Customer Reviews
Vivid and unmatched account of rock's evolution - By: Pismotality, 22 Sep 2008 
I saw the original series when quite in my teens & have seen many, many documentaries since on many aspects of popular music. So is this worth buying? The answer has to be a resounding yes: the original film material & the range of authorities Tony Palmer gathered together for this mammoth 70s project mean that it remains a vivid, & unmatched, account of the genres which coalesced into rock.
And it's not just the big name experts who contributed the scripts which Palmer used as his starting point- you get the likes of Hoagy Carmichael & Irving Caesar talking about their own songs, & there's even a turn from Phil Spector (who appears to be singing his hits in the style of Bob Dylan).
Whatever the outcome, Palmer would have deserved our heartfelt thanks simply for the foresight to do something on this scale while the names involved were still around, if occasionallly frail. But the achievement is a considerable one, regardless of that circumstance. Even on the topics which have subsequently been done to death, there is a freshness, & a sense that you are seeing a condensed, still potent truth: the Beatles episode, with Derek Taylor's assistance, is a case in point, conveying a sense of the Beatles in relation to a changing society.
I have read criticism elsewhere of Palmer's occasional misguided juxtaposition of music & imagery but what sticks in my mind most vividly are the cuts which suddenly illuminate what is being discussed: for example, in the country music programme we are told of the evolution from the songs of the Appalachian (then the Ozark) Mountains to something more commercialised, but it's Palmer's genuis to take an extreme example (a three year old, supposedly the youngest every recording star, singing Jambalaya), to alllow the camera to linger on the look of innocence on his face after he finishes, & then to cut to a young girl singing singing an unutterably beautiful Mountain song to show us how far things have come. And in the rock'n'roll programme footage of a polite, uncertain uniformed Elvis preparing for a press conference is enough to suggest his musical emasculation.
The only wrong note I can think of is that a discussion by Leiber & Stoller about the first recording of Hound Dog segues into what some fans may recognise as an oft-told account of the response to the Drifters' There Goes My Baby. But it scarcely matters, just as carping about picture & sound quality (both perfectly adequate on my cheapo TV) misses the point: Palmer's great achievement here is that in the space of a 55 minute episode for each musical style you don't feel that anything essential in the story of that style's evolution, & its effect on society, has been left out.
If you want to acquaint yourself with the wide world of twentieth century popular music this is an unbeatable, non-trainspotterish but authoritative & informed, place to start.
Brilliantly Researched Series - A Massive Undertaking Very Well Done - By: Jervis, 03 Aug 2008 Attempting to tell the story of popular music is simply a mammoth undertaking, simply knowing where to start can prove bewildering in itself, not to mention needing to know what to make a priority & what to perhaps leave out, or at least to give a less prominant profile, but this is the almighty task Tony Palmer was prepared to set himself, & throughout the course of these 17 episodes he proves himself astute enough in his choices to deliver a richly detailed account which is thoroughly researched, & scolarly in its tone throughout. However, of course, popular music's different genres & many varying influences means that this series isn't often the easiest ride, meaning that everything doesn't alll tie up neatly, because such is popular music's sheer diversity there's always going to be a little blurring around the edges.
The series' main asset is the fact that at the time of its production (mid 70s) many of the century's key players were still around, so we get to hear from many of the greats like Benny Goodman, Hoagy Carmichael, Muddy Waters, Richard Rogers, Bing Crosby, & Irving Ceasar. Plus the fact being as this series is very much pre video age, or at least pre MTV, there's more of relaxed air about the whole thing - there's no narrator as such - much of what proves priceless dialogue is alllowed to run its course & is not cut mid sentence, & the interwoven musical clips tend to play out to an acceptable length instead of ten second (or less) segments like today, giving the viewer a taste of the true flavour of the music being discussed here, which ultimately makes this series breathe much freer & seem far more intelligently authorative than any musical documentaries produced today.
Perhaps, surprisingly, especiallly as the vast majority of viewers are perhaps post rock 'n' roll fans predominantly, the episodes that tend to leave the largest impact are the ones relating to the early musical genres, for example, ragtime, jazz, vaudeville, tin pan allley, & swing etc. because these are perhaps much less documented generallly, so in turn prove much more revelationary. Artie Shaw makes a very prophetic statement in the swing episode in that the more a musical genre tries to appeal to a mass audience, the more it has to be watered down (and cheapened) & this very much forms the tone to the concluding episodes of the series with the closing chapters subjects glitter rock & new directions.
Generallly, this series is brilliant & extremely intelligently produced with some fabulously revelationary/informative dialogue undercut with some priceless clips. Its scope being so enormous makes it not a tidy summary of musical history, like some of the more specialised type documentary perhaps, it's more a splattering of musical history & knowledge undercut with an astute sense of the business/money making side of the industry.
Thanks must go to Tony Palmer for such an intelligent & brilliantly researched series.
A rambling mess but worthwhile all the same - By: mojo_navigator, 27 May 2008 
I remember seeing this series on televison in late 1977 / early 1978 & to say that it had a major impact on my life is a huge understatement. It was the catalyst that sparked my curiosity & obssession with music that has continued unabated to this day. Therefore it was with great excitement & anticipation that I greeted the news of its appearance on DVD, the first time ever on a home entertainment format. So many of the images of this series had been etched in my mind for a generation now & sculptured the way I feel about music. Now having watched the series again, 30 years on, how does it hold up?
Well, it's a decidedly mixed bag.
The key problem to me is a lack of focus. I just feel that the scope is far too expansive & thus too inclusive when it should have been more discriminatory. Does it reallly make sense to treat Bing Crosby & Tina Turner as part of the same continuum? There's a palpable difference between Popular or vernacular music & light entertainment. Palmer seems to try & treat them both with the same level of attention & value & this is wrong. There's plenty in "All You Need Is Love" that's simply commercialised junk that exists or existed solely for the pursuit of the dollar . This stuff has no value as a part of any cultural exercise. This is something distinct from real Popular music if we take "Popular" to mean "of the people".
Most of the individual episodes lack coherency as well. In so many of them, Palmer seems to flit from one concept to another, juxtaposing seemingly random images & ideas without trying to explain, however subtly, what their purpose is. For example, in the Rhythm And Blues episode, we see a clip of a Wilson Pickett performance yet we are never told why or what his importance in the development of this genre was. Many episodes seem so disjointed & shambolic that it's unlikely that any newcomer could learn anything constructive. I don't feel that this series could serve as an educational tool for this reason.
And then there's the racial theft angle - a powerful sub-theme that curiously loses steam 2/3rds of the way through. In the early sections, there's passion & anger as this point is rammed home repeatedly yet by the time we get to the modern Pop sections (1950s onwards), it simply disappears. I would have thought it would have been even MORE salient in these times when serious money began to appear. It certainly would have made a more interesting & relevant angle in The Stones episode rather than focusing on their bad boy mythology instead.
And now the good stuff.
When Palmer's over-ambitous attempts to link several narratives together DO work, the results are astonishing. The episode on The Beatles is one of the finest dissections I have ever seen or read on the Fab Four. It simultaneously & effortlessly captures the hysteria of Beatlemania & links the sheer positivity of their stance & music with the early hippie movement & the hopefulness that it originallly promised. This episode is worth the price of entry alone as is the Rock 'n' Roll one immediately preceding it which equallly captures the excitement & rebellion of Elvis Presley. These are two wonderful pieces that are every bit as powerful as they were 30 years ago.
This is also a series that alllows intelligent & eloquent interviewees to articulate their views at a leisurely pace rather than relying on empty soundbites. John Hammond on Jazz, Artie Shaw on Swing, Jerry Wexler on R 'n' B, Jack Good on Rock & Roll & many others again represent some real calibre both as information as well as entertainment. Palmer reallly got some terrific interviewees & used them to their fullest capacity. And then there are some blinding performances, often shown in full. My personal faves were Bo Diddley recounting his entry into the record biz with his punchy Gretsch guitar sound & Jerry Lee Lewis pounding his piano with unhinged demonic fury. You won't find this stuff elsewhere - these performances & many others were recorded solely by Palmer & his team for the show. That is something truly unique & precious.
On the issue of the quality of the DVD itself, others have mentioned the aspect ratio problem but in addition to that, the actual transfer itself is appallling. Images are blurry & soft - there's no excuse for releasing something so visuallly ugly in 2008. I can only assume that a very mediocre & untalented company was selected to do the restoration to save a few coins. I'd gladly pay more to get a decent transfer. I wish TV companies & movie studios would understand this. I don't care about saving a few pennies. I want a quality product. However, as I have been waiting for this for 30 years, I'm not exactly going to complain. I'd certainly buy it again if it was done right.
So to sum it up, what you're basicallly going to get is this: A confusing sprawl that serves little as an educational document but is punctuated by the odd moments of such sheer brilliance that I feel everyone should see this regardless of alll the reservations that I've discussed above.
A Priceless Archive - By: James B. Spink, 24 May 2008 Author & film maker Tony Palmer has had a long & varied career & a quick look at his Wikipedia biography is a good way to get a flavour of his many projects. I first became aware of him in his role as music critic for the Observer newspaper in the sixties & seventies, his work on the 1967 comedy/music show Twice a Fortnight & his 1968 music & social commentary documentary All My Loving. The later being a trigger for this 17 part masterpiece documenting popular music in the first three quarters of the twentieth century & it's origins going back much earlier than that.
The musical cut off point is just before the emergence of Punk as the next major phenomenon in the late seventies, & covers most major genres in some detail. Palmer's style is very idiosyncratic, & may not suit everyone. A good way to tell if you like him would be to watch the earlier DVD of All My Loving before watching this - if you like that you'll love this.
I watched this series when it was first shown on TV, & still have the accompanying book which has a chapter on each episode. A quaint note on the books back cover says music from the series is also available on records - no CDs VHS or DVDs in those days! The book is long out of print but, at the time of writing, Amazon Sellers have some used copies for sale from £3. It now makes an excellent companion to this DVD set so get in quick!
Other reviewers have mentioned the picture quality of the transfers & it is true that the original 4:3 programme format has been cropped top & bottom to accommodate this current 16:9 one. I reallly don't know what I would prefer - most DVDs left in an original 4:3 format I tend to watch in 16:9 anyway, with the consequent distortion that in itself causes. I'm never reallly happy with the distraction of black bars at the picture sides, but it's alll a matter of personal choice. These disc transfers have been edited with some care and, on balance, is probably the way I prefer to watch them now.
The NTSC American TV standard has been used for this set, & the discs are Region 0 - I guess this saves having to manufacture different discs for different regional markets. The disadvantage for us in Europe is that the NTSC picture quality is poorer than our own PAL system, but I suppose it helps to keep costs down. Most TVs in the UK can handle the NTSC format, but if you have an older set it may be worth checking first. The audio quality is very good however, especiallly considering the age of some of the material.
Of the set itself you get five discs - disc one has just the first episode whilst discs two through five have four episodes each. Unlike some of Voiceprint's earlier Tony Palmer reissues there is no bonus material here, no interview or any extra footage - just the programmes as originallly transmitted. There is a thin accompanying booklet with a brief outline of each programme, & many brief reviews - universallly praising the series!
I doubt that this series, or anything close, could be made today & it's a genuine pleasure to be able to watch it again. The archive footage compliments Palmer's own film perfectly & the interviews are still interesting & valid some thirty years on. Some of the early footage may not be deemed PC enough to be broadcast on TV these days!
Whilst you may not learn everything about popular music with this set, you will certainly learn a lot about Tony Palmer & a lot about film making too. It is as entertaining as it is educational & one popular music lovers will return to again & again, if only to the episodes featuring the particular music they love. To quote John Lennon "A mighty achievement. Thank you"
Wonderful content, badly presented - By: Stephen Risebury, 17 May 2008 
I agree with those here who lament that the excellent content of this series (even that which was run of the mill in the seventies seems fascinating to look back at now) has been compromised by its presentation.
The version I received is NTSC 16:9 ratio (not 1.33:1, or 4:3 as mentioned above). As the original series was 4:3, this means that the top & bottom strips of picture have been lost, with the remaining middle section spread more thinly across the screen. No matter how good the remastering, it is fighting a difficult battle because of this limitation.
I was expecting to see 16:9 menus followed by 4:3 presentation of the original documentary, & would have been very happy with that. We, the audience, know that widescreen is a comparatively recent innovation for television, & understand that programmes from the last century may be in the older full-frame format.
This unfortunate attempt to satisfy the American market (I presume the USA is the prime target because the discs are NTSC) means that not only are we not getting alll of the original documentary (those carefully composed frames from the seventies have been topped & tailed) but the remainder is spread so thinly that the quality is noticably poor on some sections.
And yet - the content is so good it is still worth four stars. It is full of surprises. For instance, I admire the music of Joni Mitchell, & in the song 'Furry Sings The Blues' from her 1976 album Hejira she notes the Beale street is being demolished, & that Sweeties Snack Bar is now boarded up. And in the introductory program of this series there is a short section showing Beale Street as it was in the mid-seventies, with a close up of the derelict Sweeties Snack bar! This is but one smalll coincidence of note to me & perhaps a few other Joni fans, but the series is big, detailed & intelligent enough for any attentive viewer to get some pleasant surprises.
The annoying thing is it could easily have been so much better!
