Joe Cocker-Live at Montreux 1987 (1987)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Booklet
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	73:57
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Montreux Sounds Rajon Vision	Starring	Joe Cocker
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Various

    Founded in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has established itself as one of the most prestigious annual music events in the world. The extraordinary list of artists who have played Montreux is drawn from across the musical spectrum (it's not just limited to jazz as the name might suggest) and from around the world. It includes the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, BB King, Santana, Johnny Cash and even decidedly non-jazz groups such as The Moody Blues, The Corrs and ZZ Top. 2006 sees the festival celebrate its 40th anniversary with the event to take place in the Swiss town from June 30 to July 15.

    Back in 1987, Joe Cocker, the most famous plumber that the northern England town of Sheffield ever produced put in a passionate performance and it was recorded for all eternity. Cocker has been plying his trade for many years since his major breakthrough hit in the late 1960s, when he delivered an amazing rendition of The Beatles With A Little Help From My Friends. Over the time the often volatile Cocker has had his share of personal and professional  hits and misses and ups and downs, including massive selling albums and songs plus a few run ins with the law (especially in Australia, a country he vowed never to return to after being arrested for marijuana possession in October 1972  (interestingly as I write this review Cocker has just recently finished yet another Australian tour so he must have forgotten that early pledge).

    Anyway, back in the late 1980s Cocker the wild man had been tamed somewhat and in the refined surroundings of the Montreux Casino Cocker delivers a 75 minute performance featuring many of his hits to that point in time. As always Cocker's repertoire draws heavily on cover versions of some other well-known artists. Kicking off the show with Bob Dylan's Dear Landlord, Cocker then cranks out his big hit of the late 80s, his take on Randy Newman's You Can Leave Your Hat On. Also included is his big single from the 1983 film An Officer and A Gentleman. Up Where We Belong was originally a duet with Jennifer Warnes and for the Montreux concert Cocker's backing singers Maxine Green and Janice Hughes lend a female hand to this touching song.

    The most famous Beatles cover of all time, With A Little Help From My Friends is featured towards the end of the concert and it is thankfully delivered here with just about as much energy as anyone who has seen his performance at Woodstock in the 60s.
   
    This is a pretty intimate performance from Cocker, with a quality band that doesn't hog the limelight too much and a director who knows who the star is and leaves the camera on Cocker as much as possible.

Video

    You might have thought the quality of this transfer would be less than stellar given the age, but this is actually a fairly decent transfer with only a few minor problems to report.

    The aspect ratio is 1.29:1 and the transfer is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The level of sharpness and detail is average at times but bordering on quite good at others. There are no issues with shadow detail since the bright concert lighting takes care of most of the illumination. This use of quite bright lighting colours does tend to make the contrast levels look a little high at times, resulting in a washed out look to the whole image. There is no grain at all and only a hint of low level noise on some of the black areas.

    Colours are fairly common for the mid to late 80s. Plenty of pastels and the like, that while not being all that vibrant, are at least rendered well and are artefact free.

    No compression artefacts were detected. Video artefacts are mostly absent except for some excessive comet trails noticeable whenever a bright light source flashes momentarily on the screen.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc only so there is no layer change to navigate.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    As with the other Montreux titles, listeners are again spoilt for choice with no less than three audio tracks available. First up is a Dolby Digital 5.1 effort. Second sees the two channel buffs catered for with a lovely PCM stereo track, while those with more flamboyant tastes and suitable equipment levels can immerse themselves in the delights of a dts 5.1 surround soundtrack.

    While the specifications may make these soundtracks sound quite exciting, the actual delivery is a little less stunning. This is source material that is nearly 20 years old and generally all the soundtracks lack that special sparkle and shine so evident in a more modern recording.

    There is some surround channel use from both 5.1 soundtracks, though not as much as I have seen on many other titles. A little and at times quite weak instrument separation and some vocals emanate from the rears plus the usual crowd sounds.

    The sub is nicely integrated. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track makes more use of it than the dts track, but both offer seamless bass throughout.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu Animation & Audio

Booklet

    A six-page fold-out style of booklet that in addition to advertising some of the other Live at Montreux titles includes a comprehensive Joe Cocker bio written by Dennis Turner and a reproduction of the 1987 official festival poster.

    The Region 1 disc appears identical to the Region 4 version.

    Joe Cocker Live At Montreux is another disc in the series of titles from the Montreux Jazz Festival. The featured year here is 1987 when Cocker performed an as usual emotionally and energy-packed show in front of an intimate crowd.

    The video quality is excellent, while the audio, which includes an excellent dts soundtrack, shines as a better than average effort.

    There are no real extras other than a booklet.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall