The Rolling Stones release stunning 4K versions of the Jumpin' Jack Flash videos

Mick Jagger wearing make-up — (Image credit: Michael Lindsay-Hogg)

The Rolling Stones have released upscaled 4K versions of the two videos shot in 1968 by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg for Jumpin' Jack Flash.

The first of the two videos features a makeup-free band line-up, and uses a completely unique, live version of the song, whereas the second version features the band in make-up, with Mick Jagger singing a live vocal as the other members of the band mime to the recorded backing track.

“We shot the one without the makeup first,” explains Lindsay-Hogg. "They were great. As we were doing it, I felt there was an ingredient missing, although at that point I didn’t know what it was. We had a small meal break and I saw Brian Jones sitting by the makeup table and sort of playing with the colours – putting it on his face and then wiping it off – and I thought, ‘Huh. That’s a real interesting look.’

"And so I said to Mick, Keith, Charlie and Bill, ‘Just go over there to the makeup table and see what it’s like if you put some stuff on your face – either stripes or eye makeup, or full-face glitter, whatever strikes you.’”

“They worked with our very bright makeup person Linda DeVetta and they kind of got into it," Lindsay-Hogg continues. "After about an hour they looked different, especially Keith and Brian. Then we found the big, space alien glasses. We got something much better than we might have had, left to our own devices. It crystallised what it should be. It’s one of those serendipitous moments where all the things that might have gone wrong, didn’t.

"The director of photography, Tony Richmond, and I thought there’s another way to light them as well, because it was kind of general performance lighting on the first one we shot in the early afternoon. In the second version, we shot them in these shadows. It was much more to do with shadows, and Mick coming in and out of light, and that whole little walk he does at the beginning. We put that together, and that’s the one they liked best because it had a slightly decadent feel to it.

"When I edited them and played them back, they loved the videos. I’d hate to think they didn’t, because then I went on to do their videos for 15 years."

Six months after making the videos for Jumpin' Jack Flash, Lindsay-Hogg would direct The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a film the band were so unhappy with it wasn't released until 28 years later. And in 1970, he directed Let It Be, the Beatles film that was used by director Peter Jackson as the basis for his eight hour documentary The Beatles: Get Back in 2021.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.