Lightnin' Hopkins - Rare Performances 1960-1979

THIS IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS FOLK'S. SEE THE GENUINE ARTICLE. YOU KNOW LONG BEFORE THE LIGHTS AND SMOKE SOMEONE HAD TO WRITE IT DOWN (Baby Please don't Go) LIGHTNIN' WROTE FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. THE HONEST EXPRESSION OF EMOTION STRIPED DOWN TO ITS' ESSENCE. A ONE MAN BAND (He had no choice he was VERY poor) STEVIE RAY VAUGHN COMES TO MIND FOR SOME REASON,SHOULD WE DRAW COMPARISONS ? TEXAS BLUES, BIG STRONG HANDS, LONG SLENDER POWERFUL FINGERS. BOTH TOOK AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO THEIR AUDIENCE BECAUSE THEY BOTH GENUINELY CARED FOR PEOPLE, THEIR FANS. LIGHTNIN' DID NOT HAVE WHAT SOME MIGHT CALL "a beautiful singing voice" some not I... ELMORE JAMES, JOHN LEE HOOKER, LUTHER ALLISON, HOWLIN' WOLF, YOU WILL NEVER HEAR ANYTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL. LIGHTNIN' PAYED HIS DUES THE HARD WAY, DESERVED ALL THE ACCOLADES HE GOT, AND A LOT MORE. WE COULD NEVER REPAY SAM FOR THE LOVE THAT HE GAVE TO ALL OF US THROUGH HIS MUSIC. BLESS YOU SAM

A very fine DVD of Lightnin' in various concert settings. You'll see some of these Lightnin' clips on some of the instruction material DVD's by Stefan Grossman or Ernie Hawkins for example, but it's well worthwhile having the whole bag of tricks of one of the Texas guitar giants on one DVD, as there's plenty else to see. The bonus clips at the end are every bit as vital to the whole package as what precedes it. When Lightnin' "Pulls A Party" - which is the title of one of the bonus tracks, what young guitar player of today wouldn't be thrilled to do his guitar tricks and have such an arresting, pretty, smiling young woman seated beside him enjoying his performance as in this clip? Lightnin must have had plenty of this during his day of playing his trademark sound.

This is an excellent concert, that definitely needed to be preserved for the ages. Mr. Hopkins has been a big influence on Rock and Roll, and many other genres of music in this and the last century. I have and will continue to enjoy listening for hours and hours to this excellent piece of musical work.

My parents enjoyed it

At last, a Lightnin' Hopkins live performance/concert dvd... and it plays on Australia's dvd regional code as well. Great stuff!

The best .

I have some 10 blues videos and this is probably my favourite. It spans most of lighnin video taped recording carrer, from the 60's up to the 80's. Most of this has never been available in video and its amazing. It includes a version of Rock me baby from austin city limits that is amazing. Also includes baby scratch my back and aint it crazy. This should be in any blues video collection, and if you like lighnin, make this the first video you buy of him

I am a big Lightnin Hopkins fan and this DVD has almost been warn out by my player! There is footage of him on here you will find nowhere else including two sets set in colour. I urge anyone that loves music to buy this cos ol' Lightnin is a great musician and performer with true charisma.

Sam "Lightning" Hopkins n'encombre pas les rayons des marchands de DVD musicaux, pas plus que la plupart des grands bluesmen historiques. Ce DVD contient des séances diverses datant de 1960 à 1979. Parfois seul à la guitare acoustique, parfois accompagné à la guitare électrique, Lightning est toujours intéressant, parfois magnifique. Il est émouvant de voir et entendre ces géants de la musique du XXème siècle que l'Amérique a tellement sous-estimé lorsqu'elle était ségrégationniste - et même après...Attention à l'origine du produit, il peut nécessiter un lecteur multizone...

ライトニン・ホプキンスこそ、僕がブルースにのめり込むきっかけになった人で、一番好きなブルースマンです。音楽界広しといえど、こんなに音と演奏している姿と生活と人柄が一致している人もいないでしょう。というか、彼の存在こそがブルースなんでしょうね。実際見てみると、彼の演奏している姿は喜怒哀楽の全てが詰まっています。思わずニヤッとしてしまう場面もあるし、涙が出る場面もあります。弾き語りでもバックバンドを従えても、全く動じることがなく、いつもどおりの演奏で最高のパフォーマンスをみせてくれます。まぁ正直、音楽だけでも十二分にこの人の魅力は伝わるんですが、映像で見てみるとさらに凄みを増します。僕にとっては家宝です。

Of course we must be extremely grateful that there is any live footage of these great blues masters, but it has to be said that this DVD was rather disappointing. It comprises a collection of material from his later years by when he was "discovered" by the white college and festival crowd. His material is very much tailored to that audience and lacks the raw intensity of his earlier recordings. If you want to see Lightnin' in action then I guess that this will be as good as you can get, but I'd rather sit back and listen to his 1947/8 material (try King of Dowling St LP, released in 1972) and remind myself of just how good LH was in his prime.