MVD announces "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" on Blu-ray & DVD Nov. 3, 2026

The acclaimed documentary "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" is coming to both Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 3, 2026. Below is the official media release...Robert Kinsler 

Celebrating Billy Idol's 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 3, 2026

BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD made its festival debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in summer 2025, followed by an award-qualifying run in fall 2025 and a limited U.S. theatrical release in the first quarter of 2026. U.S. theatrical rights to the film were handled by Evan Saxon Productions. 

  

The deal for the physical media release was negotiated on behalf of Live Nation Studios and Giant Pictures by Bill Sondheim, President and CEO of Greenfield Media, LLC, and by Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson on behalf of MVD Entertainment Group. 

  

MVD Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson is excited to bring the film to Blu-ray and DVD. “Billy Idol is one of those rare artists whose music, image and attitude have remained instantly recognizable across generations, and Jonas Åkerlund has made a film that goes far beyond the iconography to tell the story of the person behind it. With Billy receiving his long-overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, the timing couldn’t be better to give fans the opportunity to own this documentary on physical media.” 

  

MVD Entertainment Group has scheduled BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD for release on Blu-ray and DVD on November 3, 2026. The Blu-ray (MVD21395BR / UPC 760137213956) carries a suggested retail price of $29.95, while the DVD (MVD21392D / UPC 760137213925) carries a suggested retail price of $19.95. 

  

About MVD Entertainment Group 

MVD Entertainment Group is an independent studio and full service entertainment distribution company, exclusively representing an extensive catalog with thousands of audio and visual products and content for digital, VOD and packaged media worldwide. 

  

About Live Nation Studios 

Live Nation Entertainment leads the industry bringing artists and their live shows to stages worldwide. Live Nation Studios (LNS) was created to help those same artists tell their stories.

The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-nominated division is home to artist-driven films and TV series dedicated to sharing those groundbreaking, musically-inspired stories for audiences across the globe. LNS is riding an incredible wave of success including “Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience” recently being the #1 movie world wide; Anderson.Paak’s “K-Pops!” hit theaters as an AMC Exclusive; “Rolling Loud,” starring Owen Wilson and Matt Rife, will premiere in cinemas this Summer; and the upcoming “Noah Kahan: Out of Body” doc was picked-up as a Netflix Original and debuted at SXSW. Recent documentary premieres include Miley Cyrus’ “Something Beautiful,” Ty Dolla $ign’s “Still Free TC,” Dustin Lance Black’s “Rock Out,” Becky G’s “Rebbeca,” and “The French Montana Story: For Khadija.” The latest scripted projects announced are “Stages,” “New Years Rev” - a Green Day story, as well as The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” LNS’ previous projects include “Gaga: Five Foot Two,” “Moonage Daydream” with David Bowie and the critically acclaimed “A Star is Born.” 

  

About Giant Pictures 

Giant Pictures is a boutique digital distributor based in New York City and Los Angeles that works directly with filmmakers and rights owners to distribute movies and TV shows to VOD and streaming platforms around the world. A division of Giant Interactive, an award-winning digital media and technology services company, Giant Pictures has licensing and distribution agreements with more than 45 of the top movie and TV streaming services. Giant Pictures has also previously worked with MVD Entertainment Group on the physical media release of “Lunachicks - Pretty Ugly: The Story Of The Lunachicks.” 

  

Billy Idol performing at House of Blues Anaheim in 
Anaheim, CA, on March 13, 2017.
Photo: Kelly A. Swift

About Billy Idol

For almost 50 years, Billy Idol has been one of the definitive faces and voices of rock & roll. Between 1977 and 1981, Idol released three albums with Generation X as their camera-ready frontman. In 1982, with guitarist Steve Stevens at his side, he embarked on a transatlantic/trans-genre solo career that integrated the bold and simple lines of punk and rock’n’roll decadence on songs like “Dancing With Myself,”“White Wedding,” Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without A Face,” “Cradle of Love,” and more. Touring consistently around the world and showing no signs of slowing down, Idol released "Dream Into It" on Dark Horse Records in 2025, earning praise from fans and critics alike. In 2026, Idol released "Billy Idol Should Be Dead," the definitive documentary about his life and career. 

Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown release debuts at #5 on the Billboard Kids Albums chart!

I received this timely media release from MVD Entertainment Group this morning. Great to see how composer/pianist Vince Guaraldi's music continues to resonate so many years after his untimely passing in 1976...Robert Kinsler

We are thrilled to announce that It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown by San Francisco jazz legend Vince Guaraldi has debuted on the Billboard Kids Albums Chart at #5!

 

Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) released  - for the first time ever, from recently rediscovered tapes - the complete Vince Guaraldi soundtrack to "It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown," the timeless 6th animated Peanuts® special, from writer and creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson. Originally the special aired in September 27, 1969 on CBS-TV.

 

The album includes the original recordings that comprise the cues from the Special across twenty-six tracks, plus another 6 alternative tracks that have never been released or heard before.

 

Guaraldi lovingly created the soundtrack for the summer camp adventure where Charlie Brown and his gang face off against the girls camp lead by Peppermint Patty. The large jazz combo album also includes the best rendition of Guaraldi classic, "Love Will Come (Nova Bossa)" as well as the first use of additional percussion in Victor Feldman.

 

The recording features Guaraldi (piano), Monty Budwig (double bass), Jack Sperling (drums), Conti and Pete Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Victor Feldman (percussion), Herb Ellis (guitar), Willian Hood and Peter Christlieb (woodwind), and John Scott Trotter as the orchestra leader. The soundtrack was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.

Legendary David Bowie 1992 film 'The Linguini Incident' rights acquired by MVD Entertainment Group

Check out this exciting news about one of David Bowie's legendary film roles; "The Linguini Incident" will be coming to movie houses via limited theatrical release and subsequently to digital and physical media in summer 2024...Robert Kinsler

MVD ENTERTAINMENT GROUP ADDS 

"THE LINGUINI INCIDENT" TO THE MENU,

ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO THE 

1992 DAVID BOWIE & ROSANNA ARQUETTE COMEDY

MVD Entertainment Group has acquired North American rights to Emmy-winning director Richard Shepard’s (The Matador, Dom Hemingway, The Handmaid’s Tale) debut film, The Linguini Incident. Rock music legend David Bowie (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) star in the film along with Academy Award® winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God), Buck Henry (Heaven Can Wait), Eszter Balint (Stranger Than Paradise), Andre Gregory (Demolition Man), Viveca Lindfors (The Sure Thing), James Avery (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Maura Tierney (Liar Liar). MVD is planning a limited theatrical release for the film, followed by its debut on digital, video on demand and physical media in summer 2024, under MVD’s Marquee Collection banner.  

The Linguini Incident is a romantic caper about a perennially underpaid waitress named Lucy (Arquette) and Monte (Bowie), a mysterious, charming (and very in debt) bartender. Lucy is seriously in need of cash and Monte needs to marry someone, anyone, by the end of the week… or else. Together they join forces — along with Lucy’s lingerie designing best friend, Viv (Balint) — to rob their terminally hip New York City restaurant and solve their financial woes. However these three are far from master criminals and they soon learn that in robberies, as in love, things never go as planned.

Originally released in spring 1992, co-writer and director Richard Shepard and producer Sarah Jackson re-claimed the rights to Shepard's debut feature film, scanned and restored the movie in 4K and assembled a never-before-seen director’s cut. According to Richard, “I’m thrilled that the great folks at MVD are going to re-release The Linguini Incident and present this brand-new director’s cut, with an incredibly beautiful transfer. It’s going to be a fun discovery or rediscovery for fans of Bowie, Arquette or independent films of the early 90s.” 

“I’m a huge fan of Richard’s body of work, especially The Matador, and one of the great privileges of my career is getting to collaborate with some of my favorite filmmakers and help bring their passion projects back to life,” said Eric D. Wilkinson, Director of Acquisitions at MVD Entertainment Group. “The Linguini Incident is a criminally underrated gem and I’m excited to be re-introducing Richard’s restored director’s cut the way it was meant to be seen, under our prestigious Marquee Collection banner.”

The deal was negotiated by producer Sarah Jackson and Lawrence Kopeikin, Esq., on behalf of the filmmakers and by Eric D. Wilkinson on behalf of MVD Entertainment Group.

About Richard Shepard 

Richard Shepard is an Emmy and DGA-winning director/writer whose feature films include the Golden Globe nominated The Matador starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, Dom Hemingway starring Jude Law and Richard E. Grant, and The Perfection starring Allison Williams and Logan Browning.  

In his career, Shepard has directed ten television pilots to pick-up, including Criminal Minds, now entering its 17th season; Ugly Betty, for which Shepard won the Director’s Guild award and Emmy award; the Golden Globe and Emmy nominated Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist; and Acapulco for Apple, now in its third season.  

Through its six seasons, Shepard directed twelve episodes of the Golden Globe winning HBO series Girls, including the controversial “American Bitch” episode for which Matthew Rhys received an Emmy nomination, as well as several Emmy nominated episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale. He recently directed the final two episodes of the multiple Emmy nominated Welcome to Chippendales, a Hulu limited series.   

About MVD Entertainment Group
MVD Entertainment Group is an independent studio and full service entertainment distribution company, exclusively representing an extensive catalog with thousands of audio and visual products and content for digital, VOD and packaged media worldwide. 

Mark Farner's 'Rock 'N' Roll Soul: Live 1989' arrives Nov. 17 on DVD, CD & vinyl

Mark Farner performing at The Coach
House in August 2022.
Photo credit: Bob Steshetz

I just received an exciting update on a historic concert recording featuring singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist great Mark Farner. I am a big fan of the artist (read my review of his August 2022 Coach House performance here). Check out the official media release before for details on Farner's "Rock 'N' Roll Soul: Live 1989" title coming this fall...Robert Kinsler

MARK FARNER'S ROCK 'N' ROLL SOUL: LIVE 1989 ARRIVES NOVEMBER 17 ON DVD, CD & VINYL FROM LIBERATION HALL Features the former Grand Funk Railroad frontman's complete performance at "Woodstock: 20 Years After"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 19, 2023 — Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul: Live 1989 marks the first official release of Mark Farner’s performance at the “Woodstock: 20 Years After” reunion held in Carson, California. The DVD, CD and download will include the full 15-track setlist while the vinyl LP will feature nine classic Grand Funk Railroad songs. Farner has contributed new liner notes. All formats will be released November 17 by Liberation Hall and distributed by MVD Entertainment Group (USA) and Wienerworld (UK).   Farner was a founding member, the lead singer, and guitarist for Flint, Michigan’s Grand Funk Railroad, as well as the principal songwriter who wrote over 90 percent of their multi-million selling catalog. To date, Grand Funk Railroad has earned 10 platinum and 13 gold records and Farner has sold over 30 million records worldwide. His best-known composition for the group is the 1970 classic rock radio staple “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home).” He also wrote the 1975 hit “Bad Time,” the last of the band’s four singles to make the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. After Grand Funk disbanded in 1976, Farner released two solo albums before reuniting with drummer Don Brewer for a pair of albums with a revamped lineup. Farner became a born again Christian in the late 1980s and continues to record both secular and religious-themed material. From 1994-1995, he toured with Ringo Starr’s Allstars, which also featured Randy Bachman, John Entwistle, Felix Cavaliere, Billy Preston, and Starr’s son, Zak Starkey. He currently leads Mark Farner’s American Band.   “I was honored to be able to play the 1989 Woodstock Revisited festival with such greats as Edgar Winter; Humble Pie; Canned Heat; Iron Butterfly; Blood, Sweat and Tears; and Melanie,” Farner states in the liner notes. “Plus, it was hosted by Timothy Leary! God bless us all!”   Pre-order Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul: Live 1989 on CD, LP and download at Amazon. Pre-order Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul: Live 1989 on DVD at Amazon. The first digital single, “Some Kind of Wonderful,” is available now.   Farner will be a guest on Ingram Entertainment’s “Talk Shop Live” at 7:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, October 12. Fans will be able to submit questions and purchase autographed copies of Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul: Live 1989 at Talk Shop Live. MARK FARNER – Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul: Live 1988 (DVD, LIB-4041; LP, LIB-5165; CD/DL, LIB-5164) All songs by Mark Farner unless otherwise noted. TRACKLIST: 1. Are You Ready | 2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul | 3. Footstompin’ Music | 4. Airborne Ranger * | 5. Judgement Day Blues * | 6. Some Kind of Wonderful (John Ellison) | 7. Paranoid * | 8. Come to Jesus * | 9. Mean Mistreater | 10. Must Have Been Love * | 11. Bad Time | 12. I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home) | 13. Heartbreaker | 14. Isn’t It Amazing * | 15. The Loco-Motion (Gerry Goffin, Carole King)   * Appears on DVD, CD and download. Does not appear on LP. DVD Teaser Trailer

'The Beatles and India' coming to DVD, Blu-ray on June 21, 2022

I can't recommend this Beatles documentary strongly enough. It is must-see viewing for fans of The Beatles. Back in February I reviewed the film in my weekly column (read that review HERE); TJR and I also discussed the film at length via an episode available to view on YouTube HERE...Robert Kinsler

New from Silva Screen Music Group/Renoir Pictures:

The Beatles And India

[Blu-ray]

[DVD]

(6/21)

Via MVD Entertainment Group

“When I first heard Indian music, I just couldn’t really believe that it was so great, and the more I heard of it, the more I liked it. It just got bigger and bigger, like a snowball."

~ George Harrison

A Never-Before-Seen Look at The Beatles' Visit to India!

In 1968, the world’s most popular rock & roll band, The Beatles, had achieved mass fame and fortune yet were searching for deeper meaning in their lives. Under the spiritual guidance of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Beatles took a trip to Rishikesh, India to study Transcendental Meditation® and set out on a path of deep enlightenment that would change the world.

 

The award-winning feature documentary, The Beatles And India (Silva Screen Productions, Renoir Pictures), examines how Indian music and culture shaped the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo and in turn, explores how The Beatles served as ambassadors of this pioneering World music sound and cultural movement.

 

Drawing together an expansive archive of footage including contemporaneous locale shooting in India, recordings, photographs, and compelling first-hand interviews, The Beatles And India exhaustively documents this East-meets-West touchstone in pop culture history. Inspired by Ajoy Bose’s book Across The Universe - The Beatles In India, the documentary was produced by British Indian music entrepreneur Reynold D’Silva and directed by Bose (his directorial debut) and cultural researcher Pete Compton. The Beatles And India has been awarded Best Film Audience Choice and Best Music at the 2021 UK Asian Film Festival “Tongues On Fire.” The Beatles And India has also been nominated for Best Documentary at the 2022 New York Indian Film Festival, and will be the closing film for the festival.

 

The Beatles were first introduced to Indian music while filming their 1965 film, Help!, which featured Indian musicians in a restaurant scene. George Harrison would become a lifelong impassioned devotee of Indian music. He would soon buy his first sitar, befriend and study under sitar master Ravi Shankar and employ the instrument to revolutionary effect linking the worlds of pop music with Indian music on The Beatles song, “Norwegian Wood,” which appears on their Rubber Soul album. That song marked the group's, and particularly Harrison’s, full-on immersion into Indian music, resulting in a raga rock sound heard on The Beatles songs, “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Love You To” (Revolver), “Within You Without You” (Sgt. Pepper), and “The Inner Light" (B-side to the “Lady Madonna” single).

 

In early July 1966, while returning from shows in the Philippines, The Beatles made a quick stopover in New Delhi, India, marking their first trip to the country. Less than two years later, in February 1968, the group would return for an extended sojourn at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India where they would take a training course in Transcendental Meditation®. Their search for spiritual enlightenment would both shape their thinking and values and indelibly color the sounds of their expanding musical palette.

 

The Beatles And India is an unforgettable audio-visual experience that spotlights the legacy of that historic visit, chronicling The Beatles’ crucial role as avatars of a musical movement inspiring newfound societal and cultural awareness, weaving the fabric of pop and Indian music into a unified force of positivity and spiritual exploration.

'Mackintosh and TJ,' Roy Rogers final film appearance - film coming to Blu-ray & DVD on May 18

I wanted to make sure fans of westerns, the late silver screen star Roy Rogers and the music of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson saw this news...Robert Kinsler

Newly Restored 4K Edition Of Mackintosh and T.J. Starring The Legendary Roy Rogers In His Final Film Appearance Coming May 18, 2021

Featuring music by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, the American Western  is set for debut on Blu-ray and DVD via Verdugo Entertainment and MVD

On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, Verdugo Entertainment will launch the newly restored 4K version of the 1975 classic Mackintosh and T.J. on Blu-ray and DVD. The modern day American western stars the legendary “King of the Cowboys” Roy Rogers, in his final feature film appearance. 

 

Distributed by Verdugo Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group, the film is also streaming now on Amazon Prime, Vudu, You Tube and Google Play. 

 

Mackintosh and T.J. is described as “a moving photo album of ranch life in Texas in the mid-1970s.” Screenwriter Paul Savage, most known for his TV work in Wagon Train, Big Valley, and Gunsmoke, penned the film specifically with Roy Rogers in mind. The film is one of the few in which Roy Rogers did not play himself, portraying instead the title character of Mackintosh, a veteran ranch hand. 

 

In the film, wandering through rural Texas ranch country, Mackintosh becomes a father figure for the young and homeless T.J. (Clay O’Brien) and helps him to stay on track. They land jobs on the ranch of Jim Webster, where Mackintosh proves his skills as a horse tamer. When a murder takes place, Mackintosh is framed which leads to dramatic events. 

 

Watch trailer here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvrJwwNdkZo

 

The film was restored to 4K from the original 35MM camera negative, including audio cleanup and went through a color correction process to match the original film. Colorist Sean Lawrence comments, “Our color correction approach was to try and be as true to the original intention and not impose modern color correction aesthetics. Were the filmmakers alive to see it, we would want them to feel that this matched their original vision.”

 

Mackintosh and TJ’s original score is by Waylon Jennings and the soundtrack features songs by Jennings and country music icon Willie Nelson.

 

The film was recently spotlighted in the What is a Western? Interview Series: Ranching, Rodeo and Roy Rogers produced by The Autry Museum and featuring a lively discussion with rodeo world champion Larry Mahan (who also has a role in the movie), and film historians C. Courtney Joyner and Stuart Rosebrook. The panelists discuss the realistic portrayal of 20th century rodeo and ranching life in movies, particularly in Roy Rogers’ final film, and explore the significance of the Western genre and the ways in which the movies shape our understanding of the American West. 

Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg7MaCOzEe4

 

“It isn’t a Roy Rogers movie, it’s a wonderful movie that Roy Rogers is in that reflects quite a bit of 1970’s sensibility,” says Joyner.

 

“Roy Rogers’ character Mackintosh seems to be an amalgamation of some of those characters we saw in Junior Bonner, J W Coop, The Honkers - men out of time, men who have values, who still follow the ‘Code of The West.’ So that message came across very strong,” comments Rosebrook.

 

“Producer Tim Penland wanted to do older style Westerns,” explains Mahan. “He had quite an extensive Christian background, and he wanted to get away from what he saw in Westerns, as there was too much violence, and he wanted to do something that was more in line with his values.”

Bonus Materials

• Audio Commentary with Clay O’Brien, Andrew Robinson and moderator C. Courtney Joyner
• Lone Pine Cast Reunion with Clay O’Brien, Andrew Robinson and Larry Mahan
• Interview with Billy Green Bush
• Original On-Set Footage
• Theatrical Trailer

About Verdugo Entertainment

Verdugo Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment distribution company dedicated to rediscovering, restoring and distributing cult classic and retro films. Located in Burbank, California, the company provides complete film-distribution services and the highest level of technical quality in restoration so that each film is presented in its intended brilliance – bringing today’s fans closer than ever to the original experience.  Verdugo films are made widely available through streaming services, VOD, OTT, Broadcast, on VHS collectors sets, on DVD and Blu-ray, and can be seen at outdoor screenings, cinemas and festivals across the U.S. and Canada.   

'Gospel According to Al Green' coming to Blu-ray, DVD in July

I couldn't be more excited to see this forthcoming release. I saw Al Green headline at Doheny Blues Festival a decade ago and his performance was riveting!

Gospel According To Al Green

coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital formats on July 7th

"A unique and fascinating glimpse into the life and memory of one of soul music's 

most perplexing figures. Quite shocking in its intimacy. Essential viewing."
- New Musical Express (UK)

"One of the most powerful 'live' performances ever captured on film. It's frightening. Electrifying."
- Toronto Star

"You'll probably never hear a more powerful vocal spectacle; it's James Brown times ten. 

This is an amazing movie, packed with astonishing music. 

It's also a riveting exploration of the psychology of pop ambition."
- Los Angeles Herald Examiner

After filmmaker Robert Mugge produced BLACK WAX with Gil Scott-Heron for Britain's new Channel 4 Television in 1982, he and Channel 4's Commissioning Editor for Music Andy Park wanted to collaborate again. Park suggested Mugge create a portrait of African American gospel star Andraé Crouch. But Mugge, a longtime fan of soul and pop singer Al Green, countered that Green's rejection of soul music to become a Memphis-based preacher and gospel singer perhaps made him a richer potential subject.

Park agreed, though Mugge then needed thirteen months to secure Green's approval, getting his okay only days before the planned Seventh Anniversary Celebration of Green's Full Gospel Tabernacle. The Sunday afternoon church service would feature not only Green's usual church choir and musicians, but also a second choir from Ellington, South Carolina and most of Green's touring musicians and backup singers. Mugge arranged to document that December 18, 1983 service with three 16mm cameras and a 24-track audio recording truck, making it the first (and reportedly still the only) Al Green church service to be committed to film.

While in Memphis, Mugge and his crew went on to film an interview with legendary Hi Records producer Willie Mitchell who had produced and co-written Green's commercial hits of the 1970s, a studio rehearsal featuring Green and his musicians, and finally a long interview with Green himself. In Green's interview, he explored his early days in the music business, his creation of such popular hits as "Tired of Being Alone" and "I Can't Get Next to You," the traumatic events that led to his abandoning of his successful soul and pop career, the purchase of the Memphis church building which he transformed into a church of his own, and the ways in which his soul and gospel backgrounds had each informed the other.

Perhaps the most emotional part of Green's interview was his discussion of the so-called "hot grits incident," wherein a spurned girlfriend assaulted him in the shower with a pot of boiling hot grits, then ran to another room of his house where she shot and killed herself. This interview, conducted two days after his church service, was the first occasion on which he discussed this experience publicly, and he included facts that even his own band members had never heard.

In February of 1984, Mugge also filmed Green and his band in concert at the Non-commissioned Officers Club of Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., this time utilizing four 16mm cameras and the same Nashville-based 24-track recording truck he had hired to record the Memphis church service. It should be noted that, at that point in Rev. Green's career, he had embraced the Southern fundamentalist notion that blues, rhythm 'n' blues, and rock 'n' roll were "music of the Devil," and that, therefore, he should now perform only gospel music. However, among the numbers Green performed at the D.C. concert was Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," which exists somewhere between soul and gospel. In addition, during the staged rehearsal in Memphis, Green agreed to perform "Let's Stay Together," which had been one of his biggest commercial successes and now represented a recurring theme in the film.

Along with fragments of a few more hits he performed during his interview, these songs helped to depict "Al Green the pop star" who had preceded "Al Green the pastor." While editing the film back in Philadelphia, Mugge also decided to interview writer Ken Tucker who was then chief music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Tucker skillfully summarized Green's place in the evolution of American soul music and outlined the ongoing conflict between the secular and spiritual sides of pop music, both of which provided welcome context for Green's unique spiritual journey.

Among the top Memphis musicians who appear in this film are, number one, Lawrence H. "Larry" Lee, Jr., who was best known for touring with Green and for performing at Woodstock and elsewhere with Jimi Hendrix's Gypsy Sun and Rainbows; and number two, Mabon Lewis "Teenie" Hodges, who co-wrote Green's hits "Take Me to the River" and "Love and Happiness" and toured and recorded widely as a guitarist with the Hi Records Rhythm Section. Lee can be seen performing in the church service and rehearsal sequences of the film, and Hodges can be heard, and briefly seen, playing incidental guitar behind Green during much of his interview. Sadly, both men are now deceased.

The resulting 96-minute film, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AL GREEN, had its world premiere presentation in the summer of 1984 at Filmfest Munchen (a film festival in Munich, Germany), its television premiere over Britain's Channel 4 later that fall, and its U.S. theatrical premiere at Justin Freed's Coolidge Corner Moviehouse in Brookline, Massachusetts a year later. After each of the two opening night screenings on October 25, 1985, Green sat on the Coolidge Corner stage and, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, freely offered the commercial hits that he had mostly refused to perform during the making of Mugge's film, thereby demonstrating his storied unpredictability. Naturally, audience members at both shows were enchanted by his presentation, and since these and other premiere screenings, the film has been in constant release around the world. As to Rev. Green - now Bishop Green - this past December, he and his congregation celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his Full Gospel Tabernacle church.


For MVD Visual's new worldwide Blu-ray and DVD releases, director Mugge has overseen 4K remastering of the film and created a new 17-minute video titled SOUL AND SPIRIT: Robert Mugge on the Making of GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AL GREEN. Other bonus features include audio of Green's entire 1983 interview, audio of the climactic final hour of Green's seventh anniversary church service, an extended film version of a key song from the church service, and the personal telephone answering machine message Green recorded for Mugge in the mid 1980s.

Order online at the MVD Shop or on Amazon