'Still Ill,' A Short Beastie Boys Documentary Celebrating 'Ill Communication'

Beastie Boys' early career brought many highs and lows, as the band transformed itself from a bruising hardcore upstart to a party-hearty rap-rock sensation before flaming out (with 1989's then-disastrous, now-classic Paul's Boutique), resurrecting itself (with 1992's hit Check Your Head) and becoming one of the biggest bands in the world (with 1994's Ill Communication).

The group ultimately disbanded after the 2012 death of Adam Yauch, but recent years have seen surviving members Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz write a book and make public appearances to discuss the Beastie Boys' legacy.

Now, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Ill Communication — and, of course, its classic single "Sabotage" — Diamond and Horovitz appear in a documentary short called Still Ill: 25 Years of Ill Communication.

The film weaves together several of their interviews, as well as commentary from Mark "Money Mark" Nishita and producer Mario Caldato, to paint a picture of the circuitous path that led to that classic album.

Along the way, they discuss not only the genesis of "Sabotage" — which began with a single riff — but the political and spiritual awakening of Yauch, whose absence naturally hangs over Still Ill.

The surviving Beastie Boys speak of him with warmth and reverence, as you can imagine, both here and in an accompanying 38-minute audio documentary, available through Amazon Music.

Featuring interviews with Diamond and Horovitz from this March in Austin, Texas -- as well as new interviews with keyboardist Mark “Money Mark” Nishita and producer Mario Caldato and rarely-seen 1990s footage of the band – Still Ill focuses heavily on late Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch and his contributions to Ill Communication.

Through footage and the words of his friends, the documentary captures Yauch’s journey into activism, which would blossom with the Tibetan Freedom Concerts later in the decade, as well as his famous denunciation of misogyny in hip-hop on the single “Sure Shot”: “I want to say a little something that’s long overdue / The disrespect to women has got to be through / To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends / I want to offer my love and respect to the end.”

Keith Richards 'Unfiltered' Photo Exhibit Draws Starry Crowd to Hollywood's Sunset Marquis Hotel

At the grand opening of the Keith Richards photo exhibition Keith, Unfiltered at West Hollywood’s Sunset Marquis Hotel on Thursday night (May 23), anecdotes about the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and all-around icon were in ample supply.

“He was just easy,” recalled photographer Timothy White, who is also a partner of the Sunset Marquis’ Morrison Hotel Gallery, where the exhibition runs from May 24 to June 22 with concurrent showings at the gallery’s New York and Maui outposts.

That relaxed manner came as a surprise to White, who was early in his career as a celebrity photographer when he booked an assignment to photograph the rock star in 1988.

“Here I am with this like rock idol god, you know?” White continued. “And he was…unpretentious. Shows up by himself, met him in a bar, had a drink, played a little pool, went for a walk, just started taking pictures on the street. Like, who does that, you know?”

White’s photos from that day's session -- during which Richards was notably mobbed by a swarm of fans and police officers -- were just a few of many represented at the exhibition, whose opening gala drew the likes of Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and ZZ Top front man Billy Gibbons, among other well-heeled attendees (a rumored appearance by Richards sadly did not materialize).

These included shots taken by such legendary rock photographers as Bob Gruen, Lynn Goldsmith, Norman Seeff, Gered Mankowitz and Michael Joseph, who photographed the band's legendary Beggar's Banquet album cover. An outtake from that session was a centerpiece of the exhibition, which according to the Morrison Hotel Gallery marks the "final opportunity" for collectors to own "one of the very last prints" from that famous session (price tag for the 60x75 version hanging on the gallery's wall: $20,000).

Another notable name in attendance was photographer Henry Diltz, a co-founder of the Morrison Hotel Gallery who photographed Richards during a 1979 tour with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood's short-lived side project The New Barbarians. Diltz echoed White's characterization of Richards as a laid-back presence.

“He's just got a real good attitude and a real good outlook,” said Diltz, who also famously photographed the cover of The Doors’ 1970 album Morrison Hotel, from which the gallery took its name. “Compared to other people that you see, you know, they don't handle it as well, or get agitated, or get insecure or say, 'What's that guy doing here?' I mean, you never hear that from him. He's always relaxed, cool, kinda ready for whatever.”

Inside the gallery, Richards’ five-and-a-half decades in the public eye are represented in dozens of photographs from all different eras of his career, from his early, pre-fame days with the band to his later years as a bona fide rock icon with nothing left to prove.

In one shot taken in early 1963 by the late Philip Townsend, the Stones’ freshly scrubbed lineup of Richards, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones sit outside a pub, empty beer mugs situated on the table in front of them. Even at that early stage, Richards’ effortless cool stands out from the rest.

That cool remained even as the Stones rocketed to a nearly unprecedented level of fame and beyond. Another stunning photograph taken three decades on by Stephanie Pfriender Stylander for British GQ shows a crinkly-eyed Richards staring directly at camera, cigarette in mouth, one ghostly smoke ring hovering in the center of his forehead. He holds our gaze directly, perfectly self-possessed.“I think he has this mystery about him,” said Morrison Hotel sales manager Jamie Bucherer, who co-curates all of the gallery’s exhibits with Casey Fannin-Kaplin.
As Bucherer explained, Keith, Unfiltered was inspired by the Stones’ recently-rescheduled No Filter tour that was delayed last month when Jagger was forced to undergo heart valve replacement surgery. But they’d been looking for an excuse to host a Richards exhibition for a while.

“We've always wanted to do a Keith show, because he's one of our biggest sellers,” she said. “And he's such a dynamic person, obviously.”There’s also an aspirational appeal at play when it comes to Richards -- a sense that he personifies the wilder, more confident and even defiant aspects of ourselves.“There's something about what Keith Richards represents to people,” said White. “If you're a chiropractor in the suburbs, Keith represents that inner person in you that you want to be.

”CREDITS: by Chris Eggertsen – Billboard Magazine

We Wanted To Be Larger Than Life': Paul Stanley Of KISS On Almost 50 Years Of Rock

After nearly 50 years, KISS is saying goodbye to touring. The over-the-top purveyors of heavy metal have embarked on a year-long finale tour titled "One Last KISS: End of the Road World Tour." The 105-stop tour spans North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and will encapsulate KISS' larger-than-life show for the last time.

Before his storied rock rise, KISS' lead singer Paul Stanley recalls being a New York cab driver and driving people to Madison Square Garden to see Elvis. He remembers telling himself that night, "One of these days, people are going to be driving here to see me."

Stanley formed KISS in 1973 along with bassist and back-up vocalist Gene Simmons. Inspired by glam rock, the band was determined to make its performances into an all-encompassing experience.

"As a rock fan I had gone to see bands who oftentimes made you think they were doing you a favor by showing up when I just paid them," Stanley says. "I think there was a lot of apathy onstage in a sense of complacency."

Even if you're not an avid fan of KISS, you can probably conjure up a mental picture of the group: Black and white face paint, performative alter-egos, space suits and platform boots performing on spectacular sets. "We wanted to create iconic images. We wanted to be larger than life." Stanley says.

As a withdrawn child who grew up with an ear condition called microtia, Stanley liked the idea of figures like Zorro or the Lone Ranger, who could be heroic but still keep a sense of anonymity by wearing masks. That idea paired with his love of music helped transport Stanley to another place. "If you take a shy, chubby kid who is not very popular and put him behind makeup and give him a strong enough persona, that can get you pretty far," he says.

After decades of making music, breaking up, reuniting and yes, touring, at 67, Stanley says the guys are ready to say farewell to touring after this year. "There is a finite quality to life. The physical wear and tear of what we do is enormous," he explains. "If I was out there in a T-shirt and jeans, I could do this into my 90s but I'm carrying around 30, 40 pounds of gear and making it look easy."

Stanley and his bandmates have celebrated more highs and lows than they could've imagined as kids when they were just starting out in their parents' apartments. "It's been a long road, and at times it hasn't been fun, but we've always understood the value of each other," he says.

Stanley spoke with NPR's David Greene about his childhood, gaining confidence as a performer and deciding to stop touring. David Greene /NPR

See Carole King Perform In A Newly Unearthed Concert From 1973

In the summer of 1973, Carole King was at the peak of her popularity and influence. She had ushered in a new era of singer-songwriters that dominated popular music; Tapestry, which she'd dropped two years earlier, was still a top-selling album, well on its way to becoming one of the most-loved and best-selling albums of all time. King had also just released Fantasy, a thematic album recorded with a jazz-funk band and embarked on her first-ever live concert performance outside of the United States. The venue was the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and, until now, no one outside of those in attendance have ever been able to see her earth-moving set.

Eagle Vision (part of the Universal Music Group) has unearthed and restored footage of King's set and has announced plans to release the full performance on both DVD and CD. The 18-track concert includes an intimate, solo-piano performance of "It's Too Late," with an audience seated on the floor in front of the stage. "Usually I don't get to see my audiences," she says. "Tonight, I'm seeing you."

Not long into the set, King is joined by an 11-piece band and together they perform nearly every track from her then-untested Fantasy album, including "You've Been Around Too Long."

NPR – ROBIN HILTON