Back in 1967/68 things were very different in the world of TV broadcasting. The BBC had a virtual monopoly on what we saw and when we saw it. Musically things were changing with a move away from pop to a more serious, meaningful version of rock and roll. The Vietnam War was in full and fatal swing, while Bob Dylan was emerging as the poetic folk legend that he is today. The UK boasted some of the most influential and successful music acts in the world including Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, The Who, Donovan and Cream. Tony Palmer was completing his final year at Cambridge University when he was asked to cover a press conference being given by a rock band. He sat amongst the journalists listening to the typically inane questions, and being inexperienced decided just to observe. When it was all over, one of the musicians approached him having noticed that Palmer had not asked a question. The band was the Beatles and the enquiring musician was John Lennon. Lennon seemed to like the young man and gave him his phone number. The seed had been sewn for one of the most important rock documentaries of our time.

Palmer joined the BBC after university and within a very short time produced a highly regarded film on Benjamin Britten. At the time the BBC took its role as a public service broadcaster very seriously with schedules crammed with programmes that informed and educated. However, musically the BBC was not much different from what it is today in concentrating its coverage of mainstream pop. Palmer’s musical tastes were diverse and he decided to try that phone number that Lennon had handed to him. Eventually he spoke to the great man who made the point that many of the best rock acts found that they didn’t have a voice on TV. He proceeded to provide Palmer with personal introductions to the aforementioned acts together with Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Palmer eventually made the film which interlaced graphic images of the Vietnam War, US Civil Rights issues, the Prague Spring, Paris student riots with frank interviews and key performance moments.

The powers-that-be at the BBC thought the film was unsuitable for TV and it sat on the shelves for eight months after its completion. A new senior and more enlightened BBC executive was appointed with a more open approach which provided Palmer with the opportunity to argue his case. The executive agreed to show it conditional on all F words being removed, and that it could only be shown after the BBC epilogue at 11.15pm. Palmer agreed and the film was finally shown to a massive audience who had been well-primed by the media. Ask any rock fan from that era and they will tell you that it was the most highly anticipated musical and cultural event of the decade.

Wind-on to 2007 and at last ALL MY LOVING has been made available on DVD in its original form, including a fascinating Tony Palmer interview. The movie still has that fuzzy picture quality and dull colour that betrays its age which I think suits the subject matter perfectly. But what I find so extraordinary is the breadth of topical subject matter covered in its brief 57 minute running-time. The music performance footage is pretty special considering that in those days the cameras used weighed tons, were impossible to move, and had to be focused on one individual at a time. There are several very special performance moments including Ginger Baker at his most intense and Jimi Hendrix at his most explosive and controversial. Of the interviews, Frank Zappa’s is the most fascinating as he describes a live show when he invited several US marines on stage at a time when the horrors of the Vietnam War were being publicly revealed for the first time. The news footage of the period’s turbulent events brings into sharp focus the chasm that existed between the public and politicians. But the most interesting aspect of this film is its timeless relevance, and especially the parallel with the increasing tendency of today’s great rock musicians to feature political descent and social commentary in their music.

For both younger and older generations this should represent a landmark in music documentary film-making and a timely reminder on how art can reveal the truth in the most effective and thought-provoking way. And why those in power fear its influence more than they care to admit… Essential.

5/5