Go Ride The Music/West Pole (Eagle DVD Concert Set)

 

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

 

 

In another retrieval of original tours actually captured during the counterculture on film and tape, Eagle and the Ralph J. Gleason archive present two more concerts from the past with big names in early, rare performances.  Both happen to be from 1969.

 

Go Ride The Music features The Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service on the first DVD performing the following:

 

The Jefferson Airplane:

 

We Can Be Together

Volunteers

Mexico

Plastic Fantastic Lover

Somebody To Love

Emergency

Wooden Ship

 

 

Quicksilver Messenger Service:

 

Warm Red Wine

Baby Baby

Subway

Mona

 

 

West Pole brings back both The Airplane (performing Greasy Heart) and Quicksilver Messenger Service (with Dino’s Song) and in the biggest surprise, has early Steve Miller Band (they were formed in 1966 and did not have their first hit until 1973) performing Roll With It and Sittin’ In Circles.  You also get Ace Of Cups performing Music, Simplicity and Gospel Song, The Grateful Dead singing New Potato Caboose and Sons Of Champlin playing Freedom.

 

Both are very much nonstop music, yet there are some fine documentary “talk” moments that I had hoped for more of, but these are valuable historic documents and even when some of the songs worked out better than others, this is a set that deserves to be in print.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image has some good color, but is soft throughout the two DVDs here.  The sources are usually clean and are filmed, but sadly from old analog video sources save a few segments actually in NTSC color videotape.  Where are the original film masters to all this?  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is a little weak, the Dolby Digital 2.0 pumped-up stereo is a bit better and Dolby 5.1 pushing it a bit.  There are no extras except a paper pullout with an essay by Toby Gleason that is very informative.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo