Robben Ford & The
Blue Line (Ohne Filter)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B-
Originally playing with George Harrison and Joni Mitchell
in the 1970s, blues guitarist Robben Ford formed the popular Yellowjackets in
the 1980s. His combination of Jazz, Pop
and Blues helped propel the band to some success, as well as his solo
projects. In 1992, he formed a trio
called Robben Ford & The Blue Line with Bassist Roscoe Beck &
drummer Tom Brechtlein, which lasted several years and a few albums. With that, they were soon after booked on
the German music television series Ohne Filter and on April 7th
1993, taped one of its best shows.
In one way, their Blues are like a new step without
fusion, the kind of step that makes an underrated talent like Johnny Lang make
even more sense. If we were not
bombarded with neo-bubblegum music and this was not a time of post-modern music
genres like Rap, Hip-Hop, Electronica and remixing, you would think Blues would
make a comeback, especially with the decline of Rock. Between Corporate Rock, watered down Rock, the death of Classic
Rock, the fizzle of Grunge, the irony of “Christian” Rock and the slacker
movement that brought us post-Rock, something beside Country that sounds like a
bad version of early 1970s Country Pop Rock should have surfaced by now. Add to that the great music from England and
overseas American radio stations and record labels seem to be avoiding on
purpose for some reason and you have got a sad situation.
The fine performances here with Ford’s fine vocals,
include:
1) The
Brother
2) You Cut
Me To The Bone
3) Worried
Life Blues
4) Start It
Up
5) Step On
It
6) Prison
Of Love
7) Tell Me
I’m Your Man
8) Talk To
Your Daughter
I had never heard any of these songs, except maybe one,
and I really liked the nearly hour-long show.
The Blues are more diverse than people often think of them and this is a
really strong entry in the series that is among many Blues installments already
taped and released. This one seems
especially of the moment and Ford’s vocal phrasings are especially
convincing. He can sing. Why he has not seen more commercial success
in inexcusable, but I can see why some of the top names in all of music want to
work with him and his partners in the band are just as strong. This is the kind of show that can make new
fans for all of them.
The full
frame PAL color video is about what would expect for a taping of the time,
having the usual limits in its otherwise good color and limited
definition. The sound is available in
the usual PCM CD-type 2.0 16bit/48kHz Stereo, as well as a slightly better
Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3, which both sound decent. The PCM is one of the better such tracks we have heard in this
DVD series and the Dolby is up there with the 5.1 here heard in the Mark King,
Tony Joe White and the band America’s DVDs from the series, all reviewed
elsewhere on this site. I bet this will
be one of the top candidates for the SACD series version of these shows now
being issued. Besides repeating the
same stereo cords ad placement, other DVDs in the series, and Ohne Filter producer interview, it has
a biography of Ford, the brief history of the band and other interesting items
about the various music scenes Ford’s multi-talents and multi-genre reach
cover. This is one of the best installments
in the series in its fidelity, the quality of the music and the quality of the
performances. If you still have not
tried out this series, this is a great disc to being with.
- Nicholas Sheffo
