Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Gimme Shelter

 On the bill for movie night @ Alex's - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. One of the worst movies I've seen in quite sometime. Really bad script -  I'm taking drugs...again, oh...more drugs....again...got old fast. The camera work  didn't do much for me either. It's always funny when they try to use a camera to give the audience the feel of taking drugs. Yes, drugs make you see dinosaurs and army jeeps. Yep.

Yes, I get the whole -Gonzo journalism thing. That's the point; the joke is on them/him. Hunter S Thompson hit the nail on the head. His own head, in fact. He was a product of the failed sixties movement himself. He was a product of the failed American dream. He just couldn't see it through the self induced, me-so-hip, I-can-afford-lots-of-drugs haze. I do lots of  drugs, ergo, I can see the truth.  Riiiight... This kind of hipper-than-thou life style made a show like Behind the Music so fascinating.

I've always liked Ralph Steadman's art. His style was pretty much ahead of the curve at the time. There are so many folks now who are clearly influenced by him. 

Anyway...the best part of the movie (no, not Dr. Gonzo's shining like the North Star gut) was hearing Gimme Shelter at the end. It made me think about Let It Bleed, the last Stones' album with Brian Jones. Brian had become so lost in his own drug-world, that he only played on two tracks and was replaced by Mick Taylor. He was sacked by the band, and died a few months later. Let It Bleed was released in December of 1969 and it is probably the best Stones' album ever. I download it from iTunes when I got home last night and I can't quite get the opening riff of Gimme Shelter out of my skull. Keef can play.

It's quite clear from the above picture that Mr. Jones has some dependency issues. Back in the day, it was cool to be considered elegantly wasted; people turned a blind-eye to drug abuse. Today, a quick trip to rehab would've been in order. Maybe we would've got a few more years out of Janice, Jimi, or Jim.

Speaking of drug abuse, I stumbled (sorry, (I couldn't resist) onto this picture of Courtney sporting a rather nice bit of ink work on her arm.