Casey Kasem's Rock n' Roll Goldmine - The San Francisco Sound

Amazon.com

One of rock music's golden eras is spotlighted in The San Francisco Sound, which features some of the artists who emerged from the Bay Area in the mid-to-late 1960s. There's no arguing that various trappings of San Francisco culture at the time (the hippies and their flower power; the rampant consumption of LSD) now seem "dated," as host Casey Kasem puts it. But even if these performances aren't great from a purely audiovisual standpoint, there's a certain timeless appeal to songs like Van Morrison's "Domino" (the Irish-born Morrison relocated to Northern California early on in his career) and the Grateful Dead's "Truckin'" (others featured include Steve Miller, Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, and Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company). There are some flaws: lumping Morrison and Santana in with the others under the banner of psychedelia is convenient but inaccurate; not all of the tunes come from the '60s (let alone the '67 "Summer of Love," as the cover suggests); and with just six songs and a total of 38 minutes, it's way too short. But at least there's no lip-syncing, and overall, the program effectively evokes a thrilling time in rock history. --Sam Graham

Description

In the "Summer of Love," when Haight-Asbury was the center of the hippie universe, musicians began exploring the boundaries of rock and roll with free-form, blues-inspired song structures that reflected the social and political upheaval of the times. This psychedelic sound became the soundtrack for an unforgettable era. Features full song performances of Domino/ Van Morrison, Ball & Chain/ Janis Joplin w' Big Brother, Truckin'/ Grateful Dead, Jingo/Santana, Living in the USA/Steve Miller, Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die/Country Joe and the Fish.

Customer Reviews:

Reluctant stars.......2005-12-12

Music is a great activity for people who like to perform, and Janis Joplin comes across as great in her delivery of "Ball and Chain", addressing the audience with every frazzled nerve of her tortured existence. I have been familiar with four of the six songs on this DVD for so many years that about the only thing Casey Kasem was capable of telling me about the performers was that Van Morrison suffered from stage fright. It certainly seems to be true. He seems to freeze up when the camera is on him, and singing "Domino" shouldn't be that hard, but he barely spits it out. I already had five Grateful Dead DVD discs, so seeing this one is just a chance to see younger versions of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and a little bit of Phil Lesh. There is a keyboard player off to the left of Jerry, who can be heard three or four times on "Truckin," but I'm not sure who it was, and he might have been filling in for Pigpen during one of the major health problems that afflicted the original Dead player I never get to see.

I know all the words to the Fish cheer and "Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" so I was mainly interested in how much kazoo Country Joe and the Fish would play this time around. Joe McDonald explains how it only took twenty minutes to write the song, once an old Dixie tune popped into his head. Joe takes himself seriously as a composer, but once he gets the first verse done, he steps out of the way and lets the rest of the band each take a verse. "Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb, they drop it on the Viet Cong" still seems to be one of the best nuking lines in rock history, and it is nice that Joe is willing to let someone else sing it, or "Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box." I haven't seen some of the band members since the last time I saw the movie "Woodstock," when the largest crowd ever to sing along had a chance to do the later version of the fish cheer.

Santana: the band was at Woodstock a few years after this performance, and the drummer looks younger on this DVD than when I saw that movie. Steve Miller also looks young on this DVD, but I don't recall seeing pictures of Steve Miller ever. I listened to his music, but the best line seemed to be, "Somebody give me a cheeseburger."

more rust than gold.......2005-04-09

The six tracks in this 1987 DVD are presented by Casey Kasem, and include clips from some interviews, and footage of drug abusers, caught up in the prospect and excitement of turning their freedom into license, which is always a sorry sight.
Most of the musical footage is of poor audio/visual quality (some of it downright awful), and total time is 39 minutes.
A curiosity piece that will take you down memory lane if you're a "boomer" and worth at least a rental to see Janice Joplin and Big Brother in their early days of rock and roll/blues artistry.

1: Them and Van Morrison singing "Domino". I've never been a Van Morrison fan, so this, being fuzzy as well, doesn't appeal to me.
2: Janice Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company singing "Ball and Chain". This is the only 14 carat gold in the bunch, and it's superb. Janice is riveting, and Big Brother as well, a band that sadly fell along the wayside in the Joplin rise to fame and fortune. Peter Albin, Dave Gets, with Sam Andrew and James Gurley on guitars are terrific. This cut is in black and white.
3: Grateful Dead in "Truckin'". includes a Jerry Garcia interview. One for deadheads only to appreciate.
4: Santana perform "Jingo". Psychedelic photography make it hard to see well, but one of the better tracks.
5: Country Joe and the Fish singing "Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag". This is the worst of the worst, so bad you'll need the "skip" button. Includes an interview with Joe McDonald. This is also in b&w.
6: Steve Miller Band with "Livin' in the USA". Blurry but one of the better tracks musically.

Missing some a little bit too much.......2004-06-03

This DVD there aren't that many performances and maybe two or three really good ones. The name of the DVD is "The San Francisco Sound" well they are missing some of the some of the really good artists that would have made the DVD actually sound like the "San Francisco Sound". Just a couple of bands are missing such as Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and a few others. But luckily they are found on "The Sixties" DVD which is a better deal.

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