The History of Rock 'n' Roll (1995) User Reviews

Yep. It's a Total "Lollapalooza"!

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 1 August 2020]

Even though this rock'n'roll documentary is now 25 years old (it was first aired back in 1995) - I, for one, think that it is still a worthwhile view.

Covering 40 years of rock music (1954-1994) from both Britain and America - This 10-part presentation offers the viewer a very well-rounded look at the music scene through dozens of stills, archival footage, and rock celebrity interviews.

With its wide focus of musical genres, such as soul, punk, disco, electronic, new wave, and heavy metal (to name but a few) - "The History Of Rock'n'Roll" is certain to hold the spectator's keen interest from start to finish.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock 'n' Roll!"

[classicsoncall · 10/10 · 25 September 2017]

Released as a television documentary in 1995, this is an intensive look into the beginnings of Rock 'n' Roll, with each of it's ten chapters focusing in on a particular aspect or era of the music industry. It begins roughly around the mid-Fifties, tracing the rise of musical icons like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley, then moves on in successive chapters up through the mid-Nineties with a look at spin off genres like punk, rap and hip-hop.

Having just completed individual reviews of each chapter, I won't get too long winded here. Suffice it to say that a veritable Who's-Who of musical talent is on hand to offer their own particular perspectives of the rock genre, with a number of celebrity performers appearing in multiple chapters. They include Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Tom Petty and Quincy Jones, who appear most often, while performers like Patti Smith, Country Joe McDonald and Neil Sedaka appear in segments that primarily apply to their own musical style. You also have appearances by promoters and record industry executives like Clive Davis, Sam Phillips and Jerry Leiber.

All in all it's a terrific assemblage of past and present musicians, with a mountain of archive material to enjoy and savor. It's also a wistful reminder that some of our favorite musicians have passed on, some quite recently like David Bowie and Gregg Allman. It would be great if there was a follow up to the series since it's already more than two decades gone by since this one originally aired. Though not as definitive as some rock 'n' roll fans might insist on, it's still a great introduction to the music of the Fifties through the mid-Nineties, with a lot of stops in between to form a springboard for more individual research of your own.

Waste of time and money

[benno-das · 1/10 · 5 February 2021]

A very badly produced documentary, if you can call this one. No attempt has been made to improve the quality of videos or even have a script to string history chronologically with a voice over. Several big artistes and events have been omitted (no archive, so let's pretend they never were part of R'nR history) Digital technology was available for the big studio which released this. But all it seems to have done was to have a video editor to intersperse archived 'live shows' with spliced interviews to make it look like a documentary. Who made Peter Townshend and Tom Petty an authority on everybody? It's a rip off from Warner Brothers. Clearly, nothing worthwhile has been spent in producing this. It is not worth watching, even if someone gifts it to you.