I guess when it comes to giving Mick Jagger a present, you got to think the guy has just about everything.
I mean what could you possibly give him he either couldn’t buy himself or doesn’t already own?
Clothes. Nah.
Wine. Boring.
Hmmmmmm, how ’bout a nice watch?

Well that’s exactly what Ahmet Ertegun gave Mick Jagger back
sometime in the early 70’s.
An Eterna Matic Concept 80 wristwatch.
He had engraved on the back, Mick Here’s to a Million or 2? Ahmet.
My guess he was talking about the sales of an upcoming album.
Maybe Sticky Fingers or Exile given the time period.
Since at this point The Stones had just recently come on board with Atlantic, it’s not unusual Ahmet was hoping for a long and successful relationship with them.

Ahmet co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records used his personal skills in negotiating the signing of The Rolling Stones to Atlantic when they were shopping for a record company to distribute their independent Rolling Stones Records label.

He personally “did the deal” with Mick Jagger, when other labels had actually offered the band more money.

This watch was later donated by Jagger to an auction run by LA radio station KMET-FM back in 1973 in a week long auction they ran to raise money for the victims of the Nicaraguan Earthquake.
Mick was of course married to Bianca at the time, and her having family there got Mick very involved in this worthy cause.

The Stones gave a benefit concert in LA and donated at the proceeds to help the victims.

A unique piece of memorabilia owned by Jagger with a great history behind it .

A RARE TICEKT STUB FROM THE STONES NICARAGUAN BENEFIT SHOW IN LA.

Selling merchandise has long been associated with any kind of music/artist marketing effort.
Make something with their image on it, someone will buy it.
Simple right?
Even back when they were marketing the first “Rock and Roll Icon” of all time, Elvis Presley, you could buy
Teddy Bear perfume, hankies, guitars, record players, hound dog stuffed animals, you name it.

The Colonel made it, and made sure it sold.

It was then a precedent was set that has carried through till today.

No shortage of Hannah Montana dolls, guitars, wigs, or games on the shelves these days heh?

The selling of the Rolling Stones, “The Not So Lovable Mop Tops,” presented its own set of problems and challenges for Andrew Loog Oldham and his team.
What do we create and manufacture that fits their image?
And more importantly, will anybody buy it?
The primary audience for this kind of merchandise was usually young girls, the majority of the fan base.
And although the Stones had their fair share of female fans, The Beatles were probably easier to sell anyone and everyone.

The Rolling Stones were the first band of their time where you
could actually find boys screaming at their shows.

Though The Fab Four had it all.
Dolls, wigs, hairspray, combs, notebooks, pencils, ice cream bars, gum cards, record players, guitars, drums, candy, games, you name it.
Literally thousands of items.

The Rolling Stones ended up with but a handful.
I guess Andrew found that their “bad boy” image in the end wasn’t all that marketable.

Hell, I would bought the stuff.
And fans and collectors are still buying it now.

Only it’s a tad more expensive these days.

Here’s a few of the items from the 60’s.
These are the rarest of all Stones collectibles.
And believe it or not, would command in the thousands if sold today.

Mick's Maraccas. WTF?!!!!

This guitar has and will sell for $2500 in auction is very good condition.

You really don’t want to piss of your partner.
Especially when he’s Keith Richards.
But Mick needed to test himself in 1985 by going solo for the first time in his career
with She’s the Boss.

When The Rolling Stones signed with CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger – ready to spread his wings after recording exclusively with his famous band for twenty years – eagerly began working on She’s the Boss.

Following the release of Undercover, Jagger began composing material for his first solo project, sanctioning the help of various musician friends in the studio when recording began in May 1984. Of those involved were Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Carlos Alomar and Herbie Hancock, while Jagger would share production duties with Bill Laswell and Nile Rodgers.

Keenly aware of the current musical trends – and taking advantage of his freedom – Jagger endeavored to make She’s the Boss sound hip and contemporary, giving the album a very mid-1980s character with its use of synthesizers and drum machines.

Keith Richards, Jagger’s longtime musical partner in The Rolling Stones, was not pleased that Jagger was pursuing solo work, feeling that their band should be each others’ first priority. The growing friction between both musicians would erupt – in a most publicized way – in 1986, before they resolved their differences a couple of years later.

She’s the Boss was released in February 1985 – preceded by its lead song “Just Another Night”. Both the album and its first single became worldwide hits, with “Just Another Night” reaching #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and #12 on the US pop chart, and She’s the Boss going to #6 in the UK and #13 in the US, where it went platinum. Follow-up single “Lucky In Love” would be a Top 40 US hit. Although critical response to the album was warm, many later reviewers consider She’s the Boss – with its distinct 1980s production techniques – to sound somewhat dated in style.[citation needed]

The success of the album – impacted by Jagger’s solo appearance at Live Aid that July and his rush-recorded duet hit cover of “Dancing In The Street” with David Bowie – influenced Jagger to record a successor, Primitive Cool, which would be released in 1987.

Although originally released by CBS, She’s the Boss was acquired and reissued by Atlantic Records in 1993 following the release of Jagger’s third album, Wandering Spirit.

In 1986, Jamaican reggae singer Patrick Alley attempted to sue Jagger over the song “Just Another Night,” which Alley claims he had recorded in 1979 and released on his 1982 album, A Touch of Patrick Alley. Alley claimed that Sly Dunbar (who played drums on She’s the Boss) also played on his recording. The case was cleared in 1988, with Jagger stating “My reputation is really cleared. If you’re well known, people stand up and take shots at you.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_The_Boss

The following are direct from the files of a former publicist and personal assistant to Mick Jagger.
Typed and xeroxed lyrics with hand written annotations by Jagger.

Guiño al tiempo de Keith Richards- Fotografía sin autor conocido

Las arrugas en los rostros de Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts y Ron Wood son la celebración de una vida imposible. ¿Qué puede ser más contradictorio que ver a estos cuatro ejemplares de la raza humana en perfecto estado de descomposición? Surcar sus rostros es aconsejar mal a nuestros hijos. Sus Satánicas Majestades han cumplido casi cinco décadas desafiando a las generaciones que piensan que la sangre nueva es la que debe fluir. No es así. Leyendas aparte, hay una banda que se sube a un escenario y transmite ganas de envejecer. De la mejor forma posible, la de hacer lo mejor que se sabe y disfrutar con ello. Ahí los ven flacos, pasados y con presencia desafiante. Mick Jagger, la diva, con su ritmo frenético, ombligo desvergonzado y sus contoneos de estrella a la que no le invitarán jamás a desaparecer. Cuenta en el documental “Shine a light” de Scorsese, recién lanzado a la fama, que su objetivo no pasaba por perdurar en el tiempo. Siempre vigilado por la moral del siglo veinte, por otro lado más arriesgada que la del actual, y llevando sus morros icónicos a la extenuación de una voz que no se apagará más que muerta. Baila con Christina Aguilera y la penetra toda la senectud por las nalgas firmes. ¿Se puede ser más soberbio? Y atrás Charlie Watts, el batería mudo, el que arranca con fatiga y después encuentra su ritmo constante. Detrás de su mirada quizá no hay más. Nunca dijo nada y tal vez no tuvo qué decir o se lo calló o ninguna de las cosas. El único que dejó sus canas libres al ritmo de una batería discreta, como si fuera una figura del museo de cera. Sonrisa enganchada y saludo con el aplauso final. Ron Wood, niño abuelo, juega con Keith. Lo mira con admiración. Sigue su compás y lo reta en un duelo de gigantes. Richards se ha ido acartonando como un pirata invencible. Sus gestos muestran a alguien que vive de milagro y que se mueve por el escenario creando complicidades. Con el público, al que mima y guiña el ojo o regala una púa. Tiene ese gesto que atrapa por la bondad del más malvado, el canalla que todos deseamos ser y que matamos por timidez o frustración. Ese tipo debería ser el más antiguo del cementerio para contar todos los excesos que llevan a la tumba y es al revés, la fosa se muere de hastío echando al cielo la más aburrida flor. Un cigarro prohibido vuela escupido por su boca y fabrica un solo de simpatía por el diablo. Y viéndole ¿Quién va a sentir lo contrario? Sólo cuando acaba el último bis con el Satisfaction pide desesperado su bata, muerto de frío, como un cadáver que se mira a un espejo. Después los cuatro van a sus camerinos, acaban su trabajo y se separan rumbo a sus casas, restaurantes de moda, antros o prostíbulos de lujo. Han cumplido su contrato y seguirán haciéndolo hasta que el rock and roll sea un sueño que un día ocurrió. Antes de que se les despegue la piel de la cara la música les cartografiará por siempre jamás.

José Ramón Huidobro

Página web Rolling Stones

Concert used memorabilia in collecting is rare and difficult to find. Authenticating that the item was concert used is even more difficult and documentation is even harder to find.

Which makes the pictured item rare indeed.

Concert used and signed drumsticks belonging to Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones.

For starters, they are Ludwig drumsticks.
Charlie used and played Ludwig back in the 80’s.
He now uses Vic Firth.
Secondly they were played at a very unique concert.
December 18, 1981 Hampton, VA, the last show of the “Tattoo You” tour, Keith Richards birthday and a specially taped show for television.

Read the letter from Stones President Art Collins on how he obtained the sticks from Charlie after the show.

A few items signed by Charlie that aren’t as difficult to sign as drumsticks.

RARE STICKY FINGERS STORE DISPLAY FEATURING AN ALMOST LIFE SIZE MICK JAGGER.

Back in 1971 The Rolling Stones were at the height of their craft.
It’s hard to believe any band could produce back to back to back albums the likes of Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street in the span of 3 years.

Unheard of even today.
My guess it will never be matched or done again.

The following is a review from Rolling Stone magazine back in 1971 on the release of Sticky Fingers,
arguably one, if not the definitive Stones record.

In my mind not only did the Stones break new ground recording Sticky Fingers, once again broke the rules, no make that smash and destroy the rules, of record album design.

SIDE ONE

“Brown Sugar:” It begins with some magical raunch chords on the right channel. In the tradition of great guitar intros (“All Day and All of the Night,” “Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown,” and “Satisfaction” itself) it transfixes you: instant recognition, instant connection. Suddenly the electric guitar is joined by an acoustic guitar on the left channel, an acoustic that is merely strumming the chords that the electric is spitting out with such fury. It washes over the electric to no apparent purpose, stripping it momentarily of its authority and intensity. and so, in the first 15 seconds of the albums first cut we are presented with its major conflict: driving, intense, wide-open rock versus a controlled and manipulative musical conception determined to fill every whole and touch every base.

As soon as the voices come on, the acoustic recedes into inaudibility: on “Brown Sugar” wide open rock wins by a hair, but it is a hollow victory. Opening cuts on Stones albums have always been special, fro the early ones – “Not Fade Away,” “Round and Round,” and “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love: – with their promise of rock and roll to come, to the tour de force openings of the later albums – “Symphony for the Devil” and “Gimme Shelter” – which served as overwhelming entrances into a more complex musical world view.

At their best these opening cuts were statements of themes that transcended both the theme itself and the music that was to follow. As I listened to “Sticky Fingers,” for the first time I thought “Brown Sugar” was good, but not that good. I certainly hoped it wasn’t the best thing on the album. As it turns out, there are a few moments that surpass it but it still sets the tone for the album perfectly: middle-level Rolling Stones competence. The lowpoints aren’t that low, but the high points, with one exception, aren’t that high.

As to the performance itself, the chords, harmony, and song are powerful stuff. The instrumentation however, is too diffuse, occasionally undermining the vocals instead of supporting them. But when Richards joins Jagger for the last chorus they finally make it home free.

“Sway:” Vaguely reminiscent of “Stray Cat Blues” but not nearly so powerful. The sound is characteristic Rolling Stones messiness enhanced by the unusual degree of separation in the mix. Charlie Watts bashes away with the smirking abandon that made him such a delight on songs like “Get Off My Cloud” and “All Sold Out.” But unlike early Stones messiness, “Sway” lacks intensity. It never reaches a goal because it doesn’t seem to have one. Rather, it remains a series of riffs whose lack of content is obscured by prolonged and indifferent guitar semi-solos and a fine string arrangement that suddenly enters towards the end.

“Wild Horses:” A good song with lots of good things in it that doesn’t quite come off. The acoustic 12-string stands out over everything else in the arrangement – perhaps a little too far out, as the rest of the instruments sound like mere fragments, wandering in and out of the track at arbitrary intervals.

Jagger’s vocal is clearly audible for the first time on the album and I don’t care for it. It is mannered, striving for intensity without being wholly convincing. Musically, the more complex the Stones get the m ore inadequate he sometimes sounds. The man is a stylist as opposed to a singer. He has always lacked power and range: on 15 albums he has never really grabbed hold of a note and let it ring. At his best, he sings around the notes – plays with them – dancing in and out with precision.

Or, he can let himself go entirely, with no attempt at stylistic posturing and thereby achieving an almost incredibly naturalism. But, on “Wild Horses,” there is a pint in which the only thing that will work is a good note, well sung, sustained and sufficient to stand on its own. It is not to be found. A musical attitude is not a replacement for a musical style and style is not a replacement for essential technique, which is what is missing here.

The longing of the song’s lyrics coupled with its ultimate hope constitute as much of a theme a there is on this record. Typically (since “Between the Buttons”) the Stones’ statement alternates between aggressive sexuality and warmer, more subtly erotic statements of emotional dependence and openness. The flirtation with social significance of the last two albums has been almost wholly abandoned in what appears to be something of a recommitment to more personal subject matter.

“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking:” Years ago, when I first heard that the Stones had recorded something 11 minutes long, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, thinking it was sure to be the definitive rave-up and hoping it would finally put the Yardbirds and Them in their place. When I finally heard “Going Home” I realized the Stones couldn’t conceive of a long cut as anything but a vehicle for Jagger to project through. Given the time to stretch out, they went for the mellow down easy side with the emphasis on the voice rather than the instruments.

Now they have done something with a long instrumental break in it and it ain’t bad. On the other hand, I can’t see what it really has to do with the Rolling Stones. The song is good but once into the solos there is a touch of R&B, a touch of Santana, but nothing to really identify with. So maybe they had the right idea the first time. For old times sake I do hope that the really boring guitar solo is by Mick Taylor and that those great surging chords in the background are by Keith Richards, the original Sixties rock and roll guitarist, and mast of Chuck Berry music, and the soul of the Rolling Stones.

“You Gotta Move:” Anyway, for the present, Mick Taylor’s electric slide guitar is absolutely exquisite. Combined with Richard’s fine work on the acoustic they create one of the album’s few real moments. Charlie Watts’ bass drum holds it together perfectly, while Richard’s harmony smoothes off the more outrageous edges of Jagger’s lead vocal. In the end, all the pieces fit. A small but important triumph.

SIDE TWO

“Bitch:” Jagger in one of his most popular poses: demonic. here he flaunts naughty words and naughty thoughts as if he still thought they were naughty. The arrangement is straight-ahead. The horns sound great here as they are used primarily for purposes of syncopation and rhythm. The bass and drums – the Rolling Stones bottom that has driven its way through over 200 cuts and which is the true instrumental trademark of the group – burns like a bitch.

“I’ve Got the Blues:” In the tradition of the earlier R&B Imitations such as “Pain In My Heart,” “You Better Move On,” “If You Need Me,” and best of all their great “That’s How Strong My Love Is.” However, this is the first time they actually added Stax horns. It’s good as far as it goes, but lacks the feeling of the earlier imitations. It all seems pro forma. The worst cut the Rolling Stones ever released was “I’ve Been Lovin’ You Too Long” (which sounds very much like a studio recording even though it showed up on “Got Live I You Want It”). Jagger couldn’t sing it. Here he almost sings up a storm, but in the end its the part he didn’t sing that stays in mind. Somehow, it isn’t complete.

“Sister Morphine:” This was supposed to be stark, intense and realistic. Some hear it that way. I find it lyrically convincing, but labored to the point of being unlistenable musically. Perhaps that is part of the conception: obviously, a song about morphine should not be pleasant to hear. The question is, is the song unpleasant because it makes us uncomfortable emotionally, or simply because it is an awkward and unsuccessful attempt to depict reality through music?

“Dead Flowers:” I suppose somewhere along the line they thought of calling the album “Dead Flowers,” which would have justified this cut’s presence at some level. Despite its parodistic intentions, the mere thought of the Stones doing straight country music is simply appalling. And they do it so poorly, especially the lead guitar. The cut is ordinary without being either definitive or original.

“Moonlight Mile:” From “Brown Sugar” we had to wait all the way to here to get a masterpiece. The semi-oriental touch seems to heighten the song’s intense expression of desire, which is the purest and most engaging emotion present on the record. The sense of personal commitment and emotional spontaneity immediately liberate Jagger’s (double-tracked) singing: it’s limitations become irrelevant and he rises to the occasion by turning in his best performance on the album – the only thing that compares with his singing of “Gimme Shelter.”

There is something soulful here, something deeply felt: “I’ve got silence on the radio, let the airwaves flow, let the airwaves flow.” Paul Buckmaster, Elton John’s arranger, does the best job with strings I can remember in a long, long time, while Charlie Watts only goes through the motions of loosening up his style, as he comes down hard on the nearly magical line, “Just about a moonlight mile.”

The cut contains that rave-up they never gave us on “Goin Home”; perhaps it is just a filling out of the intensely erotic climax that came towards the end of that song (“Sha-la-la,” and all of that). When Jagger finally says “Here we go, now” as Mick Taylor’s guitar (Richard is inexplicably absent) falls perfectly into place with a hypnotic chord pattern, it’s as if he is taking our hand and is literally going to walk us down his dream road. As the strings push the intensity level constantly upwards and Charlie emphasizes the development with fabulous cymbal crashes, the energy becomes unmistakably erotic – erotic as opposed to merely sexual, erotic in a way that the entire rest of the album is not. The expression of need that dominates so much of the record is transformed from a hostile statement into a plea and a statement of warmth and receptiveness.

This cut really does sway and when Jagger’s voice re-enters, it is with none of the forced attempts at style and control present on the rest of the album, but with the kind of abandon that he seems uniquely capable of. And unique is the best word to describe the cut as a whole: after nine songs that hover around the middle, they finally hit the high note and make a statement that is not just original but that could have only come from them.

At least it gives me hope for the future…..

On Sticky Fingers, it doesn’t really sound like they are doing what they want to. Play “Brown Sugar” and then play any opening cut from the first five albums. The early ones are sloppy, messy, and vulgar. They are brash and almost ruthless in their energy. And they sound real. By comparison “Brown Sugar,” for all its formal correctness is an artifice. Ultimately they sound detached from it, as they do from all but a few things on Sticky Fingers. The two million hours they joke about spending on this record must have surely resulted from uncertainty about what it was they wanted to hear when they were through. On the other hand, those early records always sounded (whether they were is irrelevant) as if they were recorded in a day, without any overdubbing, comprised mainly of first takes. They reverberated with off the wall spunk and spontaneity.

Obviously the Stones can’t go back to that: it would be redundant and incredibly limiting for them. But perhaps they have now gone too far the other way. If Sticky Fingers suffers from any one thing it’s its own self-defeating calculating nature. Its moments of openness and feeling are too few: its moments where I know I should be enjoying it but am not, too great.

JON LANDAU/ROLLING STONE

(Posted: Jun 10, 1971)

Em 2009 lembramos do 40º aniversário do festival de Woodstock , “três dias de música, paz e amor”. E de outro festival americano que terminou com violência e é considerado “o fim do sonho” hippie. Altamont. A Warner (re)colocou nas lojas em DVD o filme Gimme Shelter (classificação: 16 anos), que registra a turnê americana dos Rolling Stones em 1969, até o concerto gratuito de 6/12, que reuniu 300 mil pessoas no autódromo de Altamont, com segurança a cargo dos Hells Angels californianos – ou seja, um barril de pólvora. Clique para ler mais, ver a lista de músicas de Gimme Shelter e a filmografia dos Stones.

Gimme Shelter, o filme, dirigido por David e Albert Maysles e Charlotte Zwerin, intercala apresentações dos Stones na turnê e em Altamont (e ainda  Ike & Tina Turner, Flying Burrito Brothers e Jefferson Airplane, 1 música cada) com cenas de bastidores que ajudam a entender porque deu tanta coisa errada. As câmeras dos documentaristas acompanham as negociações para o local do show, em que os Stones queriam tocar de graça - 0 festival vai mudando de local em local, até o autódromo, escolhido às pressas. Também mostram os Stones acompanhando montagem e mixagem do filme. Charlie Watts com cara de tédio. Mick Jagger p… com o violento fim da festa em Altamont. Entre outros “feitos”, os Hells Angels improvisados como seguranças esfaquearam até a morte um homem visto com uma arma  perto do palco. De acordo com a montagem do doc, a violência começa durante “Sympathy for the Devil”. E o assassinato rola duramte “Under My Thumb”. Macabro.

Boa música, muita porra-louquice e violência. Tensão no ar. Gente muito doida. Gente chorando, ao lado de gente rindo. Parte da história do rock. Parte da história do homem.

Quer saber o set list dos Stones no filme?

- Jumpin´Jack Flash

- Satisfaction

- You Gotta Move

- Wild Horses

- Brown Sugar

- Love in Vain

- Honky Tonk Women

- Street Fighting Man

- Sympathy for the Devil

- Under My Thumb

- Gimme Shelter (cenas finais)

Nos extras, Little Queenie, Oh Carol, Prodigal Son.

FILMOGRAFIA DOS STONES

- Rock and Roll Circus, 1º/1/1968.

- Stones in the Park, 7/7/1968.

- Sympathy for the Devil ou One Plus One, 1968. De Jean Luc Godard.

- Gimme Shelter, 1º/1/1970.

(Cocksucker Blues, filmado em 72, foi engavetado pela banda)

- Ladies and Gentleman, The Rolling Stones. 1º/1/1974.

- Let´s Spend the Night Together, 1º/1/1981.

- Live at the Max, 1º/1/1990. Feito para cinemas I-Max.

- Shine a Light, 4/4/2008 (leia post anterior).

Over the past 30 years Keith Richards silver skull ring has taken on its own mythology and iconic status. The most famous ring in the world has come to signify not only Keith Richards the man – seen wearing it at every gig and in every photograph – but Rock and Roll itself. The ring has inspired both an international cult following and unlimited fake copies. There have been countless claims as to who designed and made the original but this is the true story.

In 1978 the celebrated London goldsmiths David Courts and Bill Hackett were working on a small scale silver sculpture of a human skeleton. Using a real skull for reference they carved a perfect miniature replica which they then moulded. When the hollow wax skull was removed from its mould the inspiration for the ring was born. Further experimentation led to the creation of the original silver skull ring. At the same time an invitation arrived from Keith Richards to his birthday party in New York – so Bill and David decided that the new ring would make a fantastic present. From the moment he put it on his finger, the magic began and he has worn it ever since.

Since Keith put on the original Courts and Hackett skull ring in 1978, David and Bill have received countless requests for a copy but their original decision that the ring should remain unique has meant that there is no replica mould and no duplicates.

Now, for the first time and only available from them is a magnificent new deaths head ring sculpted from the same human skull used for the original.

Using unique techniques developed in their workshop they have created the ultimate skull ring. Exquisite details include an immaculately carved bone structure, individual teeth and finely engraved cranium.

Crafted in solid 925 silver each ring will be stamped with the Courts and Hackett hallmark guaranteeing authenticity, date, materials used and country of origin.

http://www.courtsandhackett.com/new_ring.html

http://members.tripod.com/blue_lena/news2009.html

*Thanks to Tamara Guo, (aka Blue Lena) the most die-hard Keef fan I know.

A billboard on Sunset Blvd promoting the new album. As you can imagine, not without controversy.

Exile on Main Street was a 1972 release (on Atlantic Records) by The Rolling Stones, with cover artwork & design by John Van Hamersveld. When the Rolling Stones released Exile in 1972 – a double album of songs representing the many different genres of music that shaped Stones music at the time – fans and critics found themselves having to spend a lot of time trying to “get it”. It required a number of listens to gain an appreciation of what, on the surface, often seemed to be a collection of studio out-takes and Richards/Taylor/Watts jams than a freshly-recorded musical offering.

Many critics of the era failed to appreciate the Stones’ explorations of R&B, Soul, Country and roots Rock that were spread over the 4 album sides. In fact, the record was comprised of a series of recordings done during the previous four years and, as such, they featured a variety of mixes (some better than others) and showed the band building on top of these influences in their own inimitable style to the point that, now over 35 years later, the package is considered by many to be the band’s most-authentic offering. It is always listed near the top of most of the “Best Of” and “Greatest” lists (#7 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, #22 on VH-1’s survey, and even impressed the younger generation enough to be ranked #11 on Pitchfork’s 2003 list of Best Albums of the 1970s).

In a similar fashion, when the buying public took their first look at the design and imagery of the sprawling record cover, most people admitted that they didn’t “get it”. Having just soaked in Warhol’s ultimately-iconic zipper cover for Sticky Fingers, fans should have been ready for anything, but John Van Hamersveld’s designs seemed to confound them, asking them to digest a rough, anti-establishment, punk-before-there-was-punk collage of images that may have, initially, combined with the unfamiliar musical stylings to impact sales (don’t worry, as the record was supported by the now-famous 1972 American concert tour and songs such as “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice” got some significant radio play, the record went on to top the charts in the U.S. and the U.K.).

And so when Van Hamersveld, who’d established his industry cred via his poster and package designs for Hendrix, The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour), Jefferson Airplane (Crown of Creation) and others, was approached by the Rolling Stones (who were in a studio in LA putting the finishing touches on this new album) to work on the graphics and packaging for a songbook project the band wanted to release, an interesting series of events on the day of their initial meeting had a profound impact on the course of album art history.

Super rare promo poster featuring 3-Ball Charlie.

Bill Janovitz' book on Exile. A must read.

Above is the ultra rare Exile Store Display.

Read the complete story behind this great work of art on our RockPoP Gallery/”Cover Story” blog -
http://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2008/04/cover-story—t.html

Attention to Detail:

At the end of a show, he’ll leave the stage, and the sirens will be going, and the limousines waiting, and Charlie will walk back to his drumkit and change the position of his drumsticks by two millimeters. Then he’ll look at it. Then, if it looks good, he’ll leave….The drums are about to be stripped down and put in the back of a truck,and he cannot leave if he’s got it in his mind that he’s left his sticks in a displeasing way.

Keith Richards, on Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts

excerpted from Zen Guitar

RARE T-SHIRT, KEITH, RONNIE GUITAR PICKS AND TICKET STUB FROM THE INFAMOUS SHOW.

The Rolling Stones’ “private” jam session at Sir Morgan’s Cove was supposed to be just that — private — and also secret, with the Stones attempting to pass incognito as the Cockroaches. But as the nature of the business would have it, there was a leak. It occurred early in the day Monday after weeks of rumors. And before the day was over, the local media would claim that “history has been made in Worcester.”
Before the Stones finished their free two-hour concert early yesterday morning for 300 “randomly selected” fans, local police would arrest and charge six people with offenses ranging from drinking in public to illegally “launching missiles” (beer cans, mostly). The Worcester police department’s already depleted overtime budget would be $5,000 more in the red. And the city’s sanitation workers would be faced with a block-long layer of beer cans, bottles and trash.
But for all that, the corporate brass of the local FM radio station that helped organize, promote and execute the event at Sir Morgan’s would be more than pleased. In the intensely competitive hard-rock market surrounding Boston, WAAF-FM had scored a major coup.

Steve Stockman, 23, WAAF’s promotions director, said he kept in constant contact with members of the band, but “it wasn’t until last Friday that everything started to gel. Ian Stewart, the group’s keyboard player, told me the group wanted to make some small, private night-club appearances. They hadn’t appeared before an audience in three years, and they needed to warm up to crowds before Philadelphia.”
Stockman said Stewart had selected Sir Morgan’s on his own. He said Stewart had anonymously visited “every bar in Worcester” in search of a place that seated no more than 400, had a low ceiling and a high stage.
“All he needed was a mechanism to get tickets out to loyal fans in the area without revealing the location of the event,” Stockman said. Together, WAAF and the Stones decided that the station would start announcing on Monday morning that the Stones were giving such a performance, but that no tickets could be purchased.
Instead, the station announced, representatives of WAAF and the group would be driving the streets of Worcester throughout the day looking for people wearing WAAF T-shirts or with WAAF bumper stickers either on themselves or their cars.
They, and they alone, would get the mere 300 nontransferable, laser-etched, computer-coded tickets marked, “Blue Monday” and “The Cockroaches.”

A Boston rock station, an arch-competitor of WAAF, was leaked the information by either Worcester police or a member of the band that played before the Stones were to perform at Sir Morgan’s. And the Boston station immediately began broadcasting not only where the Stones would appear, but also that people should stay away.
“They said there’d be a riot there or something,” Stockman said. “It was awful, and the Stones were almost as furious with that station as we were. But to tell you honestly, we did get lucky. It easily could have turned into mayhem. All I can say is thank God for the rain.”

Source http://www.studiowner.com/essays/essay.asp?books=0&pagnum=3001

TICKET STUB

SET LIST FROM THE SHOW DIRECTLY FROM IAN MCLARGEN KEYBOARD PLAYER.

ONE OF THE RAREST OF ALL ROLLING STONES RECORD STORE POSTERS.

RARE RECORD STORE MOBILE, CIRCA 1969.

In the wake of Brian Jones untimely death in July of 1969, London Records embarked on a campaign to promote The Rolling Stones as the WORLD’S GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND.
A moniker they would still carry some 40 years later.

The attached images are 2 rare items from that period of time. The mobile is the first promotional item to feature Mick Taylor the Stones newest member replacing the deceased Brian Jones.

The poster references all 15 albums and 20 singles on London Records. “Let it Bleed” the last album Jones was to contribute on. “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” the live recording featured Mick Taylor.

As Beatlemania strikes for the fourth time – yes, fourth: there was that first one, then the chronological single releases in the 80s, then Anthology, now these rather comely remasters – it seems only fitting to gad about playing Stones records.

But what would The Beatles be like if they were still around today? Notwithstanding some high profile deaths, would we be dismissing them for not having had a Top 10 hit since ‘Got My Mind Set On You’? Would we be saying, “Oh, but you have to see them live to understand. Not that they’ve performed since that rooftop gig in ‘69”? Would we be suggesting their last great peak was when Linda supported an addled Lennon on guitar duties in the early 70s?

Mick Taylor was the Stones’ unsung hero as 60s turned to 70s, initially stepping in when Brian Jones was seemingly not fit for the job, and then way too dead for the job. But the man on Exile On Main Street’s ‘Tumbling Dice’ is still Keef, a trademark riff boogie-ing the song along. It’s an easy, devastated rocker, bang-on cool in its barely glued swagger, and the touchstone for all those would-be Stones. Just pick up Primal Scream’s Give Out But Don’t Be Give Up and jump to ‘Call On Me’. “Carbon-copy” implies a laborious step between the two.

Charlie Watts would be pleased in his dotage to hear Junior praising the drums. She goes on to join the gospel backing for the “baaayyy-beh”s, and she and her sister give it the full lungs for the fading “got to roll me”s, swept up in the ecstatic cyclone of soul-soaked seedy rawk.

Partners in crime:

Volgens steeds sterker wordende geruchten komt er weer een tournee van the Rolling Stones in 2010, en volgens deze geruchten zal ook Nederland in het tourschema gaan passen.

AT5 meld op hun site dat Mick Jagger, Ronnie Woods, Keith Richards en Charlie Watts in de zomer van 2010 ergens in Amsterdam een concert zullen geven.

Meer volgt….

Maar de geruchten van een nieuwe tour van de Stones zijn niet de enige, ook zullen volgens de geruchten Guns N’ Roses, Robbie Williams, Take That, Genesis (met Peter Gabriel), Led Zeppelin en Paul Mc Cartney op tournee gaan.

De tijd zal het leren….

Kepolisian Sussex akhir Agustus lalu membuka kembali kasus kematian gitaris Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, 40 tahun setelah jenazahnya ditemukan di dasar kolam renang di rumahnya di Hartfield, East Sussex. Saat meninggal 2 Juli 1969 dlam usia 27 tahun, Jones yang salah satu pendiri Stones itu dianggap mati konyol dalam keadaan mabuk.

Namun, Kepolisian Sussex membuka kembali kasus itu setelah harian The Mail mengungkapkan ditemukannya bukti baru Jones mungkin dibunuh Frank Thorogood. Ketika jenazahnya diotopsi, polisi memang tidak menemukan narkoba, hanya alkohol. Kini polisi memeriksa kembali sekitar 600 dokumen yang diserahkan wartawan The Mail, Scott Jones, yang selama empat tahun menyelidiki kematian Jones.

Scott Jones, yang tak ada hubungan darah dengan Brian Jones, mengandalkan hasil temuannya dari wawancara dengan Janet Lawson, perawat yang menemukan jenazah. Lawson mengaku melihat Thorogood, orang yang mengurus rumah Jones, masuk ke kolam renang dan “melakukan sesuatu” terhadap Jones. Lawson yakin Thorogood yang tutup usia tahun 1994, saat itu membunuh Jones.

Kesaksian Lawson didukung laporan polisi pertama yang tiba di rumah Jones, Albert Evans. Ia menulis berbicara dengan semua saksi beberapa jam setelah kematian Jones dan menyimpulkan Jones tewas menyusul terjadinya perkelahian lawan Thorogood. Bukti lain diungkapkan laporan polisi lainnya, Bob Marshall, yang menulis adanya tiga saksi yang dbiarkan pergi meninggalkan TKP tanpa ditanyai polisi.

Sekitar tengah malam Jones berenang karena merasa kepanasan. Sebelum itu ia minum alkohol bersama pacarnya, Anna Wohlin, Lawson dan Thorogood. Lawson sudah memperingatkan Jones dan Thorogood agar tidak berenang karena mereka sudah mabuk, tetapi peringatan itu tidak diindahkan. Orang pertama yang melihat Jones tenggelam di dasar kolam adalah Mary Haddock, seorang pembantu. Wohlin segera masuk ke kolam, memberikan bantuan pernapasan, tetapi terlambat.

Sejumlah teori sempat berkembang tentang kematian Jones dan salah satunya adalah karena ia mengalami serangan asmatik dan juga memiliki riwayat sebagai penenggak narkoba. Ia sempat masuk ke klinik di London dan dinyatakan menderita penyakit paranoid dan perlu mendapat perawatan psikologis. Jones berkepribadian ganda : di satu pihak kasar, tetapi juga berkarisma. Jika berbicara, ia lembut dan pemalu. Namun, ia juga dipuja-puja banyak perempuan dan sering punya beberapa pacar sekaligus.

Jones dengan mudah melahap semua pelajaran mulai SD sampai SMU dengan nilai-nilai istimewa sehingga akan dengan gampang masuk ke universitas mana pun. Tetapi, ia tidak tertarik, lebih suka kerja serampangan melawan kemauan orang tuanya. Dalam usia 14 tahun, Jones menghamili seorang perempuan dan di saat yang sama memacari isteri orang lain. Saat berusia 17 tahun ia tidak betah lagi tinggal di rumahnya dan memulai karier sebagai pemain klarinet ban Cheltone Six.

Jones saat itu sudah jadi multiinstrumentalis andal dengan keahlian memainkan saksofon, gotar, dan piano. Setelah sempat sebentar bergabung dengan The Ramrods, Jones berkenalan dan bersahabat dengan Alexis Korner yang memimpin Blues Incorporated. Korner mengundang Jones ke London dan tahun 1962 memulai upaya membentuk band sendiri. Orang pertama yang direkrutnya adalah Charlie Watts yang saitar), yang saat itu jadi pemain drum Blues Incorporated.

Ambisi jadi vokalis

Ia lalu memasang iklan pendek mencari pemusik lainnya di harian Jazz News dan menamakan bandnya Rolling Stones, dari judul lagu pemusik blues asal Amerika Serikat, Muddy Waters. Daya tarik Jones sebagai pemusik jagoan, juga wajah ganteng serta aksi panggung yang atraktif, mudah menarik minat Mick Jagger (vokal), Keith Richards (gitar), serta Bill Wyman (bas) untuk bergabung. Pada awalnya, jagger dan Richards mengidolakan Jones, tetapi lama kelamaan mereka merasa lebih hebat.

Jones selalu mengatakan dia yang memimpin Stones dan menerima bayaran lebih besar.

“ Kami selalu beranggapan dia orang yang menyandang beban emosional dan psikologis yang terlalu berat, yang membuat penderitaannya tidak berhenti, “ kata Wyman. “ sejak awal, dia sudah menderita paranoia, “ ungkap pacar Jones, Kathy Etchingham. “ Kondisi psikologisnya terus memburuk hari demi hari. Ia lebih sering mabuk dan makin sering memakai narkoba. Dia masih muda, tetapi terlalu banyak masalah, “ tambah Watts.

Menurut Watts, salah satu beban terberat ambisi Jones adalah menjadi vokalis. “ Padahal, dia bukan vokalis andal. Napasnya pendek karena ia penderita asma. Dan ia selalu ingin jadi pemimpin, sekalipun tak mampu memimpin, “ kata Watts. “Brian terlalu berambisi menjadi pemimpin kami. Dia cemburu pada kami semua, itu sifat buruk dia. Dalam sebuah band, vokalis selalu jadi pusat perhatian. Dan Brian tidak suka kondisi ini karena merasa layak dapat perhatian lebih besar, “ kata Jagger.

Jones diberikan peluang mengatur semua masalah yang berkaitan dengan aktifitas rekaman dan konser Stones. Dalam kurun waktu sekitar dua tahun, Stones jadi pesaing berat The Beatles. Peranan bisnis Jones berkurang ketika Stones sebagai entitas bisnis mulai bersikap profesional dengan menunjuk Andrew Loog Oldham jadi manajer tahun 1963. “ Brian mengatakan dia bos Stones. Dia berperan selama menjalankan tugasnya. Tetapi, begitu dia malas main gitar pengiring, semuanya selesai, “ kata Oldham.

Sepanjang tahun 1964 dan 1965, penggemat mulai mengalihkan perhatian pada Jagger. Ini wajar karena aksi panggung Jagger sebagai vokalis jauh lebih seksi dibandingkan Jones. Tetapi, Jones justru menerimanya dengan sikap negatif tanpa alasan jelas. Ketika itu, dua kali Jones coba bunuh diri karena merasa tidak ada harga diri lagi. “ Ia terlalu perasa menanggapi apa pun. Ia tak siap dengan semua ingar-bingar bisnis musik, mungkin sudah puas dengan band kecil yang tampil sekali seminggu saja, “ kata Jagger.

Dalam periode 1965-1967, peranan musikal Jones jauh menurun. Padahal, ketika itu Stones menghasilkan hit seperti “The Last Time”, “Satisfaction”, “Get Off of My Cloud”, “19th Nervous Breakdown”, “Paint It Black”, dan “Let’s Spend the Night Together”. Dua album terbaik Stones, Aftermath dan Between the Buttons, juga diproduksi dalam periode ini. Tahun 1965 Jones berpacaran dengan Anita Pallenberg, tetapi beberpa bulan kemudian Pallenberg berpaling ke Richards. Jones patah hati kehilangan Pallenberg dan makin terjebak narkoba.

Pada Oktober 1967, psikiater yang merawatnya menyebut Jones ‘sangat berpotensi bunuh diri”. Di studio rekaman, Jones tidak lagi memberikan kontribusi yang memadai. Setahun kemudian, Jones praktis selalu absen di studio. “ Dia tak pernah muncul. Dan, Anda tahu apa yang terjadi jika ada yang absen, Anda tiba-tiba dianggap tidak penting lagi. Wajar kalau kami lalu berpikir mencari pengganti dia, “ kata Watts.

Tiba-tiba, sebuah kebetulan datang bagi Stones. Pada awal 1969, Stones berencana tur ke AS. Namun, rencana bisa batal jika Jones ikut karena ia tak mungkin dapat visa akibat bolak-balik dijatuhi vonis pengadilan narkoba. “ Dia tahu mau dipecat. Keputusan ini berat, tetapi Brian sudah tidak ada manfaatnya. Dia terlalu sakit untuk bermain, sungguh menyedihkan, “ kata Jagger. “ Saya yakin dia lebih memilih mati ketika kami memecat dia, “ kata Watts.

Jones langsung sibuk membuat band baru bersama Korner, Mitch Mitchell, John Mayall, dan Stevie Winwood. Dan, Stones mendapatkan pengganti Jones, Mick Taylor, dan giat berlatih untuk konser gratis di Hyde Park, 5 Juli 1969.

Sumber  :

Gitaris Brian Jones Mungkin Dibunuh – Budiarto Shambazy
Kompas, 09.09.2009

Charlie Watts sigue en los Rolling Stones

Ante los rumores que circularon este miércoles sobre la salida de Charlie Watts como baterista de los Rolling Stones, la propia banda en un comunicado desmintió las versiones y  aclararon que el músico sigue siendo parte de este legendario grupo.

 Desde Australia comenzaron las informaciones sobre la salida de Watts la mañana de este miércoles, pero los Rolling de inmediato desmintieron los rumores.

“Contrariamente a la historia fabricada que corrió esta mañana en un pequeño sitio web de música en Australia, el baterista Charlie Watts no ha dejado The Rolling Stones”, manifestó la banda comandada por Mick Jagger y Keith Richards en un comunicado.

Watts ha estado en la banda desde 1963. La información de su supuesta renuncia se da en el marco de una nueva investigación policiaca que se hará sobre la muerte del extinto guitarrista de los Rolling,  Brian Jones, quien murió ahogado en una piscina en 1969, ante las sospechas de que pudo ser asesinado.

Hello once again dearest readers, this post is something of a news and catch up style post. Largely because apart from my Reading reports last weekend I haven’t posted much of late. So let’s start by clearing out my mail box folder that is titled ‘Blog Stuff’. So just be warned that you may have seen some of this stuff already, but I reckon it’s worth at least a second view anyway!

First up was the news from two weeks ago that Mr Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) is to release a Christmas album this year. A number of commentators have suggested that this may damage his credibility. Somehow I don’t think so, many supposedly credible artists have recorded Christmas songs with no damage to their credibility. I mean how about the Dame’s (that’ll be Mr Bowie to the non regular readers) duet with Bing Crosby back in 1977 on “Peace On Earth/ Little Drummer Boy” Anyway the ‘DYLAN TO RELEASE CHRISTMAS ALBUM’ headline prompted the Independent newspaper in the UK to put together a top ten worst rock n roll career moves. It includes things like marrying your 13 year old cousin (Jerry Lee Lewis), showing your potential Nazi leanings (Clapton, Bowie et al), getting your non musical spouse/ girlfriend involved in your music a la John & Yoko, Paul & Linda, Pete & Kate, Pete & Jordan, er well ok the last one probably helped Peter Andre’s career really and that one isn’t in the article anyway, but I thought it was worth a mention. Anyway now you get the drift read the whole thing by clicking here. Incidentally Bowie’s supposed Nazi salute at Victoria Station on his return to London by train in 1976 was in my opinion just a wave, that looked just like a Nazi salute when captured in still photograph form. Why do I believe this you may ask? Well largely because I was there. I’m not usually the sad kind of fan who does things like that, but I only worked 5 minutes walk from Victoria at the time so I thought it was worth going, well that and the fact that I am a massive Bowie fan too!

Bob really got into the Christmas spirit by designing and using enormous candle shaped drumsticks.

Just about a week ago Living TV ran a report on the most expensive wedding singers, I have reprinted the top 12 and their prices below (the original source was in fact the New Zealand Herald);

1. The Rolling Stones – up to £5 million

2. Sir Elton John – up to £2 million

- Kylie Minogue – up to £2 million

4. Christina Aguilera – up to £1.5 million

5. George Michael – £1.3 million

6. Amy Winehouse – £1 million

- Sir Paul McCartney – £1 million

- Leona Lewis – £1 million

- Jennifer Lopez – £1 million

10. Barry Manilow – £750,000

11. Rod Stewart – £600,000

12. Duran Duran – £500,000

You could book me and my mobile disco for much less than any of those! I reckon that Gareth Gates and Leon Jackson would be up for paying you to appear at your nuptials celebration, what do you think? Why no Billy Idol? He could make some money by turning up at half a dozen weddings each weekend just to sing “White Wedding” at each one. Incidentally I found a wedding songs site, click here to check it out. Interestingly enough none of the above top 12 seem to feature much on any of the song lists, maybe that’s why they have stooped to playing weddings themselves methinks!

Back in my day the couple didn't get bare until the wedding night! Oh that's a different type of bare is it

Many of you will have seen the many different subtitled versions of the clip taken from a film about Hitlers last days in his bunker in Berlin. The first one I saw was Adolf talking about the Chelsea versus Manchester United Champions League Final in 2008. Now that was very good, but one which I think is even better is as usual the same clip of film, but this time Hitler learns that Michael Jackson has died and will be unable to perform at the Fuhrer’s birthday celebrations. Click here to see it and let me know what you think of it as well.

"hello mikey wikey it's adolfy wolfy here" - "why isn't he waving back? Am I too old for him or something?"

If you have read any of my posts from the Reading Festival will know from the anguished comments added by my good friend Nick H that we managed to miss the appearance of Them Crooked Vultures a band (although back in the day the moniker would have been supergroup) that has John Paul Jones off of Led Zeppelin, Dave Grohl off of the Foo Fighters and Josh Homme off of Queens Of The Stone Age amongst it’s membership! So for all the rest of you that may also have missed them here is a video from their appearance at the Brixton Academy just before the Reading and Leeds festivals. Click here to see it and take comfort in the knowledge that they will be touring in the UK later this year.

And finally for today let’s end with some sad news, it has been reported today that Charlie Watts has left the Rolling Stones, just three years before their 50th Anniversary. 68 year old Charlie took a massive amount of persuading largely from KeithRichards to take part in the last Stones Tour and it seems that with the possibility mooted by Mick Jagger of more Stones activity next year the oldest member of the band has decided to quit. Now that is BIG news, let’s face it though Noel leaving Oasis doesn’t even begin to compare does it?

So until the next time dear readers, ain’t it a shame that Charlie Watts won’t be appearing at a wedding near you soon!

Charlie is an excellent drummer but he was pretty crap with chopsticks