Review: The Dick Cavett Show - Rock Icons Provides Worthwhile Moments of Rock Music History

Trying to put rock and pop musicians in a standard television setting often means some aspect of the music performance is diminished. That is not the case with the performances on The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons. To the contrary, this three-DVD set contains slices of rock music history.

The set, released this week, features among others, Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon on The Dick Cavett Show, ABC's entry in the late night talk show wars from 1969 to 1974. Each show is preceded by recently recorded introductions by Cavett. Many of the performances succeed both musically and historically.

That is especially true with the opening show of the set. It consists entirely of performances by and interviews with Jefferson Airplane and Joni Mitchell, with Stephen Stills and David Crosby also dropping by. The show was taped hours after the Woodstock Festival ended and, thus, has become known as "The Woodstock Show." And Cavett's show was in part responsible for a Woodstock irony. Mitchell, who would pen the song "Woodstock," did not perform at the festival. The reason? Her manager at the time feared she would miss her appearance on this Cavett show if she went to Woodstock.

The episode captures a unique time in American rock music. The audience is young, many sitting on the floor. Cavett, in his early 30s at the time, is a bit more establishment than the audience or his guests. Semi-seriously, he asks the artists generally, "Do your parents all know where you are?" and follows up by asking Grace Slick what her parents do for a living. Then, when bassist Jack Casady entices the Airplane into a show-closing jam, audience members get to their feet, many dancing, while Cavett stands in the centrally located interview area, looking somewhat bewildered or adrift.

The audience reaction to the jam and the tenor of the artists' discussion seem to capture the emotional resonance generated by Woodstock. The freedom and spirit of the time is also reflected by an incident that would cause a seismic uproar today. Although ABC was concerned about what any rock artist might do or say, the censors were asleep at the switch during the Airplane's performance of "We Can Be Together." As a result, the show may be the first and only one in network television history to air the phrase, "Up against the wall, motherfucker." (The same phrase was causing controversy with Airplane's record label before the band managed to have the song released in its unexpurgated form on Volunteers three months later.) Throw in the psychedelic light show accompanying the Airplane's opening performance — provided by Glenn McKay's Head Lights, one of the innovators of the art form — and it is plain this show conveyed the ethos of a different generational mindset.

Article Author: Tim Gebhart

Tim Gebhart lives in Sioux Falls, SD, where he practices law in order to provide shelter for his family, his dogs, and his books. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and his blog de guerre is A Progressive on the Prairie.

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