In the summer of 1972 the Rolling Stones toured America for the eighth time. Filmmaker Robert Frank was commissioned by the Stones to capture life on the road with the band during a two week stretch of the tour. Cocksucker Blues was the result. This film, unreleased to date, is the infamous document of that tour. Robert Frank has only allowed this film to be shown at theatres very sporadically at his discretion during his retrospective film festivals. This video contains the complete, uncut film.

That text is on the case for the video. What a crock of shit.

This film is pretty infamous as the description states, and as a fan of rock and roll, and the Stones I made it my duty to seek out this film and watch it.

I started my search where anyone can find anything, EBAY. To my surprise there was a copy for about $20.00 that I could get sent to me and have in a week. PERFECT. The tape arrived just as I was getting the flu, this is good, I am going to be home sick so I can pop this puppy in and watch the destruction and mayhem that is rock and roll in the 70's. Unfortunately as I watched this movie I realized that hype and actual genius are rarely in the same document, whether it be a movie, a book, or a song.

Quality

This movie is now 30 years old, I'm sure the tape I have is at least a 5th or 6th generation copy, so needless to say the video quality isn't that great. That isn't my problem with this film though, I expected that and I can deal with it. The thing is, this isn't a film, or a movie it's 2 hours worth of footage from a tour, sure there is backstage drugs, and half naked women on planes in orgy type situations but there is nothing tying any of it together. At one point in the "film" the makers are interviewing the makeup person for the Jagger's, and they say how this is the first interview of the film. What the fuck is up with that? You can't craft a story around a bunch of footage. As one coworker of mine said, even a narrator would have made this film better. There is nothing in this film at all to tie the whole thing together. It's like the filmmakers just put all the footage together and said there you go.

Content

This film is sold on the fact that it's too graphic to be seen. I have read reviews and rumours about the Stones shown injecting needles into their arms, or taking part in an orgy at 30,000 feet. The truth is that while those things are all in this film, not once are the Stones shown doing it. Yes there are hints, when Mick rolls a dollar bill up tight and turns his back, it's obvious that there is cocaine being done, however you don't see it. As far as being so outrageous that the Stones would be banned or prosecuted for any of these acts is a farce. Actually in today's society I think they would be made fun of, there are a lot worse things on MTV than what is in this film. Granted this film was made 30 years ago, however I doubt it could have done that much damage to the reputation of rock and roll's royalty.

All of the above being said, I am glad that I located this rare and much talked about piece of rock and roll history. I did enjoy being taken back to the 70's, I loved seeing all of the kids of the time who lived in a time I only read about. I wonder where all those kids are now? I wonder how many people lived through that time of sex without consequence and massive drugs use.

Overall if you can get a copy of this film, it's worth a watch if you are interested in rock history, or a Stones fan. I would suggest trying to borrow a copy instead of buying one, it's simply not worth more than a $5 rental.

Downs

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