Have many Dopers seen this movie? I assume I don’t need to provide a lot of background - Rolling Stones, directed by Scorsese, etc.?
Overall, it was okay - the songs were good and the band was at times brilliant, but the movie itself was bad IMHO. Constant rhythm of few-second shots - very few really slow-camera-work stretches to truly take the musicianship in. There’s a reason Fred Astaire only allowed dance work to be film full-body. There’s a split-second scene where Keith blows a cigarette out of his mouth that is pure rock n’ roll - but that’s the one shot that really stands out.
But the real reason for this thread is to dig into the not-so-secret formula that is the Rolling Stones - legendarily, they are known for a two-guitar style that interweaves. When it works is creates a 1+1=3 bigness that transcends; when it doesn’t work, it sounds like two howling cats.
Case in point: the first song in SaL is **Jumpin’ Jack Flash ** - oh man, it blows. Keef is offering haiku stabs of rhythm, but his choices are both risky and sloppy. Ron Wood doesn’t help things - he is all over the place, too. And both parts need to sync up to deliver the JJF riff we all know (DUN DUN da da DUN) and since they are off, you can’t find the spine of the song you expect and rely on. A mess.
The second song is **Shattered ** - a favoriate of mine. Awful. The rhythm stalls and rarely chugs - and since that is the life-blood of the groove and song, there’s not a lot go go on.
Ah - but then the launch into **All Down the Line ** - and it all comes together. Keith and Ronnie get it together and their parts mesh to create something bigger. When the horns kick in, you are getting a full blast of bluesy rock goodness.
From there, they are locked in a lot more vs. not, but seem to do better when their parts are truly different, i.e., classic rhythm vs. lead. Girl with the Far Away Eyes, with Woody on sublime pedal steel, is a particular standout…
Just an observation…
That approach is so risky - I guess that’s what makes them the Stones.
