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Dick Cavett Show - John & Yoko Collection (2DVD) John Lennon’s visits w/Cavett come ’1971 & 1972. 3 complete episodes of the legendary American late night talk show featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s most candid interviews as well as rare live performances. DVD 1: September 11, 1971 Play Original Broadcast Play Complete Interview Episodes Two: September 24, 1971 Play Complete Interview DVD 2: Episodes Three: May 11, 1972 Play Complete Interview Bonus Featurette: Cavett And The Lennons. 3 episodes on a 2DVD set around 4 hours playing time. •Fascinating interviews, live performances, promo footage and experimental films. •Long regarded as American TV’s most intelligent talk show, The Dick Cavett Show was also the late-night TV home of the biggest names in music. •John and Yoko appeared on The Cavett Show 3 times. •These interviews stand out as their most relaxed and in depth. The show which aired on September 11th 1971 is noted as Lennon’s first American on-camera interview post Beatles dissolution. •During their first visit with Cavett, John & Yoko promised they’d return to perform; they honoured that promise for the show that aired May 12th, each performing one song. •Includes all-new episode introductions by Dick Cavett and featurette interview. Time offers perspective – that’s perhaps the most resonant theme of the two-disc set The Dick Cavett Show: John & Yoko Collection. With the demise of the Beatles still fresh and his controversial marriage to avant-garde artist Yoko Ono still incurring the wrath of Beatles fans everywhere, John Lennon consented to his first American television interview, post-Fab Four, with Cavett, who at least in the early going, appears to quite nervous about wrangling this occasionally eccentric pair. Lennon & Ono would only appear twice on Cavett’s show – a third appearance was cobbled together from their initial visit – but the interviews stand out as relaxed and genial; Cavett develops a genuine rapport with the couple, indulging them in Ono’s truly nerve-grating short films (if I never have to see an excerpt from “Fly“ again, I’ll die a happy man) and even getting a couple live performances out of them. Of course, Beatles fanatics will treasure the brief, unromanticized amount of time Lennon spends discussing his former day job (“I don’t want to be singing ’She Loves You’ at the age of 50, you know ...“) but Lennon’s more interested in plugging the couple’s current activities and interests, which he does to an almost exhausting degree. Cavett displays honest, real chemistry with the Lennons, who delight in non sequiturs and wry puns, adding a touch of poignancy when considering that in less than a decade, Lennon would be murdered by a psychotic fan. While time has helped to heal the loss of Lennon, these interviews are glowing reminders of his superstar quality and continued relevancy nearly three decades later. Packaged in a fold-out keepcase, the first two episodes are contained on disc one, while the final episode and bonus material are found on the second disc. The episode breakdowns are as follows: Episode One: Sept. 11, 1971 There are no songs performed but the experimental films “Fly“ and “Erection“ are shown, along with promo clips for “Imagine“ and “Mrs. Lennon.“ This first episode can be viewed one of two ways: since the couple’s first interview with Cavett produced much more material than could fit in one show, it was originally broadcast as a full 90 minute show and three addition segments that were included in another show (broadcast two weeks later on Sept. 24). This first episode is viewable either as originally broadcast or with the entire interview, which incorporates the extra segments – although with the Sept. 24 episode available on this set, this seems like a slightly redundant feature. Episode Two: September 24, 1971 Again, there are no songs performed but Cavett highlights three excerpts from his previous John & Yoko interview. Episode Three: May 12, 1972 Songs performed: Lennon’s “Woman is the Nigger of the World“ and Ono’s “We’re All Water.“ The Dick Cavett Show: John & Yoko Collection presents the episodes as originally broadcast in fullscreen – unfortunately, the image looks aged and slightly smeary; it has a distinctly dubbed appearance which only makes Cavett’s vintage set look all the more horrible. A fairly disappointing image. Dolby 2.0 stereo is the only option available and is solid, if unremarkable – there’s no distortion or drop-out and for the most part, the Lennons and Cavett sound terrific. The conversations aren’t muffled and every witty aside is heard loud and clear. The Extras: Cavett has recorded brief, casual introductions for each of the episodes and also sat down for the featurette “Cavett and The Lennons,“ which runs 19 minutes, nine seconds. It’s a warm, heartfelt look back that reveals the genuine affection this trio shared; a great inclusion to this admittedly thin set.
