Tony Palmer – Fairport Convention & Matthews
Southern Comfort (MVD/Voiceprint
DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C- Concert: C
The
belated DVD release of Tony Palmer’s films have been as interesting at times as
those of Peter Watkins, pointing towards long overdue recognition for some very
talented, underrated British filmmakers and in the case of Fairport Convention & Matthews Southern Comfort (1970) a unique
compilation of performances that have the common denominator of Iain Matthews
as a member. Comfort even had a Top 30
hit covering Joni Mitchell’s classic Woodstock
in 1971.
Fairport
was the first band, founded in 1967, a counterculture folk band who sometimes
added non-Folk instruments and even had the formidable Richard Thompson and Nick
Drake as original members. Matthews is
not here with Fairport, but is here with his second band. The tracks here are as follows:
Fairport
Convention (first section)
1)
Various Jigs & Reels
2)
Sir Patrick Spense
3)
Now Be Thankful
Matthews
Southern Comfort
1)
My Front Pages
2)
Southern Comfort
Fairport
Convention (first section)
1)
Flatback Caper
2)
Jenny’s Chicken & The Mason’s
Apron
Historically
important, the performances are not bad, unless a little of this type of music
goes a long way for you, but the energy is there and Palmer once again shows
his knack for capturing his subject. I
just thought it was too short, but if you are interested, you will not be
disappointed.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image comes from a video master that has
softness and detail issues throughout, some color bleeding and haloing is also
here. What happened? Is this the only way these survived? The Dolby Digital 2.0 is sadly flat and
monophonic. The only extra is an
interview with Palmer by John Peel.
For more
of Palmer’s work, both of which I enjoyed more, try these links:
All My Lovin’ (The Beatles)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6044/All+My+Loving+(Beatles+Documentary
Space Movie
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6249/Tony+Palmer’s+Space+Movie+(MVD
- Nicholas Sheffo
