If James Brown was, up until his death, the hardest working
man in show business, Sam Moore couldn’t have been that far behind, as he puts
plenty of heart, soul and sweat into the two shows that comprise this concert
DVD presentation, The Original Soul Man.
& Dave — known for their emotional intensity and gospel-infused
call-and-response style — Moore earned seven gold and platinum records and a
1967 Grammy to boot. Supported by the songwriting talents of Isaac Hayes and
David Porter, the group produced a string of hits starting with “You Don’t Know
Like I Know” in ’64, and followed by such classics as “Hold On, I’m Coming,”
“Soul Man” and “Soul Sister, Brown Sugar.” This DVD features two complete mini-concerts
performed by the original soul man. The first set, clocking in at 28 minutes,
was recorded live in
and the second, an 18-minute, three-song affair followed by a rendition of “My
Boyfriend’s Back” by The Angels, comes from the Church Street Station in
blue (suit, shirt and, yes, shoes too), Moore has a friendly, welcoming stage
persona, and jokes around a bit between numbers with the crowd (“No, I’m not
going to give you my tie!” he says at one point, when he ditches his yellow-colored
slipknot after “Hold On, I’m Coming.”) It’s funny to see Moore get the French
crowd going with numbers such as “You Got Me Hummin’,” “I Can’t Stand Up” and
“Take What I Want.” The highlight of the show, easily, though, is
duet with Carla Thomas on “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” a showstopper
in every sense of the word.
off a slightly cheesy vibe, though it’s funny to see a crowd boomers shaking
their thing on the dance floor, and three small kids up front near the corner
of the stage, goofing off. The energetic “Wrap It Up, I’ll Take It” (not part of the first
concert) is given a great run here, but it’s “When Something Is Wrong” that
gets everyone slow dancing. That doesn’t stop
from sweating it out, though.
full screen, with a Dolby 2.0 stereo audio mix that is adequate if not
mind-blowing. Nit-picking but slightly irritating is the fact that the disc
lists its runtime as 75 minutes, which must be including some of the
self-described “propaganda” clips (not of Moore) that round out the disc,
touting other soul and folk releases from manufacturer Quantum Leap.
inclusions, as noted, run well under a combined 50 minutes, so that little fib
marks things down a notch in my book. Other meager bonus features include a
brief biography and discography for
as well as a scroll-able text history of Stax Records. B (Concerts) C- (Disc)