This Is Tom Jones Volume 2: Legendary Performers
by Tom Jones
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bobby Darin, June Carter, Sammy Davis Jr., Sweat & Tears, Tony BennettDirector: Tom Jones
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Time Life Records
Movie Reviews of This Is Tom Jones Volume 2: Legendary Performers
Movie Review: Popera
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in the good ol' days of TV, critics and viewers would say How come Milton Berles' gotta be in every scene? Comedy to him was an uncontrollable impulse - we appreciate and understand that today. Years later, on This Is Tom Jones, folks remarked that he was too dominant on the medleys done with guests - yeah, he shoulda laid back just a taste in harmony mode not in call-and-response mode. But how can you contain a guy whose love of music, whose artistic exuberance defied all laws of physics. Forgot to add, the man who brought Opera to Pop, or at least continued the tradition started by Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, and Jay Black. (Elvis Presley had his moments, too, in this endeavour). They really could have saved on amplification.
For years me and a good buddy ruminated on the great void created by *zero* VHS representation of the super-dude from Wales. Well, it's happening now, and upon reflectioon, it's fantastic that the medium of DVD has captured it.
Here we go, with Part Two. The show itself is flawless, all aspects Emmy-worthy. The audio and video chromatics are spectacular. Technical direction is a lesson to those "youngers" with the hyperactive edit command. Keep three cameras rolling and....guess what? Point a lens at that big blon' babe in the second row. {Sexist, yeah, yeah.....).
This package has many highlights: for the unitiated, beyond-belief renditions of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "It's A Man's, Man's Man's World" [finale mini-concert pieces]; a time-capsule encounter with a 34 year-old "Killer" [aka JLL] - and maybe the best "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" you've ever heard by this Sun Records originator. Jones' admiration for the Ferriday Fireball is obvious.
Seems that the producers focused heavily on those names which have obviously time-traveled well: Sammy Davis, Jr. [what an incredible impression of Billy Eckstine!]; Tony Bennett; Liza Minelli; Pat Cooper; Jerry Lee Lewis; Johnny Cash.
The great Bobby Darin is in a folky mood, in a pre-Springsteen era denim outfit, looking relaxed as "Bob Darin". He does a nice solo shot playing a typical-for-the-time introspective beat ballad - it's okay - wonder what a duet on "Dream Lover" might have sounded like, though.
Diahann Carroll is absolutely stunning - all she had to do was stand in the spotlight for three minutes and no one would have objected, but she does a nice arrangement of "Traces"/"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".
Comedy relief by the Ace Trucking Company, sporadically hilarious, with one thud; David Steinberg - apparently found his niche as big-time Producer. At this time he was lower than low-key "hip" comedian for the Woodstock generation - minus zero mirth content.
Summary of This Is Tom Jones Volume 2: Legendary Performers
This Is Tom Jones: Legendary Performers is a 3-DVD set of the best moments from Tom Jones trend-setting variety show on ABC from 1969 - 1971. Available for the first time on DVD, these shows spotlight such triple-threat (singer-dancer-actor) entertainers as Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minnelli, along with Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the greatest movers and shaker in all popular music. Jones shows his taste and versatility, going down home with Johnny Cash and uptown with Tony Bennett. And when Jones grabs the mic for the show-closing 'concert', fans will need a handkerchief to mop their brows. This Is Tom Jones: Legendary Performers is smokin' !Tom is terrific throughout This is Tom Jones, a collection culled from the Welsh singer's late '60s-early '70s ABC television series. Subtitled Rock 'n' Roll Legends, this three-disc set spotlights eight separate episodes (one of which, featuring a performance of "Pinball Wizard" by the Who, is a black & white kinescope). None is complete; judicious (and sometimes not) editing limits the focus to the musical and comedic portions, and that's by and large a good thing. Jones, who was just 28 when the first show aired in February, 1969, displays remarkable versatility, taking on everything from Broadway ("Somewhere," with Leslie Uggams) and torch standards ("Angel Eyes") to stone R&B (Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Turn on Your Lovelight"), soul ("In the Midnight Hour"), pop ("What's New, Pussycat?" and, of course, "It's Not Unusual"), and rock ("Lodi," "Lucille") and doing a credible job on all of it, notwithstanding a patina of Vegas glitz. But the high points come from his partnerships with the titular legends, especially Janis Joplin (their duet on Eddie Floyd's "Raise Your Hand" rocks) and Aretha Franklin (then at the peak of her powers, Aretha is fine on "I Say a Little Prayer," but her volcanic pairing with Jones on "See Saw" and her own, gospel-tinged "Spirit in the Dark" is the undoubted high point of the entire DVD set). Jones also duets with Joe Cocker ("Delta Lady"), Little Richard (a medley of his classics), Stevie Wonder (then on the verge of his '70s creative explosion), and Burt Bacharach; and while appearances by comedians like Peter Sellers, a then-unknown Richard Pryor, Pat Paulsen, the Committee (with Howard Hesseman), and the Ace Trucking Company (with Fred Willard) deliver a few chuckles, in the end, this one's all about the music. Jones introduces each episode with a brief reminiscence; a 2007 interview with the singer is among the scant other bonus material. --Sam Graham
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