Fans of the Rolling Stones are in for a rare treat with the release later this month of film footage shot during a 1965 two-day tour of Ireland.
Described by Billboard magazine as “arguably the most exciting document of the Stones’ early years”, Charlie Is My Darling was shot in Dublin and Belfast in September 1965 and features the earliest known professionally shot footage of the band.
The original film, shot by director Peter Whitehead but never officially released, has been remastered and lengthened and will be released next week as part of the band’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
The cameras documented the Stones as they travelled by train around Ireland, and features the band members “goofing” around hotel rooms, doing musical impersonations of the Beatles, Elvis and Fats Domino and meeting (and evading) hysterical fans as well as several concert appearances.
Video: Mick Jagger interviewed in Ireland, 1965
Hot on the heels of the release the previous month of their fourth number one hit single, Satisfaction, the tour saw the band play two concerts at the Adelphi Cinema in Dublin and another two shows at the ABC Theatre in Belfast.
The band members, according to Billboard, looked “magnificent in their swinging London splendor, with lots of turtlenecks, sunglasses, suede, Cuban heels, and checkered jackets and pants”.
The film, which includes rare live footage, interviews with the band and with fans queuing ahead of the concerts, is said to capture the "primal energy" of the band's performance and the "hysteria it evoked in their audiences".
“We did some pretty serious science on this,” director Mick Gochanour told Billboard about the restoration process. “It took eight months to sync up the with the live performances.”
"It took eight months to synch up the [soundtrack] with the live performances," he said. "We realized during the middle that we had six complete performances".
The world premiere takes place during the New York Film Festival on September 29th and the film will receive a commercial release in November.
