The Real Thing

Starring:Kate Fischer, Ross Buchanan, John Arnold (IV), Nicholas Stribakos, James Wardlaw, Sari Sheehan, Michael Veitch, Andrew S. Gilbert, Ross Thompson, Marg Downey, Dylan Lewis, David Ravenswood, Anthony Morgan, Alex Pinder, Hamish Hughes, Adrian Mulraney, Tommy Dysart, Joan Brockenshire, Ezra Bix, Gavin Wood
Director: Stephen Amis
Studio: Win Media (Ventura)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The scarcity of any Marvin Gaye on DVD is reason enough to welcome The Real Thing: In Performance 1964-1981, but the fact that this 16-track compilation is superb in nearly every respect is cause for genuine celebration. What we get is not just a collection of songs but a career trajectory, tracing Gaye's evolution from a cog in the wheel that was Berry Gordy's Motown into a mature artist with his own matchless vision. The early (i.e., from the 1960s) stuff includes songs like "Hitch Hike," "Can I Get a Witness," and "Ain't That Peculiar"; watching Gaye mime these hits on American Bandstand and elsewhere in front of all-white studio audiences and perky go-go girls is sometimes a little silly, but the sound is terrific, thanks to the DVD producers' decision to replace the TV tracks with audio remastered from the original stereo recordings. It isn't until the eighth track, a version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" from 1969, that we get any actual live performances, but the wait proves well worth it. With "What's Going On," Gaye proved that he could defy Gordy's formulaic approach and prosper both financially and creatively while heeding the dual voices of his conscience and his muse, and the 1972 performance of that song is quite simply transcendent, with the great James Jamerson on bass and a middle section, featuring just Gaye's voice and piano with conga backing, that liner notes writer Rob Bowman rightly calls "perhaps the high point of this whole DVD." A steamy "Let's Get it On," recorded in Belgium in '81, is nearly as good. Those two clips alone justify buying this collection, but overall, despite a couple of minor missteps (the promo film for "A Funky Space Reincarnation" is pretty hokey), The Real Thing: In Performance 1964-1981, which also includes several interview segments between tunes and a section that features only the vocal tracks from the first seven numbers, is an invaluable confirmation of a truly great musician. --Sam Graham

Description

This is it — the songs and the footage fans have been waiting for. For the first time ever — the definitive DVD collection of one of America's greatest stars! Issued with the full cooperation of the Marvin Gaye estate, this is the first official DVD anthology of classic archival television performances by a Motown artist. Features Marvin Gaye performing his biggest Motown hits, from "Hitch Hike" to "Let's Get It On" and more, in original classic clips from television and film.

Among The Many Highlights:
• TV clips from Hollywood A Go-Go, The Dinah Shore Show, Hollywood Palace and American Bandstand, rarely seen since first aired
• The stunning, long-lost live concert footage from the documentary film, Save The Children, now on home video for the first time anywhere, featuring Marvin with several Funk Brothers including James Jamerson — now with restored stereo audio from the Motown vault
• Recently unearthed footage from Marvin's hardly-seen Belgium concert, aired only on local Belgian TV in 1981
• Clips are interspersed with fascinating soundbites and interview clips
• Marvin's "music video" (lip-sync) performances have been audio remastered from the original Motown stereo tapes (no tinny TV sound)
• MORE THAN 70 MINUTES!
• Includes a 24-page booklet with an extensive essay by Grammy® Award-winning writer, Rob Bowman, including rare photographs and memorabilia.
• Produced by the acclaimed Grammy®-nominated team from Reelin' In The Years productions

Customer Reviews:

I bought it for Jamerson...........2007-06-27

Ok, i'm not gonna lie-i bought this video because James Jamerson playing live is something that i really wanted to see. Jamerson appears on "What's Goin On/What's Happenin Brother"-i saw clips on YouTube, and knew i had to have it. Seeing Jamerson actually play and hear how he developes the line live compared to the studio cut was great.

The rest of the DVD: The first several live performances seem like old school music videos. Lip synching over a recorded track w/o even the appearance of mics. I dig it, but my main motivation was hearing James Jamerson play live.

Marvin Gaye - In performance 1964-1981.......2007-06-08

A pleasure to watch and listen to one of the greatest entertainers who lost his life so tragically. A must for every Marvin Gaye fan.

Marvin Gaye- in Performance.......2007-05-07

Growing up with Marvin Gaye , concerts, recordings and interviews was quite exciting. Marvin was one of the greatest male singers and entertainers. I'm enoying the video and the great showmanship of Marvin. I don't beleive there is any one equal to his soulfulness and emotional truthwrenching singing. This is one performer that is to be forever remembered.

Marvin Gaye 1964-1981.......2007-04-10

Have been a long time fan of Marvin Gaye and the whole Motown family. Very good CD well put together and brings back lots of memories.

don't expect too much.......2007-03-20

If you love sixties soul music, you love Marvin Gaye: handsome, with an exquisite voice and feel for a song. But the vast majority of these clips are more for sentimental value than exemplars of his genius. Obviously, watching MG lip-synch is of limited appeal, made none the more enticing because of the mediocre video quality. And some of the live performances are simply frustrating. He performs Heard It Through the Grapevine without back up singers or musicians so he can't perform much of the song. (Although it is hilarious watching him perform in front of a crowd of old white folk who sit and watch as if they are listening to a lecture on cleaning products. How those people were able to avoid moving to the music at least a little bit . . . well, it's quite disturbing.)

Thinking about all of the great performers from the sixties like Marvin, Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson for who there is so little quality performance footage is heartbreaking. If you'd like a scrapbook to prompt thoughts of the magic that Marvin offered, this dvd is fine. But don't expect to see something resembling the "live" Marvin experience.

Charlie Rose with John Coughlin, Thomas Reese, Ronald Sobel, Stephen Dillane, Jennifer Ehle (May 4, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with John Coughlin, Thomas Reese, Ronald Sobel, Stephen Dillane, Jennifer Ehle (May 4, 2000)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

First, a remembrance of John Cardinal O'Connor, one of the most powerful cardinals in the world, with four people who knew him. They are Nat Hentoff, political columnist and author of an O'Connor biography, Father John Coughlin, spiritual director for St. Joseph's Seminary; Rabbi Ronald Sobel of Manhattan's Temple Emanuel and Father Thomas Reese, editor-in-chief of the Catholic magazine America. Later, a conversation with Stephen Dillane and Jennifer Ehle, the two stars of Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing on Broadway. Finally, a rebroadcast of Charlie's 1994 interview with John Cardinal O'Connor.

Average customer rating:

Real Thing in Performance 1964-1981
Starring: Marvin Gaye
Manufacturer: Msi Music
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

The Real Thing
Starring: Kate Fischer , Ross Buchanan , John Arnold (IV) , Nicholas Stribakos , and James Wardlaw
Director: Stephen Amis
Manufacturer: Win Media (Ventura)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002S93TE
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Description

Pacino, Connery, De Niro, Schwarzenegger - together on film - for the first time. Well, almost…Ralph Eaton has a few problems; he's desperately overweight, a social misfit with a painful stutter. He's the kind of guy the nerds stole lunch money from. But Ralph's got a special talent; an ability to impersonate any Hollywood celebrity - the perfect cover to disguise his stutter...

Charlie Rose with Tom Stoppard; Thomas Beller, Vanessa Chase & Gerald Howard (April 21, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Tom Stoppard; Thomas Beller, Vanessa Chase & Gerald Howard (April 21, 2000)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

Playwright Tom Stoppard talks about much-lauded revival of his 1982 play, The Real Thing, coming to Broadway from London this month. Then, an exploration of the brief but interesting life of novelist Robert Bingham, whose book, Lightning on the Sun, is being published posthumously, with his wife Vanessa Chase, his colleague Thomas Beller, editor of Open City, and his editor Gerald Howe of Doubleday.

Charlie Rose with Tom Stoppard, Michael Frayn (June 14, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Tom Stoppard, Michael Frayn (June 14, 2000)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

Playwright Tom Stoppard on his play The Real Thing, which has been honored with a Tony Award for Best Revival. Then, playwright and novelist Michael Frayn, whose play Copenhagen was awarded Play of the Year.

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