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There was much anticipation for the band's arrival, with their having not visited the United States since the 1969 disaster at Altamont Free Concert, in which a fan, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed and beaten to death by Hells Angels. Behind the scenes, the tour embodied debauchery, lewdness and hedonism. The film was shot cinéma vérité, with several cameras available for anyone in the entourage to pick up and start shooting. This allowed the film's audience to witness backstage parties, drug use (Mick Jagger is seen snorting cocaine backstage), roadie and groupie antics, and the Stones with their defenses down. The provocative title notwithstanding, its nudity, needles and hedonism was supposedly incriminating and the picture was shelved, and this during a liberal climate that saw the likes of Cry Uncle!, Deep Throat, and Chafed Elbows playing in neighborhood theaters. A generic performance film, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, was released instead, and Cocksucker Blues was forever shelved. A more likely scenario would have the financiers and distributors aghast by Frank’s stoned shapelessness. (It would be nice to have attribution for this opinion, since it goes against conventional wisdom, and is contradicted later in the entry, in the description of the legal agreement.) Curiously sparse on songs and ostensibly unconcerned with band’s musical process, the film, rather than acting as bystander, becomes one with its subject. "Cocksucker Blues" was also the title of a Rolling Stones song, recorded in 1970, that Mick Jagger wrote to be the Stones' final single for Decca Records as per their contract. The song is a parody of Dr. John's "The Lonesome Guitar Strangler", released on his album Babylon the year before, however its context and language were chosen specifically to anger Decca executives. The track was refused by Decca, although promotional 12" singles of it were pressed in the US. It was only officially released later on a West German compilation in 1983, although the compilation was discontinued and since re-released without the song. The film itself is under a court order which forbids it from being shown unless director Robert Frank is physically present. This ruling stems from the conflict that arose when the band, who had commissioned the film, decided that its content was inappropriate and potentially embarrassing, and didn't want it shown. Frank felt otherwise — hence the ruling. However, bootleg copies of the film are available. The fourth section of Don DeLillo's magnum opus, Underworld, is also titled Cocksucker Blues, likely in homage to the Stones' song/film, which is referred to in the narrative of that section. |
