Search - At Town Hall Party on DVD

A Great Talent

Anthony L. Wilkinson | Essex, England | 02/02/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Town Hall Party TV Shows 1959'Introduction (Jay Stewart)/Instrumental (Dick D'Agostin & The Swingers) /Introduction (Dick D'Agostin)/C'mon Everybody/Have I Told You Lately That I Love You/Don't Blame It On Me/Summertime Blues/Interview (Johnny Bond)/Introduction (Jay Stewart)/Night Walk (Dick D'Agostin & The Swingers) /Introduction (Dick D'Agostin)/School Day/ Be Honest with Me/Money Honey/C'mon Everybody
Approximate Viewing Time: 30 MinutesWell after over a few years in the making, to use movie speak, the long promised footage of Eddie Cochran backed by Dick D'Agostin & The Swingers recorded live at The Town Hall Party on 07 February 1959 is finally available for all to savour, drool over, enjoy and perhaps regret that Eddie is no longer with us to realise the esteem in which he is held. I am aware of many hurdles that have been placed in the way of Rockstar/Bear Family Records in trying to release this video and our thanks has to go to all concerned that we are able to hold the finished product in our grubby mitts.The footage is in monochrome but that only adds to the atmosphere that oozes from the screen, for sure this is the real thing. Genuine fifties live rock `n' roll from one of it's leading exponents ably backed by Connie `Guybo' Smith and Dick D'Agostin & The Swingers. The show is split into two shows, both initially introduced by a cool looking Jay Stewart and on each occasion this is followed by an instrumental from Dick D'Agostin & The Swingers. The first has no known title but the second is the tight raspy sax lead menacing `Night Walk'.For the first show, after a brief welcome from Dick D'Agostin, Eddie Comes on an launches into the classic `C'mon Everybody' complete with the aforementioned D'Agostin pounding away at the piano which certainly enhances the performance. This is followed by a meaningful reading of the ballad `Have I Told You lately That I Love You'. Next up is a powerful rendition of Fats Domino's `Don't Blame It One Me' complete with growling vocals. Eddie breathes life into this song, simply an outstanding performance. The first set closes out with a rockin' treatment of the teens call to arms `Summertime Blues'.At the mid-way point, there is a back stage interview between Eddie and Johnny Bond together with Dick D'Agostin and one of the Swingers. Nothing too starling in this but they do talk about Jimmy Rodgers and others. Bond unfortunately comes across as somewhat `squareish' and radiates an image of a country singer who as late as 1959 could not really come to grips with this new fangled rock `n' roll music. This is all the more surprising from the guy who went on to record and hit with `Hot Rod Lincoln'. However it was soon back to rockin' and, after a muffled start, the sound and sight of a sparkling work out by Eddie on Chuck Berry's `School Days' is evident. This is followed by another ballad, this time Gene Autry's `Be Honest With Me' complete with a tasty sax break from D'Agostin. It is then time for a raunchy and bluesy treatment of `Money Honey' before closing out with a reprise of `C'mon Everybody' which at the time was Eddie's current release. This material is historically important in rock `n' roll history but, above all, it is oh so enjoyable. © Tony Wilkinson"

Eddie Cochran Live In Los Angeles

Brian James | Santa Monica, CA USA | 02/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, I must be honest. This DVD is expensive and the performance is not very long (maybe 30 minutes). However, if you want to answer for yourself the question of what the true king of the rockabilly cats was like in concert (sorry Elvis, you never wrote a song), this is the only DVD that will do it. An interesting note is that this Town Hall Party show occured on the actual day of Buddy Holly's funeral. Cochran had performed on the same bill with Buddy Holly and the Crickets and was reported to have spent some quality time with Holly, so you can't help but wonder what his thoughts were on that day. There is no mention of Buddy Holly at all, so that question isn't answered. As for Eddie's performance, Cochran comes off as incredibly mature, well spoken and professional. It's very hard to believe he is in his early twenties. The words that best describe Cochran are "smooth, polished and confident" without being cocky. You almost feel that he would be more at home in Vegas performing for adults than he would for teenagers. If you've seen the Gene Vincent performances on Town Hall Party you will wonder how Gene and Eddie could have performed so often on the same shows in England. Cochran's voice and stage presence are so much more professional than Vincent's that they really aren't well matched. Vincent seemed like an amateur in comparison to Cochran. The one disappointment here is that Cochran doesn't play many leads on the guitar. In fact, he lets his back up band rock out more than he does (saxophone lead on a Cochran song!). Cochran's recordings show that he was a talented and original lead guitar player in the studio, but I get the feeling that he wasn't confident enough to pull it off on stage at this point (or the sound equipment might not have been good enough in those days to do it). If you want to see the young man that inspired Brian Setzer (and the Gretsch guitar that launched a 1,000 Rockabilly cats) this is the only DVD that will satisfy your soul. It's 5 times the footage ever shot of Buddy Holly. Go Cat Go!"