We went through a Beatles revival last summer with the whole Rock Band Beatles game and remastered back catalog. Well, now it’s time for the Rolling Stones to have their turn. It’s a Stones revival this year (they’re not actually dead, or even retired, but let’s ignore that for now).
The band just released a deluxe reissue of “Exile On Main St.” which is one of the greatest albums of all time and anyone who says otherwise is stupid and shouldn’t be your friend. The reissue comes with a whopping 10 bonus tracks culled from the original recording sessions. And now, documentary filmmaker Robert Frank is set to unveil a one-hour documentary about the recording of that same album. It’s called “Stones In Exile,” and the Hollywood Reporter has all the details of the film’s Cannes debut:
The exile in question, appropriately enough, was right here on the French Riviera since the band members had to leave England right after the swinging '60s in order to avoid taxes. They set up shop on the Mediterranean coast, lived a version of the French provincial life (plus sex, drugs and rock-'n-roll) for several years in the early 1970s, and produced one of their best albums, "Exile on Main Street," in the offing.
The doc culls from 40 hours of musty outtakes shot by American docmeister Robert Frank for his own opus (the banned but bootlegged "C--------r Blues"), hidden in vaults for almost 40 years, as well as from stills done by the French photographer Dominique Tarle, who hung out with the band. There are also a few interviews and voiceovers and all the band members are present and accounted for in the piece.
The Stones already got the documentary treatment two years ago with Martin Scorsese’s “Shine A Light.” But that was a concert flick and it showcased the band as they are now. This doc takes you back to that grimy, seedy era where Keith was feuding with Mick and shuttling drug dealers and winos in and out of the studio. It’s rich terrain (there’s even a book about it), and seeing original footage from those glorious times is bound to make any Stones fan weep with joy.
There’s no set date for when this doc will show in the US (one presumes it’ll be on TV, since it’s only an hour long). But when it shows up, be quick with the DVR, Sweet Virginia.
