The Rolling Stones
"1969-1974 The Mick Taylor Years "
Sexy Intellectual

Blueswax 6
Rating 5

The All-Time Greatest Rock and Roll Band?, (07/29/10)

hree years prior to Mick Taylor's joining The Rolling Stones, the band had not toured. This was mainly due to the drug-related problems with Brian Jones. When the twenty-year-old Taylor was enlisted from John Mayall's Blues Breakers, the Stones were back on the road, and they also released their rock classics: Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street and the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! It became obvious that Mick Taylor's addition breathed new life into the Stones. It's been often written that Taylor's departure from the Stones was partly based on his perception that he was bored with the Stones music, yet I would have to say that his 1969-1974 periods were by far and away Mick's career best guitar playing. This documentary flick attempts to capture this extraordinary era of the Stones via interviews with musicians and a bevy of critics, but there's not enough live or studio performances which would have made this a more fast paced and entertaining film. For clarity, this vid does not just focus on Mick Taylor. There is ample footage that also zooms in on all the members and sidemen in the Stones. There's also a lot of debate about the dysfunctional politics within the band, and conversely their brilliance and creativity.

Stones fanatics probably know most of this history inside out, so there's not a lot of fascinating new stories portrayed. Yet it was good to flashback because it did awaken some dead memory cells of forgotten tidbits.

In summary, this movie plods along slowly, where the only captivating moments are the all too short segments showing the band playing at their best- live. Bottom line, give me the music. There's just too much talk and not enough rock & roll.

Bob Putignano a senior contributing editor at BluesWax. He is also the heart of Sounds of Blues at www.SoundsofBlue.com. Bob maybe contacted at: bob8003@yahoo.com

Bob Putignano: www.SoundsofBlue.com