Rolling Stones - Stones in the Park 1969 [DVD-5]

ROLLING STONES AT HYDE PARK 1969

U.K. 7-5-69. Granada TV documentary. Hippies, mods and rockers gather to see a rock festival where the Stones headline. Famous concert that took place just two days after former band mate Brian Jones died a mysterious death. Songs include: "Midight Rambler," "Satisfaction" "I'm Yours, She's Mine," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "I'm Free," "Love in Vain," "Honky Tonk Women," "Sympathy For The Devil" and others. During the eulogy for Brian Jones, Mick release hundreds of butterflies in tribute. Paul McCartney can been seen walking in the crowd.

The Rolling Stones were scheduled to play at a free concert in London's Hyde Park two days after Brian Jones's death; they decided to proceed with the show as a tribute to Jones. Their first concert with Mick Taylor was performed in front of an estimated 250,000 fans. The performance was filmed by a Granada Television production team, to be shown on British television as Stones in the Park. Jagger read an excerpt from Percy Bysshe Shelley's elegy Adonais and released thousands of butterflies in memory of Jones. The show included the concert debut of "Honky Tonk Women", which the band had just released. Their stage manager Sam Cutler introduced them as "the greatest rock & roll band in the world" - a description he repeated throughout their 1969 US tour, and which has stuck to this day. [Wiki]

'The Stones In The Park' a little flawed but essential viewing.

'The Stones In The Park' film from 1969 has always been a firm favourite of mine despite the less than thrilling reviews it has received by the critics over the years. It's only really when compared with the 'Gimmie Shelter' soundtrack and the unreleased 'Ladies And Gentlemen ….' film that its shortcomings for me become most obvious. The Stones at this point had just recruited new member Mick Taylor who was making his debut with the band.

Generally, the band sound a little out of tune on a number of songs as they were perhaps a little rusty not having toured for for a while in addition to having their newest member making his first appearance. Actually Mick Taylor plays just fine for the most part.

While the Stones are not quite in their prime they do sound quite raw which seems an awful long way from their more polished and easily digestable sound of today. It's that raw energy that, for me, made the Stones special and it's also that reason why the Hyde Park show is infinitely superior to any concert footage released in later years.The eight songs which make up this film including 'Midnight Rambler', 'Satisfaction', 'I'm Free' and 'Sympathy For The Devil' are all highly enjoyable despite the fact that they would all improve no end by the time of the Stones U.S. tour towards the end of the year.

As any keen Stones fan knows the Hyde Park show was also turned into a tribute to Brian Jones who had died just two days earlier. Mick's reading from Shelley sounds rather quaint these days as does most of the rest of their performance (including Mick's dress). There was an aura and an authenticity about the Stones (and music in general those days) which was forever lost once corporate commercialism came into play in the eighties and consumerism became paramount.

In addition to the show there's brief interview footage with the band (although primarily Mick) and there are a few extras on this DVD version among which include the outtakes 'Mercy Mercy'.'Stray Cat Blues' and 'No Expectations' - all of which are perhaps not essential (despite some great slide guitar playing from Mick Taylor on the latter song).

All in all 'The Stones In The Park' may seem a little flawed but it's historic value is immense not just in terms of the Stones themselves but for musical/cultural history in general. For that i'd say it's an essential purchase. [Amazon user review]