D'Angelo / Live And Rare (1BDR)

D'Angelo, born Michael Eugene Archer, is a Richmond-born multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who admired Prince and possesses rare talent on a par with his predecessor. This powerful pro-shot compilation features television appearances, live footage, and interviews from his debut album, "Brown Sugar," and his second album, "Voodoo." While the footage has been remastered, some of the footage suffers from artifacts due to the master recording. While the album primarily features performances of "Brown Sugar" (there is a brief pause in the Apollo Theater performance), the 1996 BET Studios Washington, DC footage offers a glimpse into D'Angelo's early live performances. The opening is a highly eccentric opening, featuring a Do Funk intro from the 1973 Mandrill cover of "Fencewalk." And then there's Linwood Rose's performance: this band is incredible. Watch the setlist and be blown away. Then there's a cover of a Stevie Wonder song with Tony Rich, a neo-soul musician who emerged around the same time as D'Angelo. D'Angelo sings "Superstition" and Tony sings "Living For The City," singing a simultaneous mash-up. They also sing "I Wish" with exquisite interplay. Truly talented. If you're looking for a dream band performance, it's the New York live performance with David Sanborn and Friends. Prince has covered both "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Use Me," and it seems he was heavily influenced by their performances there. D'Angelo is the front man for "Use Me," and Prince has never sung with such a backing line-up; in fact, he probably wouldn't have wanted to. Prince is Prince, and D'Angelo is D'Angelo. D'Angelo's solo on "Star Spangled Banner" and "I've Been Trying," where Clapton and D'Angelo share the vocals and play guitar and piano, respectively, are also moving. The press kit for "Voodoo" (a collection of videos and other materials required by media personnel for interviews and article writing) features a memorable clip of Clapton expressing his shock upon hearing "Spanish Joint" and saying, "I can't take it anymore, is everything else like this?" The quality of the footage isn't particularly impressive, but it adds to the historical and cinematic feel. BET's Behind the Scenes program features some pixelated noise. The BET interview features a slightly lower-quality, but still excellent, live performance of "Send It On." His performance of "Chicken Grease" is enjoyable compared to his performance on the Chris Rock Show. Both are super funky and comparable. D'Angelo's performance of "Devil's Pie" erupts into insanity at the end, but Shelby Johnson's (later NPG girlfriend) backing vocals are equally insane. An MTV Live interview shows D'Angelo working on the music video for his Prince cover of "She's Always In My Hair." However, it was shelved. And at the Madison Square Garden concert, I'm delighted to see them perform songs from "Voodoo," as well as the incredibly cool "Sex Machine," which includes an exquisite break and synchronized dance with Tom Jones, and another dreamlike group, "Every Breath You Take," centered around Sting, who also joins in with D'Angelo, making for a very moving performance in which they pass the parts of each song together like a baton.

Brown Sugar Era

●ABC In Concert 1995
Interview
●It's Showtime At The Apollo December 2 1995
Brown Sugar
Cruisin'
●Late Night with David Letterman January 31, 1996
Brown Sugar
●VH-1 Fashion Awards October 26, 1996
Brown Sugar
●BET Studios Washington DC 1996
Fencewalk [Mandrill] Intro
Sweet Sticky Thing
Jonz In My Bonz
Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine
Cruisin'
Lady
Brown Sugar
●Linwood Rose on Chris Rock Show February 14, 1997
Bring It On Home To Me
Lady
Fire
Gospel Rave Up
(Linwood Rose = D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Questlove and Chalmers "Spanky" Alford)
●Stevie Wonder Tribute with Tony Rich at the Grammy Awards February 26, 1997
Intro
Superstition / Living For The City
I wish
●NY with Eric Clapton and David Sanborn & Friends December 14, 1998
Sunshine Of Your Love
Use me
(David Sanborn & Friends = Marcus Miller, Ricky Peterson, Gene Lake, Don Alias & Dean Brown)
●Madison Square Garden - Evander Holyfield vs. Lenox Lewis boxing match March 13, 1999
Star Spangled Banner
●with Eric Clapton at Curtis Mayfield Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction March 15, 1999
Intro
I've been trying

Voodoo Era

●shot in Havana, Cuba 1999
Voodoo Electronic Press Kit
●Video Music Box - Behind The Scenes (November 6, 1999)
Left & Right
●BET - Behind The Scenes
Left & Right video shoot
Lady (Remix) (music video)
interview
●BET
interview
Send It On
interview
Chicken Grease
●Behind The Video
Untitled (How Does It Feel)
●Chris Rock Show October 8, 1999
Chicken Grease
●Tonight Show with Jay Leno March 6, 2000
Untitled (How Does It Feel)
●with Beyonce
●live on MTV Movie Awards June 3, 2000
Intro
Devil's Pie
●2000 MTV VMA Best New Artist
Commercial
●MTV Live
interview
●VH-1 Men Strike Back
?
●Madison Square Garden April 11, 2000
Intro
Left & Right
Send It On
Untitled (How Does It Feel) (with Tom Jones)
Sex Machine (with Tom Jones)
Every Breath You Take (with Sting, Enrique Iglesias, Tom Jones, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys and Sisqo)

Pro-Shot
162min.