In recent years, the Rolling Stones have released a slew of previously unreleased concerts on home video. The offerings have been a mixed bag. Some have been great; others, not so much. Totally Stripped (which arrives June 3, 2016, on Eagle Rock Entertainment) falls into the "great" category.
Totally Stripped revisits the Rolling Stones' 1995 album Stripped, which had acoustic studio tracks and live tracks from three nightclub/theater shows that the Stones did that year in Amsterdam, Paris and London. The main reason to get Totally Stripped is to see the 90-minute documentary about the making of Stripped. (The deluxe edition of Totally Stripped also has separate videos for all three of the nightclub/theater concerts.)
The Totally Stripped documentary begins with some footage (mostly in black-and-white) of the Stones' acoustic recording sessions in Tokyo. The band is shown playing "Love in Vain," "The Spider and the Fly," "Wild Horses" and "Let It Bleed." It's an aspect to the Stones that we rarely see anymore: The entire band playing their instruments together at the same time in a recording studio, instead of separately recording their parts at different times.
The rest of the documentary is about the concerts in Amsterdam, Paris and London. The Amsterdam footage is the most interesting. The Stones are seen leaving for the concert (which was at the Paradiso) by boat. And then, in one of the best segments of the documentary, Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, keyboardist Chuck Leavell and backup vocalist Bernard Fowler are seen warming up for the show by performing "Tumbling Dice" with only Leavell playing keyboards. It's pure magic watching them perform with the kind of relaxed joy and passion that comes from years of comradeship, mutual respect for talent, and a shared love of the same music. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood later joins in, with a drink in tow. (Remember, this is long before he got sober.)
Meanwhile, later in the documentary, drummer Charlie Watts expresses endearing humility by saying that he plays drums "for Mick and Keith, not for me." But when footage is shown of the audience loudly chanting "Charlie," there's no doubt that many Stones fans consider Watts to be the band's most valuable musician.
In the documentary, Jagger had this to say about performing on a stage that is much smaller than the stages at arenas or stadiums where the Stones normally play: "It's different for me because I can't really run about. Everyone gets in the way. I have to tone down everything." Jagger may not have to exaggerate his moves to be seen by audience members thousands of yards away at a stadium show, but he brings the same level of energetic charisma that has made him a legendary frontman.
At the L'Olympia in Paris, actor Jack Nicholson is seen hanging out backstage and trying to keep his cool, but he can't quite hide how excited he is to be at the show. It's written all over his trademark grin that he has on his face. The documentary also features commentary from several members of the Stones' team: producer Don Was, engineer Ed Cherney, bassist Darryl Jones, saxophonist Bobby Keys, Leavell, lighting director Dave Hill and set designer Mark Fisher.
The concert segments in the documentary have song highlights from each concert.
Amsterdam: "Not Fade Away," "Dead Flowers," "Gimme Shelter"
Paris: "Honky Tonk Women," "You Got Me Rocking," "I Go Wild," "Shine a Light," "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
London: "Honky Tonk Women," "Faraway Eyes"
The London footage feels a bit rushed and crammed in at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of the documentary, which is entertaining from beginning to end. Many fans believe that the Rolling Stones did their best concerts with Wood in the 1990s. Totally Stripped is an outstanding look at the Stones going back to basics and proving that whether they are playing the biggest stadiums in the world or an intimate venue, they have earned the reputation of being one of the best live bands of all time.
Here's the press release for Totally Stripped:
(The prices listed are in U.S. dollars.)
On June 3, Eagle Rock Entertainment will proudly release Totally Stripped by The Rolling Stones. One of the most anticipated releases in recent years, this collection features The Rolling Stones going back to the source of many of their favorite tracks, creating new stripped back versions. Selected material from studio sessions and shows presented here formed the Stripped album of 1995.
Totally Stripped is available as a DVD or SD Blu-ray containing the newly-revised documentary of the same name, or on DVD+CD or DVD+LP featuring the documentary and single CD / 2LPs compiled from live shows [MSRP $29.98 SD Blu-ray+CD, $21.98 DVD+CD, $39.98 DVD+2LP]. Additionally a DVD or SD Blu-ray deluxe edition is available, packaged with a 60-page hard book set containing 5 discs [$109.98 4 SD Blu-ray+CD, $99.98 for 4 DVD+CD] which boasts hours of previously unavailable music (three complete shows made available for the first time ever) from this truly legendary act.
These reimagined versions lose none of their impact and emotional heft, and in fact connect with listeners in a different way. Totally Stripped itself is a brand new version of the documentary of the same name, which tells the stories of the two studio sessions and three live shows (The Paradiso in Amsterdam in May 1995, L’Olympia in Paris and Brixton Academy in London in July 1995) that make up this project. The Deluxe Edition contains a CD of favorites drawn from across the live shows and three DVDs featuring, for the first time, ever each of those shows in full.
Following the Voodoo Lounge tour, The Stones released Stripped, an album of reconsidered, pared back renderings of some classic Stones tracks, and also a couple of carefully chosen covers. The album mixed new studio versions of tracks with some live songs. The tracks that made up Stripped were taken from two studio sessions that took place in Tokyo [March 3-5, 1995] and in Lisbon [July 23-26], and a trio of live shows in July 1995 at small concert venues in London, Paris and Amsterdam. Keith Richards commented, “There’s something about playing these small venues, the immediacy of it. Also we can keep God out the band, because on big gigs he sometimes turns up as rain or wind”.
As Mick Jagger said at the time, the aim was to “Take the best element from [MTV] ‘Unplugged’, the intimate thing of it, without actually doing it completely unplugged”. This collection is built on the power of lyric and melody, and the material here feels somehow simpler yet potent, as the songs stand on their individual timeless quality rather than on the production techniques and technical expertise that generally come as part and parcel of being the biggest band in the world.
Totally Stripped is the release that the fans have been waiting years for, a document that reveals the inner workings not only of The Rolling Stones themselves but also indeed some of their most loved tracks. Revealing, intimate and moving, Totally Stripped is unmissable.
TRACK LISTING:
CD
NOT FADE AWAY – AMSTERDAM / HONKY TONK WOMEN – PARIS / DEAD FLOWERS – AMSTERDAM / FARAWAY EYES- LONDON / SHINE A LIGHT – AMSTERDAM / I GO WILD – PARIS / MISS YOU – LONDON / LIKE A ROLLING STONE – AMSTERDAM / BROWN SUGAR – PARIS / MIDNIGHT RAMBLER – LONDON / JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH – PARIS / GIMME SHELTER – AMSTERDAM / RIP THIS JOINT – AMSTERDAM / STREET FIGHTING MAN - AMSTERDAM
DVD1
"TOTALLY STRIPPED" DOCUMENTARY
DVD2 - PARADISO, AMSTERDAM / 26•MAY•95
NOT FADE AWAY / IT’S ALL OVER NOW / LIVE WITH ME / LET IT BLEED / THE SPIDER AND THE FLY / BEAST OF BURDEN / ANGIE / WILD HORSES / SWEET VIRGINIA / DEAD FLOWERS / SHINE A LIGHT / LIKE A ROLLING STONE / CONNECTION / SLIPPING AWAY / THE WORST / GIMME SHELTER / ALL DOWN THE LINE / RESPECTABLE / RIP THIS JOINT / STREET FIGHTING MAN
DVD3 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS / 03•JUL•95
HONKY TONK WOMEN / TUMBLING DICE / YOU GOT ME ROCKIN’ / ALL DOWN THE LINE / SHATTERED / BEAST OF BURDEN / LET IT BLEED / ANGIE/ WILD HORSES / DOWN IN THE BOTTOM / SHINE A LIGHT / LIKE A ROLLING STONE / I GO WILD / MISS YOU / CONNECTION / SLIPPING AWAY MIDNIGHT RAMBLER / RIP THIS JOINT / START ME UP / IT’S ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL / BROWN SUGAR / JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH
DVD4 - BRIXTON ACADEMY, LONDON / 19•JUL•95
HONKY TONK WOMEN / TUMBLING DICE / YOU GOT ME ROCKIN’ / LIVE WITH ME / BLACK LIMOUSINE / DEAD FLOWERS / SWEET VIRGINIA / FARAWAY EYES / LOVE IN VAIN / DOWN IN THE BOTTOM / SHINE A LIGHT / LIKE A ROLLING STONE / MONKEY MAN / I GO WILD / MISS YOU / CONNECTION / SLIPPING AWAY / MIDNIGHT RAMBLER / RIP THIS JOINT / START ME UP / BROWN SUGAR / JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH
