Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, and Mamou Cajun Band

I've always been a big fan of the Clancy's and Pete Seeger. Whilst this production is good, it is not up to their normal high standards. At the start of the show, Pete Seeger explained that his throat was hoarse and he couldn't sing so he called his friends the Clancy's at the last minute. They appeared minus Patrick Clancy and did a workman like job. Then Tom Paxton came on and that segment was a little better as there was more interaction. Seeger's throat apparently was ok by performance time but the crux of the show is the crossover interactions and song swapping that Seeger usually does with his guests. The second show had the Mamou Cajun band employing the old time high pitched virtually incomprehensable singing even if one knows Cajun French. The musicianship was good but somehow the interactions and the chemistry just came up a bit short. Again both programmes are good and worth buying but just not the best ones of the series

This is not a great video, but for an old dyed-in-the-wool fanof the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, it was fun to watch.Perhaps it was a little painful, too, to see them over the distance of time, before they developed the fine edge to theirperformances. Still, I'll take what I can find but their performance was way too short.The cajun music was okay. I enjoy that genre but, again, theband was obviously not used to being televised.You might enjoy this if you keep the time and experience factorin mind.

You'd have to be very 'catholic' in your musical tastes to pair these two genres on one DVD or, as no doubt was the case, there were only so many shows to reissue. And there you are!The Clancy Bros. & Tommy Makem segment was OK, EXCEPT that Tommy Clancy was not present; with no explanation.The Mamou Cajun Band was INTERESTING.Vintage videos of the Clancy Bros. & Tommy Makem are not common; so this could be a "Must Have", as it was for me.

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 the also tradition-oriented Irish folk singers, the recently departed Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, who did a great deal to bring the songs of the old country to the Irish Diaspora in America at a time when those of Irish descent of my generation were seriously looking at our roots. A stand out here is their version (there are many) of the old classic tale of love gone wrong, "Love is teasin'".Also included on this DVD is a performance by the legendary Cajun or, perhaps more properly Acadian band, the Mamou Cajun Band from down in the bayous. I have recently done a number of reviews of Cajun music and this group definitely ranks as one of the great traditional Cajun sounds from the back country. Pete certainly wears his "world music" hat in this segment. To fill in the segment Pete also does a number of traditional tunes by himself and a nice version of "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream", a song, for those not familiar with the lyrics that is cry for world peace. Forty plus years later we are still, impatiently, waiting on that same goal. 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" (the whole series consists of six DVDs). 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.

great combination

Shanachie a eu l'excellente idée de publier en DVD l'émission "Rainbow Quest" qui a pratiquement 50 ans, animée par Pete Seeger. Sur ce DVD de 2 heures, on voit et entend 2 émissions avec Pete lui-même, l'orchestre Cajun "Mamou Cajun Band", les irlandais "Clancy Brothers" célèbres aux États-Unis et Tom Paxton, excellent chanteur folk américain. Le son est très bon, l'image noir et blanc est propre. Les prestations sont un peu courtes, mais il est difficile de trouver des documents d'époque avec ces interprètes. Des documents à posséder, donc, si on aime la musique folk américaine.