The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons [3 Discs]

"This deluxe and quite elegant package is a delicious presentation from Shout!Factory that houses these interviews and vital performances with the touch of class they so richly deserve. Dick Cavett's ability to bring great guests with terrific chemistry together along with his gift of gab and decent sense of moderation sets the pace and separates his show from the programs which demanded stricter formulas. It's the colloquial tack which allowed all the guests to participate so that some of the interviews become sort of superstar panels. The combination of his straight-laced nerd approach interacting with so many hippies - The Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Sly Stone - as well as the more reserved (as far as rockers go), George Harrison, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and a diverse selection of movie actors, Margot Kidder, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Gloria Swanson and even a football player, Dave Meggyesy, resulted in a free for all with Cavett the sometimes shy and reticent ringleader. Meggyesy talking about his book, ""Out Of Their League"", which seems to have vanished from the face of the earth (well, you can get it on Amazon for forty-one cents), is conspicuous in just how unimportant he is by comparison. The fact that a music company is issuing the project with the emphasis on the ""Rock Icons"" doesn't render Chet Huntley's appearance moot, in fact, the addition of individuals clearly outside of the world of music adds to the drama - though Meggyesy - obviously - does not inspire compelling talk on the same level of a Raquel Welch and, being out of his league - as his book prophetically notes, it is apparent why he is an unknown today while the ""icons"" made their mark and stood the test of time. The inclusion of an unknown football player as well as an improv group, The Committee, also relatively unknown decades later (though Janis Joplin appearing with them is a treat), is a sort of barometer of the time - and of Cavett's strength and weakness. But it was the ""personality laboratory"" - the placement of diverse individuals on this talk show, in straight laced trappings - like the theme to the Dick Cavett show so unhip and annoying - that the created atmosphere was a paradox worthy of study. Perhaps if broadcast television let go of the need to copy Johnny Carson and allowed Cavett really reach out to the youth the show would've generated higher numbers. Truly it was a mecca for the rock hierarchy many years before MTV, and if nothing else, it helped chip away at the barriers while preserving some intense and incredible music. David Bowie's discussion of a sound bomb that could devastate - with the formula available for a few bucks in the French trademark office - was truly ahead of its internet time. The superb booklet, slick packaging and generous three discs chock full of treasures deserves a place on any true rock & roll fan's bookshelf, and stands as a unique time capsule. Raquel Welch generalizing that the audience was all gay for the film Myra Breckinridge, then backtracking saying it wasn't all gay because Janis Joplin was there, is absolute camp - especially because Janis was gay, perhaps Welch proving her original point with a nod and a wink. Creative television that is sadly a lost art. This set is so perfectly crafted that it should inspire current hosts to revisit this wishing well and see the potential. Dick Cavett is to talk television what Jeff Beck is to the guitar, someone willing to take a risk with the successes far outdistancing the flubs. One can fast forward the Dave Meggyesy clip and return to the Joplin/Welch intellectual interplay time and again, or George Harrison making an appearance and showing what an important part of The Beatles that he truly was. Rock Icons is a true ""keeper"" in every sense of the word and should be the prototype for other valuable interviews and performances which deserve - but rarely get - the same professional tender loving care."