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Dick Cavett, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, George Harrison, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, The Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Gloria Swanson, Debbie Reynolds, Raquel Welch, Fred Foy

During the 70’s there was one TV show host (outside of Mike Douglas) that could attract the best talent in rock music—Dick Cavett. These shows provide episodes involving important rock stars and cover the years 1969 through 1975. Cavett was a witty, intelligent host who asked interesting questions that actually challenged the figures he was interviewing . Cavett’s interview with Paul Simon is interesting as Simon demonstrates the writing of “Still Crazy After All These Years” and provides variations on the way the song was written as an example of the different directions the song coud have taken. Cavett does manage to involve a fidgety David Bowie more often than not and does a great job with Harrison, Mitchell and others in this set. Bowie was clearly nervous during the interview and cagily managed to avoid a lot of Cavett’s questions. Janis Joplin appears as does George Harrison, The Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills and Nash. My favorite bit involves Sly Stone who is clearly stoned out of his mind. You may want to fast forward through some of the other interviews on the show. ---

The video looks decent considering the age of the shows and the fact that it was recorded on videotape. Colors tend to be a bit muted and appear smeared which is not a surprise as that occurs with older videotape shows. The mono soundtrack sounds surprisingly crisp and clear if a bit tinny for most of the episodes with occasional problems with distortion. ---

Cavett provides an introduction to the disc and there’s a good interview with Cavett where he discusses how Gloria Swanson ended up on the show (it began as a joke) and some of the stranger guests he’s had. It’s a pity that the Stones footage was offered in a butchered version (blame Mick Jagger for that) other than that the shows themselves are what matter here. Cavett’s interview with Jagger and those at the concert is intercut with footage discussing the material with Bob Weide. ***

Although this isn’t an extra per se, the musical performances can accessed directly without watching the episodes. That might spare you having to sit through Debbie Reynolds or Gloria Swanson if you’re not a fan of either one of these individuals. It also cheats you out of a chance to hear Joplin, Bowie, Harrison and others being interviewed. Some of the interviews are truly hilarious while others are quite interesting and thoughtful.

Cavett had some of the best and biggest musical performers on his show so for fans of rock music. Some great performances here it’s a pity that Mick Jagger wouldn’t allow the Stones footage to be shown complete and intact. I’m a bit at a loss as to why as this stuff has been bootlegged for years. It would be nice to finally have decent video and audio versions available. Mick, you need to get over yourself bud! We do get 2 minutes each of “Street Fighting Man” and “Brown Sugar” (a limitation that Jagger insisted on) and also Cavett’s interview with Jagger. This set will be followed by another which focuses on Cavett’s shows with John Lennon and Yoko Ono set for release in November.