Monday, August 29, 2011

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song Review



Pete Seeger: The Power of Song Feature

  • Documentary about the controversial singer Pete Seeger, who defined folk music and used music to encourage social change. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES Rating: PG Age: 796019814119 UPC: 796019814119 Manufacturer No: 81411
Pete Seeger reads The Wall Street Journal! That's perhaps the most startling revelation in Jim Brown's (The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time) wonderful documentary that etches an indelible portrait of an American icon and a global treasure. As a solo performer and as a member of the Weavers, Seeger introduced America to its musical heritage and was instrumental in ushering in the folk music revival in the 1960s. Branded as an "evil Commie" for his leftist beliefs, he is hailed here as an "absolute patriot" and "a living testament to the First Amendment." Seeger didn't call out politicians or presidents. He called out backward policies, unjust laws, and divisive attitudes. Songs that he popularized, or were covered by others, such as "We Shall Overcome," "The Hammer Song," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and "Turn, Turn, Turn," became Civil Rights and anti-war anthems. Music, he eloquently states in The Power of Song, should not be used just to forget one's troubles, but to also help to understand and to do something about your troubles. Whether singing work songs at union rallies or Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" to schoolchildren, Seeger used folk music as a uniter. The Power of Song is a profile in courage. In dramatic archival footage, he is seen defying the House Un-American Activities Committee. Seeger, never in it for the money, recalls how he quit the phenomenally popular Weavers when the other members agreed to do a cigarette commercial. Seeger was green before green was cool. At 88, he lives in the log cabin that he built and continues to work the land; chopping wood and hauling water. This film also chronicles his successful campaign to clean up the polluted Hudson River.

The Power of Song" is more than a great life story. It's also a great love story. Toshi, his wife of more than 60 years, emerges as an extraordinary woman who has greatly sacrificed to allow Seeger to take his music and message around the world (at one point she jokes that she wished her husband chased women instead of causes so she could leave him). Seeger says his singing voice is gone, but his spirit is undimmed (one clip captures him standing on the roadside with a handful of war protesters). Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Mary Travers, and family members are among those who pay tribute, but Seeger's own plain-spoken words and the concert footage and performance clips--by turns joyous and profoundly moving--take full measure of the man as a musicologist, iconoclast, and "social artist." One admirer says of Seeger that he stood for justice and had powerful enemies. That makes him sound like a superhero. In his own gentle way, perhaps he was. --Donald Liebenson In Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, Director Jim Brown documents the life of one of the greatest American singer/songwriters of the last century. Pete Seeger was the architect of the folk revival, writing some of its best known songs including Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Turn, Turn, Turn and If I Had A Hammer. Largely misunderstood and criticized for his strong beliefs he was picketed, protested, blacklisted, and, in spite of his enormous popularity, banned from commercial television for more than 17 years. Musicians including Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Brice Springsteen, Natalie Maines, and Peter, Paul and Mary appear in this intimate portrait and discuss Seeger s lasting influence on the fabric of American music.


Saturday, August 27, 2011

Ukulele Songs

Ukulele Songs Review



Ukulele Songs is a collection of original songs and covers performed by Vedder on ukulele. Featuring a number of songs that Vedder penned and first played live but never released nearly a decade ago, "Ukulele Songs" also includes a uke version of Pearl Jam's 2002 track "Can't Keep" and guest vocalists on two tracks: Glen Hansard on "Sleepless Nights" and Cat Power on "Tonight You Belong To Me." The album's lead single, "Longing To Belong," a Vedder original, is available digitally.


Friday, August 26, 2011

Songs & Stories

Songs & Stories Review



Guy Clark has been writing songs for over four decades. This album captures his best songs and the stories behind them including new versions of classics like "The Cape," "Randall Knife," "LA Freeway," "The Coat," and "Stuff That Works." Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Foundation's Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004, Clark was honored with the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting in 2005.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

100 Singalong Songs for Kids

100 Singalong Songs for Kids Review



No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: CEDARMONT KIDS
Title: 100 SINGALONG SONGS FOR KIDS
Street Release Date: 04/17/2007
Domestic
Genre: CHILDREN'S


Monday, August 22, 2011

World Wide Rebel Songs

World Wide Rebel Songs Review



2011 solo album from the Rage Against The Machine guitarist. This self-produced effort is a change of pace from the usual acoustic offerings of past Nightwatchman albums, with the record featuring a full electric backing band called The Freedom Fighter Orchestra. In describing the record, Morello states, ''Troubled times call out for troubled songs. World Wide Rebel Songs is an album of rousing hopelessness and this time The Nightwatchman has brought along his electric guitar to tip the scales. I wanted to capture a vibe midway between Johnny Cash and Che Guevara, murder ballads and Molotov anthems.''


Sunday, August 21, 2011

Country Songs for Children

Country Songs for Children Review



Tom T. Hall writes songs for children, he says, because they have a lot of the same interests, including the quest for simplicity. "One day I just found that we got along great. They understood me," he says. And in this compilation of songs from the '70s and '80s, Hall demonstrates his knowledge of the magic between children and animals and the thrill of taking a trip with the imagination, especially to Hall's own Fox Hollow farm, where such characters as Sneaky Snake, Randy Raccoon, and Ole Lonesome George, the basset hound, await. With the storytelling skills he gleaned as a child in the hills of Kentucky, Hall makes many of his songs into fables. "The Song of the One Legged Chicken," for example, teaches a valuable lesson about disability and difference. While other songs bring soothing comfort or merely raise a smile ("A mink wears a mink coat the whole year round"), and still others encourage play-acting, they all become treasures by the record's end. Packaged with a sing-along booklet. --Alanna Nash


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun

Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun Review



Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun Feature

  • Disney? Are you kiddin? Need I say more!
  • Music celebration
  • 12 Joy and fun packed Songs in the program
It's easy to see why this is one of the bestselling sing-alongs from Disney: it plays like the ultimate family-vacation home movie. Instead of fleeting glimpses of your favorite characters on your home videos of Disneyland, this 27-minute episode showcases Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and their friends hanging out with kids inside the Magic Kingdom singing (well, their lips don't move) such popular songs as " Zip a Dee Do Dah," "It's a Small World," and "Step in Time" with the lyrics appearing on screen for youngsters. The one drawback is the video was shot in 1990, so none of the newer rides are shown, and worse yet, some older rides seen aren't around anymore ("Mom, why didn't we go on the submarine?"). Perhaps that isn't a drawback since, despite the age, and some truly unknown songs ("Making Memories"), the program continues to be popular. --Doug Thomas Sing, dance, and play along with your favorite Disney songs! It's fun and easy as you read the on-screen lyrics and join your favorite characters in their most memorable musical moments! Sing along to the happiest songs on earth at the happiest place on earth -- Disneyland! Your host, Mr. Owl, invites you to celebrate a musical day with all your favorite Disney friends. Join Mickey and Minnie for fun and thrills as they hustle and bustle behind the scenes at the park! Then get a front-row seat on some of the wildest rides, like Star Tours, Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn, with Chip 'n' Dale, Roger Rabbit, and a Magic Kingdom filled with sing-along adventures.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Sesame Street - Kids' Favorite Songs 2

Sesame Street - Kids' Favorite Songs 2 Review



Sesame Street - Kids' Favorite Songs 2 Feature

  • Join Elmo and his Sesame Street pals in the second volume of Kids' Favorite Songs, as Elmo travels up and down Sesame Street asking kids to sing their favorite songs! Snuffy, Baby Bear and Zoe help the kids sing and act out nursery rhymes, lullabies and just plain silly songs. Sing along and find out for yourself which song is Elmo's favorite! Also, features the brand new Sesame Street segment, He
Somewhere into the so-so "Itsy Bitsy Spider" segment, the sinking feeling that Kids' Favorite Songs 2 is strictly sequel material sets in. This is a march down Sesame Street on a slow day, when the loopy monster misunderstandings and goofball gags miss a rare beat or two. Still, making merry is what the Sesame crew does best, and they succeed here, if on a less brilliant level than we've come to expect. All the usual favorites, like "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Ants Go Marching," get the gang and their real-life kid friends grooving, and a running joke involving a renegade meatball keeps kids 18 months to 5 tuned in to the end. Elmo hosts. --Tammy La Gorce Movie DVD


Thursday, August 18, 2011

9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version

9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version Review



Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs. Featuring nine live concert performances not available anywhere else by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Von Bondies, Elbow, Primal Scream, The Dandy Warhols, Super Furry Animals, Franz Ferdinand and Michael Nyman.