Product Description

Long before Kenny Rogers achieved pop and country superstardom, he was a member of the late-'60s pop group The First Edition, which had five Top 40 hits, including "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" and "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." This success led to the airing of a November 1970 television special, Rollin' On The River, which starred the band. The response was so overwhelming that CBS turned it into a weekly music/variety show.

From 1971 to 1973, Rollin' (as the show was renamed) was a showcase for the hottest musical talent of the time. The best performances from the show are collected for the first time on this disc. Hosted by drummer Mickey Jones (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition), this DVD is a loving tribute to a time when popular music had the ability to cross genres and touch us all. These 14 beautifully restored selections from the Rollin' archives still cast a powerful spell.

Program Listing
1. Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
2. Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim
3. Jim Croce - Operator
4. Bill Withers - Lean On Me
5. Al Green - Let's Stay Together
6. Al Green - You Ought To Be With Me
7. B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone
8. Ike and Tina Turner - Proud Mary
9. Ike and Tina Turner - Get Back
10. Billy Preston - Outa-Space
11. Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
12. The Raiders - Indian Reservation
13. Grass Roots - Two Divided By Love
14. Malo - Suavecito

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32782 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Compilation, DVD-Video, Enhanced, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Customer Reviews

Oh so cool
It was great all of the songs are good, we watch the dvd almost every weekend with our friends and family. I bought one for my brother for christmas.

A Nice Collection of Classic Performances
As it says on the cover, the selections are from the "Rollin' On The River" TV series, and while the selections are good, I disagree with the statement on the back cover that they are beautifully restored. I think it has the same sound and video quality of the TV show and needs more restoration.

Remember??
This is truly one of the best-value music DVDs available to 70s buffs. Not only is the footage a flashback, needless to say, the history narrations at the end of each song have an almost 70s classroom filmstrip feel to them, with the female narrator asking "remember?" at the end of each entry. You almost expect to hear the beep sound for the next slide! I actually really appreciate that the makers of this DVD played it completely straight with such touches, and resisted the urge to go campy. While the clothes of the era, for one, are now certainly considered campy in themselves, the DVD is more interested in putting us in the time frame which such fads existed. I find that approach not only refreshing, but also beneficial to the overall nostalgia we want out of these things.

In terms of the performances, there are some great ones here. Jim Croce and the Grass Roots are standouts. I was a little disappointed that Ike & Tina Turner, although a visually stunning performance, do a shortened version of "Proud Mary," as opposed to their "Nice & Easy/Rough & Hard" version. Al Green sounds amazing, but is singing to a music track and not a live band. He sounds so good, however, it really doesn't matter. Mark Lindsay & the Raiders appear to be lip-synching "Indian Reservation." I believe their performance is the only one done this way. Again, this is admissable considering the pop status of the song (we're not expecting a improv jam out of this tune are we?). On the other hand, Malo's "Suavecito" delivers more than I thought it would. The whole shebang is worth the price if just to see Kenny Rogers & the First Edition's matching blue & white leisure suits! Their "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a mellow masterpiece.

Something I certainly miss from this era is the diversity of the pop music of the time. Southern-fried First Edition clearly has a love for R&B, soul, country & rock, and seem thrilled to have brought it together on a tv show.