[rating=3.00]
Bill Wyman gathered a large contingent of his mates in 1984 for a side project he called Willie and the Poor Boys. Released amidst the dreck of early 80s New Wave, their self-titled album was a welcome throwback to rock and roll’s early days. A collection of old rhythm & blues and rockabilly tunes lovingly re-made by the likes of Wyman, Charlie Watts, Andy Fairweather-Low, Kenney Jones, Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and others, it was warmly received at the time of its release and holds up surprisingly well to this day.
Released for the first time just days ago is a new DVD assembled from footage in Wyman’s personal archives that documents the making of a long-form video that was shot to promote the record. Eight songs from the album are lip-synched by the band onstage at Fulham Town Hall in front of an audience of dancers. Meant to convey a scene from a 1950s sock hop, all are dressed in rockabilly attire of the day. There is a little bit of conceptual footage in between the tunes intended to tie the whole thing together with some kind of story line about a gaggle of teenagers discussing their romantic conquests. But it’s all terribly cheesy, more than a little bit embarrassing, and at times just plain hard to watch. With Wyman and company onstage with all their gear, I don’t know why the director didn’t just film them performing live.
Only slightly more enjoyable is a 30-minute documentary of the video shoot included in the DVD bonus features. The backstage footage consists of whimsical interview segments and casual conversations, including appearances by John Entwistle and Chris Rea. But other than a handful of Charlie Watts’ befuddled double takes and Ringo’s cameo as a janitor sweeping up after the dance, there is little here to recommend. There’s a lot of big names and great players here, but it all adds up to little more than a Famous Sidemen’s Lark. Stones fans will treasure most the scene where Wyman squats on the edge of the stage and casually recalls when the Stones played Fulham Town Hall on one of their early tours, a performance that lasted all of seven minutes before a power outage and rioting teenagers brought the show to an early end.
Next year the Stones will celebrate their 50th anniversary. There will surely be some kind of tour to commemorate this unprecedented milestone, and fans will eagerly shell out truckloads of cash for concert tickets, t-shirts and all the usual tour merchandise. Consider this DVD an early arrival for the Great Stones Merch Orgy of 2012. Other than some cutesy footage of Ron Wood and Ringo Starr clowning around backstage – always a welcome sight, actually – this is non-essential Stones ephemera. For hardcore collectors only.
