Dear Mr. Fantasy featuring the Music of Jim Capaldi
& Traffic A Celebration for Jim Capaldi (Concert/Eagle Vision DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: C Concert: B-
Traffic
is almost the forgotten band Steve Winwood was a part of, but with Jim Capaldi,
has more than its share of admirers, fans and is a better band than many give
it credit for now. Winwood, Dave Mason,
Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi found themselves with eight best-selling albums
between 1968 and 1974, more than Winwood solo in less time (Winwoods Spencer
Davis Group (which he was a part of from 1963 7 with two hit singles) never
charted a Top 40 album in the U.S.) is more formidable than one would think.
Capaldi
sadly died in 2005, in a long career that included solo work. As a tribute two years later, some very
important musicians gathered for Dear
Mr. Fantasy featuring the Music of Jim Capaldi & Traffic A Celebration
for Jim Capaldi now on DVD from Eagle Vision. Turns out Capaldi was a great, prolific
writer as well, as the following covers demonstrate:
1)
Paper Sun Paul Weller
2)
Lost Inside Your Love Stevie Lange
3)
Living On The Outside Joe Walsh, Bill Wyman & Jon Lord
4)
Elixir Of Life Dennis Locorriere
5)
Whale Meat Again Simon Kirke
6)
Loves Got A Hold On Me The Storys
7)
Forty Thousand Headman Joe Walsh
8)
Man With No Country Yusef Islam (aka Cat Stevens)
9)
Light Up Or Leave Me Alone Steve Winwood
10) Dear Mr.
Fantasy Winwood
11) Evil
Love Gary Moore
12) Here We
Go Round The Mulberry Bush (theme from the film) Paul Weller
13) Let Me
Make Something In Your Life Lange & Lord
14) Gifts Of
Unknown Things Phil Capaldi, Wyman & Lord
15) Love You
Til The Day I Die Margo Buchanan
16) No Face
No Name No Number Pete Townshend
17) John
Barleycorn Must Die Walsh
18) Pearly
Queen Weller
19) Rock And
Roll Stew Locorriere, Buchanan & Lange
20) Love
Will Keep Us Alive all-performer finale
Sometimes,
it is uneven, but for the most part, it is a solid tribute work that justifies
its 130 minutes running time. My only
major complaint and surprise is that his one solo hit, the highly underrated
1983 song Thats Love is forgotten
and unperformed, a Top 30 hit that should have been Top Ten. His was a voice and mind that was gone too
soon, not respected enough by the industry and deserves to be seriously
rediscovered. This concert is a great
step towards that.
The 1.78
X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in digital video, likely HD and has
some detail limits, part of which could come from the downtrade to DVD, but
otherwise cannot be evaluated until the title arrives in the HD formats. It looks colorful and good enough to want to
see it in HD-DVD and Blu-ray, but is passable here. The DTS 5.1 is really good, clean and clear,
the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 less effective respectively and all come from a
good recording. However, the DTS brings
this to life and is the preferred playback track. Extras include ten-minutes behind the scenes
piece and the foldout DVD holder comes with a very nicely illustrated 16-page
booklet with plenty of notes on the life and times of Capaldi, plus on this
concert.
- Nicholas Sheffo
