Stones In Top Form On ‘Some Girls’
http://goo.gl/aAjHJOctober 24, 2011
By Scott Smith
A claim that The Rolling Stones were every bit as great in 1978 as they were in 1972 might be considered blasphemy in some corners of the rock ’n’ roll world.
Most hard-core fans politely nod at the contributions of Stones’ guitarist Ron Wood these days while pledging their longtime allegiance to the group’s 1969-1974 era, a time when technically great guitarist Mick Taylor was in the rowdy fold.
However, the recent big-screen viewing of “The Rolling Stones: Some Girls — Live in Texas 1978” at Fayetteville’s Razorback Cinema concert film begs some serious re-evaluation. Yes, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers played nearly flawlessly on the “Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Rolling Stones” DVD shot on the 1972 tour, but they seem musically meaner throughout the “Some Girls” film, with Mick Jagger morphing from a street-fighting man into a punk-loving frontman. Even drummer Charlie Watts, the most laid-back Stone, bashes away at his drums — watch how aggressively he strikes his cymbals and tom-tom, resulting in his greatest filmed performance yet.
Filmed in Fort Worth, Texas, and set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 21, “Some Girls — Live in Texas ’78” also showcases six-string outlaw Keith Richards in near-top condition. Allegedly free of his decade-long heroin habit, Richards slashes away at his Telecaster as musical director, and his smoker’s cough of a singing voice is the perfect fit for the evening’s rapid-fire take of “Happy.”
Standing statuesque along with Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood is bassist Bill Wyman, who, despite having two injured fingers taped together, rustles up some low-end fun on a prancing reading of “Tumblin’ Dice” and then-new tracks “When the Whip Comes Down,” “Beast of Burden,” “Miss You,” “Respectable,” “Shattered.” One flaw in the film is there’s not enough screen time given to Watts, Wyman and touring keyboardists Ian McLagan (ex-Faces) and Ian Stewart, and at times, Jagger’s playful, on-stage bullying of Wood grows a tad stale as the set list moves forward.
Although the “Some Girls” document lacks the epic-sized flashiness of the group’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together” concert movie from 1981, it packs much more of a bruising punch. It acts as a fantastic snapshot of The Rolling Stones defiantly staking their territory as a tornado of punk rock, rap and disco threatens to engulf them.
The Times Record
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