While the television special on the Rolling Stones in Ireland (Belfast and Dublin tour in 1965 – “Charlie Is My Darling”) has appeared a number of times on television lately when I have turned on the set, the footage as edited, produced and presented about the music of these five, very talented people (Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, and Bill Wyman,) who waited significantly behind “The Beatles” to arrive on the music scene in America, shows all the musical and iconic power of the captivating stuff they produced when they were young and playing smaller venues. These five young people, when they started out were completely healthy, and were very solid people built up to stand the test of time in the tenacious and tough world of what was then the modern media and the world of music; and this in view of a much tougher media climate today. In the rough world where this musical group was built, the musicians that made up the “Rolling Stones” were unlikely to ever have had problems, past, present and future, and in fact, even those among their detractors would be hard – pressed to propose whenever these people had any trouble whatsoever; people refrain even from wondering about it due to the stature of the group and what they represent as greater personal, even revolutionary, freedoms for their audiences, including the rights of women who apparently swarmed around them at their events and in life as well. Never a problem, and despite the idea as proposed at the time that the “Stones” had little better possibility given “The Beatles” act than being a broken record in England and Belgium, they excelled in their performances and caught the attention of listeners in America and Europe everywhere, and probably even in places where their music was taboo, like the Far East or South America, etc.
What went into the level of success of “The Rolling Stones” might have to do with the social upheavals and chaos of their early years on, and somehow this rock group’s handling of its issues: It is possible, if not probable all the main characters in a sketch of this group, especially after the unfortunate passing of Brian Jones as replaced by Ron Wood, understood in depth and were informed of the issues of the day – including even things like abortion and taxes. Unlike “The Beatles,” the “Stones” probably read the papers and /or listened to events over the radio and watched them on television. They have had an image as businesslike and responsible radicals if anything, whereas “The Beatles” were always diving into deep water with the latest artistic, societal, social, moral and ethical, and other avant – garde themes, including world popular movements and politics. “The Beatles” and other musical groups of the day quite often took on large themes and questions beyond the scope of popular music that dulled their lyrics and in the end might have caused their album sales to fall, and the group itself then lost its cohesion, artistically and legally. On the other hand, there is an invaluable picture of “The Rolling Stones” in the mind of every one of their generation of taking on the challenges of youth along with its strengths and dilemmas, answering to society for the kinds of upsetting new thinking that marks their age, the arrival of show business in every room of one’s house and the related influences of the mass media, publicity, radically changing modern tastes and the finances related to this. “The Rolling Stones” were perhaps better at the recipes of music in the media cookbook than other groups, especially with the range of themes in their music that could make a deep impression on admirers of folk music, to classical and blues or harder rock lovers whereas “The Beatles,” who were as well very good at music and possibly better on their instruments, maybe just liked the warm – fuzzies in their own act, for example, and pursued that to its end. The recent “Stones” special in its tone reminds one of some of the older footage of Bob Dylan and his entourage, though where Dylan sang to his audiences, the “Stones” spoke and speak to them, and this perhaps as well has been what is so risky for them and their fans, and what has made the group, again, so entirely successful. One might also remember the “Stones” were and are an outstanding live act. With all this going for them, it is still quite difficult to define the band as either part of the entertainment establishment these days, as might have been their goal at one time, or as one group still on a tear for their fans in places. All in all, seeing this footage about these boys from more years ago than many people would like to count back was a little strange in the presentation of images and recordings – the footage and related pieces played in their 1965 Ireland tour show again the mass upheaval in society and the turning of its elders toward young people who were in their own way still too young to shoulder the responsibilities and worries of the world, especially in Europe (first) and America (second) and the musical pieces in this feature bring that out completely. It can be difficult to see a feature such as that on their 1965 Ireland tour, and listening to the music, without being really musical must be for some of their fans at least a little haunting and powerfully and humanly reaching to everyone at the same time. Otherwise, one might mention the guys in this film just looked hazed at the time. Many of their musical pieces are happy and uplifting, even jazzy nonetheless.
