Banned Rolling Stones documentary hits the web
Cocksucker Blues is an unreleased documentary directed by Robert Frank chronicling The Rolling Stones’ North American tour in 1972 in support of their album Exile on Main Street.
It just so happens that a lot of, well, rock star type of stuff happened during that tour, like, as Flavorwire so elegantly puts it, “Mick Jagger snorting coke amidst nude roadies and Keith Richards pre-Pirates of the Caribbean III.” And because Frank and his cameras were present, most of what happened was recorded and featured in the documentary.
Now at some point the Stones caught wind of this fact and filed an injunction to prevent the film’s release. They didn’t want to let down all their fans after all! The court eventually sided with the Stones, but did make the film available for viewing if and when Frank was physically present — something which of course limits the number of people who can view it.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you are, in the 37 years that have followed the recording of Cocksucker Blues, something called the Internet has been created. This Internet is hard to control and often leads to leaks, bootlegs, and a whole lot of other stuff no one is supposed to have access to but does. Cocksucker Blues can now be classified in this category, as the entire film has hit the web and is currently available for streaming, for now, at wat.tv.
I don’t know why this is being reported as news all over the place this week. It’s been available for years.
This whole video is great. If you haven’t seen the whole thing, definitely check it out.
Aug 20th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
[...] the Rolling Stones have had their fair share of controversy over the past forty years. According to Consequence of Sound, while touring in the early seventies the group decided to let cameras follow them around during [...]