Lambert & Stamp
It seems that when it rains it pours. Last week I saw The Who, on tour for the last time no doubt, at the Toyota Center. What a show. Then I innocently go to the press screening of a documentary titled Lambert & Stamp, which just happens to be about The Who and their management team of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.
The intriguing doc mashes archival footage, sometimes in a brazen editorial manner that recalls new wave ‘60s filmmaking, with recently recorded interviews with participants like Townsend, Daltrey and Stamp as well as his brother actor Terence Stamp. Lambert died in 1981 at age 45.
The rise and the band makes for a fascinating subject. L&S themselves fancied that they could make a film about a band and this would be their calling card as filmmakers. Instead they ended up shaping and forming the group, eventually leading to their contributions to the concept album Tommy. Chris Stamp was making 80-pounds a week as an assistant director and paid each member of the group 20-quid a week. There was little to no profit in the beginning what with Pete and Keith destroying their equipment repeatedly on stage.
In the end, L&S were marginalized and The Who went with new management after the success of the rock opera. Lambert & Stamp offers candid recollections of a distinct era, and the testimonials of the surviving participants show that any ill will has long been buried. Lambert & Stamp opens this weekend at the Sundance Cinemas Houston.
— Michael Bergeron
