Festival Express

Starring: Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead Original UK Premiere: 2003 Dvd Release: 28th February, 2005 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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The Festival Express was a 1970 tour of Canada by several musical acts, including The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin & The Band. It was unique in that rather than flying to each city, the musicians all traveled by train, fostering an atmosphere of musical creativity & closeness between the performers. The trips between cities were a mix of jam sessions & partying. The tour was also the subject of a documentary film of the same name released in 2003 using film shot during the 1970 tour. Festival Express   at the Internet Movie Database.

This is probably the last great rock n roll film that will ever be made. Most people will not have witnessed live footage of The Grateful Dead with Pigpen, they are veeeery hot. Special mention also for Buddy Guy who plays guitar like a tornado. In the end its not even a matter of taste... This is the best there is. Any magazine that has rated this at 4/5 will regret it. Mark my words.

Janis Lyn Joplin was an American blues -influenced rock & soul singer & occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. Joplin released four albums as the frontwoman for several bands from 1967 to a posthumous release in 1971. Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. She grew up listening to blues musicians such as Bessie Smith & Big Mama Thornton & singing in the local choir. Joplin graduated from Jefferson High School in Port Arthur in 1960 & went to college at the University of Texas in Austin, though she never completed a degree. There, she began singing blues & folk music with friends. Cultivating a rebellious manner that could be viewed as liberated, Joplin styled herself after the beat poets, left Texas for San Francisco in 1963, lived in North Beach & worked occasionally as a folk singer. Around this time her drug use began to increase & she acquired a reputation as a speed freak & occasional heroin user. She also used other intoxicants. She was a heavy drinker throughout her career & her trademark beverage was Southern Comfort brand whiskey.

Editors Choice: Festival Express, Little Richard, View DVDology

The Grateful Dead s first studio album, recorded on Warner Bros. Records & released in 1967. The album was recorded primarily at RCA Victor studios in Los Angeles in only four days. The band had wanted to record the album in their hometown of San Francisco, but no good recording studios existed in the area at the time. The group picked David Hassinger to produce because he had worked as an engineer on the Rolling Stones Satisfaction & the Jefferson Airplane s Surrealistic Pillow album. Garcia, Phil Lesh & Bill Kreutzmann were taking the stimulant Ritalin during this period, which resulted in the manic energy that comes across on this debut recording. A remastered version with the full versions of five album tracks, plus six bonus tracks, was released by Rhino in as part of the box set The Golden Road in 2001 & as a separate album in 2003. This album should not be confused with the similarly titled Grateful Dead, a live album released in 1971. The disc was made of a thick vinyl similar to old 78 rpm records, which was uncommon at the time. Posters Of Grateful Dead

Editors Choice: Festival Express, The Grateful Dead, Classic Albums, Grateful Dead, A Night At The Family Dog, View DVDology

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