Legends Of Rock ‘N’
Roll (Eagle Vision/1989 Concert)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Concert: B-
In 1989, some of the biggest names were brought together
for a cable TV event that has only appreciated in age. Now out on DVD as the plainly-titled Legends
Of Rock ‘N’ Roll, the line-up of stars was likely being taken for granted
by many then, but you will see that this was a more serious event as follows:
1) Papa’s
Got A Brand New Bag
2) I Feel
Good (I Got You)
3) Bo
Diddley
4) I’m A
Man
5) Mess
Around
6) I’m A
Fool For You
7) Great
Gosh Almighty
8) The Wild
One (Real Wild Child)
9) Great
Balls Of Fire
10) Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On
11) I’m Ready
12) Blueberry Hill
13) Let The Good Times Roll
14) How Blue Can You Get?
15) All Star Jam
These are songs that have been covered by more artists
than any review could hope to cover, but the original artists are in
surprisingly good form all at once doing their biggest hits. This includes James Brown (tracks 1 &
2), Bo Diddley (3 & 4), Ray Charles (5 & 6), Little Richard (7, a
would-be comeback hit), Jerry Lee Lewis (8, 9 & 10), Fats Domino (11 &
12), and B.B. King (13 & 14). All
return to the stage for the final number.
Brown skips his then-recent hit Living In America from Rocky
IV, Diddley shows he still has it, Charles returns to form, Richard is
better than expected considering the studio version of his sole solo vocal,
Lewis still has it but is even being unjustly ignored at this point, Domino is
better here than in other later concerts, and King is in fine form as well. That adds up to a concert worth seeing and
one historically relevant for more than just who showed up. Many recent “oldies” groupings have been
taped for the DVD era, but few of them are as good as this hour-long show.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 NTSC analog taping is not bad for
its age, but has the usual flaws, detail limits and color limits. Too bad digital did not exist then, but
anything for cable at this point was not going to be filmed, sadly. Still, the source is in decent shape for
what it is. The PCM CD-like 16bit/48kHz
Stereo is a welcome change from similar, over-compressed and lesser Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo too many such programs get on DVD still to this date, but
there are still no surrounds of any kind here.
That is a surprise considering this was becoming common practice for
cable at that point, but this is still not bad. There are no extras, but Legends Of Rock ‘N’ Roll nearly
lives up to its name, which is why everyone should see it at least once.
- Nicholas Sheffo
