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The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 6 (TV) More at IMDbPro »

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

Rock's Wild, Crazy & Most Memorable Period

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from United States
15 marzec 2009

Fortunately, I don't think most of the rock stars of this psychedelic era (or the present) had that snobbish attitude we hear in the opening minutes of this great episode.

I'm referring to Bono's elitist opening lines: "I think that was the difference with the '60s is that people didn't care to explain themselves," says Bono. "If people didn't get it by then, they weren't invited." As one who went through this "hippie era," this Episode Six sure brings back memories. This was a time like no other time in history. And nowhere, as it is pointed out in this episode, was it more demonstrated than in San Francisco (with London a solid second). San Francisco has maintained its Far Left attitude, too, to this day.

Paul Kantner of The Jefferson Airplane sums up a lot of the atmosphere and culture of the times here, with some interesting observations. He got the most air time among the interviewees, so the producers of this series apparently felt he had the best things to say about his era.

Everyone interviewed here was "anti-establishment." When seen interviewed in the late '60s, they were all actively promoting the use of drugs. "The more people who turn on, the better," says the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh. He's almost straight-looking compared to "Wavy Gravy," one of the Merry Pranksters, who was still around for the later interviews for this Time-Life series. He still looks nuts. (Read Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" to find out who the Pranksters were.)

Sadly, a number of these rock stars overdid the drugs and died. The losers were us, the rock fans. Imagine what unique sounds Jim Hendrix could have given us the last 35 years? In fact, this topic is discussed in the last five minutes of this show. David Crosby admits the messages of the '60s - although a lot of them good - did go wrong regarding drugs. All of them - and us - miss the music talents of people like Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon and others who all overdosed and paid the ultimate price. Jerry Garcia has a number of interviews here, and he's always interesting, too. His guitar sound also is very much missed.

The way people looked and dressed was a shock back then, and still looks a bit outrageous, when you see them as shown here on this DVD. It was a chaotic period, as Kantner notes, but it sure produced some great rock 'n roll music and an extremely colorful era.

I thought I knew most of what went on with all the festivals, beginning with Woodstock,of course, but I admit I did not know of all the hostility at the huge Isle Of Wight concert. That was pretty shocking. Fans booed, hissed, ranted, raved and were mad protesting that the performers, promoters and such were "capitalist pigs" for charging money for the concert. Apparently the mindset among this new culture was that everything was free - free love, free drugs, free concerts, etc. It was odd to see a tearful Joni Mitchell and a few others on stage trying to deal with the hostile crowds.

Overall, it was fascinating to see a lot of these rock icons of the '60s and early '70s reflecting about the era now in these 1994 interviews. What I hated to see was that every one of these singers had a cigarette in his or her hands.

Warning to those people wanting to show their kids this episode: there is quite a bit of nudity and Peter Townsend of the Who gives us a lot of f-bombs.

Snippets of the following songs and performers were seen on this disc: "Somebody to Love" by The Jefferson Airplane; "Tell Mama" by Janis Joplin; "China Cat Sunflowers" by The Grateful Dead; "Foxy Lady" - Jimi Hendrix; "When the Music's Over" - the Doors; "Up on Cripple Creek" - The Band; "Street Fighting Man" -Rolling Stones; "I Feel Free" - Cream; "Baba O'Riley" - The Who.

From the famous Woodstock concert, we see footage of "Handsome Johnny" by Richie Havens; "Fixin' to Die Rag" by Country Joe and the Fish; "Soul Sacrifice" - Santana and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - Crosby, Stills & Nash; "Down By the River" - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; "Big Yellow Taxi" - Joni Mitchell; "Voodoo Chile" - Jimi Hendrix and "Touch of Grey" - The Grateful Dead.

Overall, this is a very intense part of this 10-disc series and probably the most entertaining of the lot.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Episode 6: My Generation

Author: ebiros2 from United States
24 pa¼dziernik 2005

After the Beatles and Bob Dylan catapulted rock music into mainstream, second wave of British invasion arrives. Music of the late '60s is represented in this episode. Cream, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Rolling Stones touring America this episode is an all star cast which reads like who's who of rock n roll. American rock scene is healthy too with Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Crosby Stills & Nash, Richie Havens etc.

This all cumulates into the Woodstock generation. Late '60s is probably the most pop time our culture have ever seen and they were the movers and shakers of this period not just in music but in American history.

A must see chapter in history of rock n roll.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

The Best Chapter in the Series

Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California
19 luty 2004

Even though this was part of a mini-series, this chapter stands out on its own due to the fact that it covers the decade when rock and roll grew up and became recognized as an art form. You pretty much look at how the Beatles and Bob Dylan pretty much changed rock and forced other artists to write songs with more of a depth than they had been previously. However, the only negative criticism I have is that even though they cover Woodstock, there is no mention of Altamont, the event that pretty much ended that decade. Instead they end it with Joni Mitchell's recollections of the 1970 Isle of Wight festival which pretty much was the British version of Altamont. All in all it still is a great documentary.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

the high point

Author: postmanwhoalwaysringstwice from usa
16 kwiecieñ 2007

The ten episode series of documentaries, "The History of Rock & Roll" strolls through pot smoke and past flower children into arguably the most significant period in rock music with the sixth chapter: "My Generation". As the cultural turmoil that began to brew several years earlier hit a full boil as civil rights, women's rights, Vietnam, and youth activism collided with socially conscious, drug-addled artists at their creative peeks. This is the time of Sgt. Pepper, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Woodstock, Monterey, and any number of other buzzwords for when music was more important, prolific, and otherwise at an all-time high. This installment shows what can now be seen as dashed hopes of a culture wanting more that to this day seems unattainable, and that alone makes this the most affecting episode in the series.

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