America’s Music Legacy (Blues/Country & Western/Dixieland Jazz/Folk/Gospel/Rock ‘N Roll/Rhythm & Blues/Soul/MVD Visual DVDs)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Concert Compilation: B-

 

The video label Quantum Leap continues to issue all kinds of music genre material they seem to have tons of on videotape and sometimes film with a new eight-DVD series (all sold separately) that has many big name artists performing their hits in later years.  Though there are several locations for the tapings collected, all have 1985 copyright on the back of the cases, but all were issued on DVD in 2010.

 

The Blues disc includes performances by Bessie Smith, BB King, Joe Williams, Connie Hopkins, Paula Kelly (yes, the actress) and many others, though the film clips of Big Joe Turner and Count Basie are too brief, Brock Peters hosts.  Country & Western has Ricky Skaggs, Sylvia, Patti Page and Jerry Lee Lewis.  Dixieland Jazz features Al Hirt (who hosts), Louis Armstrong, Irma Thomas, Woody Herman, clips of Eubie Blake & Fats Waller, Della Reese and Scatman Crothers. Folk offers Buffy Saint Marie, Doc Watson, Hoyt Axton, The Limeliters, Glenn Yarbrough, and host, actor Theodore Bikel.  Gospel is hosted by Levar Burton and includes Mahalia Jackson film clips, plus The Winans, The Crouches, Mel Carter, The Archers and Linda Hopkins.  Rock ‘N Roll has Fabian hosting and sings, joined by Leslie Gore, Lou Christie, The Coasters, Chubby Checker, Bo Diddley, The Crystals and Little Anthony.  Rhythm & Blues has performer/host Billy Eckstein plus Ruth Brown, Billy Preston, Brook Benton, Mary Wells and Scatman Crothers, including an interview!  That leaves the Soul volume with James Brown, Freda Payne, Maxine Nightingale, Rufus Thomas, Jerry Butler, Carla Thomas, Percy Sledge, Otis Redding and Gladys Knight & The Pips, hosted by Leon Issac Kennedy.

 

The performances are better overall than expected, though some artists show their age more than others.  With this said, Crothers holds his own very well and Gladys Knight & The Pips might be the only act over 8 DVDs to still be having hits when they did their taping.

 

The 1.33 X 1 transfers are soft and sometimes worse with video noise, video banding, telecine flicker, tape scratching, analog video cross color (NTSC and PAL), faded color and tape damage.  Some will be happy to suffer through the bad quality if it is an artist they like, but I wished for more, though Quantum Leap usually has mixed picture quality on such releases.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely better with distortion, compression and is hardly stereo id at all.  Wonder if these will ever be fixed up to optimum performance levels?  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo