The History of Rock 'n' Roll (TV Mini Series) The Sounds of Soul (1995) User Reviews

Dylan Shocks The Folkies While Jimi & Pete Smash Guitars

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 15 March 2009]

Half of this hour-long episode is a tribute to poet-singer Bob Dylan and the other half is the continuation of the history of rock 'n roll, as the DVD title suggests.

To this day, I still think Dylan is one of the worst singers I've ever heard but there is no denying his songwriting and his influence on music which is why, obviously, he got so much air time on this series. So far, nobody has gotten that much publicity on this Time-Life series, even Elvis or The Beatles, which doesn't make sense. Whatever, Dylan wrote a lot of great songs and is spoken of in God-like terms by other musicians interviewed here.

Since Dylan started out as a folk singer, that genre gets a segment here on this fifth episode. Since it's not rock 'n roll and, it's admitted here by someone that "folkies" hated rock music, then why is it included in this series? My guess is that folk music was so "socially aware," so Left Wing, the editors here just had to give it huge notice and praise.

We listen to some songs and hear comments by "bohemians from coffee houses" who hit it big in the '60s such as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie and Peter, Paul and Mary.

The 1965 Newport Folk Festival, however, changed things bigtime, as we see. Dylan shocked people with electric material, literally, which is why this episode is called "plugged in." Give Dylan credit; he had guts. He teed off all the "folkies." Where was his "integrity?" they asked. Gee, what elitist snobs. Where is their tolerance? Good for Bob.

The second half of this hour-long show features, among others, Roger McGuinn and The Byrds, John and Michelle Phillips and The Mamas and the Papas; Brian Wilson did not want to tour with the famous Beach Boys, wanted to make better music - "Pet Sounds" spiritual and sophisticated - and that was big breakthrough "Underground radio" begins and the first big star was Jimi Hendrix, who went to England, blew the other musicians' minds, and came back to do the same here in the States. He is now of legendary status. What a shame he died early.

Later, we hear from Pete Townsend, Peter No one ("Herman's Hermits"), Eric Clapton and a few others as rock goes electric in a big-way and blues is introduced to white kids.

The Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 is the first time Hendrix and others played for American audience. "That concert was the real ground-breaker for rock 'n roll," remarks Al Kooper.

Hendrix and The Who exhibited, as we see, a new theater, smashing up their guitars after their sets. The Who demolished about everything The rock 'n roll scene was really heating up!

Episode 5: Plugging In

[ebiros2 · 7/10 · 24 October 2005]

While Beatles were changing the music scene, in America, Bob Dylan was also transforming the way music was used as means of communication. His lyrics instantly hit a chord with many folk musicians and his songs and style of writing became universally well known in relatively short time. Bob Dylan had as much influence in music as the Beatles did during the '60s when war in Vietnam was raging. In the meetings of these two forces, The Beatles started to experiment more with lyrics, and Dylan started to experiment more with music which resulted in Dylan going electric at the 1965 New Port Folk Festival.

This episode is sort of broken up into two segments: First about Bob Dylan and how his music influenced the rock scene, and other folk artists like Richie Havens, Peter Paul and Mary, and Joan Baez also contributed towards the anti war movement towards Vietnam.

The second segment is about how the music scene moved from New York's Greenwitch Village, to Los Angeles, and how Montrey Pop Festival in '67 introduced the new wave of British (?) groups such as Jimi Hendrix Experience, The WHO, and less well known American talents such as Otis Redding to the crowd. It was also the first time San Francisco bands like the Jefferson Airplane played before an international audience.

"Soul music is, I think, almost a state of mind." - Daryl Hall

[classicsoncall · 10/10 · 21 September 2017]

There seems to be a disconnect in this episode's numbering in the lineup for 'The History of Rock 'n' Roll' series as I write this. I see other reviewers commenting on the 'Plugging In' chapter, even though the title of this one is 'The Sounds of Soul'. I've submitted a correction to the IMDb staff, so we'll see how that works out. In the meantime, I'll offer my comments on 'The Sounds of Soul'.

The emphasis here is primarily on the Motown sound that developed in the early Sixties, emanating from Detroit, and comprising a distinct genre of sound highlighted by a significant merging of gospel with rhythm and blues. An early practitioner was James Brown, characterized as the epitome of funk when it came to his own distinctive sound and the theatrics that he brought to his performances. Besides clips of Brown, other featured performers include Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.

Vocalist Ruth Brown appears on camera to describe the four venues all successful soul groups and singers needed to play in order to be considered as having 'made it'. They included the Regal Theater in Chicago, The Howard in Washington, The Uptown in Philadelphia, and of course, New York City's Apollo Theater. Collectively, she described them as the 'Litchman Chain', though her explanation of that detail isn't mentioned. A quick search on that name indicates that the term was more generally applied to musical venues, primarily in the South, where it was acceptable for African-Americans to perform during the era of racial segregation. The name derives from the soul food 'chitterlings'.

The home base of Motown was Detroit, Michigan, and more explicitly, Hitsville, USA, the location of Motown Records formed by Berry Gordy. Smokey Robinson provides detail on how Gordy took his venue national at a time when he recorded various groups, but none of them got paid. Gordy took his advice and the rest of course is history, with premier groups of the era finding success, like The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Gladys Knight and The Jackson Five. Under Gordy, these groups were trained to be so good that they inspired each other to produce more and better music, a strategy that worked immensely.

The latter part of this segment ties in the rise of the Soul Sound with the burgeoning Civil Rights movement in this country, with commentary on how the two influenced each other. Contributors to this episode included Smokey Robinson, Daryl Hall, Jerry Butler, Gladys Knight and Gerald Levert of The O'Jays, along with the commentary by series narrator Gary Busey.

the sixties come alive with number five

[postmanwhoalwaysringstwice · 10/10 · 16 April 2007]

"Plugging in", the fifth episode of the ten episode series of documentaries, "The History of Rock & Roll", opens with the highly lauded and respected singer-songwriter from Minnesota Bob Dylan as he shocks the folk world with amps in 1965. The series is in full swing by the fifth hour as it examines the give and take musically and lyrically between the politically aware, musically daring of a Dylan and the socially under-motivated predictable music of popsters in the vein of the Beatles. The social change and overall upheaval that America burgeons on in the mid 60's is examined here in a strong and meaningful way.