For more early Pink Floyd action, The Pink Floyd & Syd Barrett Story (Voiceprint) functions as a straight biography of the band's Barrett years, with new reminiscences from Barrett's former mates and a plethora of archival material, including full-length performances and lots of Pink Floyd music. The documentary is especially good at defining Barrett as a regular bloke with a keen pop sense, who got caught up in the possibilities of the psychedelic era and had his mind blown. Bonus features include interviews and performances by such Barrett devotees as Robyn Hitchcock, who delivers a haunting version of "Dominoes." Grade: B+
Pink Floyd, "Bike"
Dreams To Remember: The Legacy Of Otis Redding (Stax/Reelin' In The Years) doesn't have much to offer as a documentary, since its talking-head interviews tend to towards the dull and pat, with little specificity about the material that's the program's real highlight: full-length performances from Redding TV appearances. But it's fascinating to track the evolution of Redding's unusual stage presence, which was based largely on standing in one place and writhing. Redding's voice moved where his body didn't, and when he had his regular Stax/Volt players vamping behind him, there were scarcely any more formidable act around. Grade: B+
Otis Redding, "I Can't Turn You Loose"
Speaking of those Stax/Volt regulars, they stay on stage for the whole of the Oslo concert featured on Stax/Volt Revue 1967 (Stax/Reelin' In The Years), a vintage black-and-white telecast that features the likes of Otis Redding and Eddie Floyd, backed by Booker T & The MGs and The Mar-Keys, who lock into the zone early and rarely rest for the full hour the show runs. Highlights include the musical impressions of Arthur Conley, who does uncanny parodies of other late '60s R&B stars (Redding inclusive), and the inimitable Sam & Dave, who shake through their set like they've been seized by the power of the almighty. Grade: A
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Even though the artificially aged music video is as old as MTV itself, The Dap-Kings may be the first band that really benefits from being transported through time back to an old black-and-white TV variety show. This clip could showcase the band more, but it seems churlish to complain when the alternative to insert shots of static musicians is more close-ups of the divine Miss Jones, looking dignified and elegant in a throwback mini-dress, and commanding the viewer's full attention when she blurts out, "Now wait a minute!"
TUNED IN
Band Of Horses, "Is There A Ghost" (from The Late Show With David Letterman, 10/18/07)
This exhilarating performance of one of the catchiest songs of 2007 emphasizes how much of the songs' power derives from the interplay of the band members, and the way they gradually transform "Is There A Ghost" from bellowing West Coast country-rock to something more like New Order, working an insistent groove. It's obvious that Letterman digs it too.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED
The Replacements, "Johnny's Gonna Die" (9/5/81 at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN)
An impossibly young Paul Westerberg has trouble staying in tune while plucking away at The Replacements' first semi-ballad, but he overcomes whatever awkwardness and embarrassment he might be feeling by channeling it all into one great rock 'n' roll scream towards the end. Meanwhile, Bob Stinson—who actually would die, about 10 years later—steps up and nails his too-brief solo, looking for possibly the last time in his musical career like the most sober and competent performer on stage.
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