Rockin' at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock

Starring:Rockin' at the Red Dog
Studio: Monterey Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
With music by The Charlatans, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Lynne Hughes, Mark Unobsky, Dan Hicks, Alice Stuart, Ph Phactor Jug Band, Final Solution, Wildflower, Boston Wranglers, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service

Directed By: Mary Works

Their names and music became legendary: Big Brother & the Holding Company, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the house band - The Charlatans. If the psychedelic sixties were born in the dancehalls of San Francisco, then they were conceived in a saloon in Virginia City, Nevada where the musicians carried Winchesters & the kitchen served French gourmet meals.

The psychedelic era fostered cultural growth and artistic expression. The Red Dog Saloon was the incubator for the lightshow and psychedelic poster art, an entire lifestyle that truly defined a remarkable era and defied classification as it weaved it's tapestry of free love and music, which the Grateful Dead would spread around the world.

Filmmaker Mary Works (assistant editor "Titanic", "Saving Private Ryan") was entrusted with access to the lives, antics and attics of this unique extended rock and roll family that grew out of these wild times.

Description

With music by The Charlatans, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Lynne Hughes, Mark Unobsky, Dan Hicks, Alice Stuart, Ph Phactor Jug Band, Final Solution, Wildflower, Boston Wranglers, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service

Directed By: Mary Works

DVD Features - A conversation with the filmmakers, Where are they now?, Jim Marshall Photo Gallery and Interview

Customer Reviews:

Amazing and Historical.......2007-02-05

This DVD says it all--the history, the music of the era, the culture of the 60s San Franciso-Virginia City, NV scene that helped to create it..amazing Charlatans.

Straight From the Horse's -- er -- Dog's Mouth.......2007-01-30

I gave this DVD every star available. It is solidly produced and presents a robust explication of a Movement which is taken for granted now, but was, lest we forget, ephemeral and wildly improbable in the extreme. Yet it happened. Chaos theory spins a tale of the "butterfly effect" which can eventually power a hurricane on the other side of the Earth. How did the long hair of the Hippie's actually come about? Were Hippies "slobs", "bums", "idiots"? No, they were perfectionists, actually, as any Grateful Dead roadie could endlessly testify. The accessability of the story is perhaps too clear and immediate for viewers to credit on first viewing. This film will get under your skin. It is neglected, discounted anthropology. It is important.

The only footage of the Charlatans are on this DVD.......2007-01-21

I have to agree with some aspects of the negative reviews found here: Yes, if you're looking for stories revolving around the popular bands of the area, don't buy it. Actually, only buy this, if you heard or read of the Red Dog Saloon before. Because then it's safe to assume that you are really familiar with the development of the music scene in San Francisco in the 60s. Because then you don't have to rely on this DVD to learn who the Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane were.

If the Red Dog Saloon does ring a bell, buy this DVD. Buy it, because it contains the only known footage of the Charlatans, the real pioneers. True: If you listen to their sound you would never guess that they were the spearhead of the music scene back in 64 and 65. But that's not the point. This DVD basically explains why the Charlatans worked as a band, as an image and as a visual focus point that drew people because it was way cool.

Also to be seen on DVD: Excerpts of the Red Dog Reunion concert back in the early 90s with the Charlatans and Big Brother And The Holding Company. Lynne Hughes is there, too. The background of the Light Machine is explained. Interviews with people from the scene less famous than the typical names associated with it. Oh yes, and music. Music that is virtually forgotten by most of us today but still belongs and is easily identified as part of the dawn of psychedelic rock.

The bottom line: Great if not fantastic DVD for people interested in the background of the music scene. It concentrates on the Red Dog and leaves therefore little room for the more famous bands of the area. But that was not the intention. The DVD is a joy to watch. It is great to listen to the interviews. I will treasure this DVD.

Psychedelic Music Backstory .......2006-04-16

I consider this an essential documentary of the sixties music scene. It's a story that might well be lost without this film.

If you're expecting a Grateful Dead video, like all the other videos from this company, then don't bother buying this one.

I'm really quite shocked by the one star reviews of this fascinating video. I guess either you get it or you don't.

Rockin' at the Red Dog isn't boring - it's hip, man, you dig?

What happened to the Thirteenth.......2006-03-16

Floor Elevators? I know it is always debateable as to who coined the term psychedelic and who was the first "psychedelic" band. I don't know for sure. History is fickle at best in this area, but I do think that in any psychedelic movie the Elevators should certainly at least be mentioned, as well as some other bands of the era...but it is always the Grateful Dead, Big Brother, Quicksilver, and the San Francisco bands that are mentioned. Don't get me wrong. They belong there and I still enjoy their music--especially Quicksilver's--but where are Roky Erikson and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators?

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