Best Buy Say Amen Somebody [VHS] The best prices online

$19.98

Say Amen Somebody [VHS] By Xenon Special Price! for Say Amen Somebody [VHS]. With Special Pomotions Fast Shipping Read more >>

Say Amen Somebody [VHS].See our great selection .See Say Amen Somebody [VHS] now. Limit time .

Say Amen Somebody [VHS] Description

There's good news aplenty in this DVD reissue of Say Amen, Somebody, director George T. Nierenberg's 1980 film focusing on some of the giants of modern gospel music and the younger singers whom they inspired. That's "good news" as in the word of God, and what better way to express the power of faith than through this powerful and uplifting music? Liner notes writer Anthony Heilbut describes the film as an exploration of "the golden age of gospel music in its dying hour," and Nierenberg (whose informative and illuminating commentary track, like Heilbut's lengthy notes, is one of the several features that justify the DVD's "bonus deluxe" tag) focuses principally on two senior citizens: Thomas Dorsey, often credited as "the father of gospel music," and Willie Mae Ford Smith, a St. Louis-based singer and an innovator who helped popularize the modern gospel singing style, with its emphasis on exaggerated, open-mouthed vibrato and careful articulation of the lyrics. Dorsey is an engaging raconteur who explains the origins of modern gospel (once a secular songwriter who wrote for Ma Rainey and others, he added rhythm to traditional hymns and spirituals, essentially "bringing the blues into church") and speaks movingly of the trials and tribulations that led to his writing the classic "Precious Lord." For her part, Smith is not only a tireless worker but something of a feminist pioneer who insisted early on that women have just as much right as men to spread the word (her own son's remark that "women ought to stay in their proper place: behind the man" illustrates what an uphill battle that was, and is); this chauvinism, along with the creeping commercialism that makes singers like the O'Neal Twins wonder if they're compromising their evangelical calling, are among the deeper issues Nierenberg's film addresses. But in the long run, of course, it's all about the music, and the DVD package includes 18 complete performances accessible via separate menu, as well as a 15-song CD. All of this will prompt not only a few "amens," but no doubt some "hallelujahs" too. --Sam Graham

Buy Say Amen Somebody [VHS] Now

SimilarProducts

Say Amen Somebody: Music From the Film

Precious Lord: Songs of Thomas a Dorsey