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The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane

Rockumentary tracing The Rolling Stones' journey from blues-obsessed teenagers to rock royalty, including never-before-seen footage and fresh insights from the band.

Crossfire Hurricane, directed by Brett Morgen, provides a remarkable new perspective on The Rolling Stones' unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60s to rock royalty. It's all here in panoramic candour, from the Marquee Club to Hyde Park, from Altamont to 'Exile, from club gigs to stadium extravaganzas.

With never-before-seen footage and fresh insights from the band themselves, Crossfire Hurricane places the viewer on the front line of the band's most legendary escapades.

Taking its title from a lyric in Jumping Jack Flash, Crossfire Hurricane gives the audience an intimate insight, for the first time, into exactly what it's like to be part of The Rolling Stones, as they overcame denunciation, drugs, dissensions and death to become the definitive survivors.

The odyssey includes film from The Stones' initial road trips and first controversies as they became the anti-Beatles, the group despised by authority because they connected and communicated with their own generation as no-one ever had. 'When we got together,' says Wyman, 'something magical happened, and no one could ever copy that.'

Riots and the chaos of early tours are graphically depicted, as is the birth of the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership. The many dramas they encountered are also fully addressed, including the Redlands drug bust, the descent of Brian Jones into what Richards calls 'bye-bye land', and the terror and disillusionment of 1969's Altamont Festival.

The film illustrates The Stones' evolution from being, as Mick vividly describes it, 'the band everybody hated to the band everybody loves': through the hedonistic 1970s and Keith's turning-point bust in Canada, to the spectacular touring phenomenon we know today. Richards also reveals the song that he believes defines the 'essence' of his writing relationship with Jagger more than any other.

The film combines extensive historical footage, much of it widely unseen, with contemporary commentaries by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and former Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor.

1 hour, 50 minutes

Last on

Tue 22 Aug 2023 23:30

Music Played

  • The Rolling Stones

    Little Red Rooster

  • The Rolling Stones

    Jumpin' Jack Flash

Clip: Jumpin' Jack Flash

Clip: Jumpin' Jack Flash
The . Archive footage shows Keith Richards and Mick Jagger leaving the courthouse followed by a performance of Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane Trail

Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane Trail
, which is based on interviews with the band on the eve of their 50th anniversary.

Credits

Role Contributor
Executive Producer Charlie Watts
Executive Producer Ronnie Wood

Broadcasts

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