Search - A Vision Shared: Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly on DVD

Musical Americana par excellence

Rudolf Schmid | Kensington, CA | 05/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I agree completely with the previous review. I add here the "set list":
Do Re Mi--John Mellencamp
Sylvie--Sweet Honey in The Rock
Alabama Bound--Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie
Vigilante Man--Bruce Springsteen
Deportee--Emmylou Harris & Arlo Guthrie
The Bourgeois Blues--Taj Mahal
Rock Island Line--Little Richard
I Ain't Got No Home--Bruce Springsteen
Jesus Christ--U2
Grand Coulee Dam--Arlo Guthrie
Union Made--Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger
Midnight Special--Taj Mahal
I've Got To Know--Sweet Honey in The Rock
Put Your Finger In The Air/Ha, Ha This Away--Pete Seeger (Children's songs)
Goodnight Irene--Will Nelson
Song to Woody--Bob Dylan--excepts only, reminiscences
Hobo's Lullaby--Emmylou Harris
This Land Is Your Land--Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Little Richard, Bono, John Mellencamp
Further comments: Total time, with credits, is 72 minutes. The video has interesting historical B&W film clips. A serious defect is that there is no inner insert giving any information.
There is also a CD with 14 tracks, TT46:28, with an informative 20-page booklet. Of the 14 tracks, 8 are duplicated on the DVD. Six tracks are different, including Bob Dylan doing Pretty Boy Floyd and Willie Nelson doing Philadelphia Lawyer."

A bit of American music history

Mike T | Binghamton, NY | 01/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This video is an outstanding introduction to the music of a couple of legends in American Folk Music: Woody Guthrie, who composed "This Land is Your Land" and Leadbelly, one of the first to bring African-American folk music to a wider audience. The performances of these two men's music by Little Richard, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and John Mellencamp are nothing short of outstanding, but all the performances in the film are well worth a listen. Other musicians include Taj Mahal, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. The biggest flaw is that it should be longer. I wish it had included the complete U2 recording of "Jesus Christ". It could have also included more of the actual recordings of Guthrie and Seeger that this film was made to help save. Still, these are minor flaws in a very entertaining film."

A Vision Shared

Terence E. Richardson | 09/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent video footage of Woody Guthrie and Leabelly songs covered by artists of today. First class overview by Robbie Robertson and all-in-all a great piece of history in music, that transcends many of todays top artist repertoires.
Worth every cent - buy it, you will not be disappointed."

This Land IS Your Land

Alfred Johnson | boston, ma | 03/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If any of the older generation needs an introduction to Woody Guthrie or Leadbelly then I ask what planet have you been on. Woody's This Land Is Your Land is practically a national anthem. And Leadbelly's Goodnight, Irene is in that same category. So to have the two highlighted on one program, as they had been in life on a number of occasions, is a treat. This tribute has the further virtue of highlighting both original performances by them and tribute performances by some of these who have been influenced by their work, individually or collectively.

Anytime you get Taj Mahal, Little Richard, Sweet Honey in the Rock (a real treat as I was not familiar with their work), Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen and a host of others under one cinematic roof you are bound to have a good performance. And added attraction was the appearance of Arlo Guthrie, Woody's son and a folk legend in his own right, commenting on his father's work. And, of course, an all too brief recorded performance by Bob Dylan, a man who probably did more to revive Woody's work in the 1960's than any other. For my money though, John Mellencamp and his ensemble band (including washboard player) stole the show at the end with their rendition of the afore-mentioned This Land Is Your Land. Watch it.
"