The British Beat Live- Best Of The ‘60’s (2007)

By: Poster collect

Introduction:

I happened upon a PBS broadcast of this performance a few months ago and made the phone call a few days later with my pledge and selection of the 2 DVD set as my ‘gift’. The second DVD is titled ‘Ed Sullivan Presents Rock ‘N’ Roll Revolution’, which I’ll review separately. This is another fabulous PBS assemblage of top performers from a bygone era and PBS certainly deserves high praise for arranging the many similar shows through the years. There’s something about seeing performers, whom long ago had been assumed deceased or unable to perform, appear on the stage and perform at a level comparable to their younger days, that impresses and entertains me every time!

Track Listing (Disc 1):

Game Of Love- Wayne Fontana
Groovy Kind Of Love- Wayne Fontana
I Go To Pieces- Peter & Gordon
A World Without Love- Peter & Gordon
Needles And Pins- Mike Pender
Downtown Petula Clark
Do Wah Diddy- Paul Jones
Here Comes My Baby- The Tremeloes
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place- Eric Burdon & The Animals
The House Of The Rising Sun- Eric Burdon & The Animals
Time Of The Season- The Zombies She’s Not There- The Zombies
A Whiter Shade Of Pale- Procol Harem
To Sir With Love- Lulu
Wild Thing- Reg Presley & The Troggs
Ferry Cross The Mersey- Gerry & The Pacemakers
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying- Gerry & The Pacemakers
Go Now!- Denny Laine

Bonus Performances (Disc 1)

This Is My Song- Petula Clark
I Just Couldn’t Live Without Your Love– Petula Clark
Don’t Sleep In The Subway– Petula Clark
Tell Her No– The Zombies
I’ll Be There – Gerry & The Pacemakers
Love Is All Around- Reg Presley & The Troggs
Mighty Quinn- Mike d'Abo
Love Potion No. 9- Mike Pender
When You Walk In The Room– Mike Pender
Silence Is Golden– The Tremeloes
Bad To Me- Billy J. Kramer
It’s My Life– Eric Burdon & The Animals

Performance: 9/ 10

This amazing spectacle of talent is hosted by Petula Clark, who performs two songs during the regular show and later, two bonus songs. One of the perks of being the hostess, I guess. Wayne Fontana, of ‘The Mindbenders’ fame, leads off the show with a fine duo of hits, setting the bar high for the following performers. Next up are Peter and Gordon, definitely the senior performers of the night. After settling myself down from the minor shock of seeing the vastly aged duo (especially Gordon), I was elated to hear some note perfect harmonizing and guitar playing- well done indeed! A wild eyed Mike Pender of The Searchers delivers the hit ‘Needles & Pins’ and Petula Clark follows with a nice two song performance, including her signature hit ‘Downtown’ with nice orchestral touches and accompanied by her capable back-up singers. Next, Paul Jones of Manfred Mann fame, sings the crowd-pleasing ‘Do Wah Diddy’. The Tremeloes follow up with ‘Here Comes My Baby’, and then a rather large Eric Burdon (yeah, I’ve gotten larger, too) appears with his band to deliver back to back smash hits, ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ and ‘The House Of The Rising Sun’. Some nice bluesy changes were done to accomplish a much different yet pleasing rendition of these two classics. Can this show get any better? Oh, yeah! Probably the highlight of the show is the Zombies (Rod Argent & Colin Blunstone) with a high energy execution of their hits ‘Time Of The Season’ and ‘She’s Not There’. Both are in fine voice and showcase some of the best harmonizing of the ‘60’s. I’ve always enjoyed Colin’s vocal work on various Alan Parsons Project recordings and was happy to finally put a face to the voice. Rod Argent displays his masterful keyboard talents with an extended ending on 'She's Not There'. A change of tempo and another classic follows with The Procol Harum signature tune ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale’. What follows is Lulu’s emotional and inspiring performance of ‘To Sir With Love’, arguably the single best vocalizing for the entire show, with her characteristic changes of pitch (melisma) sounding as awesome as ever. If her voice doesn’t move you, her mesmerizing beauty will! Following Lulu’s performance, The Troggs get the audience moving with the classic ‘Wild Thing’, then Gerry & The Pacemakers take the stage. The crowd settles back down to enjoy ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ and ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying’, with a nice orchestral arrangement. The show ends with original Moody Blues member Denny Laine belting out a rousing version of ‘Go Now’. The ending bonus performances are uniformly enjoyable, with the highlights for me being the Animals and, of course, the Zombies!

Audio Quality: 6/ 10

Upon unwrapping the DVD set, I was stunned to discover a 2 channel Dolby mix as the only available audio selection. I have other superb 5.1 channel mixes on other PBS releases and I’m quite annoyed that someboby cut corners on such an important project! After listening to the incessant banter and hype during the broadcast, I can’t help but feel disappointed with the final product. Still, the music was clear and pleasing overall, but definitely failed to convey anything approaching the actual acoustic signature of the venue, I’m sure. Shame on the misguided soul who put profits ahead of common sense posterity- guided rationale.

VideoQuality: 8/10

The video quality for this DVD is very good. The lighting is well placed throughout the entire stage area . Panning and camera cuts are done tastefully and are well timed. Camera angle changes are comfortably paced and avoid extreme closeups. Nice Job!

Extras/ FinalThoughts:

The bonus performances included on the DVD are a welcome addition but I can’t help but think it’s a marketing ploy of sorts. Why not leave the performances in the actual order instead of adding them to the end of the disc, almost as an afterthought? Extras have never influenced my decision to buy, but the marketing gurus must know what they’re doing. My biggest pet peeve with many movie DVD releases is the highly touted inclusion of alternate endings and outtakes. If the scenes weren’t good enough for the final cut, why waste my time? With a few internet offerings priced $15.00 for this DVD, it represents an excellent value. Enjoy! Curtis