America: The Best Of MusikLaden Live

Starring:America
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

A Good Reason for a Reunion
AN OUTSTANDING CONCERT BY THE ORIGINAL AMERICA TRIO
Terrific!!!!
Fantastic!!!!!
This is a 5 Star DVD- No Question

America - The Best of MusikLaden Live
Starring: America
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Live 1975

ASIN: 6305243069
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Description

Pioneer Artists presents the "Best Of Musikladen - America". This concert footage from 1975 includes such hits as Horse With No Name, Ventura Highway, Tin Man, Don't Cross The River, and I Need You, Moon Song, Lonely People, Wind Wave, Rainbow Song, Green Monkey, and California Revisited. Part of the MusikLaden Live Series.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Reason for a Reunion.......2007-02-06

Listening and Watching this DVD reminds me that it is time that America had a full blown reunion with all three original members. It's time. While the current line-up does a great job they were even better with Dan Peek. No one is asking for a permanent reunion but isn't it time fellas to let it all go and get back together again for the fans?

AN OUTSTANDING CONCERT BY THE ORIGINAL AMERICA TRIO .......2005-11-07

My only complaint is that the band should have used the MARTIN acoustic guitars throughout the concert instead of the OVATIAN guitars with the electronic pick-ups. The additional musicians WILLIE LEACOX on drums and CALVIN SAMUELS (CROSBY STILLS NASH AND YOUNG AND STEPHEN STILLS' MANASSAS) on bass guitar are excellent too. The first VENTURA HIGHWAY is excellent with the dual lead guitar from DAN PEEK and GERRY BECKLEY and lead vocals by DEWEY BURNELL. Afterwards, DEWEY asks about the procedure of whether to keep going or redo some they don't like, and GERRY says, "We wanna redo that song." Next comes GERRY'S piano ballad I NEED YOU with his lead vocals, DAN and DEWEY'S harmony vocals and 6 and 12- string acoustic guitars. The piano on this concert is very dull sounding, but it is still better than the electronic pianos. GERRY then straps the MARTIN D-45 (the bast sounding acoustic guitar even made) back on for DAN'S DON'T CROSS THE RIVER (one of my favorite songs) featuring DAN'S lead vocals and harmony vocals. Then DAN and GERRY trade the D-45 and 12-string guitars for DEWEY'S A HORSE WITH NO NAME with his STEPHEN STILLS like lead vocals, the harmony vocals, and the lead guitars by DAN and GERRY. Here is when they switch to the OVATIAN guitars. This version of MOON SONG is great; however, it would have sound better if DAN would have used the D-45 on this song instead of the electric GRETCH guitar. The OVATIAN guitars that DEWEY uses sound like an electric guitar, which is kinda cool in a way. Here comes my favorite song called LONELY PEOPLE with DAN'S lead vocals, 12-string guitar playing, and harmorica playing, GERRY'S high-pitch harmony vocals and piano playing, and DEWEY occassional harmony vocals and rhythm guitar playing. Before they play this song, DAN has a hard time finding his harmonica. DEWEY'S WIND WAVE is excellent with his singin and guitar playing and GERRY'S piano playing. DAN should have played the mellotron throughout the song instead of playing his 12-string guitar during most of the song. Then DAN and GERRY trade their keyboard positions while DEWEY retunes his sunburst OVATIAN for his RAINBOW SONG during which he breaks a string on his surburst OVATIAN. The mellotron sounds a whole lot better than the orchestra on the studio versions of these two songs from the HAT TRICK album. And then the DEWEY classic TIN MAN with a guitar solo intro by the man himself. DAN should have made himself more useful by playing the piano riff throughout the song instead of just a hand percussion. This version of CALIFORNIA REVISITED is excellent with his singing and guitar playing, the harmony vocals, and occasional lead guitar by GERRY. Plus, this version of GREEN MONKEY features all three singers on lead guitar and vocals sounds a whole lot better than the studio version. Maybe that is all of the concert folks like DEWEY says, but this is definitely a must fan for all classic AMERICA fans to watch over and over at the own leisure time. Therefore Dewey, that is really not all.

Terrific!!!!.......2004-11-07

All the performances are great; Moon Song, Rainbow Song, Tin Man, Horse with no name. Listen for Dewey Bunnell's unique introductory guitar licks in Tin Man. And the fake crowd noise following Windwave gives a sense of the band members' playfulness. You'll enjoy the musicianship throughout. Even if you're not a die-hard America fan, this DVD is wonderful for anyone who likes this band.

Fantastic!!!!!.......2004-05-27

I love this DVD. The sound, the songs, superb. The between song interaction also has its moments (keep in mind this interaction was never meant for fans' consumption since the taping was intended for a TV music variety show). The performance starts out slowly, as the band members seem confused at times about the flow of things. But it gets progressively better as it goes along. The song selection mixes several hits with well chosen album cuts, much to the listener's pleasure.

All the performances are great; my favorites are probably Don't Cross The River, Moon Song, Rainbow Song, and California Revisited. Listen for Dewey Bunnell's unique introductory guitar licks in Tin Man. And the fake crowd noise following Windwave gives a sense of the band members' playfulness. You'll enjoy the musicianship throughout. Even if you're not a die-hard America fan, this DVD is wonderful for anyone who likes this band.

This is a 5 Star DVD- No Question.......2002-11-21

Sorry to go against the words of a fellow Chilango (the negative review from Mexico City) but this is a gem! If you are a musician you will really appreciate seeing these outstanding performances. The band kind of bitchly brushes aside the loss of original member Dan Peek these days and it is nice to see him with them again after all these years chilling in Grand Cayman. The guitar work and the vocals are exceptional. Sorry if the technology of 1975 and the wierdness of German people make this seem unlike TRL but this DVD is cool and the best of the MusikLaden series I have seen so far.

The Best of Musikladen Live - Stephen Stills & Manassas

Average customer rating:

a musician friend says: "My Vision of the Afterlife!"
Wonderful, Truly Great
Magnificent
A Treasure
Well, almost....

The Best of Musikladen Live - Stephen Stills & Manassas
Starring: Angelica Heinrich , Christine Röthig , Uschi Nerke , and Manfred Sexauer
Director: Michael Leckebusch
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Down the Road
Man Alive!
Man Alive!
Stephen Stills & Manassas: Live
Live

ASIN: B00007JZW3
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Amazon.com

Stephen Stills had graduated to solo stature after central roles in two influential but internally combustible bands, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, when he opted to form the short-lived Manassas in the early '70s. The band was a sensible compromise--a platform that provided Stills with a versatile ensemble of instrumental peers posing far less threat to their leader's ego. He had wisely chosen one of California rock's most dependably tasteful musicians, former Byrd and Flying Burrito Brothers cofounder Chris Hillman, as his de facto lieutenant, providing a solid vocal foil and a capable songwriter. Stills designed a lineup that could move convincingly from country-rock to swaying, percussive grooves with a Latin thrust.

This 40-minute live studio performance, taped without an audience for a German broadcast, captures the essence of Manassas's debut album Down the Road, confirming the strength of Stills's choices as well as the ultimately slight value of the songs written for and with that band. At its best, Manassas sketches a warm Stills-Hillman vocal stamp that's pleasing if still generic, and the instrumental interplay is likewise confident if only fleetingly inspired. The production injects some now dated, even corny visuals, including solarized psychedelic shots used as backdrops. But the original mono sound quality is detailed and well-mixed, confirming the superior equipment and more sympathetic ears of the German crew. This is a satisfying document for aficionados of California's laid-back '70s wing. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

a musician friend says: "My Vision of the Afterlife!".......2005-04-29

If you like the idea of Stephen Stills, in no-nonsense form, playing a giant hollow-bodied guitar at high volume with grade-A rhythm players, this is the stuff that dream is made of. There's a lot of hollow-body Gretsch but later in the set some massive, Hendrix-inflected Les Paul stuff too. (The word is "wahwah.") The performances here are literally amped up and intensified versions of about half the tracks from the first Mansasas Lp, providing a set that moves across generic borders with pioneering verve: this band is equally convincing doing country, "Cuban Bluegrass," or Stills' odd-signatured and riff-heavy "Bound to Fall." If you play this DVD loud through a nice system (and you must do that), you're there, and that's a nice place to be. The recording is fine, although for some reason Chris Hillman's (also beautiful and giant) guitar is not especially apparent in the mix, but his voice is. The band's performance is unusual in that they are alone on a sound-stage, with utterly no audience, but they have a positive nerviness and the set gains "sweat" as if a good audience is present. I even like this film visually. (Perhaps because my only caveat about this DVD is that this band, in this performance, sounds tighter with images than without--sans-images, occasional looseness is apparent. Curious effect!) The jump cuts between band members are abrupt at times, but the rear-screen solarizations provide technically dated but visually cool multi-hued images of the band from camera angles varied from the main shot. I'll be frank--I like Stills, but I didn't know this band was this good.

Wonderful, Truly Great.......2005-04-05

If you like the Manasas version of Stills and friends, (up beat great rock/psychedelic/Colorado rock), you'll like this 40 min jam. It was insane how good of a jam this was of the superb songs from Manasas's only great (awesomely great) double album.

Magnificent.......2004-06-15

I always loved that double-album Manassas, so discovering this
DVD was a fantastic surprise...and it did not disappoint.
This is, indeed, Stephen Stills at the height of his powers.
And the song selection is excellent. Most of the best rockers
on Manassas are included, such as Jet Set and Treasure. Just
two songs I would've liked to hear were not included: Right Now
and Colorado...but it doesn't matter because the performance is so
stellar. The sound quality is slightly less than perfect, but easily fixable if you up the volume a bit.

A Treasure.......2003-09-11

This is Stephen Stills at his literal zenith. After his 1968 and 1970 releases with CSN and CSNY, Stills launched a series of solo efforts. His first solo album is widely recognized as a rock classic, and while its successor, Stephen Stills 2, gained less acclaim, it offered strong compositions in songs such as 'Know You Got To Run' and 'Sugar Babe'. In 1972 Stills pulled together Manassas, with drummer Dallas Taylor (Woodstock Festival and 'Deja Vu'), bassist Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels ('Four Way Street'), and Paul Harris ('Stephen Stills 2') being Still's veteran bandmates, and produced the opus of his recording career. The band's output, however, maxed out at only 3 discs, and this German television broadcast represents the only visual record of the band available. In fact, the only other professionally produced, finished material to be had is a radio broadcast from Amsterdam, Holland in 1973.

Fortunately, the band is being seen in their genesis, promoting their debut double-LP. Their sound is clean and Stills appears pumped-up for this performance. The filming couldn't be much smarter for the early 1970's, aside from graphics displaying song titles, and day-glo, mirrored images of the band members for the background. These are minor distractions. The bulk of the video is pure performance footage.

Despite the lack of an audience to spur them on, it doesn't appear the performances could be more inspired. Stills takes a deep breath before launching into the first number, the introspective 'Bound To Fall'. The band already appears warmed-up, with Paul Harris contributing a scintillating organ solo.

'Bound To Fall' is followed by a Stills/Chris Hillman composition, perhaps the loveliest ballad either man has ever recorded, 'It Doesn't Matter'. Joe Lala's provocative percussion on the production is penetrating and persuasive.

The opening selections conclude with the entreating 'Hide It So Deep', a country-flavored number which Stills is especially adept at delivering. Al Perkins adds a sweet steel guitar to the rich mix. Each of the first three songs feature lingering harmonies from Stills and Hillman.

We are then treated to the opening salvo from the double-LP 'Manassas', titled 'The Raven'. 'The Raven' is Stephen Stills' Abbey Road. As he segues from 'Song Of Love', to 'Rock and Roll Crazies', to 'Cuban Bluegrass', Stills puts on display the immutable appeal of the singer-songwriter. These are clearly songs written by Stephen Stills for Stephen Stills. We sense his roots, connect with his passions, and need only sit back to be absorbed by the appreciable talents he employs to convey his artistry. Particularly appealing are the pronounced vocal and guitar hitches of 'Rock and Roll Crazies' surrounding the lyric, "...catch yourself practicin' bein' shallow every day... yeah!" Beautiful. And 'Cuban Bluegrass' stirs Stills into a mambo only a lead guitarist could get away with.

Stills finishes off this abbreviated version of 'The Raven' with the wrought-iron blues of 'Jet Set'. His delivery will cause you to wonder whether Stills was born for the blues, or the blues for Stephen Stills. From this point on in the video the cameraman is clearly mesmerized by Stills' masterful fretwork.

While nearly all the material chosen for the video has a parallel studio version, 'Jet Set' does segue into a jam session, aptly titled 'Jam', which is not available on any other release. This segment runs five minutes and features a funky guitar from Stills, and nice instrumental runs from Lala and Harris. It's nice to have this unique instrumental, but when one considers that it replaces the usual conclusion to 'The Raven', the strutting and determined 'Anyway', and the engaging 'Both of Us'....

Appearing as an afterthought (something of a studio session encore), the video concludes with Stills donning his fourth electric guitar of the evening for a churning rendition of 'The Treasure', one of the closing numbers from their debut album. Stills smoking guitar and strong vocals are backed up with soaring harmonies by Hillman and Al Perkins, and a sharp-as-a-knife steel guitar solo from Perkins. Although the camera (enraptured with Stills' wah-wah backup) misses most of Perkins picking, it is still true icing on the cake.

At the conclusion of the first number, Stills jokingly remarks to Hillman, "...take the first verse of the first one...", apparently suggesting this was the second take of 'Bound To Fall'. Fans of Manassas can only hope that more material from this rare and exciting performance remains in the vault, and will one day find the light of day. Indeed, if versions of songs such as 'So Begin the Task' and 'Colorado' lie in wait, justice demands they be awarded their freedom. It would be criminal to hold them back any longer.

Well, almost...........2003-04-15

One of the things that this DVD demonstrates is that Stills was actually capable of pretty nifty playing when he checked his ego at the footlights. Long overlooked, and often deservedly so, Stephen Stills could, when he made up his mind, assemble a crack,no pun intended, ensemble of musicians and generate considerable heat, so long as he could refrain from showboating.

Amazon.com

Description

Stephen Stills knows a thing or two about harmony. Mining his vast experience with Buffalo Springfield, Croby, Stills, Nash andYoung and as a solo artist, Manassas, featuring Chris Hillman of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers fame, blended luscious and intricate vocal harmonies capped by Stills' soaring guitar prowess. Going down smoothly like honey and sweet molasses, Manassas offered up a bevy of heavenly aural treats hungrily devoured by music fans worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

a musician friend says: "My Vision of the Afterlife!".......2005-04-29

Wonderful, Truly Great.......2005-04-05

Magnificent.......2004-06-15

A Treasure.......2003-09-11

Well, almost...........2003-04-15

Customer Reviews:

AMERICA PARA TODOS OS FANS.......2005-04-16

ESTE DVD RETRATA O MELHOR DO AMERICA,CONTENDO AS MUSICAS QUE MARCARAM EPOCA E CONTINUAM A EMOCIONAR OS QUE CONHECEM O AMERICA E A DESPERTAR CURIOSIDADE NOS QUE NAO CONHECEM.

SIMPLESMENTE,UM PRESENTE E TANTO PARA QUALQUER FAN !!

Fantastic!!!!!!!.......2004-04-10

I love this DVD. The sound, the songs, superb. The between song banter also has its moments (keep in mind this banter was never meant for fans' consumption since it was intended for a TV music variety show). The performance starts out slowly, as the band members seem confused at times about the flow of things. But it gets progressively better as it goes along. The song selection mixes several hits with well chosen album cuts, much to the listener's pleasure.

Song Order: Ventura Highway, I Need You, Don't Cross The River, Horse With No Name, Moon Song, Lonely People, Windwave, Rainbow Song, Tin Man, California Revisited, and Green Monkey.

Excellent Playing in this Concert.......2003-12-24

I really like this dvd alot. It appears to be a practice session before an empty audience. The thing that strikes me is how uncomfortable the band seems between songs, and they don't talk to each other at all. If they do, it's mumbled. I wonder how the final performance on Musikladen looked?

I knew nothing about America before, I still don't which guy is which. The music is what it's all about- it is great. The band plays really well and the harmonies always interesting.

America Rocks!.......2003-04-01

First, the good news. This DVD has been in my player constantly since I got it. This is a solid performance by America. A little raw, but terrific none the less. Great songs and great musicianship. After watching this, it's easy to see how much Dan Peek meant to the band. Not just for his songs, but his great guitar work. This is not just an acoustic band, folks. Having said that, the bad news is that I believe this the only live video or audio of America as a trio. Maybe someday there will be more material like this released. But for now we have this and it is highly recomended.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Demo Crew

Carry On Up The Jungle

Jungle Book

DVD: New Jack City

Pavement - Slow Century