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VA - Music Scene: The Best Of 1969-1970 (2000)

Posted By: Designol

Date: 24 Dec 2023 19:37:34

Music Scene is a spectacular, one-of-a-kind program that originally aired on ABC-TV from 1969-1970. The show featured the most popular contemporary performers along with many varied musical legends. Hosted by comedian David Steinberg and special guests, Music Scene was based on Billboard magazine's hit record charts and offered exclusive live performances by virtually every major star from the rock, country, soul, folk, and pop genres. Includes full-length, hit performances by: James Brown, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joe Cocker, Merle Haggard, Isaac Hayes, Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Lulu, Roger Miller, Buck Owens, Charley Pride, Lou Rawls, Della Reese, Bobby Sherman, B.B. King, Sly & the Family Stone, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, the Everly Brothers, the Grass Roots, the Rascals, the Temptations, Three Dog Night, and many, many more!

Music Scene was one of ABC's post-Shindig attempts to grab a piece of the pop music industry. With David Steinberg hosting and a comedy team (which included Lily Tomlin) providing jokey skits and commentary, the show was a mixed bag, made up mostly of live performances (with many artists' instruments plugged in and fully miked) by some of the bigger musical names of the moment. The intermixing of comedy and music performance doesn't work very well – the sketch introduction to Three Dog Night's mimed rendition of "Eli's Coming" reeks, although the choreography of the performance video (focused on the band's three singers to the virtual exclusion of everyone else in the group) has its clever moments, showing them popping out of sliding doors and from under the floor. Most of the comedy is very unfunny, the flattest fragmentary sketch humor, as though the producers had these people under contract and were bent on using them, however badly. On the other hand, the musical performances all have a certain period charm – the networks loved using bright colors, and didn't seem to mind pumping up the volume a bit, which makes for quite a few fine clips, especially Spirit doing "1984," and Little Richard, dressed in pink (and describing himself as "a Georgia peach") ripping through "Lucille" and leading the audience in a singalong of "Tutti Frutti" (the glimpse of the young woman clapping her hands listlessly to "Lucille" is an eerie touch). Those clips make up for the presence of artists like Gary Puckett. It seems as though every band tried to rise to the occasion on this show; even the Grass Roots, who had no reputation whatsoever as a live act, acquit themselves nicely doing "Heaven Knows" (instruments with jacks, and mikes there, but apparently mimed – God, Rob Grill looks earnest!). B.B. King looks like he's having fun soloing and singing "Just a Little Love" with an on-screen chorus and off-screen band; by contrast, Charlie Pride's band is very visible on "Louisiana Man." But just to show the diversity of Music Scene as a showcase, Paul Anka turns up singing "My Way," in a callow rendition that makes it easy to see why Sinatra "owns" the song even if Anka co-wrote it. Lulu, evidently still considered a major star in the United States based on her then two-year-old hit "To Sir With Love," shows up to singing "Oh Me Oh My" (which never became a hit). The bonus tracks on side two end with the most surreal image in the three-hours-plus of programming, the Everly Brothers doing a medley that goes from "Rock 'n' Roll Music" into "The End" (yes, the Doors song) through "Aquarius," "If I Were a Carpenter," and into "Games People Play" – they harmonize beautifully, but it's still a scary clip. As an extra bonus, we get the promotional clips of the Rolling Stones promoting the program, in what was probably the last appearance they ever made on behalf of any production that they didn't own. Along the way, in addition to Steinberg and Tomlin, one can glimpse other notable names in comedy, including Tony Hendra and, as extras and incidental players, what appears to be Howard Hesseman and the wild-haired brother Darryl from the Newhart show. The mastering quality off of the videotape originals (probably preserved on two-inch tape at some stage) is very good, including the sound, and the menu is very straightforward, though the disc has been mislabeled, with side A and side B reversed in their labeling. The bonus tracks are listed on a separate insert inside the DVD package.

Review by Bruce Eder, Allmusic.com

Tracklist:

Side A:

September 22, 1969 (First Show)

01. Open [2:58]
02. James Brown [5:38]
03. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [6:25]
04. Buck Owens [3:45]
05. Oliver [4:13]
06. Three Dog Night [3:53]
07. Tom Jones [4:33]
08. The Music Scene Singers [2:21]
09. Program Close [0:32]

October 6, 1969

01. Open [2:53]
02. The Rascals [4:49]
03. The Dells [5:04]
04. Roger Miller [4:43]
05. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles [4:16]
06. The Rascals [3:01]
07. Roger Miller [4:03]
08. Bobby Sherman [2:33]
09. The Music Scene Singers [3:10]
10. Program Close [0:55]

October 20, 1969

01. Open [5:59]
02. Sly & The Family Stone [4:00]
03. Merle Haggard [4:52]
04. Pat Williams [2:39]
05. Bobby Sherman [2:32]
06. Steve Lawrence [3:24]
07. Tommy Smothers [5:50]
08. Sly & The Family Stone [5:53]
09. The Temptations [2:36]
10. Program Close [0:45]

October 27, 1969

01. Open [5:04]
02. Jerry Lee Lewis [2:33]
03. Ten Years After [4:00]
04. Smith [4:02]
05. Richie Havens [4:19]
06. Jerry Lee Lewis [3:00]
07. Janis Joplin [4:14]
08. Michael Cole [3:38]
09. Issaac Hayes [4:47]
10. The Archies [3:08]
11. Program Close [:03]

Side B:

01. Mary Hopkin [3:28]
02. Lou Rawls [7:04]
03. Marva Whitney [3:33]
04. Joe Cocker [3:04]
05. Lily Tomlin [3:48]
06. Three Dog Night [3:15]
07. Tommy Roe [3:39]
08. Spirit [3:47]
09. Della Reese [2:38]
10. Lou Rawls [2:35]
11. Gary Puckett [3:01]
12. The Grass Roots [2:40]
13. Lulu [3:07]
14. Bobby Sherman [1:58]
15. Eydie Gorme [3:38]
16. Little Richard [7:13]
17. B.B. King [3:40]
18. Paul Anka [5:11]
19. Charley Pride [2:41]
20. Buffy Saint Marie [3:07]
21. The Everly Brothers [5:15]

All thanks to original releaser - YWM1957

More interesting music in My Blog

Classic Rock Pop R&B Soul Blues Folk-Rock Blues Rock Rock & Roll Country James Brown Crosby Stills Nash & Young Joe Cocker Merle Haggard Isaac Hayes Richie Havens Janis Joplin Jerry Lee Lewis Little Richard Lulu Roger Miller Buck Owens Charley Pride Lou Rawls Della Reese Bobby Sherman B.B. King Sly & the Family Stone Smokey Robinson & the Miracles DVD Music DVD