With three decades’ worth of hindsight, The Rolling Stones’ Stripped (released 11/13/95) is proof positive that, as often as the iconic band has simply gone through the motions, it has endeavored to do just the opposite. And the subsequent DVD/CD package, released just over a decade later as Totally Stripped, cements that impression.
After an ever-so-brief intro that explains the concept of Stripped as a corollary to and an expansion of the unplugged approach popularized on MTV around this time, the ninety-minute-plus documentary leaps into its engrossing content, drawn from the Stones’ tour to support 1994’s Voodoo Lounge album.
Black-and-white footage mirrors the acoustic simplicity of the music, while the color footage of the Stones playing in the studio further illuminates the proceedings. A rotating cycle of comments from the individual participants also provides insight into the practical and conceptual aspects of what’s just been shown.
The musical aspect of this project then arises from discerning observations made by guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood about the distinct difference in playing acoustic vs. electric guitars. But as its title implies, this material depicts not just rearrangements of familiar songs like Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain,” but also an examination of the rediscovery process on the part of some veteran musicians more accustomed to playing within a huge production than in an intimate context.
To hear Mick Jagger express uncertainty about the quality of his performances is revelatory, especially as his confession belies seeing him sing (almost) wholly bereft of the histrionics he uses on a larger stage. There’s no question he’s aware of the cameras, but a segment featuring him, Richards, keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and background singer Bernard Fowler rehearsing “Tumbling Dice” around just a backstage piano, reminds us what a great singer he remains.
The live Stones performances here are a further demonstration of the group’s affinity for this music and, in turn, their respectful reciprocal affinity for each other as musicians. Leavell, once a member of The Allman Brothers Band in the post-Duane Allman era, proffers the theory that the Stones don’t have to do this.’
Such is the salience of that particular point, scenes covering not just operations for selling tickets for the selected club dates alternate with the setup of video projections outside the various venues like Amsterdam’s 1500 seat Paradiso; as much as the Rolling Stones love what they’re doing in this understated frame of reference, they’re also making a sincere effort to share that sensation with fans.
Much like the video, the CD included in the 2016 double-disc package is almost completely retooled from the previous release, thus adding value to both. Within these fourteen selections remain few of the same songs, but there is a suitably anthemic “Street Fighting Man” and a remarkably faithful cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” (complete with lighthearted, self-effacing intro).
And while the live recordings in these smaller venues might seem to belie the title Totally Stripped–the electric guitars are often out in full force on latter-day tunes such as “You Got Me Rockin'” and “I Go Wild”–the essence of the Rolling Stones as a powerful musical unit comes straight to the fore no matter the instrumentation.
As such, producer Don Was and recording engineer Ed Cherney’s thoughts are most pertinent, as they relate to how these shows present the band and its music in a wholly different light than the stadium presentations. Particularly in the segments devoted to the appearance in Paris, the immediacy inherent in the concert atmosphere is fully apparent in the sharp edits of excerpts from the documentary.
Thirty years later, the electricity is unmistakable as it erupts when ‘the greatest rock and roll band in the world’ takes the stage.
