The Rolling Stones have released a 4K version of the promotional film for their 1967 single We Love You. It's the first time the video has officially been made available online. The upscaled version of We Love You follows the release of two 4K clips for Jumpin' Jack Flash, which came out earlier this month.
The Peter Whitehead-directed video for We Love You video includes visual references to the infamous Redlands drugs bust of February 1967, when Keith Richards’ home in West Wittering, Sussex was raided following a tip-off by the tabloid paper News Of The World. Richards, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones were all arrested after police found “various substances of a suspicious nature” and a young lady (later revealed to be Marianne Faithfull) wrapped only in a rug.
The video for We Love You is loosely based on the 1895 libel trial of poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, with Jagger playing the part of Wilde, Richards as Wilde's accuser the Marquess of Queensbury, and Faithfull as Wilde's friend Lord Alfred Douglas. The clip brings the story up-to-date, with Faithfull appearing in a rug and a copy of The Evening News and Star bearing the front-page headline “DRUGS: BRIAN JONES GETS NINE MONTHS" making an appearance.
We Love You features backing vocals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, returning the favour after Jagger and Richards – as well as Marianne Faithfull – had sung on The Beatles' All You Need Is Love. As for the video, the content was deemed inappropriate by the producer of The BBC's flagship music show Top Of The Pops, leading it to be effectively banned by the network.
