It seems there are plenty of other holiday suggestions worth noting, well beyond those I listed in my first retro reference gift guide. Therefore, last minute shoppers can take heart in knowing there are still ways to fulfil musical needs for friends and family…
Fifty years… enjoy them while you can…
After all the hoopla caused by the long anticipated reunion of America’s first family of song, the celebrated reconciliation seems to have come to an abrupt halt. Long live the Beach Boys… or not… thanks to Mike Love’s decision to revert to the scandalous status quo and shed Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks from their place in the band’s line-up. Nevertheless, The Beach Boys 50 Live in Concert DVD offers a glance of what it was like for that brief shining moment when the surviving band members reunited for the first time in two decades and served up their classic hits in style. Even Brian looked like he’s having fun… well, almost anyway. Either way, the odds are, we won’t see them doing it again.
Riders on the storm…
Nearly 45 years later, Jim Morrison proves as mesmerising as ever in this classic concert captured at the height of the Doors’ glory. Live at the Bowl ’68 find Morrison and company in peak form, running down a track list of signature songs drawn mostly from their early repertoire. The cool crooner proves the point as to why he may be the most seductive singer to ever command a concert stage, and with bonus features that include a smattering of television performances, first hand recollections from friends and associates, remastered and restored audio and several selections previously thought lost, this DVD ought to be considered essential for both the novice and the enthusiast. The fire burns on…
Getting to The Point…
Considered one of the first and most definitive examples of animation tied to a modern music soundtrack, The Point represents singer Harry Nilsson’s first foray into the mass market. Now reintroduced some 40 years after it initially made its debut, the film makes a stunning return bolstered by four vignettes that examine the man who created the music as well as what it took to bring this collaboration to the big screen. Ringo Starr’s amusing narrative enhances the experience, but a booklet with the song listings might have been in order. Wouldn’t that make The Point even better?
Listen to the music…
…or, as it’s formally known, Let the Music Play, The Story of the Doobie Brothers, a well-stocked DVD boasting live performances and band narratives about the evolution of one of America’s most preferred populist ensembles. From biker band to international sensations, the Doobies have persevered and prospered, and have done so without the need to restock their stash of hits. Running well over two hours in length, this is definitive Doobies documentary. Suffice it to say, they’re still smoking.
Get some Sun…
The sounds of celebration have always been inherent in Chris Isaak’s M.O., especially when it comes to emulating the sounds that moved him early on. That makes the recent DVD Beyond the Sun Live! seem especially significant. The original album, released last year, represented an ode to Isaak’s earliest influences, specifically producer Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios and its remarkable stable of Rock ‘n’ Roll pioneers — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison chief among them. Given that Isaak’s more or less emulated that music for nearly three decades, the album became an obvious byproduct of his reverence and admiration. Nevertheless, as yours truly can attest, the music took on added emphasis in live performance. He and his band command the stage, alternately decorated like a fancy New York nightclub and later, the Memphis recording studio from which the album took its name. Here they pose and posture via playful choreography, and get up close and personal with the audience. All the while, Isaak successfully demonstrates the good-natured, boy next door charm and affable approach that’s garnered him a steadfast following over the course of a nearly 30-year career. This Sun burn bright.
Take your best shot…
Of tequila that is. And all the while, stay in a rock ‘n’ roll spirit… or spirits, if you will. The blenders of Casa Noble Tequila offer up a stunning new gift box that, according to the message on the back of the box, “stand out from all other brands” while also offering homage to the first two Santana albums, “exceptional works of musical art that have passed the test of time to become classics in the history of music, such as Casa Noble Crystal has become as classic masterpiece in the history of Tequila…” Okay, that seems like a tenuous connection to us too, but the two commemorative glasses bearing the imprint of those two album covers is kind of cool. And the booze ain’t bad either. Drink enough and it will all start to make sense.
