It's been said that the official end of the 1960s was documented for everyone to see in The Rolling Stones 1970 concert at Altamont Speedway. The tragic decision to hire the Hells Angels as security, and the death of a concert goer caught on film are just two highlights in the fascinating documentary of that concert, dubbed the west coasts Woodstock, "Gimme Shelter". Mick Jagger, never one to shrink from publicity, contracted to have a film made of their 1972 U.S. Tour, coinciding with the release of their album "Exile on Main Street".
Photographer Robert Frank, who'd taken some of the album photos, was chosen as director, and took a much artier approach to filming the Stones on stage and off. However, footage of drug consumption, (staged) orgies and a decidedly non-commercial title prevented "Cocksucker Blues" from getting an official theatrical release. Even so, it's long been widely available on video as a bootleg.
Immediately after a private screening of the film, Jagger is said to have turned to Frank and told him, "It's a fucking good film, Robert, but if it shows in America we'll never be allowed in the country again." Jagger may well have been afraid of the film's lurid and potentially incriminating images - the heroin use, Jagger masturbating, or even the extended sequence of questionably consensual group sex with a reluctant groupie at 30,000 feet (after all, this was rock and roll).
But what Mick may have found most disturbing was the bleak and accurate portrait of the obvious despair and loneliness of life on the road. Frank's obsession with pursuing truth destroyed the illusion of glamour for the world's most famous rock and roll band.The Stones took Frank to court to prevent the film's distribution. It became, legally, a question of who owned the film, the artist who created it or the patron who paid for it. A bizarre deal was struck allowing the film to be screened once a year, but only if the director was present for the screening.
Of course, now the film is available on DVD, and clips are appearing on YouTube and elsewhere. Here's a clip from that 72 tour. I think this may have been their peak, with the slide to geezerdom still way over the horizon. I saw them in Rome at a soccer stadium in the summer of 1990. Got up close, and enjoyed it, but they were only a shadow of the band they'd been in this early time. There's somethin' wrong with these guys still tryin' to shake their money maker at their age. Sordid.
Enjoy this snap shot.
And yea, I'm lookin' for that DVD. I'll tell ya if I find it.
4 comments:
Not near as good as the released recording...huh? It is however, pure Jagger...hand on hip...often thought he'd fly either way.
I remember seeing clips of the video you describe on a documentary once. Messed up shit.
I like the stones but at 65 the half shirts must go.
Yea, you know, back then I think you were lucky as hell if the live performance was as polished as the recording, what with all the overdubbing and stuff. I used to notice that at concerts in the 70s. The music was never as good live, even on a live album, but the experience of seeing the band was always fun. I was never loaded up for the experience, which always made the music sound better to other folks, so I didn't go to a lot of concerts. I remember when this dude in my algebra class got tickets to see Ted Nugent, in about '77 or '78. I turned them down. He wanted $20 each, which was about twice the regular fee for a ticket back then, and Ted only had about two or three tunes that I liked. I knew it wouldn't be worth it. This was all confirmed decades later when Ted came to do a concert at the base. Still the same old Ted, and for $8 it was a good deal. For $8 I saw Ted, Foreigner, and the Dubbie Brothers.
They were just here last Fall, so I can only imagine how "dated" their show might have been. I think they'll keep going as long as they physically can since people are still willing to pay $80 for the crappiest seats in a stadium.
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