"U2": "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" ("Rattle and Hum" film, 1988)

In my heart I always knew this was a gospel song. Here's the proof, but Edge tells it better than I ever could. This recording is only used in the film Rattle and Hum (1988) -- a different live version is used on the companion album. That version doesn't touch this one.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (2010 DVD release): "Tumbling Dice"

Though I've been an ardent Stones fan since the 70s, I've never had the chance to see any concert footage from what many would argue is the best tour the band ever did -- their 1972 tour in support of Exile on Main St. This is Mick Taylor's last tour as a Stone and the band is in peak form.

Can't think of a holiday gift for that Stones fan you know? Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones was re-released in October 2010 on DVD for the first time, and this Stones fan will act very surprised (and pleased) if he gets a copy in his stocking. 'Til then, I've got a wonderful bootleg of one of the tour concerts to keep me warm.

Folks, enjoy this little taste above, the Stones live in '72 performing a favorite of mine, Tumbling Dice.

An Album of (Mostly) Film Images

Here are a few film-related photos and movie posters -- with several music and miscellaneous wild cards included -- in my album at Golden Age of Hollywood. Click on any image for more information.

Billy Preston at the Concert for Bangladesh: "That's The Way God Planned It"

Three performances that most shaped where my musical tastes would wander are all from one concert film and album -- the first rock superstar benefit concert of its kind -- The Concert for Bangladesh (1972). Those performances were from Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and Billy Preston. Here's a little taste, Preston's song for the two Madison Square Garden shows in the summer of 1971.

Preston, the keyboard power behind the Beatles (at the very end) and the early seventies Stones, shows his gospel roots on this one, with all the hip rockers thinking they are in heaven. For me, when the movie finally did hit town, I was in heaven too.

The Making of "Exile on Main St.": "Stones in Exile" (2010)

My ex-wife is a very opinionated lady. Back when we were together, she was never afraid to take a stand on some issue that was her view and often hers alone. And so it was when we got down to discussing Rolling Stones albums. Her view was that everything after Let it Bleed was a formula album. I never agreed. Exile on Main St. is by far my favorite Stones album, but until the release earlier this year of Stephen Kijak's documentary Stones in Exile, I had no retort other than "I don't agree!" Now, with this documentary, I do.

Stones in Exile, filled with recent interviews, rare photographs and excerpts from the notorious, unreleased documentary of the Stones' 1972 tour, lays to rest any notion that there was anything formulaic about the recording of Exile on Main St. The controlled chaos of the core recording sessions at Keith's villa Nellcôte in the the south of France is well documented here. Marathon 12 hour jam sessions extending over months with songs evolving as the sessions progressed is no recipe for "formula album". Quoted in the October 1997 issue of Guitar magazine, Jagger put it this way:

Just winging it. Staying up all night ... It was this communal thing where you don't know whether you're recording or living or having dinner; you don't when you're going to play, when you're gonna sing -- very difficult. Too many hangers-on. I went with the flow and the album got made. These things have a certain energy, and there's a certain flow to it, and it got impossible. Everyone was so out of it.

Jagger may not have been having much fun, but the result is an unparalleled rock/blues/country/soul document. So check out Stones in Exile and get a taste of how Exile on Main St. got made. It might even convince my ex-wife that this was no formula album.

Janis and Otis at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967

******

******

******

******

Thank God for the Sundance Channel. My evening was going nowhere last night 'til I noticed that Sundance was airing D. A. Pennebaker's Monterey Pop, an 80 minute documentary on the first major American rock festival -- three days in June of San Fransisco's 1967 Summer of Love. Yeah, that's right, the festival where Jimi Hendrix becomes a rock icon, setting his guitar and the rock world on fire.

The performances are strand of pearls. In addition to Jimi, the blues and soul crowd out there gets more than they could possibly hope for: Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company covering Big Mama Thornton's Ball and Chain; then Otis Redding redefining I've Been Loving You Too Long.

The YouTube clips of Janis and Otis above don't nearly do justice to the original sound and picture in the film. (Otis covering the Stones' Satisfaction wasn't in the original Pennebaker film, so take it as a bonus to make up for the bootleg quality of these clips.)

And by all means check out the film. All these years later, these landmark performances still rank as world class. Though only 80 minutes long, only a taste of the festival, Monterey Pop ranks with the finest rock films ever made.

The Shape I'm in

"The Shape I'm in", sung by the late Richard Manuel, The Last Waltz, The Band

I've written about The Last Waltz concert film elsewhere. Here's one of my favorite servings of this rock n' roll gumbo.

"Goin' to Acapulco, Goin' On The Run."

I've raved about Todd Haynes' I'm Not There (film) as an instant classic. (If you click on the album cover above, you'll see the soundtrack CD is even broader than the music that makes it into the film.) Here's an example of the power of the film for me: a Dylan song I've never heard of, covered by a band I barely know, lands among my top five music segments from the film.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are loosely woven through this new hide-out myth of Dylan's late sixties brief escape from the rock n' roll world. The surreal town of "Riddle" becomes the target of development (in this quasi-old-west tale (the railroad's coming right through the secluded valley) and the morality tale driving Dylan's outlaw-in-hiding persona a little farther down the road. Other interpretations welcome.

In the clip below -- (16 May 2010 update: My apologies, Web Sheriff has yanked the clip below because of a copyright claim; you will just have to trust me and rent the DVD) -- Jim James with Calexico give a spine-tingling, poignant performance. It's representative of such dramatic moments in the film, a film always reaching to grasp the multidimensional Dylan.

*****

*****

Shining a Light on Your Silver and Your Gold

During 1968, and concentratedly in 1969, the Stones -- while moving Brian Jones out and Mick Taylor in -- while adding a taste of Gram Parsons' influence on Keith -- laid down the tracks for the album Let it Bleed (1969).
Once this album was presumptively completed, (i.e. "was in the can"), with Jagger on vocals for "You've Got the Silver" (and Keith on acoustic slide), Jagger left for an acting gig in the film Ned Kelly, to be shot in Australia. A problem arose with this track and Keith was forced to overdub the vocals for "You Got the Silver", the album track. (Note: the original Jagger on vocals versions -- I've heard it on a bootleg, is also quite good.)

Flash forward to 2006: Martin Scorsese filming the Stones in Shine a Light. Keith at a microphone and no guitar in his hands ("Wadda I do wid my hands?") and Ronnie on acoustic slide, and a twist of fate puts Mick in the locker, Keith and Ronnie out front and, well check out this new take on a classic:

Rolling Stones - You Got The Silver (live in NYC, 2006)
*****

*****

Martin Scorsese 'Shines a Light' on The World's Most Once-Dangerous Band That's Still Around

"Champagne and Reefer" ( -- McKinley Morganfield) (featuring Buddy Guy)

'This Will Be the Only Scorsese Movie Without Gimme Shelter in the Sountrack'
( -- quip by Sir Mick Jagger regarding Shine a Light (film))

Sometimes, for this wanna-be professor of rock film, the ironies the Rolling Stones have amassed in their 45 year-and-going-strong run are almost overwhelming. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a Stones fan for 35 years and have studied Scorsese's work for a quarter century. Now, instantly transforming myself from fan to critic, I gotta try to "... stick my knife right down [their] throat, and baby, and it hurts!"

Shine a Light (2008, film) slams me with responsibility I don't want. I just wanna enjoy the film. But my gosh darn "boy scout" ethics force me to muster whatever objectivity I can find in discussing this major rock film -- this collaboration by auteur Scorsese and these rock pioneers (and the cast of hundreds of technicians and musicians and inspirational artists that fuel their jets).

In a vain attempt to demonstrate some objectivity, I observe that Ms. Christina Aguilera wishes we saw her public persona as a street-wise tramp credible, but she has no business on this stage: she would run screaming from the 1968 Jagger dreamscape nightmare of an apartment Sir Mick creates in the edge-of-madness-and-joy anthem "Live With Me" -- fake-skank at it's worst. On the other hand, guest contributor here, the Paullinator (a real musician), loved her performance in the film -- c'est la vie! You gotta make your own call on this one, I got bigger fish to fry -- and (drumroll):

Top Five Rock Films of All Time (in order):

1. The Last Waltz
2. Gimme Shelter (documentary) (see Gold Coast Bluenote posts Part I and Part II)
3. Woodstock (Director's Cut)
4. Shine a Light
5. No Direction Home (documentary).

Honorable Mention: Festival Express, Hard Day's Night, This Is Spinal Tap, Rattle and Hum, High Fidelity

***********************************************************************

Shine a Light

(2008, film):
"Just as Long as the Guitars Play, He'll Steal Your Heart Away"

Scorsese does it again folks, and all the time battling the headwinds of Sir Mick's ego. Analysis: of those "top five films" above, three were made and one was edited in part (Woodstock) by Martin Scorsese -- this body of work on rock definitively demonstrates two things: Scorsese is the man when it comes to rock 'n' roll film making; second, the Scorsese-heavy top five list above demonstrates conclusively why it ain't "only rock and roll".
_______

Some Details:

• "Under My Thumb" is both the soundtrack and documentary theme of the first ten minutes of pre-show mania. From both a flatbed truck promoting the tour on the streets of Chicago, and in Scorsese's first soundtrack album cut, Marty and Co. turn the cleave lights on The Glimmer Twins doing their eternal rock n' roll machine.
  
• Jagger does his prima donna routine in front of, and at, Marty, putting his hubris on display so Marty can call him on it. Who's under whose thumb, anyway? Revealingly, Jagger is relentless doing his job, and Marty's patience appears boundless.
• Almost everything here is the best live versions of these particular songs in films (I've been studying the old Stones concert movies and original studio tracks), e.g. Jumpin' Jack Flash (see below), Shattered (only better live when I saw them in '78), All Down the Line (Ronnie finally gets a chance to strut his stuff), Loving Cup (first time in film set list), and Just My Imagination (the horn arrangement makes it transcendent).
  
• The "wave-riff" Keef and Mick Taylor weave in the studio version of Tumblin' Dice on Exile on Main Street is unsurpassable. Word up. Even here, the Exile original remains the definitive version of this classic. But here, with Ronnie on fire, Darryl Jones rolling the bass riff even better than Bill Wyman's effort on the original -- add Scorsese icing this cake with his choreographed editing, and this, mates, is the best Tumblin' Dice can be captured live.
• Shine a Light shows a whole new Keef -- the happy ole man whose "Glad to be Here, Glad to Be Anywhere!" Mick Taylor and Brian Jones are unknown to most folks under 50, except, of course, my Godson "Captain Happy" (I am so proud of him!). Captain Happy gave me the inside scoop on Jack White, guest guitarist and duet vocalist on "Loving Cup": that would be Jack White of The White Stripes (Grammy winners for their last three albums, each record winning the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album (source: Wikipedia contributors)). White is letter perfect singing this duet of acoustic rock poetry with Jagger, with a smile on White's face showing he is realizing the dream of a lifetime. And his performance shows it -- he stands toe to toe with Jagger every note of the way through yet another Exile on Main Street deep album cut cover. (Capt. Happy reports further that he really liked The White Stripes' album Elephant.) (Anyone who thinks I digress here, just check out all the talent the Stones have toured with over the past four decades, bringing forgotten superstars and rising talent to their audiences. If the Stones are guilty of being a little too capitalist, they are all about promoting music their audience needs to hear.)
• Jumpin' Jack Flash starts the set with Scorsese directing on the fly -- he gets the set list about two seconds before Keith hits the first chord, and Scorsese elegantly captures Keith flying across the stage getting the festivities under way. (I just bought the "Though the Past, Darkly" CD and have been listening to the original, all of it, for a comparison. They were a much more dangerous band back then. Now, it's really only rock and rock, great as it is. Back then it was still a revolution in our minds.)
• You may notice that you never see anything but the entire Beacon Theatre stage lit perfectly throughout the film. As with the "Last Waltz" lighting, that is Scorsese at work. He is obsessive about his lighting, only stopping short of burning Jagger to get a particular lighting effect. "We want the effect, but we can't burn Mick Jagger," Scorsese quips to his lighting technician in the opening pre-concert segment of the film. Though the lighting in "Last Waltz" is superb, the lighting of the theatre here is perfect. You don't always notice, but it is always right. Again, Scorsese sets a new standard for the rock film genre.
  
• DO NOT see "Shine a Light" in IMAX. Bent Guitar necks, wrinkles 8 inches long, grainy archival footage, flash editing by Scorsese that works fine in other formats -- just skip the IMAX.
• For Stones addicts -- buy the DVD with the baby food money, NOW. Not tomorrow, now.
• Across the Rest of the Universe -- see this film; its high point is in the clip above. Covering Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer" with the Stones, Buddy Guy's lead breaks add a Chicago blues meltdown -- dude, Buddy burns the silver screen down. Jagger takes his harp playing to new heights because Buddy is staring him down: "Go on man, show me your stuff." A rare role for Keith emerges as he doesn't have to front the guitar work and gets to play fills, completely entranced by Guy's mojo. Keith then follows an old tradition of giving a guest performer your guitar if the guest artist tears up the main act's stage. This operatic moment closes with Guy humbly walking off stage, smiling, and all the while Scorsese and his boom mikes catching every detail. This is truly a performance for the ages.

"Shine a Light" will be the definitive document on a remarkable band. Hats off to Martin Scorsese, The Glimmer Twins, and both of their teams here. This film rewrites the book on how to make a rock n' roll concert movie.

Epigram: I can't get out without mentioning the last bit of Scorsese magic -- it's the closing steady-cam shot of the film, and just remember "Up, Up!"

"Got Live If You Want It."

Otis Redding

Hog Farm Members in Free Kitchen, Woodstock Music and Art Festival, 1969, photo (c) Lisa Law

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[Editor Epigram:] More wisdom from inside the business: essential Guest Contributor King Bishop's second helping:

Let me begin this diatribe with a statement: I DON'T LIKE LIVE ALBUMS! Most are sloppily recorded excuses for getting an album out while we write material for the next studio album. Sometimes it's an excuse to revive previously released material and hopefully give it a second chance to hit (KISS ALIVE and FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE are two phenomenally popular examples of this), but my little article is about 10 live albums that I personally find exciting. This is just my opinion, but since I am King Bishop, my opinion is gospel!

10.) MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL / JIMI HENDRIX and OTIS REDDING

Though this was the breakout performance for the most influential guitarist of the rock era and includes fantastic tunes (for example, LIKE A ROLLING STONE that Jimi dedicates to Bob Dylan's grandmother who he swears is in the audience!), the stage was stolen by the Incredible OTIS REDDING as white audiences were introduced to the electrifying performances of I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG, SHAKE, and TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS among others. Otis hadn't broke onto the airwaves yet, and sadly didn't till after his death. At the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME they have a piece of the plane that Otis died in. It says OTIS REDDING on it and gave me and my wife chills.

9.) FANDANGO/ ZZ TOP

Not really completely a live album per se, because one side was studio (and strong! HEARD IT ON THE X, TUSH, MEXICAN BLACKBIRD, etc.), but the live side showcases the fun and power "the little band out of Texas " can display! One of their best!

8.) THE MOTHERS/FILLMORE 1970

Frank at his creative peak! Flo and Eddie telling the story of that famous MUD SHARK! (If you don't know the story, I'm not gonna tell you!) NOTABLE QUOTES: "Everyone in this room is wearing a uniform. Don't kid yourself!"

7.) LITTLE RICHARD'S GREATEST HITS (Okeh Records -1968 -- recorded at the Okeh Club)

This was at the height of Little Richard's revived career via TV talk shows as he tears through a set of his 50s hits and presents his over-the-top personality that makes this an absolute must! Listening to this helped create a love for 50s rock and roll that beats forever in my heart till this very day. NOTABLE QUOTES: "WANT ALL THE WOMEN SAY WHOOOOOOO! WANT ALL THE MEN SAY UGH!! OOOOOH MY SOUL!"

6.) ABSOLUTELY LIVE/ THE DOORS

Jim Morrison. A live mike. Phenobarbital. Magic. NOTABLE QUOTES: "SHUT UP!!! NOW IS THAT ANY WAY TO ACT AT A ROCK AND ROLL CONCERT???"

5.) ROCKIN' THE FILLMORE! HUMBLE PIE

Frampton was gone, Steve Mariott don't need no doctor and everything is cool...cold actually, STONE COLD FEVER! Their best!

4 (tie).) JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON/
JOHNNY CASH AT SAN QUENTIN

Country's first million selling album (FOLSOM), Country's first # 1 album (SAN QUENTIN) and the only man who could make country music "cool" for everybody. Cash is at full power as excellence prevails. Both albums have been re-issued with the entire concerts included and we are all the luckier for it! NOTABLE QUOTES: "COULD SOMEBODY BRING ME MY BAG FROM THE BACK? YOU KNOW....THE BAG I KEEP ALL MY DOPE..ER...THINGS IN!"

3.) FULL HOUSE/THE J. GEILS BAND

Forget that Centerfold shit! Forget that Freeze Frame crap! This early Geils release has the band at their truest as WHAMMER JAMMER/HARD DRIVIN'MAN will scorch the speakers! With minor hit LOOKIN' FOR A LOVE, the band sears through some Otis Rush and other blues greats covers that will blow you away! Highly recomended!

2.) STEPPENWOLF LIVE

This double album made GOD DAMN THE PUSHER MAN a household name! I don't believe I ever knew anybody of my age group that didn't have this album! Parents freaked as "I SMOKED A LOT OF GRASS...LORD I POPPED A LOT OF PILLS" blared through the weekly bunco club meetings and set the tone for the unrest to come! And it had a really cool lookin' wolf on the cover!

1.) WOODSTOCK

The soundtrack of a generation!! NOTABLE QUOTES: Arlo Guthrie: NEW YORK THROUGHWAYS CLOSED MAN! LOTTA FREAKS! Stephen Stills: THIS IS ONLY THE THIRD TIME WE'VE PLAYED LIVE. WE'RE SCARED SHITLESS!" [Editors Note: Stills is not kidding either; he has an ego the size of Texas and that Woodstock gig terrified him.] The music runs the gamut of Ritchie Havens, Joan Baez to Santana and the Star-Spangled Banner immortalized by Jimi! The soundtrack of a generation!!

There are many other "Live" albums that are worth noting (ALLMAN BROTHERS AT THE FILLMORE, LIVE/DEAD; AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S, etc.) and I'm sure you folks have your own personal faves! These are some of mine!

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[Endnote: Thanks to my editorial staff and, again, to King Bishop.]

"One More Cup of Coffee Before I Go, To the Valley Below"

Cate Blanchett
as one of six actors portraying a distinct aspect of Bob Dylan's Internal Personal Journey
in Todd Haynes' film I'm Not There.

As with many great films, I'm Not There asks more questions than it answers. For example:

• How would one get Cate Blanchett to look like Bob Dylan in his angry early 20s?

"Every picture tells a [thousand] stories, don't it?"

That is she in silhouette above. She truly channels the young, tortured genius (it must be noted, Mr. Dylan would rather I just wrote "Portrait of the Dog as A Young Artist," and shut up.) It's like a chocolate subway full of Canadian mucisians, a wanderer from Minnesota, Jesse James, and an Arkansas drummer. Nobody tells Blanchett, Dylan, or Me what to do, except our Muses -- as for me and Bob, our demons get a big say too.

• Six actors to play one, real, living person?

If there was ever any doubt as to how important Bob Dylan has been to our culture, the fact that Hayes pulls this off settles that; Dylan is a legend in his own time. Are you down with that?

• Yes, the remaining doubters might say, but what about that sandpaper voice?

That is the voice of you and me, of every man, woman, and child. When Dylan teaches us strident intolerance of any lie, you be glad he sounds like that. I'm thankful I got one overlapping reincarnation.

*****
I'm starting to rant; let me wrap this up. To summarize:

• See this film. (It's now available on DVD.)

This is a modern masterpiece for Dylan junkies and also a perfect introduction for those open to learning about our greatest living philosopher poet.

Now, how about one more cup of coffee while we wait for the city to fix the pump handle broken by the vandals?

Epigram

Because of the fashion in which I'm Not There handles one of the five most important moments in rock 'n' roll -- Dylan, Bloomfield, Al Cooper, and The Hawks going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, see No Direction Home first. This Martin Scorsese documentary is also available on DVD and well worth buying.

Music of the '80s That Matters: "Fortress Around Your Heart"

*****

*****

Fortress Around Your Heart: Sting & Co.

Fortress Around Your Heart is from Sting's first solo effort after The Police disbanded -- the trio has never officially broken up. That album, Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985),
is Sting's attempt to form a serious jazz band fused with, well, Sting.

In the film Bring on the Night, director Michael Apted documents the promotional tour preparation process. The live album Bring on the Night covers the tour itself; the clip above is from this tour.

And when I say all-star jazz band, I mean all-star jazz band -- just check out the lineup here. The Branford Marsalis saxophone mojo is just the start.

With such a timeless allegorical love poem as this, you deserve nothing less than access to the lyrics. They are reprinted below. Be prepared to totally dig this tune.

"Fortress Around Your Heart"
(-- Sting, album version lyrics)

Under the ruins of a walled city
Crumbling towers and beams of yellow light
No flags of truce, no cries of pity
The siege guns had been pounding all through the night
It took a day to build the city
We walked through its streets in the afternoon
As I returned across the fields I'd known
I recognized the walls that I once made
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid

And if I built this fortress
Around your heart
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire
Then let me build a bridge
For I cannot fill the chasm
And let me set the battlements on fire

Then I went off to fight some battle
That I'd invented inside my head
Away so long for years and years
You probably thought or even wished that I was dead
While the armies are all sleeping
Beneath the tattered flag we'd made
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid

And if I built this fortress around your heart
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire
Then let me build a bridge
For I cannot fill the chasm
And let me set the battlements on fire
....

*****

"Shine a Light": To IMAX or not to IMAX

Buddy Guy (left) and Keith Richards trade licks in Shine A Light (2008)

I saw Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light last night, in IMAX format. I'll have more to say about this great rock film later. Right now I just want to get this news flash up.

Los Angeles Times film critic Glenn Whipp starts his review out just fine, but he and I part company on a technical point quickly. Whipp writes:

Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert documentary "Shine a Light" is a blast of fresh air blowing through the staleness of what has been, up till now, an abysmal movie year. Powerful in its energy, sparkling in its intimacy, the film captures the self-proclaimed world's greatest rock 'n' roll band still at the height of its performance powers during a two-night stint at Manhattan's small Beacon Theater in late 2006. ....

Mr. Whipp and I agree that a big screen theater is the ideal format to see this film. Unlike Whipp, however, I recommend against seeing it in IMAX format. Almost everything Scorsese adds to the film is neutralized by the overly large display format. Scorsese shot it to be seen on a rectangular wide screen with a great sound system. See it that way. If you're an old fan like me, you'll fall in love with the Stones all over again.

I can't wait to see it again in a regular theater.

Rock Operas: Short, Early; Long, Best

*****

*****
The Shangri-Las "Perform" (Remember) Walking in the Sand

Ultimate babe Betty Weiss, on lead vocals, and The Shangri-Las, in one of the earliest short form rock operas. {Addendum: 20May2008} Almost 20 years later, (Remember) Walking in the Sand is used as the musical backdrop to a key set of scenes in the most critically acclaimed mob film ever: Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.

The best long form, important, rock opera -- ever! -- was just released:

Across The Universe (2007)

Scorsese Makes His Stones Movie

*****


Shine a Light is tentatively scheduled to be released on April 4, 2008, pending completion of post production. Shake your hips on down to what should be one of the best rock movies ever.
*****

Rolling Stones' "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!": 1969 at the Garden

I watched my VHS tape of The Stones on HBO during the Licks (2003) tour last week -- a great, ethereal gig. I started to write about it, but decided against giving you great wine in aging bottles.

Featuring the band's most critically acclaimed line-up, the best released recording of the many times The Stones brought Madison Square Garden to the forefront of rock 'n' roll palaces is Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in concert (1970).

It doesn't get any better than this. It's all about the spaces between the guitar notes, run through Marshall stacks. The track Carol alone should convince you. What's the word I'm looking for? Raw.
*****
Recommended related films: Performance (you gotta hear Ry Cooder on Jagger's indictment-song Memo from Turner) and, if for nothing more than the performances by both The Who, and also Lennon, Richards (on bass), Mitch Mitchell, and Clapton doing Yer Blues, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (unreleased until 1996, filmed and recorded in 1968). See also my earlier post on the film Gimme Shelter.
*****
Keith's "ancient art of weaving" with Ronnie (Licks tour) or Mick Taylor propelling Keith into the stratosphere ('69 at the Garden) -- such a wealth of riches.
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The Evolution of A Rock Band: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

When I was young, I had to piece together my knowledge of a rock band bit by bit, story by story, picture by picture, concert by concert. Now I've discovered Wikipedia, among other great things: an online encyclopedia of the history of rock and roll. But while the Wiki folks are still getting there, they can't provide me (yet) with clips of Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty sitting with their guitars in a studio working out a song. They don't have interview footage of how Tom Petty got his drummer to show up for a charity gig by telling him (truthfully) that Ringo would play it if he didn't. And most importantly, Wikipedia does not provide me with concert footage of songs as great as The Last DJ. But Runnin' Down A Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers does. And more.

This Peter Bogdanovich documentary gives us something I've never seen before: the credible, mesmerizing behind-the-scenes story of a real rock and roll band, fighting not only the record companies, but also their own personal demons, and creating great music all the time.

Two of my top 10 producers, Jimmy Iovine and Rick Rubin, come to life in the interview and recording session clips. The Heartbreakers are all lookin' like bad asses in the picture above, but in the film the gentleness, the musical tenacity, and on occasion the moodiness of these vulnerable men comes through.

Petty and Stevie Nicks recount the tale of Nicks' desire to leave Fleetwood Mac and join the Heartbeakers. "But there aren't any girls in the Heartbreakers" Petty tells her again and again. The result: one of several musical collaborations documented here that are now what I call music of the 80's that mattered.

I could go on and on, but I'd only be spoiling Bogdanovich's show. At the heart of this stellar documentary is the evolution of two things: a working rock band keepin' it all together over thirty years of turmoil, and the increasingly mature work of a songwriter/poet that will speak truth to power at any cost.

Of speaking truth to power, let me give you just one example, regarding my personal favorite in the Tom Petty songbook:

Well you can’t turn him into a company man
You can’t turn him into a whore
And the boys upstairs just don’t understand anymore
Well the top brass don’t like him talking so much
And he won’t play what they say to play
And he don’t want to change what don’t need to change

And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
There goes the last DJ

Well some folks say they’re gonna hang him so high
Because you just can’t do what he did
There’s some things you just can’t put in the minds of those kids
As we celebrate mediocrity, all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you’ll pay for what you used to get for free

And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ

Well he got him a station down in Mexico
And sometimes it will kinda come in
And I’ll bust a move and remember how it was back then

There goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ.

(The Last DJ by Tom Petty)

Corporate takeover of the music industry got the last free DJ. And I now have to pay for what I used to get for free. But the suits haven't cut down the fighters like Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Bruce, Tom Petty, and community radio. And I've got hope.
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"When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear as they truly are."

(Introduction quote, as cited by Jim Morrison on the band name, is by William Blake.)

Dionysus

"The Scene": [Covered] from Haight Asbury, through New York, New Haven, and Miami

In the film The Doors director Oliver Stone is telling the story of the hippie / mind expansion / flower power generation parallel with the rise and fall of Jim Morrison. Stone's film captures the early years of Morrison experimenting with art, poetry, peyote and toying with mind expansion, Irish whiskey, sugar cubes, jazz cigarettes and more and more and more.

Take the notorious Miami arrest-gig: just like the Tampa concerts (five hours NNW) I saw at the time -- joints everywhere, fights breaking out, nobody actually sitting down. I was only 13; good thing I didn't know the right drugs to take.

As for Morrison, we learn, but I'll leave it to the poet critics to judge the merits of what he produced.

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"I don’t know Just where I’m going But I’m Goin’ to try For the kingdom If I can ’Cause it makes me feel like I’m a man When I put a spike into my vein Then I tell you things aren’t quite the same When I’m rushing on my run And I feel just like Jesus’ son And I guess I just don’t know And I guess that I just don’t know ...."

(--from Heroin by Lou Reed,
performed on the album Velvet Underground & Nico,
as Morrison meets Andy Warhol and most noteworthy, the Nordic princess Nico)

Setting the mythological parallels aside, metaphysical thinking-man's-hippie logic still held sway, Oliver Stone's The Doors is a first class trip down counterculture lane. Very, very high: mesmerizing at times and also terrifyingly stark at others.

Using hallucinogenic drugs to follow a shaman's path -- all the time drinking and helping invent post-'67 rock star. Easy to dismiss in light of Castaneda's work and time passing, but back "in the day", well dude, all that talent, why not ride the tiger? Morrison definitely did.

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'Riding that tiger after whipping it's eyes' Morrison, set to the quasi-Celtic introduction to Carmina Burana. Here Stone completes the transition from the pop excess of the Warhol party to "derangement of the senses" through a Wiccan doorway. Headed toward "enlightenment", the jet fuel of attitude, culture, whiskey and coke. Dude, enlightenment?: maybe insight at best.
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Jim Morrison: An American Dionysus?

Oliver Stone certain thinks so. This time out, however, Stone's thesis is wrapped in the billowing shroud of Morrison's life and legend. Stone usually heavy-handed direction fades. Comparing Morrison to Dionysus moves Stone's thesis along, but the comparison is premature. In touch with a Nagual, maybe -- I couldn't know, not being a shaman.

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Gimme Shelter: "All My Love's in Vain" (part 2)

(Simul-post)

Four months after Woodstock came the perfect storm -- just like a Nor'easter with an extra-tropical hurricane rolled in, everything that could go wrong at the Altamont Speedway on Saturday, December 6, 1969 did. The stage -- set overnight by volunteers and pros -- was unbarricaded and far to low. The acid was either too strong, flat-out bad, or a host of good trips went bad because this free concert was going terribly awry. And that's just part of the story; other problems and minor successes are discussed in part one of this post. And the quasi-satanic detonator, the best blues rock band ever, headed tacking into the San Francisco firestorm play-acting with full-throttle peace, love, and music counter-culture.

* * * * *

In Gimme Shelter, we arrive at Altamont with a audio segue way of the Stones in the studio doing "Street Fighting Man". First we see the "Friday nighters": the people who came to camp in the cold to get a dose of the Stones for free the next day. Bonfires and tilting jug-wine bottles fill the screen. As Saturday's dawn approaches, the bulk of the crowd streams in with 7 hours to catch their buzz in preparation for their dream festival -- a dream turned nightmare on a speedway with only one road in, and neighbors pissed off a week before the Stones hit town.

As festival day progresses, everything but the numerous bad trips make this seem like a peaceful scene mysteriously going bummer. Concert goers reported a lot of bad karma around that the cameras -- most of which are set to cover the stage -- didn't capture. This was not a scene of brother helping brother, but rather brothers and sisters stepping over those in need of help to make their plan for the day work out. And the "Friday nighters" -- they were toasted, tired and surly.

Cut to mid-morning at the Altamont stage: as the Flying Burrito Brothers play Six Days on the Road, we see our first fight break out between the crowd and the Angels there early. The bands change but the bad scene remains. All the while, more Angels arrive and more bikes parked near the stage get turned over as the crowd washes to the stage like an incoming flood tide.

The Maysles Brothers and Zwerin once again reassert themselves to present a succinct, cohesive vision of what happens next. Cut to the Jefferson Airplane --the tension breaks through the now shredded fabric of "Woodstock West". As Jagger will do later, Grace Slick begins both verbally and ad-lib vocally pleading for everyone to just cool out. Marty Balin of the Airplane is knocked out on stage, allegedly by an Angel, and this verbal indictment spreads to the crowd. It also reaches the musician community by word of mouth. We see Mike Shrieve, opening act Santana's drummer, briefing the Dead's Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir in a backstage chat.

And what was an incident is rapidly becoming a pattern: a band starts to play, a fight breaks out, a vain attempt to restore order ensues, the music starts again, and so does the violence. The film directors show us no more completed songs. All bands from here on out start playing only to find some strange alchemy makes the music a catalyst to confrontational aggression. Stranger in a strange land indeed.

The Angels become a source of no-nonsense authority. Night falls, the Angels clear a path to the stage for the Stones, and the anarchy flows into this winter night of such high expectations. Now keep in mind, if you had to pick the absolute wrong situation for the Stones' music, it is this one. The two Stones songs that the directors' include are "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Under my Thumb" -- both the the polar opposite of what's needed, John Lennon leading the crowd in a chant of "All we are saying, is give peace a chance." But Lennon's spirit is nowhere to be found.

The Stones take the stage, beginning their set with Sympathy for the Devil,but not getting more than 90 seconds into the song. Another fight breaks out -- keep in mind Mick, Charlie and you are watching this film afterwards in the editing room -- that Jagger sincerely but futilely tries to stop it. All the band members stop playing but Keith; it's that on-stage focus again that we saw at Madison Square Garden (discussed in part 1). Jagger pleads and shouts first to get Keith's attention and then to get him to stop playing. The Glimmer Twins are not shining tonight; the focus that served them so well in New York and Muscle Schoals is dragging them into the ominous evening they created. Jagger says to the crowd, "Something very funny always happens when we start that number," but the Stones head for the abyss by re-starting "that number".

The directors now give us an artful montage of the range of jet-fuel spiked emotions on and off the stage -- crowd members groovin' to the beat, trippin' hippies, mystified Angels, and organizer / disaster manager Sam Cutler resetting a knocked-over stage monitor.

Now the fights have got Keith's attention and he joins Jagger in vain efforts to manage the rising violence around the stage. The band raps up a short version of Sympathy and starts into "Under My Thumb" with Jagger ironically singing "I pray that it's all right", improvising to this authoritarian number.

Meredith Hunter, in the crowd, caught on film, cranks up the irony and starts the climactic finish of the film -- and the 60's. Hunter pulls a gun and goes for the stage; the Angels turn into Secret Service presidential bodyguards and take him out, permanently.

That's all the spoiler narrative you get. If you want to see Jagger's final reaction and the flashback closing of this artful documentary, you gotta see it for yourself; it's at your local library.

* * * * *

The Rolling Stones, and all the other musicians for that matter, become supporting players in this Shakespearean tragedy unfolding on American soil. The stars of the film now are: Sam Culter (concert organizer turned controller of microphone, stage, and dispenser of common sense authority); the Angels -- a cohesive, strong, ruthless cohort of men who are decidedly not there to see Woodstock West; the crowd was much like the Woodstock crowd save for the decidedly angry, tired, determined cohort who were undeterred and unaware that their attempts to get closer to the stage may result in knocking over motorcycles and getting a thrashing from a group of real street fighting men; and a few crowd members on extremely bad trips at a black hole of bad karma. Oh wait, and of course, the requisite character for any non-military crowd-based 20th century tragedy, one lone nut with a gun.

* * * * *

The California clubs of the Hell's Angels do not deserve the heat they've taken for their actions. If it had been the U.S. Secret Service ringing that stage when a prep pulled a gun and charged the stage, the now ex-perp would be just as dead and the agents given awards. Instead, the Angels did a hell of a job stopping a man with gun who looked like he was going for Jagger, Sirhan Sirhan style. Bottom line, the Angels tried to contribute in their own way, and history allows us to see their actions can be justified.

There are plenty of ways to let the Stones off the hook (e.g. the Stones were trapped in a trailer for security reasons all day and didn't understand what what was going on outside). That said, Mick Jagger is the man who both gets, and as the editing room clips show, feels ultimate responsibility for this catastrophe that, ultimately, he could not control. As President Harry Truman's desk sign read, "The buck stops here."

The film Gimme Shelter is a successful at pulling the puzzle pieces together. Moreover, given the music included and events recounted, this is the best rock film ever. It's transcendent message shines as surely as Hendrix's cover of Like a Rolling Stone transcends time, space, and color. The film stands as a documentary statement on a slice of American culture that is long gone, and yet made eternal by the music.

If I thought that I could sum this up better than Michael Lyndon does in his essay referenced above, I would. But I can't; Lyndon tells us that ".... Gimme Shelter became a masterpiece woven from three strands: a fine rock ’n’ roll band in full flight, Altamont’s developing tragedy, and the Stones’ reactions to watching the savagery they helped create."

'Love, it's just a kiss away ... War, it's just a shot away, shot away, shot away...'