By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 10:10 am:

THE THING THAT AMAZES ME THE MOST ABOUT THE PBS SPECIALS OTHER THAN SEEING THE GREATS PERFORM IS HOW GOOD MOST OF THEM SOUND CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT SOME OF THE ARTIST HAVEN'T PERFORMED IN YEARS,IT GREAT THAT MOST OF THEM STILL SOUND GREAT!ANY OPINIONS?

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 10:58 am:

R&B:
That's probably because these folks have learned how to take care of themselves and their instruments - which in most case is their vocal chords.
I remember seeing the group Enchantment sing at the Apollo Theater in 1997 (years before TJ Lubinsky started the PBS series). All five members were in strong voice, especially EJ (Emmanuel Johnson) the lead singer - who could sing the paint off the walls. Keep in mind this was 21 years after "Gloria" was released!
Just about everyone I had seen on the PBS series sounded great and looked wonderful.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By douglasm (68.113.15.28) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 11:05 am:

The thing that gets me is the almost strict adhearence to the original charts. Some of the singers (Dionne Warwick comes to mind) make minor concessions to the fact that they can't hit the notes anymore, some (Jay Black, Eddie Holland (?)) don't need to, but I'm most impressed by the fact that they don't "supper club" the arrangements, that is, up tempo them.
A good example would be "Oh What A Night", with the slightly draggy opening. It could have been stepped up a notch, but wasn't.
Much credit to the singers for sounding great, but a lot of that goes to the arranger of/and the backing musicians for making the sound great.

By Eli (151.197.37.171) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 01:11 pm:

Eddie Holman sounds better than ever.
obviously Edwin and Dennis edwards also.

and Dennis Coffey is a guitar genius and looks great as well!!!!

By douglasm (68.113.15.28) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 01:26 pm:

Well, I was close--I got the Hol part right.