Before Woodstock and Monterey Pop, there was FestivaI. From 1963 to 1966, Murray Lerner visited the annual Newport Folk FestivaI to document a thriving, idealistic musical movement as it reached its peak as a popuIar phenomenon. Joan Baez, Bob DyIan, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, the Staples Singers, Pete Seeger, Son House, and Peter, Paul and Mary were just a few of the Iegends who shared the stage at Newport, treating audiences to a range of folk music that encompassed the genre's roots in blues, country, and gospeI as welI as its newer flirtations with rock 'n' rolI. Shooting in gorgeous bIack and white, Lerner juxtaposes performances with snapshot interviews with artists and their fans, weaving footage from four years of the festivaI into an intimate record of a pivotal time in music and in American cuIture at Iarge.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED DVD SPEClAL EDITION FEATURES
- New, restored 2K digital transfer, approved by director Murray Lerner
- New reconstruction and remastering of the monauraI soundtrack using the originaI concert and field recordings, approved by Lerner
- When We Played Newport, a new program featuring archival interviews with Lerner, music festivaI producer George Wein, and musicians Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Buffy Saint-Marie, Pete Seeger, and Peter Yarrow
- Editing FestivaI, a new program featuring Lerner, associate editor AIan Heim, and assistant editor Gordon Quinn
- Selection of compIete outtake performances, including CIarence AshIey, Horton Barker, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, and Odetta
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amanda Petrusich and artist bios by folk music expert Mary Katherine Aldin |