Question about new "Live At Fillmore East" DVD

[jimisite]

I saw this at my local record store as the new "Deluxe Edition" and was wondering if anyone's purchased it and if so, what's different? I already own it and really don't want to buy it again. The label mentioned something about 5.1 surround sound...

[J.Lucas]

I saw this at my local record store as the new "Deluxe Edition" and was wondering if anyone's purchased it and if so, what's different? I already own it and really don't want to buy it again. The label mentioned something about 5.1 surround sound...

Yeah....these Legacy releases are getting confusing to me.....I have the MCA DVD also...but the NEW release has the Eddie Kramer mix on it....however a guy at amazon swears the new audio is worth the upgrade....even if you don't have a 5.1 system(I don't) http://www.amazon.com/Jimi-Hendrix-Band-Gypsys-Live-Fillmore/dp/B004NCOQVA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1316671491&sr=8-3 ...no new film footage or anything else added....audio upgrade ONLY...I'll probably grab one...just having the B/W footage of Jimi doing 'Machine Gun' was worth the price of it in the 1st place for me...now with new audio...yeah...I'll probably get one...lol Personally I don't think these new Legacy releases are selling to well(I mean the DVD, s)...maybe people are finally getting wise to the 'shit...I just paid $$$ for the same the CD I have'...just to get a 7mt video clip of Eddie Kramer in the "Deluxe Edition'....Isle of Wight DVD has an upgrade in the 'Second Look' feature also...some more video...and more than 3 times cheaper than the older version....however I found the D/L of that. My problem now is what the heck is the Legacy Woodstock one about....seems many descriptions are using the older version or there is no difference...some say 'pic in pic' feature showing the 'Second Look' B/W footage at the same time as an option..other descriptions say new edited footage put in....so I don't yet...I have to admit.....I really hate the Blu-Ray DVDs of Woodstock....heck they hack off the top and bottom of the screen to try an create the illusion that it was filmed in widescreen.....to make people thinking they are getting more when picture when it's actually less....man..look what they did in the WCSB DVD(and TV version)...we finally see some new Berkeley 'Voodoo Child' and 'Hear My Train Comin'...and then they hack off parts of Jimi's head and guitar....to make it look pretty for the widescreen....geeez They keep editing and hacking off this and that and Jimi Hendrix may just be a fading memory by the next generation of fans(the ones that will most likel see the "Albert Hall' DVD..... Sorry to ramble..if you are anyone has the Legacy Woodstock 2010 DVD could you post your review

thank you
J.L.

[copen]

i'm going to have this soon. i think (hope) that the simple answer is that the old bog dvd uses the audio from the film cameras.
the new bog dvd uses the audio from the audio recording that kramer made for the bog lp.
i'd like to know more about the new woodstock dvd reissue. if it does have alternate camera angles in the bonus features.

[Voodoo Kush]

Remember the old 1999 release where the sound wasn't all that great? The 2011 audio soundtrack features a brand new stereo and 5.1 stereo surround mix by none other than Eddie Kramer (whoopie!. There's nothing extra about it as far as footage goes though.

[DevilsAvocado]

Remember the old 1999 release where the sound wasn't all that great? The 2011 audio soundtrack features a brand new stereo and 5.1 stereo surround mix by none other than Eddie Kramer (whoopie!. There's nothing extra about it as far as footage goes though.

Always wondered why they didnt do that in the first place.... I was really bummed about the sound back then. Of course, being able to watch THAT version of MACHINE GUN outweighed the negatives. Don't know if i'll be getting this new one... To tell you the truth, i don't think the show is that great, taken as a whole, and the documentary is largely annoying. Frankie Crocker obviously knew zero about the Band Of Gypsys, and the Allen twins apparently practically invented the BOG idea, and sold it to Jimi.... The only one who comes across as being somewhat humble is Billy, and the only amusing bit is Mitch's evaluation of Buddy's drumming style! Don't need that in 5.1. I only have 2 ears...

[carlygtr56]

The new mix taken off the BOG Master reels is worth the $10, IMO What ticks me off is why not do the same to the color BOG footage?

[J.Lucas]

The new mix taken off the BOG Master reels is worth the $10, IMO What ticks me off is why not do the same to the color BOG footage?

Yeah....'specially when the cover states 'all existing color and b/w footage'
J.L.

[LE-20]

It's easy..The sound synched with the B&W footage is the best sound ever released of any BOG concert... If you don't get it you are really missing out.

[jeffhmason]

Personally I appreciate the little upgrades to the BOG and IOW discs, however I can't justify re-purchasing until they come out on Blu Ray. I just won't buy these on DVD again, period.

[stplsd]

Major drawback, the sound is reversed, guitar on the right! means you have to swap your speakers around to get a sound that relates to the film, which is a pain in the f'in arse, ffcks sake, you've had over forty years, and two releases, get it right EH!

[copen]

mine has guitar on the left.

now that kramer has put soundboard audio onto this film, we have the following new soundboard tunes:
foxy lady, earth blues.

upgraded soundboard:
them changes

[stplsd]

mine has guitar on the left.

What is their stupid game of cutting out audio and sticking up a stupid notice saying this part wasn't filmed, they could write that on the box! Arrogant, no imagination, air-heads!

[zombywoof57]

Always wondered why they didnt do that in the first place.... I was really bummed about the sound back then. Of course, being able to watch THAT version of MACHINE GUN outweighed the negatives. Don't know if i'll be getting this new one... To tell you the truth, i don't think the show is that great, taken as a whole, and the documentary is largely annoying. Frankie Crocker obviously knew zero about the Band Of Gypsys, and the Allen twins apparently practically invented the BOG idea, and sold it to Jimi.... The only one who comes across as being somewhat humble is Billy, and the only amusing bit is Mitch's evaluation of Buddy's drumming style! Don't need that in 5.1. I only have 2 ears...

so they can sell it again and again and yet again, just i aint buying it

[zombywoof57]

after all the editing is there ANY guitar"LEFT"?

[bolexje]

So I have done an extensive run of the two existing "Live at Fillmore East" DVD's, and compared them with my own transfer of the BOG material ( which is available here on CTT in the video-torrents ).

First of all the good news :

1. it looks like Experience Hendrix did a completely new transfer of the reel-to-reel video tapes of Jan Blom and Vasulka. The strange digital effects where the picture would suddenly go up and down on the old transfer are gone, and there are less drop-outs ( could be digitally enhanced )

2. Secondly they made a completely new edit of the two camera's, which is not any more exciting as their original edit but at least it's 'different' ( cutting from floor camera to balcony camera happens at different moments then the first DVD, therefore different material can be seen ) .

3. They made the total tape more 'complete'. They added the full introduction in the beginning, so now all members of BOG are introduced.

4. They added two soundtracks of really good quality, the new Eddie Kramer mixes. A stereo PCM mix, which sounds very dry and direct, plus a dolby 5.1 mix with much more reverb and hall effect.

I know, this sounds all good, and for me it was worth it to buy this new BOG DVD, but here are the bad points:

1. The reel-to-reel tapes have severely deteriorated. The new transfer looks like it is really loosing detail in the light and dark area's, and any sharpness that was ( already minimally ) present in the original , seems to be gone now. For instance, on the intro of Machine Gun you can barely see Jimi's hand move as he strums the opening notes. This is something which we cannot blame anybody for. I have recently had a specialist transfer some other reel-to-reel tapes ( non-hendrix ), and he showed me how these tapes are really falling apart after a while. They are not nearly as stable as sound-tapes.

2. They did not do a good transfer. Where the old transfer on the original DVD was rather blackish, therefore losing all details in the dark, in this new transfer they have cranked up the whites, and we see even less. To me it is almost unwatchable.

3. They did not add an 'angle' choice, as they did on the Isle of Wight DVD, where you can choose between the angles. Frankly, I don't care about that too much, because it looks pretty bad already.

Now I also checked the quality against my own material, that I had on a time-coded VHS, and that I have 'liberated' here on CTT. To my eyes that is still the best looking quality transfer available. It has details in the dark, and still some sharpness in the grey and white area's. My guess is that when that transfer was made, back in 1989, the reel-to-reel tapes were in better condition, plus that transfer was done in PAL, as opposed to the later NTSC transfers by Experience Hendrix. The Timecode is still annoying to me, but as I have not been able to track down the original Betacamtape of the 1989 transfer ( which will probably look better then anything we have now ), this is what we have to do with.

The new sound on the DVD really is very interesting, and it is unfortunate that we have to listen to that now with the inferior image-quality.
I would love it if somebody would be able to add that sound to my original torrent of the BOG tapes, and reseed that, as I feel that is the only way to get it right.

http://www.crosstowntorrents.org/sho...-balcony-video

http://www.crosstowntorrents.org/sho...OG-FLOOR-video

So there you have it.

[Sharpstat]

IIRC, It was originally recorded on 3/4" tape? Too bad they have messed with black levels to get a different "look".I still wish they would release ALL of the Jimi videos in the Blu Ray format! Thanks for the review.

[bolexje]

I will add one thing to my comparison of the three different Fillmore sources:

Most importantly : There is another DVD for sale now ( has been for sale for ages) , the two-disc special of " A Film About Jimi Hendrix" ( the old 70's documentary ), which on the bonus disc has an integral 'Machine Gun' track from the old B&W tape, in better quality then the two actual Band of Gypsys DVD's . And this one also has the perfect soundtrack , as they have added the old Machine Gun mix from the original record/cd.

For a good comparison I have made screenshots of all four machine gun / BOG versions, being:

The old BOG DVD

Attachment 9336

the new BOG DVD

Attachment 9335

A Film about Jimi Hendrix

Attachment 9333

The TimeCode VHS, that is torrented here on CTT


Attachment 9334

click on the pictures , to get the pictures in full quality, so you can see the difference.

[J.Lucas]

I will add one thing to my comparison of the three different Fillmore sources:

Most importantly : There is another DVD for sale now ( has been for sale for ages) , the two-disc special of " A Film About Jimi Hendrix" ( the old 70's documentary ), which on the bonus disc has an integral 'Machine Gun' track from the old B&W tape, in better quality then the two actual Band of Gypsys DVD's . And this one also has the perfect soundtrack , as they have added the old Machine Gun mix from the original record/cd.

Wow...looks like they did the 'crop-job' on the image as well in the 'new' BOG dvd.....
Thank you for the heads up about the 'A Film about Jimi Hendrix' DVD set.....man...I was hanging on to my old VHS just because it was the full screen image....our US version(2005) has the image 'zoomed-in' and cropped....I see the UK(2006) version is a 2 DVD set... not only has it in full screen and wide screen but has the UK only 'machine gun' BOG special feature...we didn't get that here...
I did find the full screen from DVD1(can actually see Jimi working his pedals,etc in the Woodstock footage)...but have not seen DVD2 as of yet....is the BOG machine gun the full video of that song or just the clip they show in the original movie?
Does the menu from disc 1 look like this?
Attachment 9356

Attachment 9354

Attachment 9355

Always loved the scene where he steps on the wah, then fuzz then back to the wah...to do the 'falling bomb' effect..I missed it in the 2005 version..
BTW...the scene in not in either ' Woodstock Definitive Version' nor the 'Live at Woodstock' DVDs..it's unique to the 'Film about Jimi Hendrix'.

[yelapavision]

The USA version of Deluxe Woodstock is cropped, and the English is not? Well, that's some good info, thank you for that.

[yelapavision]

also thanks very much for the detailed comparisons of the Band Of Gypsys videotapes.