Previous Next

THE BEATLES VS THE ROLLING STONES: IT'S NOT ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL (2016)

  • $ 20.95
    Unit price per 
Shipping calculated at checkout.


In the England of the Sixties, the Beatles, originating in Liverpool and the Rolling Stones, London, clash by interposed charts. Two groups that convey radically different images, shaped by their respective managers ...

“This survey will enlighten even those who know the maestros' discography by heart. If Michaël Prazan and his co-director Christiane Ratiney evoke the rise of the Stones and the Beatles, it is to better show the sociological and historical issues: the emergence of the “baby boomers”, the beginnings of the mass consumption of cultural goods. . Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and their comrades owe their glory as much to their talent as to their managers, real eminence arises.

Son of the owner of Liverpool's most important record stores, the young Brian Epstein feels that his contemporaries, having grown up in the strict post-war UK, aspire to something else. In November 1961, he attended the performance of musicians who began to speak about them. Under the spell of their tempo and their humor, the one who will be nicknamed the “fifth Beatles” has them signed to a major, not without having previously given them a makeover. Leather jackets are traded for wise costumes, hair cut.

Transformed into model sons-in-law, the Beatles become the darlings of TV shows. This course dazzles another young man. After a brief stint as press officer with the “four trendy boys”, Andrew Loog Oldham flushed out his own artists in 1963.

Andrew Loog Oldham sets up the Rolling Stones as anti-Beatles, thugs adept at overflows and artificial paradises. Their unique guitar riff does the rest, aided by society's shift towards more anti-establishment thinking. Add to that the rivalry between the Stones and the Beatles chasing each other in the Top 50, it's hysteria. The soap opera is a treat for British tabloids and managers, delighted with this endless publicity.

Behind the scenes, the groups mingle, collaborate and help each other. This revelation is the beating heart of the documentary. As well as his archives, unearthed with great difficulty, supported by the testimony of music critics and collaborators of the first circle.

The use of songs supposes the approval of the companies which manage the image of the two groups. Faced with their refusal, Michaël Prazan and Christiane Ratiney, who made a specialty of detecting rare archives, dug other avenues and found nuggets: Mick Jagger, seductive as hell, proud of not owning a tie, The Beatles washed up after weeks of touring or in shock at the death of Brian Epstein. The most beautiful sequence foreshadows the end of the golden age. Under the shaving sun of Hyde Park, Mick Jagger releases dying butterflies in homage to the late Brian Jones.

Also included are bonus features: The Beatles Live on Britain's Ready Steady GO! and The Rolling Stones on the USA's TAMI Show, both from 1964.