Search - Jethro Tull - Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 on DVD

Rare 1970 footage makes this Tull DVD a near classic

Barry Smith | Plainview, New York United States | 03/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Little by little, Murray Lerner's footage from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival is starting to coming out on dvd. Starting in 1995 with the festival movie MESSAGE TO LOVE, the various presentations have emerged. The sets from Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Miles Davis and now Jethro Tull are the focus of their own individual dvd presentations (an early 90s release of some of Free's set was released on VHS has yet to come out in digital video).

The Tull video NOTHING IS EASY contains a large chunk of exclusive footage from their set, and nowhere else can you find the IOW performances of MY GOD, DHARMA FOR ONE, WE USED TO KNOW/FOR A THOUSAND MOTHERS. Tull was an entertaining band, and they were in their heyday in 1970. We finally get to see the entire MY GOD where Ian starts on a subtle acoustic guitar lick and then moves to some entertaining flute work. Clive Bunker's obligatory drum solo on DHARMA FOR ONE is fun to watch but might bore the casual viewer.

In addition, the film depicts the events of 8/30/70 from the Tull point of view, and includes scenes of the tension between the audience and the promoters. We see some amazing never-before-seen footage of the Jethro Tull soundcheck in the early morning sun. Ian and the boys do a warm-up version of BOUREE (the clueless Amazon.com reviewer calls it "Beret"!!!!!) That soundcheck is the gold that I was waiting for, it's priceless footage and makes the entire package worth the price of admission. More footage of the soundcheck would have been real nice.

The first tune in the video is "MY SUNDAY FEELING" which was featured in MESSAGE TO LOVE movie. Consequently, MESSAGE TO LOVE is starting to become redundant. Quite a lot of the footage that was once exclusive in the 1995 festival documentary has been revamped for the Hendrix, Who, Free, Miles Davis dvds. I wish WITH YOU THERE TO HELP ME (featuring John Evan on piano)was presented instead of MY SUNDAY FEELING because the more exclusive footage the better.

In addition, I think SONG FOR JEFFREY from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is totally unnecessary! It breaks the flow of the Isle of Wight footage and you can see it in the official Rolling Stones dvd. Another case of redundancy that drags down the quality of this Tull dvd.

Ian Anderson is on hand to narrate the video, and it appears to me that he really doesn't remember the specifics of the Isle of Wight festival. Tull played thousands of gigs in their career, and several festivals in that era. Consequently, he doesn't give much insight to the events of that particular evening. The lackluster liner notes in the dvd booklet strengthen my theory (By the way, check out Pete Townshend's interview in the Who Isle of Wight dvd, he doesn't seem to remember much either!!).

Overall, the new footage, especially the awesome soundcheck makes NOTHING IS EASY a must-own for any Tull fan.

"

What's here is great but, where's the rest?

Valnastar | Deep 13, USA | 03/27/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I bought the CD and DVD of this performance simultaneously and listened to the CD first. One of the best live tracks on the CD is Cry You A Song. I couldn't wait to see the unbelievable energy I was hearing on the CD by watching them play it on the DVD, then I discovered that Cry You A Song is not included on the DVD! With You There To Help Me is another terrific performance that you can hear on the CD, but not see on the DVD. I could live with the format of the DVD, which is that they broke up the performances with new interview material with Ian Anderson, if they had included the whole concert performance. The fact that some of the best performance material was left off of the DVD is a true shame. How many more years will fans have to wait to see the full performance, preferrably uninterrupted? As stated in some other reviews here on Amazon, the full concert, uninterrupted, should have been included on the DVD as well. What's here is GREAT, but it will leave you wanting the rest."

"And The Graven Image You know Who With His Plastic Crucifix

Hand of Doom | The Wonderful World of Colonized Minds | 10/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From perusing the various reviews it's obvious there are some serious Tull purists let down with the incomplete footage. Be that as it may, what is presented is outstanding! The footage of one of my all time Tull picks, "My God," alone makes this more than worthwhile. Anderson's take on our religious misdirections and misgivings are far more wry and lyrical than say, those of another favored staple of that era, the darkly iconoclastic Black Sabbath. Speaking of which, this documentary includes the bluesy chugger "Song For Jeffrey," from the Stones Rock And Roll Circus, with none other than Toni Iommi on guitar shortly before he joined up with Geezer Butler to form Sabbath.
The narration by Anderson is fine on its own although is repetitiously interspersed with performance footage that makes it drag a bit. Maybe it would've worked better as an aside on the menu with the live footage left to stand on its own. However, it's a minor criticism given the band was fully alive and in top form, replete with frazzled, unkempt-bearded Anderson gyrating about within a devil-may-care catharsis of expression."

Best Tull Footage Yet!

Donald Griffin | 04/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the `Holy Grail` of Tull footage ever released, and it is a must have for any collector. Ian Anderson as a young man, in his prime,a bundle of spastic energy. Hair flying, ratty -coat and knee high boots, he is a wonder to observe. Running around, jumping, conducting the band with his flute. The band is great, with perhaps the best lineup of their career. Anderson`s voice was very strong, and totally unique at the time. His flute playing is phenomenal, and how he keeps from getting winded is beyond belief! The sound and picture quality is great, and the cameras put you right on stage with them. All the live footage is fantastic, and worth sitting through some of the narrative from Ian. I find him interesting to listen to, and you can always skip to the live footage. At last I can show my friends what I have been talking about all these years. There was simply no band like Jethro Tull in their prime."