Two Rolling Stones release questions.

[TommyTunes]

There is supposed to be a four LP Stones Box that came out in Germany in the late seventies on the Decca label, that contained a bonus 45 of "Schoolboy Blues" aka "C**ksucker Blues". I've seen it listed in various Stones guides but have never come across it with the 45 or even seen it up for auction. The box set does exist but does any know if the 45 was included even as a limited edition?

My next question is I picked up a CD from France about 4 years ago called the Rolling Stones Greatest Hits. It was packaged in a Digi-pack with a booklet. I contains not only their hits but extended versions of one or two tracks. What especially makes it interesting is that there are other artists also on it doing their original versions of songs that the stones covered. It was on Decca and the CD itself had a verison of the old Decca label. It does not appear to be a boot. Does anyone know anything about this CD?

[Sckott]

Schoolboy Blues (C-Sucker Blues, same song) never got released officially. It was specifically an F.U. to a contract obligation. It said the Stones owed Decca one more, and held up a lot of legal red tape for them. About 7-8 versions of this song exist, but mainly just varying sound quality.

Hell no, CSB was never officially released. Neither was Robert Frank's film (same name) about the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour. Bootlegs of this film surfaced even at retail stores, though.

The Decca Digipack is a clever bootleg as well, and not a Decca product. Acutally, you could call it a counterfit in a way. There have been many "original" songs the Stones covered and have shown up on collections on their own.

[Mike]

Originally posted by Sckott
Hell no, CSB was never officially released. Neither was Robert Frank's film (same name) about the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour. Bootlegs of this film surfaced even at retail stores, though.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the film did get a limited release in the late 80's or 90's. My recollection is that it showed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

I used to have a bootleg - it's overrated imo. A couple cool scenes - jamming in the back of a van on the way to the Brian Jones tribute concert. Mick discussing business in the dressing room while Keith in another part of the dressing room is nodding out on heroin - the camera goes back and forth between the two, highlighting the differences between the two Stones leaders.

[Alan T]

Yes, *ock *ucker Blues was included as a 45 in a German box set that came out in the ‘80’s and had the US “Out of Our Heads” photo on front, but it was not included in all copies. The copies that included it did have a sticker affixed, in German, altering the purchaser to its inclusion. I wish I could find the published letter in “Record Collector” that gave more details. As I remember the 45 had a plain white label with no copyright information. No, I don’t own a copy.

[Douglas]

I have to agree with Scott here. If it was included in some legit box, it was a bootleg. Quite an interesting tune: they re-recorded it during the Some Girls sessions. I have both versions and they're pretty different arrangements.

[Alan T]

No, guys it was not a bootleg. It was made as companion to the early London CD's. It rounded up the tracks not available on CD at that point.

[Gary]

Originally posted by Sckott
... CSB was never officially released. Neither was Robert Frank's film (same name) about the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour. Bootlegs of this film surfaced even at retail stores, though.

I don't think this is it but........ someone gave be a homemade VHS tape called C**ksucker Blues. It's sorta R rated. X rated? Shows them in concert and in an airplane with roadies. Groupies. Not always dressed. Not always 'proper'. Black & White - and a VERY young Mick.

This can't be the film, right? This VHS was supposedly originally done on Super 8 (and it looks like it).

Any Stones fanatics out there want it? It's got a WAF of -10. :( And I am not impressed with it.

Guess it should get over the border!

[Sckott]

That's the film. It was never officially released, but it WAS referenced as food for the press. It was professionally staged as negitive/positive publicity. The Stones did that in front of the camera on purpose.

Even the blonde that goes over Bobby Keys' head (I think that's him) was staged for that. The groupies were staged, the film was an act. A very important item displaying Stones lore for those who expect nothing less. The real quality of the film is not "great". That is also on purpose.

[njwiv]

For those who may not be aware, some particularly lascivious scenes from the unreleased CsB film do appear in the documentary 25 X 5: The Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones, which I hope eventually makes it to DVD (25 X 5, that is).

Jay

[Joe Koz]

I own this box set. It came out as a companion to the German Stones Story 12 lp box. Yes, mine came with the 45, plain white label.

[TommyTunes]

Thanks Joe, a least it been confirmed. One last question does CSB have professional sound quality, in other word does it sound like it came off the master tape? If you ever want to get rid of the set keep me in mind.

[Sckott]

Every copy I've had & heard has horrible flutter problems. If anyone has heard differently, speak up...

[J Epstein]

I've always wondered -

- what label was on that official CSB 45

- what it sounded like

- what's on the flip side.

My copy is kinda fun: it's on a 12" 45, sporting a nice fake Rolling Stones Records logo, with the "party" version of Brown Sugar on the flip.

BTW, the poop on the film is as follows: it may not legally be shown UNLESS Robert Frank is present, and only a limited number of times per year. I've seen it at a film festival with Frank presenting, and I have a bootleg too.

-j

[Phantom409]

Robert Frank has shown his film a couple of times over the years, but none of these are "official" showings and he has been shut down once or twice by the Stones' lawyers.

There isn't too much of a "controversial" nature on the film. As someone else posted, a lot of the more salacious stuff was staged. I'll go with the theory that the Stones didn't like the film because it didn't have enough concert footage. That's MY biggest problem with the film, which has a couple of good scenes, but really drags.

The film has often been bootlegged on tape, but it never received any kind of official release in the world.

Frank's photography is all over the "Exile on Main Street" album. He's one of the great American photographers and his best known book is "The Americans" with an essay by Jack Kerouac.

[Uncle Al]

Hmmmm....

I gotta agree with J. Epstein. I remeber that he was actually touring college campuses with this film in the late 70's. I remember the agreement was he must be present to show the film.

[J Epstein]

Hey Al, I always wanted to ask you:

How do you get all those racquetballs into your mouth?

[Joe Koz]

One last question does CSB have professional sound quality, in other word does it sound like it came off the master tape? The sound quality is nothing to write home about. It's no better than what's all ready out there. I was suprised to see the single included in the box.

[Mike]

Thanks for the info guys. I thought it did get some showings.

[dwmann]

CS blues (the 16 mm film) has been shown legally numerous times in the U.S., usually in large 'arthouse' theaters in major cities, and on college campuses. Frank did a couple of major tours with the film in the late 1970s. I attended one of these screenings in Houston, TX in 1978(?). The film cannot be shown legally unless Frank is present AND introduces/talks about the film, the result of a legal compromise over who owned the film - Frank, the filmmaker, or the Stones, who paid for it. According to Frank, part of the film was 'staged', but most of it was not. The 'staged' parts were not scripted or directed per se, but were 'staged' insofar as the subjects knew they were being filmed and acted out for the camera. I doubt anyone thought these bits would show up in the finished product, and even if you consider them 'staged' they are not very complementary to the subject. Also according to Frank, Jagger really DID say, "It's a great film, but if we let you release it they'll never let us back in the states." (or something along those lines) when he first saw the finished cut. The Stones attempted to suppress the film because they did not like the image portrayed in the film. And, although the events portrayed in the film may not seem cotroversial NOW, the film was completed in 1972, and this was VERY contoversial stuff at the time.