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34 of 34 found the following review helpful:
Bittersweet MemoriesSep 02, 2002
By Jim Kiefer
Harry Chapin was always better as a live performer than as a studio recorder. The personal touch he added to the songs made them more heartfelt. I was fortunate enough to have seen Harry live at least 6 times. Therefore, it was with great joy that I slid this Disc into the DVD player, dimmed the lights, and drifted back in time. Most of what Chapin fans loved is on this disc. At last, the complete version of Corey's Coming is available on a digital medium. (Previously only available on "Legends of the Lost and Found", which was never released on CD) "Mail Order Annie" is beautifully done, and the rest of the set is well read. While "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is cut short, (maybe the German audience wouldn't have understood the various endings) the rest of the included selections are quite good and the band is excellent as they always were. The only real glaring omission is Harry's self-professed favorite song, "A Better Place to Be", but if you included everything, this would have been a 3 hour concert, (as many of his live shows were).
All told, this is alot of what Harry Chapin fans have been waiting for. For those who want to go back and recapture the feeling of Harry live, it's a great trip back. For those who never had the pleasure, it's a nice sample of a great live performer.
27 of 27 found the following review helpful:
 Yes, the video quality is bad but Harry still sounds greatJun 10, 2004
By Lawrance M. Bernabo
This Harry Chapin concern was taped in Germany on April 12, 1977 as an episode of the German television music show "Rockpalast Live," shortly after the release of the double-album "Dance Band on the Titanic." That accounts for both the poor quality of the video and the selection of these particular fourteen songs:
"Shooting Star"
"W.O.L.D."
"Mr. Tanner"
"Dance Band on the Titanic"
"Taxi"
"Six String Orchestra"
"Corey's Coming"
"Blues Man"
"Mail Order Annie"
"30,000 Pounds of Bananas"
"Cat's in the Cradle"
"Circle"
"Odd Man Job"
"I Wanna Learn a Love Song"
Actually only a couple of songs come from the "Dance Band on the Titanic" album, with five of the songs coming from the "Verities and Balderdash" album three from "Short Stories." Of course Chapin plays his most recognizable "hits," which are the few songs of his that got a lot of A.M. radio air play: "W.O.L.D.," "Taxi," and "Cat's in the Cradle." But long time fans will appreciate the chance to hear big John Wallace help out on "Mr. Tanner" and Harry's bittersweet love songs like "Mail Order Annie." The gem this time around would be the almost nine minute version of "Corey's Coming." The band consists of Chapin on acoustic guitar (and wearing a yellow shirt), Wallace on bass, brother Steve Chapin on keyboards, Doug Walker playing electric guitar, Howie Fields on drums, and Kim Scholes playing the cello. Of course everybody gets to join in on the fun with the sing along "Circle."
There is another Chapin concert out there, a PBS "Soundstage" concert released as "The Book of Chapin," but for Harry's fans any opportunity to see him perform again is worth the having. Even the strangeness of the German audience, who obviously have not already taken this music to heart, works because Harry makes a big effort to connect with them (but avoids doing the alternative endings on "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" because this audience is probably not going to get the jokes). But even if the video quality is suspect at times the audio is pretty good and that is what matters the most.
Harry was posthumously rewarded the Gold Medal of Freedom by Congress for his work fighting hunger in this country. He was something special and I still remembering hearing about the big LA radio station that played his song "What Made America Famous?" every hour during the 4th of July weekend the year I graduated high school. It is impossible to listen to any of his songs and not mourn the tragic accident that took him from us way too soon and to wonder about the dozen albums he would have put out between then and now and all the great songs we missed out on hearing. But we do have his excellent body of story songs and a few concert vidoes to remind us how great Harry was in concert.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
memories are made of this!Sep 09, 2002
By Rosalind Leggatt
Despite the audience from hell this is a wonderful trip down memory lane for anyone who was fortunate enough to see the great man live. I saw him twice at the Glasgow Apollo and this DVD brought back warm memories that only Chapin live could give. Most of his classic tracks are here including my favourite, Mr Tanner but as I have previously stated the fact that he is "live" is the bonus factor. I had forgotten the warmth of the man on stage and the brilliance of his band and their on stage camaraderie. Every song is a story and I am not afraid to admit that I had tears in my eye's remebering the loss that Harry Chapin is to music. He has never been replaced so if you are a fan buy this, switch off the lights and go back to the concert venue that you last seen Harry and enjoy.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 Harry Chapin_rockpalast liveSep 29, 2002
The following is a review from a fan of30 years of Harry chapin and I own just about all his music!When you here the name Rockpalast Live-you think of the kind of venue that Harry sung the live version of Circle on Greatest Hits Live. Well, Rockpalast appears to be half a small bleaher on a little league softball game! The reason this is important is I felt badly for Harry having to sing to this bunch of people who appear not to understand or appreciate his work and looked comatose! The German audience was not involved in the show and appeared to be an uninvolved infomercial group of maybe 20 people. I was truly looking forward to this DVD. The music was good, the song selection was somewhat poor and the version of Circle was far from great. Seeing him made me feel happy and sad.
I'm glad I got the dvd ,but I expected a better concert.
I felt bad for Harry to have to sing to this unappreciative group and hope he didn't have to go back again.
Additionally, the production values of the music was not great!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Harry Chapin Lives!Jan 19, 2003
By Richard E. Wilson
No one is a bigger Harry Chapin fan than myself. However the over all quality of this DVD leaves alot to be desired. The print quality is as poor as any DVD that I have seen. I did enjoy looking through this and seeing Harry perform to a less than great audience.While Harry Chapin will live forever in our hearts ,this was not one of the greatest pieces of his work. Now if only The Last Concert were put to DVD we would have something of great value.
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