Charlie Is My Darling 1965

   One of the legendary "lost" artifacts rock history Charlie is My Darling is a fascinating documentary on the early Rolling Stones. Filmed during a short 2 day tour of Ireland during Sept. of 1965 this captures an almost impossibly young Stones on the cusp of major stardom - just a scant two weeks after Satisfaction had reached # 1 in the British charts. There has was always been a frustrating shortage of  Brian Jones era filmed live performances (up till now The TAMI Show DVD was probably the best available), but thanks to recently released  DVD & BD this has been at least partially rectified.

    Commissioned by the Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, as a answer to The Beatles A Hard Day's Night the film unfortunately became tangled up in the legalities with Allen Klein and has rarely been seen. Director Peter Whiteheads  original version ran only 35 min and in the 1980's Oldham put together a 50 minute version, but we now have a beautifully restored 65 minute version with all the live performances edited back in. Filmed over two days and in two cities - Dublin & Belfast with two concerts each night, the live footage shows the band ripping thru  such songs as The Last Time, Time Is On My Side, Around & Around and others - plus Satisfaction (which was supposedly  the first time it was played live).  A fascinating document that shows Brian Jones as an integral, driving force in the band - although with the beginnings of the Jagger/Richard songwriting team shown here, it is sad to think what the next few years would bring. Also shown is the riots that accompanied most of their early live shows (Beatlemania had nothing on a 1965 Stones show).
  There is also the usual travelogue and interview footage, but the best stuff is Keith & Mick quietly working thru Sittin on a Fence and Tell Me with Keith on acoustic guitar and then trying out The Beatles Eight Days a Week and I've Just Seen a Face while Andrew Loog Oldham and a bored looking (even more then usual) Charlie Watts watch.
  Out on DVD and Blu-Ray that contain all three versions of the film, plus a big deluxe box set is also available.