Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 31, 2019

The recently reviewed 24 Hour Party People sought to depict the nascent music scene of Manchester in the late 1970s into the 1980s, and it features some perhaps unsettling commentary about one Mick Hucknall, so much so that I actually advised fans of Hucknall or Simply Red to perhaps stay away from the film. It’s perhaps notable (no pun intended) in that regard that Hucknall, who is accused in 24 Hour Party People of being something of a hack, was able to take “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” all the way to Number 1 (with Simply Red), while Teddy Pendergrass (with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes) had to be content with making “only” Number 3 with their original version of the tune (they did make it to Number 1 on the R&B charts, unsurprisingly). The subtitle of this documentary obviously refers to the song that probably introduced many people to Pendergrass’ smoky, seductive voice, but it also serves as a reminder that many people who remember Pendergrass tend to often think of him as a “victim” due to the horrifying car accident that left him a quadriplegic at the height of his career and arguably stopped his momentum in its tracks.

The documentary does a really remarkable job of providing tons of biographical tidbits about Pendergrass, some of which may end up surprising even diehard fans, and it’s bolstered by an unusual source: Pendergrass himself, who sought to document his life with scores of cassette tapes he recorded over the course of several years, and which are used interstitially here to provide Pendergrass’ own thoughts on what he either had gone through or was going through. There are some frankly disturbing things that come to light in this piece, including an insinuation that the “accident” Pendergrass suffered may not in fact have been completely random, as well as some other hints about the perhaps questionable death of Pendergrass’ first manager. The film has a glut of talking head interview segments, including with several members of Pendergrass’ family, and it provides a warm if unavoidably bittersweet portrait of a singer who faced calamity head on and who in his own way managed to fight back from almost unfathomable tragedy.

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is another documentary that can't quite overcome some of the limitations of its archival video elements, with a lot of the older footage of Pendergrass in performance looking pretty shoddy when compared to the much sharper and better detailed contemporary interview segments. Aside from that probably unavoidably heterogeneous appearance, things look generally precise and well detailed here throughout all of the contemporary footage. Stills also make it through the gauntlet of age generally better than some of the vintage broadcast material.

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. This is another music-centric documentary where the actual music is presented in dribs and drabs, and often as brief interstitial moments between longer interview segments, and as such the stereo track may suffice perfectly well for many listeners. The surround track does open things up when music is presented, but offers little additional spaciousness to the many talking head sequences. Fidelity is fine throughout both tracks, and I noticed no issues with regard to distortion, dropouts or other damage.

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Chitlin Circuit" Extended Segment (1080p; 2:41)


• "Drumming" Extended Segment (1080p; 1:43)


• "Poisoning" Extended Segment (1080p; 2:08)


• "Wake Up Everybody" Extended Segment (1080p; 6:09)


• Joan Pendergrass Interview (1080p; 3:35)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:27)

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's actually kind of shocking in a way that Pendergrass' musical contributions aren't more widely recognized, and that if he's remembered at all, he's often thought of (as mentioned above) as a "victim". This appealing if occasionally troubling documentary does a great job of providing both biographical datapoints as well as context as it delves into some of the more unsettling aspects of Pendergrass' life. Technical merits are solid, with an understanding that some of the archival video is definitely on the ragged side. Recommended.