CHARLIE IS MY DARLING, a doco by PETER WHITEHEAD (Abkco DVD)

 |   |  1 min read

The Rolling Stones: It's Alright
CHARLIE IS MY DARLING, a doco by PETER WHITEHEAD (Abkco DVD)

As the Rolling Stones commemorate, celebrate and commercialise their 50th year, they are certainly being well served by books, the Grrr! compilation, and on film with Crossfire Hurricane and now the reissue of this, a long out-of-print doco about their lightning fast trip to Ireland in late '65, just weeks after the release of Satisfaction and it topping the charts globally.

It is a fascinating document on many levels: that it captures the band at the peak of the mayhem (the stage invasion in Dublin is violent and unbelievable); they already seem weary and wary as the gloss has gone off (Mick Jagger and Brian Jones both say they didn't think they would last even this long); and the music is often thrilling (It's Alright almost seemed written to invoke hysteria).

Every now and again there are thoughtful to-camera comments by the softly spoken Jones, the aloof but thoughtful Jagger and Charlie Watts who closes the film saying he much preferred being at home.

Ireland looks like the 19th century with bad skin and poor dental hygiene (horse and cart in the street, a woman of 40 in a head scarf as if she's come from the workhouse), manager Andrew Loog Oldham clearly a quiet force despite his youth (amusingly in the intro credits he is billed "Andrew Loog Oldham as 'The Manager' " as if this is a fiction) and the raw footage captures the excitement of the performances and the tedium of backstage.

Jagger proves as stupid and sloppy as any drunk, Jones acutely self-conscious beneath his bonnet of blonde hair, Richards does a very passable Elvis impersonation and they fool around making wry jokes about the Beatles (a sort of invisible presence) and mockingly sing Fab Four songs.

They are also shown working out their own songs (Sitting on a Fence, Tell Me) and Richards is rarely far from a guitar or piano.

Some of this footage appears in Crossfire Hurricane but the full arc here -- the tedium as important as the excitement -- is a snapshot of a few days in the middle of what was about to become an even more controversial story, and subsequent year.

Sadly too Brian Jones' opening comments ring like a portent.

"The future as a Rolling Stone," he says in beautiful soft enunciation, "is very uncertain. My ultimate aim in life was never to be a pop star. I enjoy it with reservations, but I'm not satisfied artistically or personally."

He was dead less than four years later. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Film at Elsewhere articles index

1 GIANT LEAP; WHAT ABOUT ME? (Border DVD)

1 GIANT LEAP; WHAT ABOUT ME? (Border DVD)

Well, this should keep you occupied for a few days of solid viewing. This new project by 1 Giant Leap (Duncan Bridgemen and Jamie Catto) took three years to film and edit, and had them... > Read more

THE SPACE MOVIE, a doco by TONY PALMER (Ovation/Southbound DVD)

THE SPACE MOVIE, a doco by TONY PALMER (Ovation/Southbound DVD)

Courageous explorers and pioneers walk in our midst and we take them for granted. This thought occurred in the light of the January 2011 shooting of US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Her husband... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Dayme Arocena

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Dayme Arocena

Singer, composer, arranger and bandleader, DaymĂ© Arocena was recently dubbed by The Guardian as “Cuba’s finest vocalist”. The young Afro-Cuban artist, mentored... > Read more

MORE JAHZZ FROM THE KIWI UNDERGROUND (2024): Jahzz it is and jazz it be

MORE JAHZZ FROM THE KIWI UNDERGROUND (2024): Jahzz it is and jazz it be

The on-going releases of left-field local jazz, improvised music and outlier sounds continues apace. The bandcamp site for Kiwijahzz lists 11 volumes of Jazz From the Underground Nightclubs of... > Read more