The Untold Story of the Sideman which is due to TX on 7th July on BBC Four.
The documentary tells the story of the sidemen who work alongside some of the biggest names in the music industry and includes really rare, brand new interviews with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards as well as Billy Joel talking about their loyal sidemen and also the sidemen who have worked alongside Prince, Otis Redding, the Stones and Beyoncé.

Thanks for that.

Could be quite an interesting watch.

AS a sideman, it’s your job to be invisible; you should be heard and not seen. You’ve got to know who you are and where you stand in the hierarchy. The hard thing for a sideman is that the better you are at your job the less people notice you, and that’s the whole point” - Keith Richards, The Untold Story Of The Sideman.


The Untold Story Of The Sideman is a unique account of what it feels like to live in the shadow of a star, a story of triumph and thwarted ambition. And it’s a story that has never been told. Through Slicky we will witness an alternative and unique view of rock and pop history with unprecedented interviews with some of the world’s most successful and famous frontmen, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Billy Joel as well as the sidemen past and present for Prince, David Bowie, John Lennon, Otis Reding, The Rolling Stones and Beyoncé.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

It's no coincidence the addition of Nicky Hopkins coincided with their best on-stage years.

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TravelinMan
It's no coincidence the addition of Nicky Hopkins coincided with their best on-stage years.

Absolutely correct

BBC4, on Friday evenings, has for many years showed some excellent music documentaries.

The docu will air on the coming Friday on 21.00. I hope some kind soul will record and then share it with us.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

N

Short clip ; Mick Jagger explains the importance of Bernard Fowler to the Stones and how he could learn from Bernard as a singer. [www.bbc.co.uk]

I had to watch this on iPlayer, but assume/hope it will be repeated so that I can record it next time round because it's something worth re-watching. Otherwise, it will surely pop up eventually on youtube.
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I imagine the idea might have been inspired by 20 Feet from Stardom, which was a great film, but I found this to be even more captivating. It was fascinating to hear the different perspectives from the likes of Steve Cropper, Earl Slick, Bernard, and Wendy and Lisa, as well as Crystal who works with Billy Joel and another lady (Cristell?) who worked with Beyonce. One of the common threads seemed to be that their work as sidemen or women didn't pay enough to keep them going in between tours. They all needed/wanted other work.

I was pleased too to see the closing footage, which was clips from the great Earl Slick/Bernard show I attended where they played Station to Station in its entirety.

Mick and Keith had their say, with minor contributions also from Ronnie and Charlie, but Keith's contribution was the most interesting and insightful.

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TravelinMan
It's no coincidence the addition of Nicky Hopkins coincided with their best on-stage years.

False.

Thanks for the review, Beast! I'm looking forward to watch this one.

Hope you can get to watch it soon, Cristiano!

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TravelinMan
It's no coincidence the addition of Nicky Hopkins coincided with their best on-stage years.

And albums and singles; and biggest, bestest, foundational PRIME WAR HORSE SMASH HITS. He more then 'played' upon them really; more foundationally helped Create the essential basic-tracks on the biggest most loved, and most often played hits.

He wrote his own parts. And often directly affected the actual song structure, and of course, ALL the dynamics. Sympathy for easy example, has a remarkably brilliant, distinctive guitar part!
But there's Nicky; holding it down and making a very solid powerful rhythm.
We had Hopkins and Taylor (and wyman/watts) in the same band. whoa.

All love to the other two, all the time of course, but let's have some Symptathy For The Angel.

Incredible. Nicky more than a 'side-man' actually; at least w them. He wasn't coming in for a 'session' he was an integral part of the work-up and delivery; And often on the foundational, live rhythm tracks that really are the heartbeat and soul of their greatest stuff...
...I really enjoy some of the basics we've been able to get, without even vocals. Sometimes mostly just Nicky/Bill/Charlie...alone, or for the most part.

Love to see this doc. will make sure to catch it, Thanks for posting.

Download link.
[we.tl]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

Absolutely great! Thank you, Deltics.

yes!!!!!1 Thank you

Keith talking about Steve Cropper was really interesting I thought ....

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Great to see soundcheck and concert footage of the Las Vegas show from last year in this doc!

Story of rock n roll sidemen nice tribute to Bernard from the Stones shows what he means to the band they all give interviews about him worth a look

Lisa listed as former singer with Rolling Stones cements Sashas place as backing singer for however long they continue

I thoroughly enjoyed this programme. Very informative about the life of a "sidey", as Earl Slick referred to the various sidemen and women featured.

Bernard came accross very well. He seems like a genuine guy and is clearly loved and respected by The Stones. All of our guys had great things to say about "Brother B", as Keef calls him. There's no danger The Stones will go out, and B not getting the call....

I especially enjoyed the live footage of Bernard and Earl doing the Bowie tribute show. I read a great review of the gig they did in Glasgow, and regretted being unable to attend.

When was this recorded - Keith exceptionally lucid and looking very well ...

Great lil doc ... The glamour but then the sheer loneliness ....

The Bernard bits are wonderful ...

The Steve Cropper piece is a must watch .....



ROCKMAN

Too right about the Steve Cropper parts - a major highlight of the film!

Yeah Sara .... his teary words near the end about Otis crinkled me a lil' ...



ROCKMAN

Exacto - they did me too...

A missed opportunity, they should have asked Lisa: how does it feel when you are kicked out from the band after 20+ years of being a sidewoman?

Oh darn, I missed it. Anyone knows of a replay/rerun ... or how do you say that in English ?

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Keep On Rolling

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Rolling Hansie
Oh darn, I missed it. Anyone knows of a replay/rerun ... or how do you say that in English ?

You can watch it on BBC website, if you're in UK: [www.bbc.co.uk]

Or you can watch it anywhere, thanks to Deltics' post.

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Rolling Hansie
Oh darn, I missed it. Anyone knows of a replay/rerun ... or how do you say that in English ?

Don't know of any repeat yet but, if you can access it, it's on the BBC iPlayer:

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Or you can download it here:

[we.tl]]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"