Rock City

Raw footage offers a front-row view of rock 'n' roll's pioneering years of 1964-73. Sound and image quality is limited to the low-tech of the time, but this rough-edged result best conveys what it would've been like to be there live. Captures the essence of mostly British performers/performances in their formative years (a starkly ironic contrast to 21st-century anniversary tributes that now salute 40 to 50 years in the biz). As a rock lover who missed the hippie heyday by 10 years, it's a great way to travel back in time and see the early days of this genre on stage -- like watching old family 8mm films of kids taking their first steps and growing and changing through the years.

Rock City (1973)

*** (out of 4)

This documentary, also known as SOUND OF THE CITY: London 1964-73, isn't the most well-produced film and you're certainly not going to learn anything from it but if you just want great music then this is a great place to start. This documentary pretty much shows us the British music scene with artists including The Rolling Stones, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Joe Cocker, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, Pink Floyd, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens and Rod Stewart. Again, if you're looking for a film that explains where this bands came up and how they got their break into the business then you're going to be disappointed because there aren't any talking heads or any sort of interviews. Instead we just get various music clips taken from various concerts and even a few studio recordings. One of the highlights is an amazing version of "Satisfaction" from not the Stones but from Otis Redding who puts enough fire, soul and energy into the performance where he could call the song his own. We get Hendrix doing some extremely hot numbers including "Hey Joe" and "Wild Thing" as well as a third song. Joe Cocker brings down the house with a red-hot version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" but then again I've yet to hear a version of this where he didn't nail it. Pink Floyd gets a couple songs but both of them are edited down including a version of "Careful with that Axe, Eugene." Fans of the music are certainly going to want to check this thing out since there's no denying the performances selected are of high quality and really pack a nice punch. I'm not sure how director Clifton decided to show the clips but things close out with Stewart.

Why were all the interviews done by the most clueless reporters and only with the dullest questions?

But the songs are well worth seeing, great live performances. Otis Redding never disappoints and the Stones show they were great songwriters but hit or miss live.

Director Peter Clifton used clips from his documentary Popcorn - An Audio-Video Thing(1969)and other bits for this tossed together rockumentary. It goes by various titles. I've tried to track down places and dates of these music clips (which are not indicated) and may lead to some understanding to the 1960's to early '70s rock scene. The supergroup Cream perform "Sunshine of Your Love" which is from Cream's Farewell Concert (1968) documentary. It was the last time (for quite some time) Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker would perform together. It's no wonder. Clapton on guitar and Baker on drums are playing so hard and fast Bruce almost stops playing his bass. Next we see drummer Ginger Baker who went on to join supergroup Blind Faith along with Steve Winwood on keyboards. It's the debut concert and attracted 100,000 to London's Hyde Park. Too bad it lasted for just one album. Joe Cocker does a manic "With A Little Help From My Friends" followed by "Cry Me A River" when he's joined by Mad Dogs & Englishmen musicians and singers lead by Leon Russell on keyboards. It's the 3rd Isle of Wight Festival of Music 1970. (This festival is still around.) There are short interviews with hippies at a commune, Pete Townsend talking about the Rolling Stones' habits, and Tina Turner remembering a chat with Mick Jagger about learning some dance moves. Otis Redding is a standout doing two blistering hot numbers, and dedicating "Satisfaction" to Mick Jagger. Jim Hendrix is seen doing three songs and playing his guitar in ways that would be copied by others later, but not knowing the date it's hard to know which band he's using. It's a little easier with the Rod Stewart clip by the songs "Stay With Me" and a cover of the Temptations' (I Know)I'm Losing You). He's fronting The Faces with Micky Waller who's outstanding on drums. I've mentioned just some of the clips. You'll also see fans jumping on stage to kiss the lead singer, large colourful paper flowers, and real hippie fashions. If the evolution of these artists doesn't matter to you, take this in just to see them all in their prime and sounding fantastic!

As mentioned by another reviewer, you will not learn a lot from watching this doc but for those Anglophiles who worship the altar of British rock, this is a pretty good sample. You get the Stones doing "promo films" (a precursor to music videos) for "2000 Light Years from Home" and "Jumping Jack Flash." Then there's the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Jimi was born and raised in Seattle but his group is definitely part British rock. There's the end of Cream and the beginning of Blind Faith. Pink Floyd does it's trippy part, an arty bit that doesn't indicate it would later bookend the seventies with two of the decades biggest albums, "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall." The film wraps with the Faces doing it's best-known song "Stay With Me." And it's the Faces, not Rod Stewart (though he is a part of the group) as another reviewer mentions, nor is that Micky Waller on drums (as another reviewer ill-informs) but rather the only Faces drummer ever, Kenney Jones. I'm really surprised this film hasn't been released to Blu-Ray yet. I saw a high- def version on the Sony HD network so you know a copy exists. Most likely it's the haggling of rights that is preventing this from a home video release.