All three of the Captain and Tennille TV specials that aired on ABC back in the late 70s have been released on DVD by RetroActive Entertainment, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to review them all (you can click on Captain and Tennille in Hawaii and Captain and Tennille Songbook to read those reviews). Unavailable since they first aired back in 1977-1979, these TV specials showcase the exceptional musicality of the duo, while the DVDs offer their fans a chance to hear some newly recorded, informative audio commentaries from Toni Tennille and Daryl Dragon. We'll look at Captain and Tennille in New Orleans in this review.

Captain and Tennille occupied that sunny, briefly light, happy moment in music history back in the early to mid-70s where soft rock and puffy pop ruled the AM radio airwaves. Groups like The Osmonds and The Carpenters routinely outsold the more "respectable" hard-rock groups (my favorite story from that period is now-legendary David Bowie begging David Cassidy to work on one of his albums), and the variety of AM radio's playlist allowed an incredibly diverse mixture of sound to crossover to a wide audience. When Captain and Tennille's Love Will Keep Us Together hit in the spring and summer of 1975 (it was that year's best selling single), it was instantly the most recognizable "sound" of that year, and anybody growing up during that period is instantly taken back to that time whenever its insanely catchy synth-pop hooks come over the oldies stations.

As the duo kept knocking out hits, the TV networks came calling in 1976, and ABC's Fred Silverman ("The Man with the Golden Gut," as he was known, for his gut instincts for picking TV hits) thought that Captain and Tennille could be the next Sonny and Cher. Shoehorned into a sketch-heavy comedy/variety TV series, Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille proved popular enough with audiences against heavyweight competition like Rhoda and Little House on the Prairie to merit another season of their series, The Captain and Tennille. However (and most unlikely at the time), the duo asked out of their TV contract after only one season, citing the derivative nature of their series' format as reasons for being unhappy with the final product (that, and the overwhelming amount of work that Daryl Dragon, the series' musical director as well as co-star, handled) Silverman agreed, but only if the performers would headline three TV specials to be aired over the next two years.

I can't say I was an outright "fan" of the duo. I didn't buy their records (right or wrong, the duo at the time was considered a "girl's group"), and I certainly didn't have their lunch box or wear one of their T-shirts to school (I enjoyed having all of my teeth intact), but part of the fun of AM radio was hearing something that wasn't considered "cool," and secretly liking it. The duo's reputation may have prompted snickers from the more hip crowd, but I can assure you that they had the last laugh - all the way to the bank as they sold about 25 million albums, with numerous gold records to their credit.

And I can't say I watched their TV show, either, on a regular basis (I was a Rhoda/Phyllis viewer). I didn't like The Captain and Tennille probably for the same reasons the duo were unhappy with the show. It just wasn't particularly funny. The shtick with the Captain's taciturn manner and always wearing his captain's hat, wore thin almost immediately. The networks at the time were still trying to fit contemporary 1970s acts into musical/comedy variety formats that had remained unchanged for twenty years. It was just a bad fit for the two; their music should have been the center of the series, not the network's insistence on making them the next Sonny and Cher. But it's important to note that even though the series didn't chart in the Nielsen Top Thirty for the year, it was still pulling in about thirty million viewers on average - numbers that today would make the duo's series the most watched show on television (viewership levels for the Big Three networks were huge prior to cable).

The three TV specials that Captain and Tennille agreed to in exchange for release from their series illustrate that transition the singing duo clearly wanted, but didn't get, from ABC. Brief comedy sketches are still included in Captain and Tennille in New Orleans and Captain and Tennille in Hawaii, but they're entirely absent from Captain and Tennille Songbook -- and most welcome is that excising, too. When these specials concentrate on the musical talents of the pair, it's quite a surprising and exhilarating experience for the uninitiated like myself. Honestly, I didn't know much about their music other than their hit singles like Love Will Keep Us Together, Do That To Me One More Time, You Never Done it Like That, and the god-awful Muskrat Love (of course, my wife loves that one).

But after watching Captain and Tennille in New Orleans, I was really kind of blown away by the range of these two performers. I knew Daryl Dragon was a wizard at the keyboards, but when he jams with Fats Domino (whom Dragon refers to as a personal inspiration) on I'm Ready, it's clear that Domino is impressed with his skills. As for Toni Tennille, she has got some set of pipes on her. Whether crooning way down low on Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine or belting out Dr. Jazz with Hal Linden and Murphy Campo and the Jazz Saints, or moving it real nice to You Never Done it Like That, Toni Tennille immediately impresses with her beautifully controlled tone, nicely phrased vocals and of course, her knockout good looks. If you only know this duo from their Top 40 hits, as I did, Captain and Tennille in New Orleans is really a revelation.

Of course, there are sops to network demands in Captain and Tennille in New Orleans, including a totally ineffectual turn by John Byner, and a surprisingly jamming Hal Linden, who blows a mean clarinet, let me tell you (his romantic rendering of The Goodbye Girl is fine for Broadway or for a cabaret show, but it seems incongruous here amid all the Dixieland and low-down jazz). The comedy skits, if they can be called that (a period-flavored card game between Byner, Linden and Dragon, and a funeral for Dragon's hat), are lame beyond belief, but entirely keeping with the level of humor expected in such network outings at the time. Unfortunately, it was precisely these kinds of skits that contributed to the duo opting out of their series, and they only serve to interrupt the great musical sets.

Here are the musical numbers included on Captain and Tennille in New Orleans:

Black Water
Captain and Tennille and the Tennille Sisters.

Musical Jam
Hal Linden and Murphy Campo and the Jazz Saints.

Dr. Jazz
Toni Tennille, Hal Linden, and Murphy Campo and the Jazz Saints.

Goodbye Girl
Hal Linden.

Can't Help Lovin' That Mine of Mine
Toni Tennille.

You Never Done it Like That
Captain and Tennille.

I'm On My Way
Captain and Tennille.

Walking to New Orleans
Fats Domino.

I'm Ready
Fats Domino and Daryl Dragon.

Street Parade
Captain and Tennille.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen, 1.33:1 video image for Captain and Tennille in New Orleans is pretty much what you'd expect it to be: not the best. Originally shot on video (and some pretty poor lensing and lighting, I might add), the soft image has video noise and hot lighting - but that's in the original source material. But honestly, with a release like Captain and Tennille in New Orleans, you're not looking for digital purity.

The Audio:
The audio selections for Captain and Tennille in New Orleans, on the other hand, are exceptional. Remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1, the levels for Captain and Tennille in New Orleans will knock your socks off. You can also opt for a standard 2.0 mix, as well as the original mono (for you purists out there who want the original TV experience). Close-captioning is not available.

The Extras:
As with all of the Captain and Tennille TV specials out on DVD now, there's a contemporary commentary track by Daryl and Toni that's light and fun, and full of informative facts about the show. When "the Captain" gets off his first flat line on the show, Toni, in the commentary track, exclaims, "What was that!?" with Daryl laughing along with her. It's a pretty funny moment, and clearly indicative of the honesty these two performers have about their TV act - they come off as good sports with lots of chemistry.

Final Thoughts:
I can't exactly say I was looking forward to Captain and Tennille in New Orleans, but frankly, I was more than nicely surprised at the wide musical range of both Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille. Dragon can pound those keys, and Tennille is one tall, cool drink of water - with a voice that stands up with the best of them. If you only know the duo from their Top Forty hits, I urge you to check out Captain and Tennille in New Orleans. It may not be the best of their three TV specials, but lovers of jazz and the sultry, crooning Toni Tennille will no doubt delight in it. I recommend Captain and Tennille in New Orleans.