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(More customer reviews)Over the past years, we 've become very accustomed to the pristine digital sound and high-def images of the modern DVD. As such, the not-so-sharp black-and-white images and less-than-perfect sound quality of this DVD might turn off some audio/video purists. [The sound and picture are not bad by any means; they are just not up to modern-day standards.]
I am not such a purist, so I was easily transported back to Saturday nights in 1963 and 1964 watching "Hootenany" on the old black-and-white TV. Jack Linkletter was an affable enough host, who would give a brief plug for the college campus they were on and then introduce the folk acts. Most of the major folk acts were there and did two songs at a time: The Chad Mitchell Trio, the Limeliters, the Brothers Four, Judy Collins, Bob Gibson, Theodore Bikel, Joe and Eddie, Ian and Sylvia, the Travelers Three, the New Christy Minstrels, et al.
The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary were not on the show. The story I always heard was that it was in protest for Pete Seeger not being allowed on the show (because of his McCarthy-era blacklisting). Or maybe they just didn't need the exposure Hootenany gave the other acts. Given that the show did allow the Chad Mitchell Trio to do their famous broadside "The John Birch Society" (it's on the DVD), apparently the producers weren't that afraid of offending the right-wing nuts of the day.
It's fun to contrast the acts on the show with current acts that one sees on Saturday Night Live, Leno, Letterman, etc. Nowadays, the performers all sing and play into their own mikes, wear T-shirts and jeans, and have scruffy hair. Back then on the Hootenany show, almost all the performers in a group sang and played their guitars into a single mike; all the men wore white shirts, skinny ties, and sport coats (or Mr. Rogers-type sweaters), and the women all wore dresses; and they all have short hair. (I'm not passing judgement on either era; I was just amused by the contrast.)
The acts included a mix of mostly folk, with some bluegrass (e.g., Flatt and Scruggs and the Dillards), gospel (e.g., Clara Ward Singers), old-timey (e.g., the Carter Family), blues (e.g., Leon Bibb), and comedy (e.g., Woody Allen and Vaughn Meader doing his famous John Kennedy spoof -- pre-assassination, of course).
On many of the songs, the audience was invited to sing along (after all, it was billed as a hootenany). As a graying baby-boomer, it was a lot of fun for me to relive the innocence and optimism of the early 60's before the assassinations, the war, the riots, Watergate, the culture clashes, etc. It was just a lot fun.
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For the first-time on home video, a deluxe 3-DVD set of thehit ABC show that started the '60s! In the pre-Beatlemania days of April 1963, a weekly folk music concertcalled Hootenanny found its way onto the American televisionairwaves. Originating from various college campuses, the show featuredartists that were thriving on the coffee house and college circuit, likeJudy Collins, Trini Lopez, Jimmie Rodgers, the Chad Mitchell Trio, theBrothers Four and Bob Gibson. Hosted by Jack Linkletter (the son of TV legend Art Linkletter),Hootenanny was also a showcase for young comedians, including BillCosby and Woody Allen. And Hootenanny, not limiting itself to folkartists, also featured gospel, jazz and country performers, including ClaraWard, the Carter Family, Marion Williams, Herbie Mann, Hoyt Axton, EddyArnold, Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash--all usually performing in the folkidiom, or something close to it. A few young future rock performers also made early appearances onHootenanny. Look for John Phillips, who would later go on to formThe Mamas and the Papas, as a member of the Journeymen. Carly Simonperforms as one half of the Simon Sisters and Barry McGuire, who would soonhave a number one hit with Eve Of Destruction, can be seen with the NewChristy Minstrels. By 1964 the Beatles had arrived in America, essentially ending the folkmusic craze that had started only a few years before. Hootenannywould soon be replaced by Shindig! All of the videotapes ofHootenanny are lost--most likely erased and recycled during a timewhen no one imagined folk music would matter again. But fortunately theshows were preserved on kinescopes, films made from a television monitor.These kinescopes of Hootenanny form a musical time capsule of theshort-lived era in American popular music--in between Elvis Presley and TheBeatles--when folk music was all the rage. More than 80 songs including: Froggie Went A-Courtin', He Was A Friend OfMine, Midnight Special, C.C. Rider, Cottonfields, Turn Turn Turn, If I HadA Hammer, Wayfarin' Stranger, Wimoweh and Ole Blue With performances by: Eddy Arnold, Hoyt Axton, Leon Bibb, Theodore Bikel, The Brothers Four, Bud& Travis, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, The Chad Mitchell Trio, TheClancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Clara Ward Gospel Singers, JudyCollins, The Coventry Singers, Dian & The Greenbriar Boys, The Dillards,Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Bob Gibson, Ian & Sylvia, Joe & Eddie, TheJourneymen, The Limeliters, Trini Lopez, Miriam Makeba, Herbie Mann, TheNew Christy Minstrels, Richard & Jim, Jimmie Rodgers, The Rooftop Singers,The Serendipity Singers, Mike Settle, The Simon Sisters, The Tarriers, TheTravelers Three, Doc Watson, Josh White, Jr., Beverly White, MarionWilliams And comedy by: Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Vaughn Meader, Louis Nye, Jackie Vernon
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