Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 9, 2019

Chances are probably very good that you’ve never heard of Robbie Basho, but the fact that this kind of weird but enjoyable documentary about him features such well known talking heads as Pete Townshend, Country Joe McDonald and Windham Hill’s William Ackerman may give some indication that others most definitely have heard of (and simply heard) him. Basho never really had much of a presence in the national consciousness of “pop” music, though Basho’s rather odd but bracing combo platter of styles and techniques would hardly be called “pop” by many people in any case. Basho exploited a “finger style” guitar technique that also drew heavily on ethnic influences like ragas and Native American chant.

If Basho's guitar playing is often ravishingly beautiful (if often completely idiosyncratic), his vocals might churlishly be described as infringing on "Slim Whitman" territory (and I apologize to what are evidently a devoted coterie of Basho's vocal "stylings"). Be that as it may, those with an interest in indie music in the United States, especially trends that initially grew out of the nascent folk boom of the late fifties and early sixties, will find a lot to like here, though Basho's life was hardly happy and his absolutely horrifying death on a chiropractic table will probably make many swear off any future "adjustments" at a similar clinic.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (mostly) in 1.78:1 (some stills and other archival video are in narrower aspect ratios). This has the somewhat heterogeneous look that documentaries often do, with the contemporary interview segments looking sharpest, even if the palette can seem a trifle wan a lot of the time. Stills generally look very sharp and well detailed, but some of the archival video, notably a public access television performance by Basho in San Francisco, are pretty shoddy looking, suffering from upscaling and combing artifacts galore.

Note: The disc has been authored with no chapter stops and no ability to chapter skip ahead. Fast forwarding is still available.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While this is in essence a talking head-fest, the lack of a lossless track may disappoint those who do want to hear the snippets of Basho's music presented in this documentary via lossless audio. The Dolby Digital 2.0 track suffices well enough for the spoken elements, but there's some rather interesting drone like low end in some of Basho's music that I think could have definitely benefited from a lossless presentation.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Extended Interviews feature helpful (?) descriptions of the interview subjects in parentheses, as indicated below:

  Country Joe McDonald (Former Vocalist and Guitarist of Country Joe & The Fish) (1080p; 2:40)

  
  

  Pete Townshend (Guitarist and Vocalist of The Who) (1080p; 23:39)

• Trailer (1080p; 1:06)

Additionally this is packaged with two DVDs, the first containing the same content as the Blu-ray (in standard definition, of course), and the second including a glut of other extended and/or deleted interviews.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I remember having heard of Basho when I was a crazy musically inclined "mystic" (as Basho is repeatedly described) living in San Francisco in the 1970s, but I frankly had never really checked out much if any of his music. This documentary suffers from a bit of ADHD, darting to and fro with a sometimes confusing lack of linear narrative, but it certainly brings the appropriately enigmatic Basho some much deserved recognition. Video is fine but there's only lossy audio on this release, for those who are considering a purchase.