If you are a new or original fan of the Doors, this spectacular DVD should give you enough incentive to jump on the DVD bandwagon without reservation. It's quite simply the finest single audio-visual source of Doors music and history, presented with the full participation of the band's surviving members (Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, John Densmore) and featuring a variety of bonus features that will send any Doors-phile into a state of rock & roll euphoria. We're not kidding, folks-this is a must-have disc for anyone who's ever been mesmerized by Jim Morrison and the late-1960s, early-'70s rock phenomenon known as the Doors. The primary content consists of three acclaimed films, all running about an hour long and directed by Manzarek, that give the viewer a deeper appreciation of what the Doors were all about. Not only was the band filmed in a variety of live concert settings (especially at the legendary Hollywood Bowl show, included here), but they were also precociously aware of the value of film, creating music "videos" long before MTV and taking their cue from Manzarek's mid-'60s stint as a UCLA film student. Also included are clips from several TV appearances (including a PBS interview in which Morrison predicts the future of recording technology with astounding accuracy), revealing backstage footage, and, of course, some of the most hypnotic concert performances ever filmed. Two of Manzarek's student films (Evergreen and Induction) indicate that the keyboardist could easily have become a successful director, but fate blessed him (and us) with a future in one of America's all-time greatest rock bands. What The Doors Collection conveys more than anything is that these four young men formed a unique cohesion of talent, that they all loved and admired Jim Morrison (and still do), and that they continue to share that love-along with some conflicting recollections and amiably contrasting opinions-on a commentary track that's wise, fun-loving, and refreshingly free of drippy nostalgia. Indeed, when Manzarek uses the word "atrocious" to describe Oliver Stone's 1991 film about Morrison and the band, he's merely defending the fact that Morrison was himself a sweet, lovable young man who had a dark side-no one's denying that-but who also fronted a band that continues to unite listeners and viewers in the positive spirit of creativity and freedom of expression. -Jeff Shannon.

Even casual jazz and blues fans know those seminal American styles journeyed north from New Orleans and the Deep South, along the Mississippi River. But that tributary's penetration into the nation's heartlands, and its passage through a much broader, more diverse array of cultures, affords a richer portrait of how root musical styles have merged, diverged, recombined, or survived against the potential regimentation imposed by mass media and a more mobile, modern society. It's this latter process that provides the thread for director-producer John Junkerman's four-hour documentary, Mississippi: River of Song, originally broadcast by PBS. Junkerman starts not in the Crescent City, from which African American musical hybrids emerged, but near one of the river's sources in northern Minnesota, winding his way through the varied populations and past a sometimes surprising melange of transplanted European, Asian, and South American musics. From Ojibwa powwows, traditional Hmong reed players, and Scandinavian fiddle groups to forceful gospel choirs, German polka bands, Mexican conjuntos, and alternative rock, Junkerman and his team capture American music beyond the glare of New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. The pilgrimage does strike special sparks when it reaches the blues, R&B, jazz, zydeco, and Cajun strongholds further down river, yet much of the program's freshness stems from the stopovers that reveal unexpected cultural collisions. Thrash folk singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco serves as narrator, bringing a warm enthusiasm to her connective commentary, but much of the underlying historical, cultural, and personal insight comes directly from the musicians. -Sam Sutherland.

With a total of 144 songs (including repeats) and well over 500 minutes of playing time, this massive boxed set, whose nine discs each contain between 12 and 19 performances, truly is, as host Ed Sullivan famously said, "a really big show. " With some 20 songs between them, the two most important rock acts of the 20th century, Elvis Presley and the Beatles, both of whom received huge career boosts from the Sullivan show (garnering a reported 80 percent audience share and 70 million viewers, respectively), are well represented; so are other genres, like Motown and '60s rock. And wonderful, galvanizing performances by, among others, the Jackson Five (especially "the little fella in front," as Sullivan calls Michael), the Animals, James Brown, Janis Joplin, Jackie Wilson, the Rolling Stones, and even the Association ("Along Comes Mary") are enough to counter the curious inclusion of the Brooklyn Bridge, Jay and the Techniques, and other obscure minor talents. Still, the boxed set (whose DVD bonus features include "trivia tracks" and limited discographies) has serious flaws. Audio and video (color and black and white) are good, but far too many songs are repeated (the Jefferson Airplane's "Crown of Creation" appears twice on the same disc!), while others are obviously truncated; and there's no excuse for programming two songs each by the likes of Dino, Desi and Billy, and Freddie and the Dreamers. In the end, the good music saves the day, but the set's drawbacks keep Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll Classics from being an essential purchase. -Sam Graham On Sunday nights throughout the '50s and '60s, Ed Sullivan brought pop culture into America's living rooms with th e most influential show of its kind. If you made it there, you had it made because for the first time, the entire county was at home watching. During the course of the show's run, many of the early rock and roll legends were featured in career-defining p erformances. These cultural milestones have been compiled for Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll Classics, along with archival footage and narration for insight on the artists, their eras, and their classic appearances. [+]