Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest with Judy Collins and Elizabeth Cotten

AT LAST A DVD WITH JUDY COLLINS IN 1965 !GOOD SOUND AND IMAGE. PETE SEEGER AND HIS HOSTS ARE SO NATURAL AND SYMPATHETIC !JUDY WAS BETWEEN HER N°4 & 5 ALBUM. GREAT SONGS OFTEN DUETTING WITH PETE. TWO STUNNIG SONGS : "RUSSIAN LOVE SONG" IN RUSSIAN WITH PETE AT THE BANJO (SOUNDS LIKE A BALALAÏKA) AND "BOB DYLAN'S DREAM" ONLY RECORDED LATELY ON "JUDY COLLINS SINGS DYLAN".AN INTERVIEW WITH A GUITAR MAKER INTERESTED IN CLASSICAL MUSIC (SEGOVIA) WITH "JEUX INTERDITS' THEME" S IS VERY CONVINCING.ROSA VALENTIN & RAFAEL MARTINEZ REMIND "RENAISSANCE VIHUELA MUSIC" IN SPAIN IN THE GOLDEN AGES (XVIth CENTURY) & SING SPANISH & CARRIBEAN FOLKSONGS. NOT FORGETTING THE MAN HIMSELF, PETE, WITH "GUANTANAMERA"...ELISABETH COTTON, LEFT HANDED, DID NOT INVERT THE CORDS, SO SHE CREATED "COTTEN PICKING" (instead of cotton pickin') : VERY INTERESTING BECAUSESHE USES A THUMB/INDEX TECHNIQUE WHICH LOOKS PARTLY LIKE RENAISSANCE LUTE FINGERING. HER SONG "FREIGHT TRAIN" IS WELL KNOWN, EVEN IN EUROPE.IN A SENTENCE : IMPROVISATION, FUNNY STORIES, MUSICAL JOURNEY, FOR LOVE'S SAKE !THANK YOU SO MUCH, PETE ! YOU HEARTILY DESERVE THE "GRAND PRIX DU DISQUE ACADEMIE CHARLES CROS" YOU WON WITH YOUR AMERICAN FAVORITE BALLADS AND HELPED SO MUCH TO MAKE "FOLK SONG REVIVAL" THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

It's wonderful to have these great old shows available on DVD! The video quality is surprisingly good. The shows themselves are priceless. Pete Seeger is one of the all time greats and while the format of the show is extremely simple (Pete and guests sitting at a table talking and playing music) it's beautiful in its simplicity, letting these talented and interesting musicians be the focus.

Like all of the Rainbow Quest series, the Judy Collins and Elizabeth Cotton episode shows Pete song sharing with his guests. The Judy Collins episode reminds me that the 60's folk musicians were very serious, but fun musicians.

The DVD got here and all I heard was a rattling inside the casing. The DVD was not properly attached to the case and got scratched from being in that state throughout being delivered (all of that while still being wrapped in the original plastic).Also the case does not close properly. I kept it anyway because the scratches are not severe enough to impact the stored data but expect more from amazon.com.

Saw this on Youtube and liked it so much I bought it. Elizabeth Cotton is amazing and you get Judy Collins to boot

Loved watching Pete Seeger and Judy Collins together. Very relaxing throwback in time. Simple setup very good. Arrived quickly in great condition.

I much enjoyed watching this old show with the younger folk singers.Judy Collins was just great,as is Pete Seeger and his guests.It's preserving of our history.

In a year that has featured various 90th birthday celebrations it is very appropriate to review some of the 1960's television work of Pete Seeger, one of the premier folk anthologists, singers, transmitters of the tradition and "keeper" of the folk flame. This DVD is a "must see" for anyone who is interested in the history of the folk revival of the 1960's, the earnest, folksy style of Pete Seeger or the work of folksinger Judy Collins, especially doing her renditions of a couple of early Bob Dylan songs (and how they were reworked by him from older traditional tunes) and her classic cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now".Also included on this DVD is the legendary Elizabeth Cotton, a musician that I have reviewed extensively elsewhere in this space, showing us her unusual guitar-picking style and regaling us with "Wilson's Rag" and her own classic, make that super-classic, folk song, Freight Train". Additionally, Pete, as an early exponent of what is now called "world music" brings in some lesser known Spanish guitarists and assists them in singing the well-known Spanish song written by the Cuban nationalist Jose Marti, "Guantanamera"This DVD contains some very interesting and, perhaps, rare television film footage from two of Pete Seeger shows, packaged in one DVD, entitled "Rainbow Quest". Each show is introduced (and ends, as well) by Pete singing his old classic "If I Had A Golden Threat" and then he proceeds to introduce, play guitar and banjo and sing along with the above-mentioned artists.One final note: This is a piece of folk history. Pete Seeger is a folk legend. However, the production values here are a bit primitive and low budget. Moreover, for all his stature as a leading member of the folk pantheon Pete was far from the ideal host. His halting speaking style and almost bashful manner did not draw his guests out. Let's just put it this way the production concept used then would embarrass a high school television production class today. But, Pete, thanks for the history lesson.

We have to be grateful to Pete Seeger for his showcasing of folk, blues and bluegrass artists of the sixties on what was, for then, a fairly groundbreaking tv programme featuring mainly American roots music. The fact that several of these programmes have survived to be released on DVD is priceless for fans of the musicians, most of whom are no longer with us.However, to describe the programme as informal is generous; by today's standards it is often shambolic.Unfortunately ol' Pete seems to think he is on a mission to educate his audience about the music, and his presentation can come across as a mixture of 'boy scout' enthusiasm and condescension.His standard 'Had I A Golden Thread' which opens and closes many of the shows is just the start of valuable air time often wasted. On the Judy Collins programme Pete recounts a few tales in between bursts of banjo picking. They are meant to be wryly amusing and examples of homespun 'wisdom', but they are frankly embarrassing. That's ten minutes gone, in which Judy Collins or himself could have sung a couple of folk ballads. Because after all Pete was admittedly a very proficient guitarist, banjo player and vocalist himself.Another ten minutes in the same programme are wasted on a feature showing photos of a Mexican guitar maker in his workshop, whilst an audio tape plays of an interview, with a translator talking over the interviewee. At a couple of points, Pete is talking in the studio over the translator, who is talking over the Spanish speaking guitar-maker. And the feature itself isn't even very enlightening. Very amateurish TV!Add to that Pete's annoying habit of spoken asides in songs; he feels compelled to inform us in The Deserter that the punishment of '303' handed down refers to lashes, and that Wolfe refers to 'the famous General Wolfe', with the result that you are sometimes left gritting your teeth and inwardly screaming ' Just sing the songs for heaven's sake!' Explainations can come before or after the song - not in mid performance.On the Judy Collins show of about an hour, the result is about 25 minutes max of worthwhile music. The fact that Judy consequently does a truncated version of 'Bob Dylan's Dream' which she is capable of performing wonderfully, is especially galling. There are nuggets including 'Daddy You Been On My Mind', 'Go Down You Murderer', a Russian Love Song and duets 'Wild Mountain Thyme' and 'Turn, Turn, Turn'. But so much more could have been left for posterity.On other programmes in the series Pete has another annoying habit of trying to host a broadcast 'singalong' with his tv audience and musical guests, where he speaks the lyrics before singing them.It's all very frustrating as the presenter obviously has a genuine enthusiastic interest in American and European folk traditions including the several blues musicians he featured. I suppose we just have to be grateful for the fantastic surviving musical nuggets contained in these programmes from the likes of John Hurt, Rev Gary Davis, The Stanley Bros, and Doc Watson.The other programme on this particular DVD is less frustrating as Pete gives the Peurto Rican couple Rosa and Rafael their head to sing lovely vocal harmonies in Spanish. And the self-effacing Elizabeth Cotten plays a couple of laid-back blues instrumentals before duetting with Pete on a guitar-rag, and the blues song 'Freight Train' set to a standard tune.Despite the various annoyances (hence only 4 stars) this DVD is worth purchasing for the mostly 5 star music.If bluegrass is your thing I can recommend the Stanley Bros & Doc Watson DVD in this Rainbow Quest series. And some of the best blues performances from RQ feature on Stefan Grossman's Vestapol DVD ' Legends of Country Blues Guitar Volume 1'. This latter is an absolute treasure for fans of early blues music.

Pete Seeger hosts this clunky but quaint show...he's not a natural on TV and seems uncomfortable .Judy Collins is quite superb ,at ease with her lovely looks and beautiful voice

I bought this for my dad who is a huge fan of Judy Collins, It was lovely to see Judy Collins in the early years. Her voice was so haunting. Even the quality of the DVD was good. My dad was really impressed with the DVD.

Amazing CD. Real blast from thepast.