We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!

Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).

Join us this Wedesday as we count down an even dozen of "The Greatest Car Songs of All Time!"

We talk quite a bit about essential rock albums every self-respecting Baby Boomer should own, but in this age of giant flat screen TVs and surround sound systems, let’s take a look at  10 Rock & Roll DVDs that should be in your collection!

• A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles) – It all starts here. With this low budget, black & white movie, the Fab Four (and director Richard Lester) completely rewrote the rules of what a rock film should be. Generally credited with creating the art form that came to be known as the music video.
  
  
• Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads) – Director Jonathan Demme captures the Talking Heads at their very peak and has the good sense not to overwhelm the movie audience with a lot of flashy camera work. Instead, he keeps his shots and editing tight and lets the band overwhelm you. The film also pioneered digital audio, so the music sounds amazing.
  
  
• The TAMI Show (James Brown, Rolling Stones & others) – Shot on a shoestring budget with TV cameras, the low-def film is still a “must-have.” Not only does it capture what many feel is James Brown’s best film/video performance, it also includes an amazing array of Hall of Fame talent like Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and so many more. As icing on the cake, they all join together at the concert’s close.
  
  
• Black & White Night (Roy Orbison) – While we’re talking all-star line-ups, in 1999, a truly impressive back-up band was assembled to accompany Roy Orbison in the very intimate setting of L.A.’s Coconut Grove nightclub. Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett, J.D. Souther, Jennifer Warnes, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits join Roy as he roars through 17 classic songs (including one written by Elvis Costello that still uncannily sounds like it was something Roy must have recorded in the early 60s). The sound on this show is so good, you’ll swear you are in the room with them.
  
  
• Monterey Pop (Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who & more) – D.A. Pennebaker had already established his reputation as a documentary filmmaker without peer when he captured the very first rock festival. This show was a breakthrough moment for 3 of the acts: Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding and The Who, but it also featured a solid line-up of musical talent, immortalized in Eric Burdon and the Animals' song, “Monterey.”
  
  
• The Reunion Concert (Everly Brothers) – In September of 1983, Don and Phil Everly, two of rock’s real founding fathers, played their first live gig together in ten years. They chose London’s Royal Albert Hall because their popularity had never waned in the UK. The resulting show was magic and captured on video for an HBO special. As the boys’ harmony influenced so many other rockers from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to others, this is a show you won’t want to miss.
  
  
• Farewell Tour 1 (The Eagles) – If record sales are any indication, the Eagles may be the most popular band America has ever produced. While the band has often been accused of not presenting the most dynamic stage show, this 2-DVD set presents every song you could ever want to hear them play, all performed exceedingly well. They also include a generous helping of solo hits by band members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Joe Walsh.
  
  
• London Calling: Live at Hyde Park (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) – Bruce is justly famous as one of the greatest live performers of his generation. His marathon shows also reshaped rock concerts, forcing other acts to play longer and harder just to try and keep up. The Boss has several concerts available on home video, but this one comes closest to giving you the actual experience of being at one of his shows. The E Street Band (definitely the world’s greatest bar band) begins playing in the afternoon sun in England, but concludes long after dark has fallen.
  
  
• The Last Waltz (The Band) – When Bob Dylan’s former backup band decided to call it quits, director Martin Scorsese was tapped to film the group’s farewell show in New York. Joining the group for their swan song was a most impressive guest list that included Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and Ronnie Wood.
  
  
• The Kids Are Alright (The Who) – Rounding out our Top 10 is this documentary about England’s classic hard rockers. Capturing 13 years of the band’s performances and assembled just before Keith Moon’s passing, the video captures the unique balancing act between self-destruction and majesty that was the Who in their prime.
  
  

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

I Walked with a Zombie may be the best movie with the dumbest title in motion picture history. Cranked out by the b-movie horror unit at RKO pictures in 1943, this low budget gem is far better than you might expect.

This was the second in a string of really good low-key horror movies produced under the supervision of Val Lewton, one of filmland’s most underappreciated artists.

RKO had two rules Lewton had to follow. One, he had to produce his films on a small budget. Two, he had to use titles the studio’s marketing department had already dreamed up and tested. The studio didn’t care about the actual plots, as long as Lewton used the titles.

So after they saddled Lewton with The Cat People and he turned that title into a really great horror movie, they gave him an even sillier title for his follow-up.

I Walked with a Zombie concerns a young nurse (Frances Dee) who arrives at a sugar plantation on the Caribbean island of Saint Sebastian. She is to care for the invalid wife of the plantation’s owner, played by Tom Conway. The wife appears near catatonic and is given to taking silent, dreamlike walks at night. The local legend is that the wife is not sick, but actually dead and returned to life as a zombie by the island’s voodoo practitioners.

This was a time well before George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, when zombies were not malevolent flesh-eaters, but merely soulless reanimated bodies who, according to legend, were employed as free labor on plantations throughout the Caribbean.

It soon becomes apparent to the young nurse that there is more to the story than she is being told, particularly as it relates to Conway, his somnambulant wife and his half-brother (James Ellison). She also finds herself falling for her employer, who is obviously still married – but is it to a sick woman or a zombie?

The film relies more on your imagination than trying to scare you with special effects. The climax of the picture takes the young nurse and the sleepwalking wife/zombie through the wilds of that island to a climactic voodoo ceremony. As with most of Lewton’s films, the viewer is left to decide for themselves whether the events are supernatural or can be explained away by more mundane coincidences.

The plot is actually cribbed from Jane Eyre, as Lewton was a fan of classical literature and longed to be making costume dramas instead of these low budget thrillers.

Lewton served as the producer and often the un-credited co-writer of his films. For directors, he gave a start to some young guns who would go on to much greater fame, including Robert Wise (West Side Story) and Mark Robson (Von Ryan’s Express). I Walked with a Zombie was directed by Jacques Tourneur (Out of the Past), who also went on to a long, successful career.

All of Lewton’s horror films did well at the box office, but genuine critical acclaim would have to wait until the 1970’s. Today’s Lewton’s movies are hailed as some of the best b-movies in Hollywood history, studied and praised by master filmmakers like Martin Scorcese, who narrated a televised tribute to Lewton a few years back.

If you want something this Halloween that’s more creepy than bloody and more cerebral than slashing, check out I Walked with a Zombie, readily available on either disc or from streaming outlets.

Hey, wait till you hear this one!

As the first generation for whom consumption of marijuana spread beyond avant-garde bohemians and jazz musicians, it has been interesting to watch the growing legalization of what we called pot and the kids call weed. Okay, not as dangerous as our parents warned us, but how beneficial is it?

Growing legalization has finally led to scientific studies of the various claims made about marijuana. Studies have confirmed that marijuana has some benefit in reducing chronic pain as well as helping people with sleep problems. But surprisingly, there’s still a lot we don’t know. As with many mind/mood-altering substances, it appears that everyone has different tolerance levels, so medical experts stress newbies should start slow and actually keep a journal of how much marijuana they’re taking and what the effects are.

Also, as the idea of smoking anything has decreased in popularity, gummies and other pot-infused edibles have now overtaken smoking/vaping as the most popular way to consume weed.