Notes

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Robert Frank's controversial documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1972 U.S. tour was for all intents and purposes unreleased. The Stones denied approval of the result, and it's only been shown for the most part at festivals and obscure art houses, usually under conditions stipulating that the filmmaker be present. This hasn't stopped bootleg copies (of inferior quality) from making their way to hip independent urban video stores, and after the buildup of mystique around the movie, many viewers may be disappointed with the hard-to-watch result. Unlike the previous Gimme Shelter, this is not a relatively easy-to-follow compilation of concert and backstage scenes. Frank concentrated, seemingly deliberately, upon the tedium and sleaze of life on the road, reaching its most notorious heights with scenes of groupies screwing in airplanes (with the bemused Stones looking on, though not participating), hangers-on shooting up in hotel rooms, and Keith Richards helping throw a TV out a hotel window. There's little in the way of dialogue, and the sensationalistic scenes are far outweighed by ones of sheer lethargy: the Stones and their tour associates hanging around watching TV in hotels, lurking about backstage, or going for a car ride, without anything much happening. Whether accurately or not, it makes touring with a big rock band seem like one of the most boring things on earth, coming to life intermittently with decent (but brief) snatches of concert footage, including a duet between Stevie Wonder and Mick Jagger on "Satisfaction."