THE SUMMER OF BLUES! THE LOST 1969 MEMPHIS BLUES FESTIVAL

This astounding festival featured the likes of a young JOHNNY WINTER, Memphis STAX VOLT  RECORDS legends THE BAR-KAYS with RUFUS THOMAS, country blues legends BUKKA WHITE, SLEEPY JOHN ESTES, MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL and many others.  Gene Rosenthal, owner of indie label Adelphi filmed approximately 17 hours of performances on 16mm film and abandoned the project after blowing the remaining budget on film processing. It sat in Rosenthal's archive until two years ago when Bruce Watson and Mathew Johnson of Fat Possum Records resurrected it. HISTORIC FILMS is proud to offer clip licensing for this iconic slice of musical history, It also features  footage of the oldest Blues Man of all time, Nathan Beauregard born in 1863 was 106 years old when he was filmed at the Festival in 1969!

The Red Skelton Show

From 1951 to 1971, THE RED SKELTON SHOW was a television entertainment staple and an institution to a generation of viewers. In the decade prior to hosting the show,  Comedian Richard “Red” Skelton  had a successful career as radio and movie star and from the 1940s-80s was one of American’s most beloved  comedic entertainers.
During its run, the program received three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as the Best TV show (1959).
The show’s largely topical comedy sketches  offered a comedic twist to such contemporary topics as the 1960s’ space program and race to the moon, , women’s rights,  presidential politics and youth culture . The show also presented a fabulous array of musical guests including The Rolling Stones ( in their FIRST US TV Show appearance), Diana Ross &  The Supremes, John Wayne, Phyliss Diller, Lou Rawls, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington,  Simon & Garfunkel and many many more.
On behalf of Shout! Factory, Historic Films is proud to offer the exclusive clip rights to segments from this iconic American television program

The BEST SHOT Stock Footage Library

Started in Tampa Florida in the late 1980s by Peter Klein, BEST SHOT was a leading independent footage archive. Active through the early 2000s, BEST SHOT amassed footage of cultural events, locations, life-styles, travel, food, children, animals, sports, aerials, underwater, time lapse, animation, technology, landscapes and more. Historic Films’ CEO Joe Lauro says “In keeping with our mission to try to keep twenty years behind the times in regards to the stock footage we offer, we are thrilled to return BEST SHOT’s holdings to the marketplace. It is an amazing new asset for us. It represents an expansive trove of film and video that encapsulates these three important decades".

The library is currently being reorganized and brought online in collaboration with former BEST SHOT shooter and manager Ron Ceyrolles. The footage will become available to stream and download for licensing through Historic Films beginning this fall.

THE LOST WOODSTOCK COLLECTION

Carl Simring was a young man connected to the “A list” of 1960’s rock promoters and musicians. Several of Carl’s friends were involved in the organization of the original Woodstock Festival. These friends allowed Carl a prime spot on the Woodstock  stage to film whatever he chose during the three day festival.  Using his Sony Portapak CV220, considered the first mobile video camera, he filmed away all weekend. The result is an astounding alternate library of Woodstock performances, many of them  preserved ONLY by  Carl and his Sony Portapak.  Electrifying performances by THE WHO, JANIS JOPLIN, GRATEFUL DEAD, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, MOUNTAIN and several others were filmed by Carl, most of which never made it to the “Woodstock”  Warner Brothers film or any of it’s companion releases.  Historic Films is proud to offer this one of a kind glimpse of this historic 1960’s cultural event.

Kent State Demonstrations

Kent State student demonstrations were a tragic and defining moment in the early 1970's anti-Vietnam war protests. Student Larry Shank captured several of the Kent State events with his Super 8mm camera.

IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO

IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO 1997 - 2006

From its opening in the 1920's,  the Apollo Theater has been Harlem's premier show place and an iconic venue for African American performers. From 1987-2006, the syndicated musical variety program IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO was filmed on the stage of that legendary theater.  Each weekly episode presented live performances by some of the most popular black musicians, singers and comedians of the day including DONNA SUMMER, BEASTIE BOYS, LIL' KIM, DESTINY'S CHILD, PUFF DADDY, FAITH EVANS, BIGGIE SMALLS, MARY J. BLIGE, MC HAMMER and NATALIE COLE.  Also showcased are early glimpses of up and coming talent such as LAUREN HILL (appearing at the age 13 and is booed by the notoriously tough Apollo audience) who competed in the show's weekly "Amateur Contest", one of the Apollo's most infamous and long running traditions. The show documents early rap  and hip hop performers while the music  was still very new and just hitting the mainstream.

FESTIVAL EXPRESS

During the summer of 1970 popular rock bands The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and her band, The Band, Ten Years After, Flying Burrito Brothers, Sha Na Na, Stevie Winwood & Traffic, Blues legend Buddy Guy, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Ian & Sylvia and others embarked on a mammoth trip via private train across Canada. Along the way they stopped off at different Canadian cities and staged a series of "All Star" concerts.

HOLLYWOOD FILMMAKING - HD COLLECTION

Metropolis Video - CBGB

Through an EXCLUSIVE arrangement with Metropolis Video, Historic Films is proud to announce its representation of this important collection, featuring  concerts filmed at the legendary CBGB music club in New York City.

From its opening in 1973 CBGB was the forum for American Punk and New Wave bands. During their early years performers such as Patti Smith, Television and The Ramones performed at CBGB regularly.  Very little performance footage from the club scene of the mid-1970's is known to exist making the Metropolis library an important document of that era of musical history.

Early concerts by Blondie, The Talking Heads, The Heartbreakers and Richard Hell and several others (all shot in 1975) were captured  multi-camera on black and white open reel 1/2" video. Along with the performances, which feature remarkably good audio, you can hear the audiences screaming with the raw passion and vitality that was indicative of the Punk and New Wave era.

The Ernie Kovacs Show

Ernie Kovacs was undeniably one of the great pioneers of television comedy. Kovacs made the medium of TV an integral part of his humor, and his wit and talent continues to inspire even today. The 10+ years he was on television (March 1951 - January 1962) left an indelible mark on the industry and on everyone who watched and remembered his shows. Thanks to the dedication and tireless efforts of the late Edie Adams, his widow, a great deal of his television work survives in original 16mm kinescopes and 2'' video masters. Historic is proud to be the exclusive representative for clips from the Ernie Kovacs Show

The Edie Adams Show

Besides being an era defining beauty and the MURIEL CIGAR GIRL in a fabulous series of commercials from the 1950s-70s, EDIE ADAMS, in her own right, was a Juiliard trained singer, model, Emmy winning actress and a first rate comedienne. She often appeared in skits with her husband Ernie Kovacs and between 1960-1961 hosted her own ABC network variety show THE EDIE ADAMS SHOW for which she received four emmy nominations. Guests included BOB HOPE, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, STAN GETZ, DUKE ELLINGTON, SAMMY DAVIS JR and many other icons of her generation. As a result of Edie's careful preservation of the masters from her and her husband's programs, Historic Films is able to offer excerpts from these important shows for use in all media.

BARACK OBAMA – The “Lost Interview”

Filmed in 1993 this obscure 12 minute interview was unearthed by filmmaker STUART GOLDMAN and used in his documentary “BECOMING BARACK”.

Historic is proud to announce its exclusive representation of this rare and important early glimpse at the future President.

US Festival

Historic Films, partnering with California-based SHOUT FACTORY has acquired all rights to the first tech-driven rock festival.

The US Festivals (US pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials) were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983. Wozniak paid for the bulldozing and construction of a new open-air field venue as well as the construction of an enormous state-of-the-art temporary stage at Glen Helen Regional Park near Devore, San Bernardino, California. (This site was later to become home to Blockbuster Pavilion - now San Manuel Amphitheater - the largest amphitheater in the United States as of 2007.)

A stellar list of the most popular acts of the day including FLEETWOOD MAC, TALKING HEADS, SANTANA, STRAY CATS, THE CLASH, THE CARS, THE POLICE, THE B-52s, VAN HALEN, OZZY OSBOURNE, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, THE PRETENDERS, DAVID BOWIE, THE RAMONES, MOTLEY CREW, QUIET RIOT and many others were filmed at the festival with multi-camera shoots. Some of the footage was used on  SHOWTIME and MTV specials but the great majority has never met the light of day. Besides the over 100 hours of performance footage is many hours of great early 1980s youth pop-culture stock footage. All of which has been logged and re-transferred and is available for licensing.

Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine

HISTORIC FILMS is proud to announce its representation of one of the 1960s best loved comedy/variety television programs. "From Miami Beach, the sun and fun capital of the world, it's Jackie Gleason and his American Scene Magazine!" is one of the most beloved opening lines in television history. From 1962-1966 Jackie Gleason's AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE show dominated the Saturday night airwaves.  Few baby boomers can forget the classic FRANK FONTAINE "Crazy Guggenheim"  skits which appeared in 98 of the show's 120 episodes. Besides featuring some of Gleason's most memorable comic routines and characters, the show featured hundreds of musical and comic guests.  Included are early performances by PAUL ANKA, JACKIE DE SHANNON, TONY BENNETT, ERROL GARNER, JAYNE MANSFIELD , COUNT BASIE, BOBBY DARIN, KING CURTIS and HENNY YOUNGMAN.
 
Shot on 2" video, the master tapes have been well preserved by the Gleason family and are as vibrant today as when they first appeared on television 48 years ago.

Historic Films' President JOE LAURO says, "We are delighted to be working with the Gleason family and with this legendary series. It fits nicely with our other A-List variety programs such as THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW and THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW, and it allows us to offer the best of the best of 1960s musical and comic performances to our clients.