T.A.M.I. Show

T.A.M.I. Show (a.k.a. Teen Age Command Performance).
1964 Screencraft International & American International Pictures; distributed to DVD by Shout! Factory.
Featuring: The Barbarians, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, James Brown and the Famous Flames, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, The Miracles, Rolling Stones, The Supremes
House Band: The Wrecking Crew (Jack Nitzsche, Hail Blaine, Jimmy Bond, Tommy Tedesco, Bill Aken, Glen Campbell, Lyle Ritz, Leon Russell, Plas Johnson, etc.)
Also appearing: Toni Basil, Teri Garr
Producer: Bill Sargent
Director: Steve Binder
Available at Amazon.

Released at the end of 1964, the T.A.M.I. Show (Teenage Awards Music International) is a groundbreaking concert film, and incredibly influential in the development of music videos. It's almost criminal that such an influential movie didn't receive an uncut release to home video until 2010. Rights issues saw the Beach Boys' performances cut from most prints of the film, but Shout! Factory restored the lost footage to the film for their definitive DVD release. As expected, since that segment was captured from another print and not the master, there is some minor film damage present, but seeing a rare Brian Wilson live performance with his legendary band more than makes up for it.

The concert lineup is nothing short of spectacular; only the Barbarians never had a Top 40 hit before or after the movie was first released, but they still did a fine live version of their first single, "Hey Little Bird", complete with their one-armed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton nearly stealing the show with his own frantic drumming. Chuck Berry trading licks and songs with Gerry & the Pacemakers to open the show was fun to watch, and there are stellar performances from the Motown representatives the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and of course, the Supremes.

And then, we have James Brown. Anything I write cannot even begin to describe just how over the top and magical his four songs were, especially "Please, Please, Please" and "Night Train". Everything is here: the energy, the inspired dancing, the passionate singing, and the gimmick with the cape. Producer Rick Rubin once said that Prince had Brown's T.A.M.I. Show performance running in a loop on a television in the lobby of his offices, and he called it the single greatest rock and roll performance ever captured on film. He's completely right. The Rolling Stones close the show, and while their performance is raw and energetic, it's not going to even approach what James Brown did onstage just a few minutes earlier. Keith Richards has admitted in interviews that going on after Brown was the biggest mistake the Stones ever made in their careers.

Get this one, folks. There are no better concert films out there.