The T.A.M.I. Show: Collector’s Edition DVD
Distributor: Shout! Factory
Performers: The Rolling Stones, James Brown, The Supremes
Rating: ****
Mick Jagger later admitted it was one of the worst career decisions he ever made — allowing the Rolling Stones to go on stage after James Brown to close the T.A.M.I. Show in 1964.
The Stones were still just a bunch of middle class kids from England, performing covers of the R&B greats. They were no match for the Godfather of Soul. At the time, nobody was. He was the real thing. The Stones got owned.
Brown’s performance at the Teenage Awards Music International (TAMI) concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium that day was one of the greatest of his life. Those amazing dance moves would late inspire Michael Jackson, Prince and, yes, even Jagger.
Luckily, Brown’s performance was caught on film along with those of the Stones, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, The Supremes, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and the Barbarians. Each act was backed by Phil Spector’s famed studio band, The Wrecking Crew, featuring future stars Glen Campbell and Leon Russell.
Over the years, the T.A.M.I. Show film has become sort of a lost treasure of rock ‘n’ roll history. On Tuesday, however, the complete concert will be available in stores on DVD for the first time, lovingly restored to high definition sound and video and accompanied by 20 pages of liner notes.
Although some of the shtick may seem a tad dated (hosts Jan and Dean skateboard out onto the stage), this is a film document that belongs beside Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, The Last Waltz, Festival Express and A Hard Day’s Night as a must-have DVD.
