“Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.” — Keith Richards
My friend Dave Marsh, a longtime rock critic, who is also heard on Sirius Radio, always seems to hit the nail on the head. A few months ago, Dave offered me this bit of wisdom, and it sums up virtually everything that is wrong with this film: "Most music critics hate rock and roll."
In the wake of the success of the 40th anniversary reissue of The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. by Universal Music Group, and the critically acclaimed "making of" documentary, Stones In Exile, others are now trying to capitalize on the hype. Out this week, The Rolling Stones 1969-1974: The Mick Taylor Years is a dreary disappointment.
This DVD isn’t about “Wild Horses,” as much as it is about high horses. Given its title, the film is presumably about Mick Taylor, right? Think again. With the exception of British blues musician John Mayall and pedal steel player Al Perkins, most of this film is really about the rock critics themselves who were interviewed for the film.
The title of the DVD is highly misleading. Again, this film isn’t really so much about the Rolling Stones or about Mick Taylor, as much as it is about the rock critics who infused way too much of their overblown egos as they relentlessly expose their self-inflated opinions of themselves into the mix. In the mind of the producer of this swill and the critics that were interviewed, their opinions of the band were more important than facts. Their likes and dislikes become the centerpiece of the film, rather than The Rolling Stones or Mick Taylor.
Being that I own likely every commercially released Rolling Stones album and DVD, and also some (okay, many) bootlegs, I was amazed that someone could actually make the topic of The Rolling Stones as tedious as is this film, which is heavily dependent on the ramblings and overblown self-importance of the rock critics it features. Mick Taylor is a world-class guitarist, and his years with The Rolling Stones culminated in a brilliant period for the band. Given this, it was stunning to me that someone could manage to make such a mess out of putting together a film about those years, and could actually succeed in making it so mind-numbingly tiresome.
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Article comments
1 - Chris
I ordered this DVD from Amazon the day of its release. I was quite excited, because I have long thought that the Stones Mach II were in fact the greatest rock and roll band ever. And bootlegs such as the "Lost Brussels" confirm the commercially recorded evidence. But you are right. This film is a disappointment. Really fails in its mission. Quite a shame.....
2 - Chris
And I would hasten to add that Mick Taylor's fluidly beautiful playing "made" that band and that music so very outstanding, as a group that had plenty of "roll", as well as their undoubted "rock".
3 - Karla
I was going to buy this DVD and so really appreciate your candidness. As a former rock writer, it's great to see a woman telling it like it is about the rock biz. The Stones have been "it" for me since I was a teen. And I also have that same Winterland poster! Thanks.
4 - David Snaggler
Having spent significant time in London, your description of this DVD reminds me of watching an editorial on BBC TV that is a sure cure for insomnia which is often a result in adjusting from the 9 hour time zone change from the flight. It's a shame that such a promising subject for a DVD could result in such a poor presentation. Thank you for your candit article that will save me the time and money on this useless release.
5 - Steve Talia
I'm glad that I'm not alone in reading this particular viewpoint concerning the new Mick Taylor Years DVD. For the critics to entirely dismiss the Goats Head Soup & It's Only Rock N' Roll albums out of hand does a great injustice to Taylor. They might as well have not spoken about those two albums as well. Both albums may not have been highpoints of the Taylor Era, but they both had some little gems to offer.
I was also very disappointed that there was, beyond just the few minutes, no longer in-depth interviews with Taylor regarding his time with the band.
BTW, if "Angie" was such a horrible song, then why did Mick Jagger once say that he wanted to release a live version of it because Taylor had played such a gorgeous guitar solo during the middle break of the song back when they were touring in '73?
Hopefully, somebody else will give it another shot and do a Taylor Years DVD that really does a well-blanaced service to Taylor and the band from the Taylor Era. You know something is wrong when "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is only spoken about briefly and "Time Waits For No One" barely gets a mention for why it was such an important song in Stones history. The guitar solo in that song was the last thing Taylor laid down for the band before he quit the band.