Though listed at a full hour, there are only 30 minutes of
Mel Tillis music here, delayed by a narrator who goes through two minutes of
Twilight Zone-ish chatter as the country superstar walks from one part of the
Church Street Station theater in Orlando, FL, to the stage in the concert hall.
Tillis fans will have a solid argument that they are being shortchanged, despite the concert being a good performance, for the bizarre editing of the show disrupts the flow and disrespects the music icon.
Tillis is in excellent voice and the songs and backing band are all fine, despite the lighting on the tape being merely adequate.
Tillis is chatty after
"In the Middle of the Night," but for some strange reason they put the final performance of his ten-song set at the 16-and-a-half-minute mark and interrupt the program with "special guests" by just slipping some video into what should be
Tillis' proper sequence of tunes. The first of these "guests" spliced into the DVD are the twins from
Hee Haw,
the Haggars, who perform two songs including
Eddie Rabbit's
"Drivin' My Life Away"; they are followed by
Leroy Van Dyke, who also sings a stylistically odd couple of tunes that clash with the artistry of the star of the show. Then the concert from
Tillis magically returns at the 25-minute mark, with the performances out of sequence, of course. It's one thing to give only half the amount of music, but better song tracking and some liner notes would have made up for that, and would not have been difficult to do. True fans of
Mel Tillis shouldn't be subjected to the star having his project interfered with in this fashion; simply add the three additional artists and their five bonus tracks after the main attraction, and provide the titles of the songs as well as the names of the musicians who appear as his
Statesiders band.
Tillis jokes "I would love to dedicate (this song) to the father of country music,
John Travolta" -- and he goes into
"Good Woman Blues." The set concludes with a wonderful rendition of his original composition
"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," which pop fans consider more
Kenny Rogers & the First Edition's hit -- but that's OK;
Tillis' followers know and care that out of the dozens and dozens of covers of
"Ruby" out there, this is an authentic reading from the voice and mind that penned it. There's a four-page biography, a 12-page discography, and a one-page "fan club" information page, and after going through a ten-page questionnaire, a two-minute version of
"Great Balls of Fire" appears on the screen by another (unnamed) performer from the club. The importance of
Mel Tillis to the world of country music demands a more thorough and engaging concert and bio DVD, and the fact that there's so little visual material available from him in 2007 is the real shame, as this concert -- though good -- got hijacked along the way. ~ Joe Viglione
![Greatest Hits [Curb]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0715187748224_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Greatest Hits [Curb]")
![Best of Mel Tillis [Curb]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0715187787322_p0_v1_s90x140.gif "Best of Mel Tillis [Curb]")