Janis Joplin and Gloria Swanson? Stevie Wonder and Elsa Lanchester? Sly Stone and Debbie Reynolds?
What might sound like fodder for a "Saturday Night Live" skit about improbable celebrity encounters is, in fact, history.
All those meeting happened on national TV in the late 1960s and early '70s. They’re part of "The Dick Cavett Show – Rock Icons," a three-DVD box set being released Tuesday (yesterday) and including more performances and interviews from Cavett's ABC late-night talk show. Among the artists: the Rolling Stones, Bowie, Paul Simon. George Harrison and Joni Mitchell, some at their artistic peaks, others still approaching theirs. It's the first time most of these appearances have appeared in any video format.
The new DVD set captures many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members at key moments in time, Mitchell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and the Jefferson Airplane appeared in 1969 the day after Woodstock. Harrison, Ravi Shankar and Gary Wright showed up in 1971 shortly after the Concert for Bangla Desh. Stevie Wonder was just 20 and on the verge of establishing himself as one of the great pop artists of the 1970s when he visited.
Today’s pop-music fans may have a hard time believing there was a time when a late-night talk-show appearance for a musician meant more than three minutes at the end of the show. Joplin, for instance, appeared five times in 1970.
"I almost began to think of her as a regular on the show." Cavett, 68, said…
--Randy Lewis @ LATimes.com
― BeeOK (boo radley), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 06:55 (twenty years ago)
I'm getting it. Mostly because my parents are in the post-woodstock episode. The camera focuses on them for much of the last song(s) by the jefferson airplane as they were pretty much the only people who got up and danced. It's the only documented footage of my father playing air-tamborine so I have to shell out for it. I've had a video copy for some time but it will be nice to a better quality copy (that's easier to watch in slow-motion). The interviews are pretty precious though, especially with a very stoned Grace Slick.
― ianinportland (ianinportland), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)
Heh, I just remember the easy ability to parody Dick Cavett more than anything else from my feckless youth. That said, every generation has its Charlie Rose, I guess.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)
He was Friend of Groucho, if you get my meaning.
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)
I'd buy it for the SATFS performance alone. (if it's indeed the one I'm thinking of)
― Will(iam), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)
this sounds rad! i can't afford dvd box sets but this is yet another excuse to resubscribe to netflix.
― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)
I mainly remember his PBS show of the mid-late '70s. He's often a pretentious twit and name-dropper -- Rick Moranis nailed this on SCTV -- but asked better questions than anyone on a late-night show today.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)
Was able to download a while back a Cavett interview with Jagger backstage at MSG circa '72(?). I guess the interview is on this new DVD.
The Jagger interview is great stuff in that the whole segment is somewhat spontaneous; Cavett hanging around waiting for Jagger backstage while roadies/etc. swarm around before the start of the show. When Jagger does show up, he couldn't be sweeter -- clear eyed and all smiles, the nicest interviewee a person could hope for. And Cavett goes with the vibe, and the two get along swimmingly. It's a far cry (and now faraway in time) to the seemingly pre-scripted cynical/product-shucking rockstar interviews of today. If the other segments on the DVD are like that, it's worth checking out.
― Drew Olewnick (drewo), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)
i've seen that interview too.
i like this exchange between cavett and david bowie:
Bowie: I'm a person of diverse interests, but not really very academic. I glit from one thing to another, a lot.
Cavett: Glit?
Bowie: It's like flit, but it's the Seventies version.
― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)
thanks. i knew this thread was around here somewhere...
― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)
Sorry - should have known someone would beat me to this. Mods - feel free to lock my other thread.
― darin (darin), Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)