Alan Douglas

Renowned documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captures Otis Redding in his ascendancy, singing at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Comedian Tom Smothers introduces Redding to a crowd that is leaving -- until Redding grabs them with his charged rendition of "Shake." Redding's performance also includes "Respect" (which he wrote), "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Satisfaction," and "Try a Little Tenderness." Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash six months later. An innovative filmmaker who started in the 1950s making experimental films, Pennebaker garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 1993 for The War Room, his behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. His other subjects have included Norman Mailer, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie.

Jimi Hendrix's debut American set at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival is generally considered one of the most radical and legendary live shows ever. Virtually unknown to American audiences at the time, even though he was already an established entity in the UK, Hendrix and his two-piece Experience explode on stage, ripping through blues classics "Rock Me Baby" and Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," interpreting and electrifying Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," debuting songs from his yet-to-be-released first album and closing with the now historic sacrificing/burning of his guitar during an unhinged version of "Wild Thing" that even its writer Chip Taylor would never have imagined. Hendrix uses feedback and distortion to enhance the songs in whisper-to-scream intensity, blazing territory that had not been previously explored with as much soul-frazzled power.

Sweet Toronto is a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker of the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a one day festival held September 13, 1969 at Varsity Stadium on the campus of the University of Toronto and attended by some 20,000 people. John Lennon played as part of the Plastic Ono Band, whose members also included Yoko Ono, Klaus Voorman, Alan White, and Eric Clapton. The video also features a selection of other acts: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley.

His “Isle Of Wight” concert, which is presented on this disc, features many of Jimi’s best material, supported by his “Experience” band, with Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. “Freedom”, “Voodoo Chile”, “All Along The Watchtower”, “Red House”, and “Machine Gun” are only a few of the highlights on this disc. During this infamous concert, Jimi was also playing “New Rising Sun” and “Lover Man”, both of which are unfortunately missing from this recording for some reason.

In 1969 at a concert in Monterey James Brown announced his intention to retire from touring but it wasn't until 1975 that he finally stopped. Then in 1979 three young television producers convinced him to make a comeback performance. This outstanding concert was captured and then due to unfortunate circumstances the videotapes were locked in a vault for twelve years and only now can they be seen.

Keep On Rockin', aka Little Richard: Keep On Rockin' (USA video title) is a film of a 1969 Little Richard concert at the Sweet Toronto Peace Festival, originally released in 1970. Richard performs a number of his greatest hits, including "Good Golly Miss Molly," "Long Tall Sally," and "Tutti Frutti." The film is in color.

SONGS 1. Hands Up 2. All Night Long 3. Steam Heat 4. Salt Peanuts 5. Swanee River Medley 6. Old Songs 7. Ba Meir Bist Du Schien 8. That's Aplenty 9. Alexandra's Ragtime Band 10. I Wish I Could Shimmy 11. Yes We Can 12. Love Up In Them Hills In 1974 The Pointer Sisters were at the height of their fame. In that year they performed in Kinshasa (Zaïre) in front of 80,000 people. This was during a music festival in honor of the fight of the century between Mohammed Ali and George Foreman. On this DVD you can see how "The Sisters" are playing the 80,000 strong audience and the audience is playing them... Leon Gast (Academy Award winner for When We Were Kings) filmed this extraordinary concert. Now enjoy this historical and unforgettable concert on DVD.