What's new

A Few Words About A few words about...™ Country Music - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

Archivist
Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 8, 1999
Messages
18,271
Real Name
Robert Harris
When one's name becomes synonymous with a computer software function, you've risen to a certain level of public awareness and admiration.

So it is with Florentine Films, a documentary production entity working out of Vermont, that has become the go-to for bespoke films on a myriad of subjects, by Mr. Burns and Company.

If there is something to be presumed about Mr. Burns's work, is that it continues to grow, to stretch its own boundaries, and continually hit higher levels of quality.

The camera movies, the editing, the narration (in this case by Peter Coyote) is all of the same cloth. And by that, software plug-ins aside, it means that you can spot a Burns film from fifty paces.

My personal background with country music is minimal. It's something that has simply been there for me, for decades, but I'd not given a great deal of though to it, aside from a period when I was collecting wax cylinders, and early recordings.

Over the course of eight Blu-ray discs - some 16 hours of screen time - and whether one has a knowledge of country music, or not, this series is a masters' class in the subject.

From earliest performers, concepts and beginnings, around the American continent, and beyond, we learn via biographies, and contextual concepts, what its all about, and from whence it came.

From hillbilly tunes, and singing cowboys, the bluegrass era, and into the mid-‘90s, Country Music makes for an extraordinary experience for those who love country music, as well as those who desire to get to the roots of what they're hearing on today's performances.

A great modern documentary that belongs in one's documentary library.

If you're getting the idea that I love this series, you'd be correct. I'm a huge fan of anything Burns / Florentine.

Image - 5

Audio – 5 (5.1 surround)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Very Highly Recommended

RAH
 

bob kaplan

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 5, 1999
Messages
765
Real Name
bob kaplan
Yup, We are not big "country" fans, well Dolly, Loretta, Tammy...they are great...but these blu rays are engrossing.
 

Angelo Colombus

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
3,406
Location
Chicago Area
Real Name
Angelo Colombus
Viewed the series on my local PBS station and like the others Mr. Burns has done it was well made and entertaining. Have the Blu-ray set on my shelf.
 

ahollis

Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
8,852
Location
New Orleans
Real Name
Allen
I viewed the Ken Burns country documentary on PBS. I now have it on Blu-Ray as I do his other docs. This ranks way up there with Jazz and Vietnam docs.
 

Mark Booth

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 25, 1999
Messages
3,574
I'm not a fan of most country music but I really enjoyed this Ken Burns mini-series (via PBS). I still have all of the episodes on my OTA DVR. Doubt I'll buy the Blu-ray version.

Mark
 

battlebeast

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
4,435
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
Real Name
Warren
My mom is a die-hard country music fan, so this is a must. It’s rather expensive, and rather expansive. I watched parts of it on PBS, and it was amazing. Can’t wait to watch it all.
 

BobO'Link

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
11,441
Location
Mid-South
Real Name
Howie
I agree, but, at least one person on this forum had an issue with how he enunciated certain words.:)
LOL - That'd be me. He had trouble being consistent saying "Grand Ole Opry" with the majority of the early versions being "Grand Old Opry" and even later ones waffling between the two. While always consistent, and technically correct, they never did pronounce Dyess right. I blame both Burns and Coyote for "Old" vs "Ole" but they could have at lease asked Roseanne Cash how the locals pronounce Dyess (for the record - it's "dice" - I grew up in the area so know first hand).

Other than that it's an excellent production and far more engrossing than I'd expected. Even the later years where I fully expected to tune out but did not. A typical excellent production from Burns and one that'll eventually find its way to my shelves.
 

AnthonyClarke

Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
2,767
Location
Woodend Victoria Australia
Real Name
Anthony
I'm more used to hearing Coyote in Spanish-language dialogue ... but so far, having watched half the first episode of 'Country', he sounds just fine.
But then, here in urban multi-cultural Australia, we're used to hearing English spoken in every accent under the sun. Nothing worries me.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,710
Messages
5,121,079
Members
144,145
Latest member
treed99
Recent bookmarks
0
Top