DVD Review – The Rolling Stones – Some Girls Live In Texas ‘78

As the Stones ponder their 50th anniversary next year, they are re-kindling interest in the band by releasing a deluxe version of their 1978 album Some Girls, remastered (again) and with a full second album’s worth of songs rescued from the cutting room floor. I will review that release soon – but I’ll tell you now that it’s pretty great.

The group also issued a DVD shot in 16mm film of an intimate concert mid-way through the 1978 American tour that I have been watching pretty much non-stop for the past week, called Live In Texas ’78.

The Stones are in top form at this show. The film catches the band on probably its last tour before it got into the big shows with the over the top props and ramps into the audience and all of that. Here it’s a tight five piece with two keyboard players augmenting the sound. And while the band did do some stadiums on the 1978 tour, this show was at a 3,000-seat theater in Fort Worth, Texas.

The set list is exciting. They kick it off with Let It Rock by Chuck Berry and then slide into some older, familiar tunes like All Down the Line and Honky Tonk Women. But then they soon hit the new material, which was from the mostly punk-inspired Some Girls album. Here the band really hits its stride. Jagger straps on a Strat for When The Whip Comes Down and we see Keith cue the bridge when the time is right. Throughout the night, the Stones perform like they still have something to prove. And new band member Ronnie Wood has clearly added some fire to the lineup.

The band does seven of the ten songs on Some Girls, only omitting Lies, Before They Make Me Run and the title track. This is the last tour where they did so much new material live – and per a 2011 interview with Jagger in the DVD bonus goodies, this was unique even on this tour – they did all that new stuff on this night because it was a small show. A big highlight for me is the live version of Just My Imagination – not punk inspired, rather just groovy and rockin.

Despite the tightness of the group, the arrangements on many of the new songs are loose, with solo sections in different places than the album, and Jagger adding extra lines like in Miss You. In fact despite the fact that Miss You was the big single at the time, the song is pretty much an extended jam with Jagger again on guitar, so Keith and Woody take loads of solos, sometimes at the same time!

There is all sorts of shit in this film you’d never see in a concert film today, like a roadie mopping up a spilled drink by the drum riser during All Down The Line. And the hole on the ass of Jagger’s pants that is covered with duct tape during the first few songs but then is gone and it looks like his underwear is hanging out of the hole all night.

Or in Far Away Eyes, when Mick starts the song on piano but after a verse is having problems with it so he moves to the organ and just picks up where he left off. And…why are Bill Wyman’s middle two fingers bound together? That’s another weird little thing on this film. Regardless, he plays great. I always thought he was fairly mediocre but this music shows off his chops. Even on a slow burner like Beast of Burden his parts are moving and melodic. Good stuff.

Where the Ladies and Gentleman film from the Exile tour showcased Mick Taylor pretty much noodling through every song, this concert showcases the emerging guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Wood is rock solid and is just playing, instead of all the mugging he does these days.

In fact none of the band is mugging. Again, somewhere after this tour they became sort of caricatures of themselves in concert but here they are the real deal. Jagger’s voice is still in that really throaty mode, which he got out of later. It’s evident in Beast of Burden, which is a more aggressive delivery than on the album.

And let’s not forget Charlie Watts – rock solid and probably in his prime here.

After seven new songs in a row, the band shifts back to familiar ground with Love In Vain, an incendiary Tumblin Dice, another Chuck Berry cover, Happy (with Keith on vocal of course) and then the one-two punch of Brown Sugar and Jumpin Jack Flash.

The bonus tracks are interesting but probably only worth one viewing. The aforementioned Jagger interview is good. The band’s 1978 Saturday Night Live performance is on here – all three songs – and it’s just as I remember it. Terrible. The mix sucks, Jagger’s voice is gone and the performances are just poor overall. But Jagger and Dan Aykroyd doing a mock appearance on the Today show is a keeper.

You got a Stones fan you want to dazzle this Christmas? Get them this DVD, and Ladies and Gentlemen. They’ll love you forever.

Ron Wood Hooks Up With 18-yr-old, Lands in Rehab

You know that when Keith Richards suggests you go to rehab, you are in trouble.

The Stones' Ron Wood fell off the wagon hard this week, apparently hooking up with an 18-year-old waitress on a drinking binge that included the two staying at his home in Ireland, drinking a couple of bottles of vodka a day. She posted on her Facebook page that he was leaving his wife for her because - well, that's what 18 year olds do!

The other Stones reportedly pleaded for Woodie to get his act together and return to his patient and oblivious wife of 23 years. More details here and here.

Honestly, I am not totally surprised. In my review of Wood's book, I noticed that he didn't seem to grasp the concept that as an alcoholic, he just CAN'T be around the stuff. He had the, "I can just have one drink" attitude that always seems to lead to a complete and total relapse.

Whereas from his book, Clapton seemed to totally get it, Woodie takes a 'boys will be boys' attitude that left me feeling at the end of his book that he might slide back into the booze.

Anyway, apparently he came to his senses long enough to ditch the jail bait and check back into rehab. Hopefully it will stick this time. Best of luck, Woodie!

Book Review - Ronnie

On the heels of the Clapton autobiography, I dove right in to “Ronnie,” by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. What a contrast.

Where Clapton had a fairly negative childhood experience that led him to have relationship and addiction issues throughout his life, Wood had a really positive, nurturing childhood that led to him having addiction issues his whole life.

And whereas I felt like Clapton got smarter over the course of his life (even though he remained stupid - or at least, addicted - for a really, really long time), Wood made the same damn mistakes again and again – mostly financial. I mean, the guy gets so overstretched financially that he has to ask the Stones for advances of millions of dollars before tours, just to get out of debt.

Self-admittedly, he just can’t say no. So when someone comes to him with a harebrained investment idea – hey, run your own spa, it’ll only cost you 30 million dollars – he takes the bait again and again. It’s actually very frustrating to see him mess up over and over. He’s like the multi-millionaire version of the guy who goes out on the crabbing boat for months, makes tons of money, comes home, spends all of it quickly, and has to go back out again to make more.

The best part of the book for me, actually, is the part before he joins the Stones. His formative years are really entertaining, and you get a good sense for his virtuosity as a musician. The guy really can play anything, given the right amount of time. He has a great attitude as well. Very happy go lucky and generous, (whereas Clapton was always kind of a dick). His stories about how he got started in the early 60s, all the bands he played with, and his time with Rod Stewart and The Faces, are good segments.

Also in contrast to Clapton, I don’t get the sense that he has completely kicked the junk. As with every other rocker in the 70s, there are loads of stories of excess and drugs. Once he joins the Stones, it goes off the charts. He was even a freebase addict for five years in the 80s, but he never says why or how he kicked it. The number of dangerous scumbag drug dealers and enablers that were around his family and especially his kids is pretty shocking and pathetic.

Anyone who follows the Stones knows that the recent Bigger Bang tour was his first tour sober. Meaning, the first time the guy, who is now 60, ever played onstage without a buzz. Mick and Keith actually toyed with not bringing Wood on the tour, he was so bad off - so, he cleaned up. It is amazing that he pulled it off for such a long tour without full relapse, but you also get the impression that he still parties. After reading the Clapton book, I am not sure how well that bodes for his future sobriety.

The other great part about the book is how in depth he goes into his artwork. People may not know this, but Wood has always been a fantastic artist. Given financial discipline, he could make a living off of just his drawings and paintings. His work is excellent – some samples here. He talks about how he got started, and how he sketches his band mates in rehearsal and uses art to fill the plentiful down time on the road.

I’d recommend this book to any Stones fan, as it’s a pretty insightful look into how the band operates – Wood says they travel on tour in a “golden prison” where every luxury is provided, but they don’t have the freedom to actually get out and be in the real world. It’s busses, planes, five star hotel rooms, studios, concerts and repeat – for more than a year at a time. Would drive any lesser man nuts, but obviously they have the passion and with every tour, move into new territory as the world’s biggest and oldest touring band.

And even though he’s still the “new guy,” having just joined the Stones in 1975, I’d say it would be pretty tough to justify a version of the Stones without him. This book gives great insight into the man and his life and times.