Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45110 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-10
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, PAL, Subtitled
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

DVD Description
The definitive 2 disc Minutemen story feat 222mins of extras, live shows & videos plus interviews with Thurston Moore, Flea, Richard Hell, Ian Mackaye, J Mascis, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins & more.

Special Features
2-disc set, 16-page booklet with colour photos, flyers & extensive liner notes.

English Subtitles and French Subtitles, Colour, 16mm, 1.33:1.

Synopsis
When D. Boon fell out of a tree onto Mike Watt in a San Pedro, CA park in the early 1970s, the 13-year-olds began a friendship, resulting in one of the most unique collaborations in American punk music. After graduating high school, the two Blue Oyster Cult fans met gifted drummer George Hurley and formed The Minutemen, releasing five LPs in four years--including the highly regarded DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME (named as a response to Sammy Hagar's "I Can’t Drive 55"). Too experimental and political for many young punks, they were often spit upon during performances for their jazzy, funky detours. Their growing success was cut short when Boon was killed in an auto accident in December 1985 after completing a tour with R.E.M. WE JAM ECONO, directed by Tim Irwin, is a touching elegy to the trio. Structured around the remembrances of Watt, who recollects while driving his van around San Pedro, the film includes testimonials from Jello Biafra, Flea, John Doe, Richard Hell, and dozens more friends and followers of the band. With many archival performances capturing the considerable power of the band, Irwin allows those who missed them to see their influential and singular take on American hardcore.

Customer Reviews

This band should be your life!!
Finally someone has seen fit to release live footage of one of the most influential and enterprising bands of the SST generation. The first disc is a story of the band told through the eyes of founder members Mike Watt and George Hurley as well as talking heads from a veritable whos who of the early Eighties indie scene - Henry Rollins, Spot, Thurston Moore, a coupla Husker Du,Jello Biafa, a Descendent and, um, Flea from the Chili Peppers! What comes across most is the real sense of brotherhood and community that all the bands shared as well as the day-to-day struggle they all had to actually get their music heard. It ends inevitably with the sad death of singer/guitarist/ soul of the band D. Boon in a car accident.
The second disc contains three gigs; two electric and one acoustic and it is the latter in particular which is testament to the musical dexterity and ideas of the band - pretty good going when most of their songs don't even reach the two minute mark. With a couple of wonderfully cheap-looking promos and bags of edited scenes this is fans dream come true and something for anyone with an interest in early-80's US alt-rock to treasure. Now how about a similar effort on Husker Du?

BRILLIANT! ...long overdue.
The previous 2 reviews pretty much sum up everything I could ever say...

Only thing to add is...

Can you feel the passion we all have for this band?

They truly were unique amongst the punk/hardcore scene of the early 80's, (that didn't always go down well) but these guys had more 'punk rock spirit' than most of the rest rolled together.
They had a sense of togetherness and integrity and individuality like no other band I can think of.

This is a beautifully recounted story of D. Boon and Mike Watt's amazing friendship and along with George Hurley, how they became the Minutemen...a lot of which I did't know. Alas I never got to see them and only discovered them when I discovered fIREHOSE (check them out if you haven;t already). This helped fill that gaping hole in my heart and re-ignited my love and appreciation for them.


PS: yes a similar film of Husker Du would be most welcome!

A fitting DVD release for an amazing band...
In this excellent film "We Jam Econo", it's perhaps a testament to the brilliant Minutemen that such an impressive list of fellow musicians put themselves forward to talk about this incredibly gifted and inspiring group.

Told without a narrative voice over, instead the story is propelled along principally by the rather passionate bassist Mike Watt (whilst driving his van through an old sight seeing tour of hometown San Pedro) and is interspersed with numerous clips from an impressive anyone-who's-anyone list of I-was-there musicians including Thurston Moore, Ian MacKaye, Richard Hell, Henry Rollins and Flea.

Any fan of the band should really consider getting this DVD, but if you're sitting on the fence then perhaps I can persuade you to invest in this great package. The two discs are split between the documentary on one (with extra scenes and rare music videos) and a collection of live gigs recorded during the 1980s on the second.

The film itself is overall a rather gentle but interesting one, and it fortunately stands up to repeat viewing. If there's a criticism, I'd concede that the story, and so the film itself, is ultimately a slightly a sedate one. By this I mean it lacks the fireworks and anguish found in "Dig!" or perhaps "End Of The Century", but then, this was never what the band were about. It should also be acknowledged that the terribly tragic death of D Boon is not delivered in any emotional or hand wringing way. So the directors have chosen, quite nobly, not to emphasise this aspect of the band's history to reach for any greater emotional impact, as it's simply not required.

So rather than being a story about the usual band-in-turmoil or any such rock cliches, this is more a story about a rather unlikely group of young men, and how they went about creating such impressive and clearly influential music, and their overriding love of the punk scene.

I've read elsewhere that the live gigs on the second disc are the real draw here, and I'd agree they're an impressive addition. Granted, there is some pretty basic camera work on display, but the sonic quality is very impressive - so overall the passion and intensity is clear to see. The 9:30 gig, recorded in 1985, is particularly impressive, with the band on astounding form. But then, would you expect anything less from such a brilliant group?