The Rolling Stones
I was recently reminded of another amazing summer vacation I had 30 years ago (July 24, to be exact).

As soon as I landed at the Shannon that summer in 1982, my mother and young aunt (only five years my senior) informed me that I would be going to see the Rolling Stones at Slane Castle in Co. Meath!

My brother and father joined my aunt and I on the arduous bus trip, one whose difficulty my father reminds me every time I moan about taking my kids to see their boy bands in concert!

Once we got there, we were rewarded with a stellar show that included J. Geils, George Thorogood and a little “local” band called the Chieftains!

The Stones were white-hot, having just released Tattoo You.

The band was celebrating two decades of touring at the time. It’s hard to believe that they have endured 30 more years of hard rock living since then!

In the present day, the Rolling Stones marked their 50th anniversary last month and a new book is out to commemorate the event. Music journalist Hanspeter Kuenzler has collaborated with The eBook People (www.theebookpeople.com) to bring us 50 Years: The Rolling Stones – Views from the Inside, Views from the Outside.

This is a massive two-part collection of the best journalistic material spanning the band’s career. The ebook includes feature articles from Rolling Stone, The Daily Mail, and Daily Express with everyone from girlfriends and wives to the Stones themselves.

As an acknowledgement to the tight connection they’ve had with Ireland over the years, (Slane gigs, Chieftains records, the recording of Voodoo Lounge there, etc.), the Stones will also release Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965, which will have its premiere at the New York Film Festival.

According to the MusicRadar.com website, the documentary was shot on a quick tour of Ireland just weeks after the Stones hit number one with “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”  Charlie is my Darling - Ireland 1965 is the first documentary of the band, featuring professionally filmed concert performances and intimate, behind-the-scenes diary-like segments of the young Stones on the road.

Among Stones fans, Charlie Is My Darling has achieved mythic status over the years. According to the website, the band is shown traveling through the Irish countryside by train, dashing from cabs to cramped, basement dressing rooms through screaming hordes of fans. Motel rooms host impromptu songwriting sessions and familiar classics are heard in their infancy.

Originally directed by Peter Whitehead and produced by Rolling Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham, the 2012 version, presented by ABKCO Films, has been meticulously restored with added, never-before-seen footage by director Mick Gochanour and producer Robin Klein, the Grammy-Award winning team that brought the classic The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to the screen.

Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965 will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, September 29.

A broadcast premiere will follow soon after, and the film will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and as a super deluxe box set in November.