, that one IS worth a watch.

The soundtrack though to "All This and WW II" is pretty good though IMHO.

[ROLO46]

I worked on 'All my Loving'
Which was 68/69
I was in the record room of Dubbing Theatre x at BBC TVC
I saw the imfamous sequence of the VC suspect being shot in the head
backwards and forwards 20 times till the mixer Allan Dykes got a crossfade perfect.
It was a good doco
Tony Palmer was responsible for the first music film I worked on 'A festival of Britten' all about the Suffolk music festival at Snape Maltings with BB and Peter Peers.
Tony was Ken Russels ex assistant.
Roger
IMHO

[Alan T]

There were semi-official VHS cassettes available in the 1980's of this title.

I haven't watched it in years but remember being good, but not great.

It reminds me of the "Complete Beatles" documentary in pace and style.

[alfarkel]

Thanks for the feedback. Still on the fence about getting it. Maybe I'll wait for Netflix.

[jl151080]

I've never seen this doc, and was wondering whether to get it, too.

[wayneklein]

I just saw the first disc (had to review it). A rental. A solid doc but a rental nonetheless.

[John B Good]

I just heard about this today. (Saw Tony Palmer on TV this morning)

The release date is May 13, and Amazon is listing it at 69.99

I have Scorcese's Blues, and want Burn's Jazz, but always thought Pop and rock and roll needed similar programs. I wonder if this will come close to being what I want?

[John B Good]

Amazon doesn't have it yet.

Anyway, there is no indication as to whether it has complete, or even good partial clips, of actual musical performances.

Does anyone here know? Thanks

[zobalob]

Found this review.... http://www.bloggernews.net/115556 ...

"DVD Review: All You Need Is Love – Tony PalmerPosted on May 9th, 2008 by Simon Barrett in Movie Reviews, Music Reviews.......

Award winning film maker Tony Palmer has created quite the opus with this 17 part series about popular music. It comes in a 5 DVD boxed set, and is an absolute must have for any music fan.

Todays music map encompasses a seemingly endless mixture of styles, from a cappella (unaccompanied) to zydeco (A Cajun Louisiana style), and all of the other letters of the alphabet. Yes there are even styles that begin with the letter Q, Quan ho is a style of Vietnamese vocals! Yet when you explore the roots of the popular music styles you find some common ancestry.

This series was originally broadcast between 1976 and 1980 and is spectacular both in its content and breadth. With a total running time of just under 15 hours, this is a DVD set that you likely will need a few days to watch. From a reviewers standpoint this is hell on earth! 15 hours? Who the hell has 15 hours? Well apparently I did, because the series is so good I was hooked. I have no idea how many CD’s I have reviewed in the past year, but I know it is several hundred. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about music, its history, and the styles. How wrong I was, I know nothing!

All Along The Watchtower – Sour Rock is episode 15, and takes a long hard look at the bands that were at the cutting edge of the rock world in the 70’s, The Stones, The Who, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and the inflatable pig toting Pink Floyd. By the way, the remnants of Floyd, Roger Waters played at the recent Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival and managed to lose his pig, a $10,000 reward was offered, but alas by the time the pig was found it had been shredded.

The video footage is magic, The Who are captured mid concert trying their best to destroy their instruments, and a damn fine job they do.

Floyd are featured playing the haunting Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, from Ummagumma (I think). This band was at the forefront of Progressive Rock, in fact they were likely the creators of the genre, yet even the very staid and conservative BBC used this song as an audio backdrop for their highly successful documentary series ‘The Ascent Of Man’ (Jacob Bronowski) in 1973.

Episode 16 is aptly titled Glitter Rock, and all that glitters is not glam. Yet the genre is well known as Glam Rock. Glitter became the realm of the music worlds superstars of the time. Davis Bowie, Kiss, Jethro Tull, ELP, while they had widely divergent music styles, they shared the common theme of being outrageous. Clothes, make up, stage act, everything was completely over the top! Glam ruled for several years, but it wasn’t just the ancillary attributes, it was also the high level of music composition. I guess I am at odds with Tony Palmer on this aspect. He maintains that it was all superficial, and the visual makes up for the music. He is particularly critical of Emerson Lake and Palmer, and captures some great footage of Keith Emerson destroying a Hammond Organ on stage. I take a different view, yes the visual aspect added a new dimension, but the music still stands the test of time.

I could write an entire book about this wonderful series. This is without doubt the best DVD set I have seen. This review only scratches the surface. I am going to ask my wife (A Cajun Gal) to review a couple of other episodes that look at Country (what happened to the western?) music.

Tony Palmer filmed over 1000 hours, and interviewed hundreds of people to create this incredible DVD set. "

[John B Good]

Found this review.... http://www.bloggernews.net/115556 ...

"DVD Review: All You Need Is Love – Tony PalmerPosted on May 9th, 2008 by Simon Barrett in Movie Reviews, Music Reviews.......

.....
I could write an entire book about this wonderful series. This is without doubt the best DVD set I have seen. This review only scratches the surface. I am going to ask my wife (A Cajun Gal) to review a couple of other episodes that look at Country (what happened to the western?) music.

Tony Palmer filmed over 1000 hours, and interviewed hundreds of people to create this incredible DVD set. "

Thanks for posting that! I still have the book, and it sounds like the program is worthwhile.