Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 11/20/2007
Where
The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966 had its moments with eight commentators giving us the beginnings of Stones history, this part 2 -
The Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-1969 with a dozen critics and musicians interviewed - is truly superior in its approach and in direction, a perfect segue to the un-named part 3 of this trilogy from
Chrome Dreams/Sexy Intellectual, the very excellent
Keith Richards Under Review. Critic
Keith Altham is on all three documentaries as is
Tom Keylock, and they add wonderful insight, notably
Altham's essential critiques and historical perspective.
Thomas Arnold is the narrator, as he is on the Richards disc, replacing
Mandy O'Neal from the first volume, and the storyline is meatier as the "greatest rock & roll band in the world" move into these new phases of psychedelia and what followed, the time labeled their "golden era" with guitarist
Mick Taylor and producer
Jimmy Miller enhancing the sounds the band would generate. The previous documentary ended with
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" while this edition opens with
"Sympathy For The Devil", interesting bookends with so much territory to cover. Even die-hard Stones fans who know much about the history will embrace the clips, the perspectives and the chronology.
Alan Clayson calls
"Ruby Tuesday" The Stones version of
"Yesterday", attributing the initial writing of
"Ruby Tuesday" to
Brian Jones -
Keith Altham also bringing up the fact it was a
Brian Jones composition which
Keith Richards and
Mick Jagger added to; Clayson also notes how
Bill Wyman came up with the riff to
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" - the many instances of this "plagiarism", as Clayson calls it that is part of the Stones legend, though the DVD doesn't go further into
Marianne Faithful co-writing
"Sister Morphine",
Ry Cooder's contribution to the hit version of
"Honky Tonk Women",
Mick Taylor's work on
"Time Waits For No One", and the late
Jimmy Miller saying that
Billy Preston actually wrote
"Shine A Light". One could do a family tree on the alleged songwriter contributions, which this documentary actually initiates in a way. For the fans the inclusion of
Anita Pallenberg's idea for the backing vocals on
"Sympathy For The Devil" and
Marianne Faithful's action of giving
Mick Jagger a book which helped develop the idea is essential food for thought on the making of
Beggars Banquet.
Anthony DeCurtis and
Keith Altham discuss the contributions of producer Miller, an often overlooked character in Stones lore, something that the producer's second wife, the late
Gere Rock, said was a conscious effort on the part of the band to embrace his work while erasing his genius. There are so many "pivotal moments" to the group's progression, as
Nigel Williamson notes during this period, that executive producer
Rob Johnstone, editor
Tom O'Dell and the others behind the scenes deserve credit for condensing all this intense activity into such a compelling and cohesive form. It's a daunting task when one considers the recording of these masterful albums, critical hit singles, and the movies - the films capturing the moment, clips from
Peter Whitehead's 1966 movie
Charlie is My Darling,
Jean Luc Godard's 1968 amalgam that is
One Plus One (a.k.a. Sympathy For The Devil),
Michael Lindsay Hogg's 1968 lost archive
The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus,
The Maysles Brothers and
Charlotte Zwerin's 1970 epic
Gimme Shelter and the underground favorites,
Nic Roeg and
Donald Cammell's 1970 film
Performance and its soundtrack developed in great part by
Jack Nitzsche and
Ry Cooder, all helping bring this drama to another level.
The project also comes with full biographies of all the commentators, an interactive quiz titled "The Rolling Stones Digital Challenge" as well as a two minute chat from
Keith Altham discussing his attendance of the
Beggars Banquet press reception where he was trying to interview producer
Jimmy Miller while pies were flying. It's a clever moment with black and white footage of the famous event spliced into
Altham's interview tape.
Chrome Dreams also has a
Keith Richards interview CD in release as well as a 4 cd
The Rolling Stones As It Happened audio interview set.
~Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
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