Amazing grace [videorecording (DVD)] / a production of Public Affairs Television, Inc. ; with Bill Moyers ; produced and directed by Elena Mannes ; editor Donna Marino.
Judy Collins, Jean Ritchie, shape-note singers of Holly Springs, Geo., Dewey Williams, Jessye Norman, Johnny Cash, Marion Williams, the Boys' Choir of Harlem, et al. ; words of John Newton read by Jeremy Irons. Originally aired on PBS in 1990. Includes the documentary Pure Pete Seeger, originally broadcast in 1994 as a segment of the television program Bill Moyers' journal, in which Moyers interviews and provides a musical portrait of 75 year old folk singer and activist Pete Seeger. Viewer's guide includes articles on the inspiration for the program, the song's lyrics, shape-note singing, and facts about the song inserted in container.
Contents:
Amazing grace (80:00) -- Special features. Pure Pete Seeger (54:00) -- Bill Moyers biography -- Performer biographies.
Summary:
Bill Moyers tells the story of this song, one of the most popular pieces of music in the English language, through the people who have sung it. He also tells the story of John Newton, once the captain of an English slave ship, who came to faith after surviving a storm at sea in the eighteenth century and wrote the lyrics which across distances of time and culture have become, when set to music, a courier of the spirit to millions of people.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.