I saw two Rolling Stones movies on TV last weekend: Gimme Shelter (on the Sundance Channel) and Rock and Roll Circus (on PBS). Very interesting to compare and contrast the two shows, which were recorded a year apart from each other.My interest in the Stones tends to ebb and flow, but I’ve started listening to them more lately. I’ve watched Gimme Shelter a few times, but normally only watch for the twenty seconds of the naked hippies dancing to Gram & the Burritos playing “Six Days On The Road”. The rest of the movie is (to paraphrase Jerry Garcia and the Rubinoos) a "bummer", especially when you know how it ends. How did a free concert by the biggest band in the world get approved just two days beforehand? Who thought hiring Hells Angels for security was a good idea? Were people really that stupid back in the 60s?
For late 60s Stones footage, Rock and Roll Circus is a lot more fun. It’s been out on video tape and DVD for awhile, but I’d never seen it before, except the Who’s performance of "A Quick One While He's Away" on The Kids are Alright, which has to be one of their finest moments as a band.
According to the R&RC wikipedia entry, the Stones withheld its release for 20 years because they felt their performance was substandard, but I thought they sounded great. This was Brian Jones’ last performance as a Rolling Stone, and he looks a bit lost for most of their set, but the rest of the band were on, and they played some of my favorite rarely-played tunes from Beggar’s Banquet (their brand new album): “Parachute Man”,”No Expectations”, and “Salt of the Earth”.
The show also shows a pre-Sabbath Tony Iommi playing with Jethro Tull, and a pre-junkie Marianne Faithful. This concert was a holy grail for rock collectors for a long time before it came out because it had the Rolling Stones, the Who, and one Beatle (John Lennon’s Dirty Mac) on the same stage. I don’t know if I need to buy the DVD, but it’s entertaining to watch once or twice.
2 comments:
GIMME SHELTER is indeed a bummer, but it is such a great documentary. It really is worth watching straight through for all it has to say about the weird, sucking greed and neediness of rock audiences--the flipside of all the peace-n-love of Woodstock.
The Maysles brothers were master story-tellers.
ROCK'N'ROLL CIRCUS is one of my favorite rock artifacts.
It;s hard to overstate how completely amazing the Who are in that film.
Supposedly the Stones' weren't comfortable releasing it because they thought they were upstaged by the Who, but this is my favorite live Stones performances. Apparently there was a long delay due to technical problems before the Stones got to play, at around 4 a.m. I think the fatigue mellowed them out - I usually don't like them live because Charlie pushes grooves that are mor laid back in the studio versions, and Mick's hyperactivity grates on my nerves.
Yes, the obscure numbers from BB are interesting, but for me the relevation is seeing them perform two of their most overplayed FM staples, "Sympathy" and "Can't Always Get", back when they were brand new. The band still seems connected to what these songs meant to them.
And who new Brian Jones played percussion, and not guitar, on "Sympathy"! Not me.
Mick Jagger (who looks great in his PERFORMANCE-era dye job) gives what I consider his best-ever live perfornace on those two songs.
I own the DVD and I watch it frequently. (And notice I haven't even mentioned John Lennon.)
The only bummer is that the Stones wanted to feature an unknown, up-and-coming British hard rock band, and picked Jethro Tull over Led Zeppelin.
And...are you SURE Marianne isn't smacked out? Otherwise, what's the explanation?
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