Bandstand Live In Australia: Peter, Paul & Mary Live At Sydney Stadium 1967 + Herman's Hermits 1969/The Hollies & Special Guests 1970 (Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVDs)/Hold On! (1965/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)/Peter, Paul & Mary: If I Had A Hammer - The Original Debut Album (1962/Top Music/Intermusic S.A./SA-CD/Super Audio CD)

Picture: C/C/C+/X Sound: C-/C/C/B Extras: D/D/C-/C- Main Programs: B-/B-/C+/C+

PLEASE NOTE: All four of these special releases, imports and/or website exclusives, can be ordered from the links below.

We get to look at new releases of classic materials on three of the most popular bands of the 1960s, two of which continued into the next decade and all did distinctive work down to their distinct harmonies.

We start with two more solid volumes of Bandstand Live In Australia, special single DVD releases that Umbrella has been issuing along side the many volumes of the show over the years. This time we have Peter, Paul & Mary Live At Sydney Stadium 1967 and Herman's Hermits 1969/The Hollies & Special Guests 1970. Peter, Paul & Mary Live runs 87 minutes (sponsored by Philips Electronics) and has one song that also appear on the Super Audio CD we are also covering in this review (500 Miles) among its 16 tracks and shows how their repertoire had grown. They have more than a few humorous moments and this was originally presented in two parts. Newer songs include Blue, Single Girl, There Is A Ship, Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are A Changin' and more. It is a good look and captured them in their peak prime.

As for the other disc, the Herman's Hermits 1969 is an episode that has the band performing A Must To Avoid, There's A Kind Of Hush, Silhouettes and what may have turned out to be there last-ever TV performance in My Sentimental Friend before Peter Noone decided to leave the band. The Listen People DVD (see link below) offers it as their last such performance with audio commentary (!) though the clip looked really dark there. Turns out it was recorded darkly, but looks better on this new DVD. They share the episode with 6 other performers for the episode (including actress Jacki Weaver), so don't expect non-stop work from them here, but what they do here is worth seeing.

The Hollies & Special Guests 1970 have Kamahl and Dianne Horder as the only other performers, as the band delivers with He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, Carrie Anne, Dylan's Just Like A Woman and Blowin' In The Wind (believe it or not to round out the show) and a medley that includes Bus Stop, Just One Look, I'm Alive, Sorry Suzanne, Stop Stop Stop and A Taste Of Honey. They have one fun wardrobe change and are in exceptional form, my favorite of the groups on the list. Host Brian Henderson doubts they had as many hits as they did, but he was wrong; they were on a roll and this is the band in prime form in performances I had not seen before.

There are no extras on either DVD.

Arthur Lubin's Hold On! (1965) has MGM (the studio and record label which Herman's Hermits were signed to) trying to give the band a Beatles-like comedy, but the lack of research had them making mistakes (the plot about a U.S. space rocket being named after them had 4 seats when there were 5 members!) and putting too much of the burden on lead singer Peter Noone when they should have been developing a script that brought out the best of all 5 members. Lubin (Abbott & Costello, The Three Stooges, TV's Mr. Ed) was selected to be in the mode of Richard Lester, with MGM and company thinking he could bring out the comedy in the band, but the film is never that funny despite being at least amusing. Noone does his best and the band is likable, but their best moments are singing, including two hits from this film: A Must To Avoid and Leaning On A Lamppost, both Top Ten U.S. Pop hits.

Sue Ane Langdon, Herbert Anderson, Shelley Fabares (yes, she sings of course) and Bernard Fox are a plus in the supporting cast department, but here is not enough of them either and what could have been a better film with some organization and ambition becomes a disjointed

An Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.

For more on the two British Invasion bands above, you might want to really catch these releases:

Herman's Hermits: Retrospective Super Audio CD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1285/Herman's+Hermits+Retrospective+(SACD

+ Listen People DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9732/The+British+Invasion+5+DVD+Box+Set+(Dusty+Sp

The Hollies: Look Through Any Window DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11220/Cream+%E2%80%93+Royal+Albert+Hall:+London

Last but not least is Peter, Paul & Mary: If I Had A Hammer - The Original Debut Album (1962)

1. Early In The Morning

2. 500 Miles

3. Sorrow

4. This Train

5. Bamboo

6. It's Raining

7. If I Had My Way

8. Cruel War

9. Lemon Tree

10. If I Had A Hammer

11. Autumn To May

12. Where Have All The Flowers Gone

The trio has established their sound early and I have never heard them sounding better than I do here, with track 9 and 10 immediately their first two hits as they instantly skyrocketed to success as part of the retro-folk movement. Thanks in part to they and Bob Dylan, that movement not only survived the great British Invasions, but further thrived for years to come as did they. This album, these songs and the trio were a big hit immediately. Nice to hear why so clearly.

A paper pullout with text and illustrations is the only extra.

The 1.33 X 1 black and white image on the Bandstand DVDs are from surviving kinescope and 16mm footage of the original performances, so they can be rough and lack detail, but look just fine otherwise. The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Hold On! is in MetroColor and shot in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision by Director of Photography Paul Vogel, A.S.C., (High Society, The Time Machine (1960), Village Of The Giants) who delivers a good-looking film, but the best moments are when the band simply performs their hits. Still a little soft, it is the best-looking entry on the list and comes for a really good film print.

The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the three DVDs show their age, especially the Bandstand discs with sometimes brittle or scratchy sound, but the Peter, Paul & Mary is unfortunately recorded at a lower volume, so you have to turn it up more and beware of volume switching as a result. That sound is on the clean side save some flutter during later songs, but I would have done a little more to it. Hold On! is the cleanest of the three since it was made a a major motion picture, though Herman's Hermit fans will wish at least their song performances were at least simple stereo, but it was a monophonic theatrical release, so that's that.

The sonic champ here is easily the Peter, Paul & Mary Super Audio CD, with solid DSD (Direct Stream Digital) 2.0 Stereo showing how well recorded their early material really was. I have never heard the trio sound better and even non-fans will be surprised.

To order either of the Umbrella import PAL format Region Free DVDs, go to these specific links:

Bandstand Live The Hollies & Herman's Hermits - http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-3967-bandstand-live-in-australia-hollies-and-hermans-hermits-196970.aspx?keyword=hollies

Bandstand Live Peter Paul & Mary - http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-3889-bandstand-special-peter-paul-and-mary-live-at-the-sydney-stadium-1967.aspx

To order the Warner Archive DVD of Hold On!, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

http://www.warnerarchive.com/

and to order the Peter, Paul & Mary Super Audio CD from Intermusic, start with this link, then go to the HOW TO ORDER tab on the left-hand side column:

http://www.topmusic.com/tm-sacd7019.2.htm

The direct order link is:

http://www.topmusic.com/to-order.htm

- Nicholas Sheffo