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Elvis Presley: 'The Ed Sullivan Shows: The Classic Performances'
Elvis Presley: 'The Ed Sullivan Shows: The Classic Performances'
Elvis Presley's appearances on Ed Sullivan's influential TV variety show have been tightly woven into his media legend for so long that it's mildly shocking to realize how little-seen these pivotal performances have been. For fans more accustomed to the Presley myth (and, especially, his big-screen incarnation, anticipated in these three 1956 Sullivan slots), these black-and-white kinescope clips will seem modest. Stitched together from fragments of varying image quality, the net effect is closer to watching a home movie -- or the Zapruder film -- than a complete broadcast.

But television and Presley came together at a propitious time for both: TV was still figuring out how to reach the broadest possible audience, including a new, unpredictable and burgeoning teen market; Presley and his handlers (led by wily manager "Colonel" Tom Parker) had their eyes on a crossover prize, betting his success as a recording artist against a movie career. The clips confirm that, yes, Presley was shot mostly from the waist up on the earliest segments, ostensibly to shield tender young eyes from that famous pelvis, and Presley himself was mostly a modest, if flirtatious, young Southern gentleman. The early, winning combination of Presley's trio with the straitlaced backing vocals of the Jordanaires is in full, modest view, and the song list trades on the short list of his most recent hits with RCA Victor, including multiple and rather cursory nods to signature hits such as "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog" and particularly "Love Me Tender," the theme song from his movie debut, emphatically plugged on every appearance. As would be the case eight years later with the Beatles, Elvis' Sullivan performances are more about celebrating his newfound stardom than about the music itself.
        ©Nettwerk
Old Crow Medicine Show: 'Live at the Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre'
Like the featured band itself, this concert documentary focuses on well-crafted, familiar roots music captured clearly with expertise but a welcome minimum of frills. OCMS work toward the traditional end of the American spectrum, an acoustic quintet that melds bluegrass instrumental prowess with old-timey material that gives more room to vocals. The band's post-modern sensibility comes out in bursts of punkish energy and allows for both smart covers (such as the primordial R&B of "Down Home Girl") and sly originals. Camera work and editing are likewise straightforward and skewed toward the intimacy of the audience's own perspective -- a welcome and appropriate (and, of course, budget-conscious) approach to a band that would look ludicrous framed with crane shots and wide angles. This one's for their fans, and if you're one, you'll be left smiling.
       ©Liberty
Keith Urban: 'Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour Live'
From his long, frosted bangs (look, Ma, no hat!) to his razor-sharp guitar-slinging smarts, Aussie émigré Keith Urban is an unapologetic country crossover king: Fluent in the genre's musical language, Urban can deploy country accents but ultimately works from a more worldly pop base that flexes pop and rock elements fleshed out through often intricate arrangements. This generous full concert set from his 2008 tour dramatizes that mainstream impulse through its arena scale: Rear-screen projections, dramatic lighting, smoke effects and other tactics time-honored for rock spectacles are wheeled into place for an adoring crowd. Ultimately, though, it's Urban's well-crafted repertoire, rock-solid vocals and vivid, crowd-pleasing instrumental chops that give the nearly three-hour program staying power.
     ©Artists Den
Raphael Saadiq: 'Live from the Artists Den'
Blue-eyed Brits may have provided more obvious poster children for the current neo-soul revival, but the sturdy power of classic '60s R&B models has been the engine behind Raphael Saadiq's lithe, intelligent soul update since his late-'80s breakout as the leader of Tony! Toni! Toné! In his current solo configuration, the veteran Oakland singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has pared his blueprint to an even more traditional attack honed to a dazzling edge in this concert special shot for "Live from the Artists Den" at Boston's bespoke Harvard Club. As a writer, Saadiq is equally adept at crafting kinetic dance grooves and silken ballads; as a singer, his lissome tenor balances straightforward lyricism against just enough soulful decoration to enliven the mix without lapsing into the overcaffeinated melisma that more often distracts than distinguishes modern R&B.

Those strengths alone make Saadiq's music worthwhile, but here the viewer gets the added pleasure of watching his live band's turn-on-a-dime ease with taut rhythm arrangements and strategic horn accents. The band's choreography echoes the glory days of Motown and Stax in its mix of team steps paired with vocal call-and-response, but the performances never feel like museum pieces. As shot in crisp digital video against the warm wood tones of the paneled venue, the program fleshes out the broadcast version as aired on public television stations (and featured on MSN Music in performance and interview highlights) with bonus songs and additional interview footage.
 ©Warner
Woodstock 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
More than just a concert film, "Woodstock" is a record of a cultural event: "Three days of peace and music," as the subtitle reads, a chronicle of both the music and the community that formed around it and lived together in peace for three days on Max Yasgur's farm. It's the music that everyone remembers, and the film is a time capsule of pop music and youth culture of the era. But the filmmakers spend almost as much time observing the audience as they do the musicians, and it charts the evolution of the event over the course of the weekend: three days in three hours. That's the dynamic that helped the film win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the reason it remains such a vital artifact 40 years later.

The original film was shot in 16 mm by a small platoon of young cameramen and blown up to 70 mm, and the editors (led by Thelma Schoonmaker and a young film school grad by the name of Martin Scorsese) crammed eight hours of footage in a three-hour film with split-screen presentations. The new edition features a longer director's cut painstakingly restored from original materials, plus "Untold Stories," 18 bonus performances from Joan Baez, Santana, the Who, Jefferson Airplane and five acts (Paul Butterfield, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, Johnny Winter and Mountain) that played at Woodstock but never appeared in any film version. Also features "Woodstock: From Festival to Feature," a 76-minute collection of featurettes that chronicles the festival and the film through interviews. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a jukebox function to program the "Untold Stories" and BD-Live functions (for BD-Live enabled players).
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