Here are three of the current crop that I recommend for some interesting viewing.
1. 'Composing The Beatles Songbook'
Pride DVD (Release date: March 18, 2008)
Between 1957 and 1965, John Lennon and Paul McCartney established themselves as one of the most influential songwriting collaborations of the 20th century. Their prolific catalog not only served as the basis for The Beatles' phenomenal success, it contains many songs that are among the most covered, played, and sold, of all time.
This documentary effectively weaves vintage performance footage and interviews with writers, broadcasters, friends and associates to tell the remarkable Lennon-McCartney story. The recurring theme is that the two were polar opposites in many ways, but that served to make the songs they wrote together all the more memorable.
For the serious collector or the casually curious, this video is worth watching.
2. 'John Lennon - Classic Albums: Plastic Ono Band'
Eagle Rock Entertainment (Release date: April 29, 2008)
I've become a really big fan of Eagle Rock Entertainment's Classic Albums DVD series. It is uniformly well produced, entertaining and informative stuff.
In John Lennon - Classic Albums: Plastic Ono Band, Lennon's first post-Beatles solo album is examined through performance and other period footage, and interviews with a cast of sources that includes Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Lennon's friend from The Beatles' early '60s gigs in Hamburg, Germany, bassist Klaus Voormann.
What could have been a dry history lesson is made vibrant and interesting with its high production values, excellent research, smart writing, and choice of interview subjects. It may not have been Lennon at his best, but this view of him at his most tortured is must-see.
3. 'John, Paul, Tom & Ringo - The Tomorrow Show'
Shout! Factory (Release date: April 1, 2008)
The most significant thing about this two-DVD set is that it contains John Lennon's last televised interview, five years before his death, on NBC's The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
The 1975 interview was re-aired as part of a December 1980 Lennon tribute show, which is also included, along with Tomorrow appearances by Paul McCartney (1979) and Ringo Starr (1981), which provide interesting snapshots of the latter two during their post-Beatles Wings and solo careers, respectively.
Snyder could be irritating, but he managed to attract A-list guests at a time when late-late night talk shows were still in the baby stage.
This is by no means a complete Beatles history, but it's clever, enlightening, and highly watchable.
