Bought a copy of this on Ebay, it was well worth the money for the Montreaux bonus bit.

However, having been brought up with the legend of it being too disgraceful ever to be released, the film itself was very tame - unless of course it has been heavily cut over the years? Nothing much went on that you don't see on a typical Saturday night in a village... The seventies hotel rooms were very seriously depressing though; it's a wonder that more bands did not either break themselves up - or the rooms.

Anyone ever bother to watch this more than once?

Worth a watch, definitely. But, it's not a great movie by any standards. Like the Stevie Wonder stuff!

1) When the crew member flips the groupie over his head on the plane
2) When Danny Seymour shoots up a different groupie
3) When we see Mick J getting ready to snort the white powder

Enough for an X rating at that time. I've watched it a few times. Parts are very boring but overall it's a must see for most fans.

There's all these gratuituous crotch-shots; male or female. Every once in a while, you see some tight pants with a big cock in there or some nekkid groupie skank spreading it. Not sure how these shots further the plot. I just need to get back to the moustachio's rant about the government suppressing all that healthy Heroin.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

I thought the problem was the quinine and lactose in the heroin??

Nice song...what's it all about? Is it like 53rd & 3rd with Ramones?

2 1 2 0

The big dongs are essential to the narrative! Without it the filmmakers ideas are without weight!

Its not very dirty, nice music and nice images of Keith but there is probably a lot more real dirt from TOTA and the Europan tour 1976 and the US tour 78 with Keith at least trying to quit Heroin. We will never see that footage though. Not while they are alive.

I think the film is perhaps the greatest Rock film ever made. It perfectly depicts the opposing extremes of tedium and ecstasy, the onstage spectacle and the grimy backstage reality, the excitement and the ennui, the artists and the hangers-on, the private jets and dirty needles, the highs and lows and the in-betweens of being in a rock and roll band at the highest level of the game. Fascinating.

Diamond rings, Vaseline, you gave me disease, well, I lost a lot of love over you.

Thank you Turd - you nailed it, and thus @#$%& Blues has a readymade soundtrack in Exile On Main Street...

greatest what? It's not even an enjoyable movie for a stones fanatic to watch....pulleeeze!

It's a very good watch, one time every 3rd year.

Of course it can't compeat with the greatest rock movies...not at all.

It's not supposed to be a glamorous (sorry, wrong word) - not supposed to capture the excitement of the Stones onstage, Robert Frank had a different story to tell, as Turd sez, and the structure/stoned ambience/boredom is part of the story, just as I Only get my Rocks Off When I'm Sleeping/Dreaming does, or that gnawing wail (death gospel) at the end of Soul Survivor...It nails that post 60s/anomie/void beautifully, much as Gimme Shelter hammers that last nail in the coffin of the decade Dec 69

Turd On The Run Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think the film is perhaps the greatest Rock film
> ever made. It perfectly depicts the opposing
> extremes of tedium and ecstasy, the onstage
> spectacle and the grimy backstage reality, the
> excitement and the ennui, the artists and the
> hangers-on, the private jets and dirty needles,
> the highs and lows and the in-betweens of being in
> a rock and roll band at the highest level of the
> game. Fascinating.


Cant say I agree. So much of it is obviously 'staged' for the cameras, in which case it 'captures' almost none of the above as far as being a genuine fly on the wall account of a band on tour is concerned

"Dont look Back" it aint.

agree gazza. while I would agree that there are some informative/interesting aspects that help to depict the debauchery that was evident in that era, it's still not an engaging movie. it's literally painful to watch...if I was about any other band but the Stones, there'd be no point in even trying to....

The staged stuff to me is the weakest but - it's been 3 or 4 years - don't recall it taking up that much time...10 minutes? Let's get off the plane and drive, those southern scenes are superb, and Ahmet chatting w/ Mick as some girl drops cigarette ash into an unconcious Keith's hair a few feet away, the way Frank's soundman gets sucked into the Stones (or the tour's, but it's a familiar story) vortex as so many others did, and died, the scene with MJ/KR listening to the single mix of All Down the Line or Happy. The hotel TV reminds us Nixon got elected four months later. No acid, no speed. Quaaludes and junk.

How much of it is 'staged' for the cameras is debatable. The airplane scene is the most visible example...but when Gazza says it captures "none of the above" I have to strongly disagree.

I go beyond the obvious scenes like the television and the airplane...these are just clichés and do not interest me. The rest of the film captures what existence in the gilded, fetid cocoon of a rock and roll tour is perfectly.

The on-stage scenes are incendiary. The backstage patter is banal. The sadness of watching Keith nod out. The scenes in the hotel rooms. Bianca restless and Mick bored. The southern scenes. The acid-head fan whose baby has been taken away from her. The decadence and lethargy of the entourage followed by the explosion of the Stones on stage...and back to the torpor. It is a difficult, almost ghoulish film to watch. But I personally find it riveting. It throws the curtain back on the glamorous image of Rock and Roll and shows the maggots and rodents feeding on the carcass...de-mythologizing the entire spectacle. @#$%& Blues is a one of a kind film.

Diamond rings, Vaseline, you gave me disease, well, I lost a lot of love over you.

Turd On The Run Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How much of it is 'staged' for the cameras is
> debatable.

the death of the TV
the girl fingering herself on the bed
Mick playing with himself in the opening scene
the shoot-up scenes

Those 4 plus the 'plane' incident are the most notorious scenes in the entire film - and all look pretty staged to my eyes

I get what youre saying about it capturing the tedium, etc - but you could probably get that in any roadmovie. The fact that so much of it is obviously staged diminishes the impact of the stuff you're referring to, IMHO

Bob seemed more camera conscious in DONT LOOK BACK to me than any of the Stones do in this. (And I like DLB but don't take it as any more "real" than CS BLUES).

It would be really very nice to hear CSB live acustic on the B-stage.

maybe Im Old fashioned but I think seeing people shoot up is prety f*cking shocking. weather its staged or not. maybe the fact that its staged is all the more shocking.

Well, I've never seen it, and I'd like to. Maybe I worried I'd think less of Keith (hahahahahaha). Um, but if you looked for it on ebay, would they actually call it by its title? Can you say, "@#$%&" on ebay?! Anyway, I didn't see anything like it being listed. Any suggestions where I might find it? Certainly unrentable from Netflix, right?

Dont think the dope is staged, its quite real, just tvs & a squirming girl on the plane, Mick rubs his crotch for 20 seconds ho hum...Must concur here with Turd.

Yes, if you search for @#$%& Blues on Ebay you will find it. There is currently someone in Brighton selling several copies, however if you search on Europe rather than UK you will find several more sellers out there. Didn't try the US Ebay or Worldwide, so don't know if that's better/cheaper.


largelingerie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I've never seen it, and I'd like to. Maybe
> I worried I'd think less of Keith (hahahahahaha).
> Um, but if you looked for it on ebay, would they
> actually call it by its title? Can you say,
> "@#$%&" on ebay?! Anyway, I didn't see
> anything like it being listed. Any suggestions
> where I might find it? Certainly unrentable from
> Netflix, right?

The only redeeming thing on CS Blues is the live stuff. Bad movie. Still it would be nice to see it officially released.

BTW: BIG @#$%& Blues has great extras.

JumpingKentFlash

So what are the extras and how do I know which version I have? The DVD I have has some Montreaux rehearsal stuff, including a great version of Loving Cup, which is listed as something else (Blueberry Blues possibly??) as well as audio versions of @#$%& Blues. What else is on BIG CBs?

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only redeeming thing on CS Blues is the live
> stuff. Bad movie. Still it would be nice to see it
> officially released.
>
> BTW: BIG @#$%& Blues has great extras.

So, you can only get it if you go to the UK ebay site?? Is BIG @#$%& Blues what is available??

Geez, thank goodness the kiddies are tucked in for the night!

[www.rs-covers.com]

Stargroves Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what are the extras and how do I know which
> version I have? The DVD I have has some Montreaux
> rehearsal stuff, including a great version of
> Loving Cup, which is listed as something else
> (Blueberry Blues possibly??) as well as audio
> versions of @#$%& Blues. What else is on BIG
> CBs?
>
> JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The only redeeming thing on CS Blues is the
> live
> > stuff. Bad movie. Still it would be nice to see
> it
> > officially released.
> >
> > BTW: BIG @#$%& Blues has great extras.