With the Stones hitting Europe this autumn, Eagle are releasing the audio to three live DVDs as albums in their own right. Ladies & Gentlemen The Rolling Stones (7⁄10) catches the Taylor line-up chopping out Exile songs on 1972’s infamous S.T.P. tour. Its inconsistent sound is due to being constructed from two shows apiece in Fort Worth and Houston, but it provides a worthy document of the Stones’ early-70s peak (though let down by skimpy annotation).
The Stones returned to Fort Worth’s Will Rogers Memorial Center for Some Girls Live In Texas ’78 (7⁄10), Keith rousing from his numbed-out heroin years and locking with new boy Woody to drive the band with such energised thrust that it sometimes threatens to derail Charlie. Better notes offer eyewitness memories and memorabilia.
Checkerboard Lounge: Live In Chicago 1981 (8⁄10) is the priceless killer. It was recorded when the Stones’ 1981 US jaunt hit Chicago for three arena shows, and Jagger, Richards, Wood and Ian Stewart ventured to Bronzeville niterie the Checkerboard Lounge to jam with long-time hero Muddy Waters on their night off. It’s fascinating, even cockles-warming, hearing them pile into Baby Please Don’t Go and Hoochie Coochie Man with their original inspiration (shortly before he was diagnosed with lung cancer).
Ultimately, these are three uncut diamonds for diehards.
