20 music DVDs that deserve a spot in any music video collection

20 music DVDs that deserve a spot in any music video collection

By Ben Wener

Knight Ridder Newspapers

So you wanna start a rock 'n' roll video library. Well, there now are thousands of titles to get you going. In fact, it's quite likely that there are more music DVDs issued each year than there are new films released in theaters.

Consider this list of 20 discs, then, as an inexact guide. Some are of historical interest. Some plug gaps in chronology. Others are just great performances. All, however, provide a peer into pop that few real-life experiences can - and at a fraction of the cost of concert tickets.

1. "The Complete Monterey Pop" - The Criterion Collection's benchmark, comprised of three discs: D.A. Pennebaker's original film about the Summer of Love festival; another containing full sets from Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding; and a third with more than two hours of previously unseen performances - from the Who and Simon & Garfunkel, among many others.

2. "Woodstock" - Three days of peace and music and mud and rain and drugs and love, captured in sobering but also electrifying split-screen fashion by director Michael Wadleigh and his crew, including Martin Scorsese.

3. "A Hard Day's Night" - Richard Lester's trend-setting snapshot of Beatlemania, as innovative and delightful today as when it filled theaters with squealing girls.

4. "The History of Rock 'n' Roll" - Spans pre-'50s influences to yesterday. If you think you know it all, you'll still see something you probably hadn't before.

5. "Stop Making Sense" - Jonathan Demme expertly directed, but this enthralling 1984 document of Talking Heads at their theatrical peak is purely the brainchild of big-suit-donning David Byrne, whose paranoid persona undergoes a funky transformation - from uptight to all right.

6. "Led Zeppelin: DVD" - More than five hours worth, spanning from January '70 to their final gig in August '79. Turns your copy of "The Song Remains the Same" into a coaster.

7. "Gimme Shelter" - The Maysles Brothers' account of the bad (even fatal) trip that was the Stones and friends at Altamont, with a prelude from Madison Square Garden to remind how great Mick and Keith were at the time.

8. "The Clash: Westway to the World" - Indispensable two-hour profile of one of the best bands of all time, punk or otherwise.

9. "The Beatles Anthology" - The Fabs' official story. Should have been improved by including unedited footage, but at 10 hours, they're sticking to it.

10. "Elvis: The Great Performances" - A fitting overview of the King from his Sun sessions and his "Ed Sullivan" launch to his paunchier, Quaalude-and-banana-sandwich days.

11. "Classic Albums" - Pick at least five from this exceptional BBC series. "Dark Side of the Moon" and the Wailers' "Catch a Fire" are musts. Then select three more. I recommend "The Band," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Graceland." Or "Rumours."

12. "Don't Look Back" - D.A. Pennebaker's documentary about Bob Dylan on the cusp of something incredible while touring England solo in 1964; a year later he'd be back and garnering loathing for going electric.

13. "This Is Spinal Tap" - Of course. If you don't know why, you just haven't seen it yet.

14. "The Last Waltz" - Many critics from the generation before me considered Scorsese's stirring account of the Band's all-star '76 send-off a bloated end to the long-over '60s. I say it keeps the spirit of the Hall of Famers alive when nothing else does (radio rarely plays them), then adds Van, Joni, Muddy Waters, Clapton, Dylan, Neil and, uh, Neil.

15. "Tupac Resurrection" - Insightful, unflinchingly honest portrait of the gifted poet- rapper-actor that strains to sanctify him while admirably showing both his likable and dislikable side.

16. "The Kids Are Alright" - The film is a crucial chronicle of the band from British Invasion through "Tommy" and on up to the final performance before Keith Moon's death. Everything after that was some other Who.

17. "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues" - Invest the time, do your homework.

18. "Ken Burns' Jazz" - Invest the time, do your homework - and add "The Miles Davis Story" while you're at it.

19. "Honky Tonk Blues: The Hank Williams Story" - This study of one of country music's cornerstones is as good an entry point as any until a historic hootenanny comes along.

20. "Buena Vista Social Club" - Director Wim Wenders' look at a group of aging but still agile Cuban musicians who would go on to enjoy a much-deserved rediscovery.

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