Stones Alone
It says much the resilience of The Rolling Stones that the group produced some
of their best work during periods of crisis. Their most innovative years between
1966 and 1974, follow by a slow decline. Keith Richard's drugs problems, the
lack of a sense of direction and natural on after years on the road all played a
part in the rundown. But the Stones battled on.
The 1969 Hyde Park concert was a watershed for the Stones and marked the end of
an era of innocence. Jagger, who liked to appear hard and cynica1, was
devastated by Brian Jones' death: "I
Am so shocked and, wordless and so sad... “ I hope he is finding peace ", he
said later.
There wasn't much peace for the Stones, however. Just a few days after, the
London concert
Marianne Faithfull was found unconscious from an alleged over-dose in a hotel
room in Sydney, Australia. She had been due to work with Jagger in the movie Ned
Kelly, in which he had the starring role. It was claimed she attempted suicide
after Mick had tried to end their relationship, and she lay in a coma for a week.
The situation meant Jagger was unable to attend the funeral of Brian Jones, held
on July 10 at the church in the quiet country town of Cheltenham, where Brian
had once been a choir boy . Brian's epitaph- his own- ran "please don't judge me
too harshly”.
It was business as usual for the Stones, the trauma. 'Honky Tonk Women' coupled
with 'You
Can't Always Get What You Want', hit Number 1 in the UK charts during July and
Number 1 in
the U.S. the following month, where it spent 12 weeks in the charts. The band
were determined to carry on with their lives. Mick Taylor had endured a baptism
of fire at Hyde Park, but then came the real test.
The Stones’ sixth American tour, their first in three years, was a marathon,
during which the band attained the status of heavy rock attraction.
Get what you want
Their first gig, at the State University, Fort Collins, Colorado on November 7,
1969, was a complete sell-out. As the band stormed around the States, weathering
complains from the rock critics about ticket prices and protests from right wing
political groups, they released a new album, Let It Bleed (London). Recorded in
London earlier in the year, it featured minor contributions from both Brian
Jones and the new boy Taylor.
All the tracks were Jagger/Richard originals, apart from Woody Payne’s “ Love In
Vain” – Let It Bleed revealed both the Stones' greatest strengths and weaknesses.
'Gimme Shelter', 'Midnight Rambler', and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'
were all excellent. They had heartfelt lyrics and terrific tension between
Richard's agonized guitar riffs and Jagger's constantly changing, always
expressive vocals. 'Midnight Rambler', was a seductive blues number, widely
believed to be about The Boston Strangler. With unexpected changes in tempo and
menacing rhythm, this was an instant new Stones' classic.
Ghostly contribution
'You Can't Always Get What You Want' had a choir and was given special treatment
by Al Kooper -a session musician who bad worked with Bob Dylan amongst others-
when Al contributed haunting French horn. Keith Richard unexpectedly took lead
vocals on 'You Got The Silver', with a style not as mannered as Mick's. 'Country
Honk' was a folksy version of 'Honky Tonk Women', complete with fiddle solo,
while the funky 'Monkey Man' had Jagger at his most crazed.
Less impressive was a dismal 'Love In Vain', with dirge-like Jagger vocals, and
'Live With Me', marred by out-of-tune tenor sax- bonking from Bobby Keyes.
Taylor only had time to play slide guitar on a couple of tracks, and Brian's
contribution was even harder to detect, supposedly percussion on 'Midnight
Rambler' and autoharp on 'You Got The Silver'. Singer Merry Clayton made a far
more vital contribution to 'Gimme Shelter' -soul power to Mick and Keith's
vocals.
Produced by Jimmy Miller, Let It Bleed was a commercial and artistic success,
and a great boost to the band's confidence. It marked not only Mick Taylor's
arrival in the band but the addition of the American horn section that was
featured on several subsequent albums and tours. Yet just as the Stones felt
they were on their way up, disaster struck again.
Angels from hell
They had barely recovered from the shock of Brian Jones's death when they bad to
face a tragic incident that was to become notorious in rock history, eventually
known simply as 'Altamont.' On the same day the new album was released in
Britain, December 5, 1969, the band had flown to San Francisco. The Stones were
due to give a concert next day at the Altamont speedway track, in Livermore, in
front of 500000 fans. Huge traffic jams built up around the area and the band
had to be flown in by helicopter. The bill was shared with Santana, Jefferson
Airplane, the Flying Burrito brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. During
the summer the Stones had employed the British Hells Angels biker gang to
“police” their Hyde Park concert, but when their tour manager tried the same
policy at Altamont, on the advice of the concert organizers, reckoned without
the more aggressive nature of American bikers. When the Stones' fans became
unruly, the Angels attacked them with billiard cues and even rode their
motorbikes through the audience.
Just as the band began to play “Under My Thumb”, an 18- year old black youth,
Meredith Hunter, tried to jump onto the stage. He seemed to be carrying a gun,
and a Hell's Angel pulled out a knife and stabbed Hunter to death, right in
front of the band. It was decided to continue, with the show, but the whole
event was further disrupted by more deaths and injuries. The band could not see
all that was happening around them, but the scenes were captured on film for the
Stones' tour movie Gimme Shelter. Altamont came to be regarded as, the
antithesis of Woodstock. It marked a sad and violent end of the hippie dream of
love and peace and a farewell to the Swinging Sixties.
Let it bleed
The band rushed through the remaining numbers of their set before escaping by
helicopter. It was the last date of their tour and they left the States to
return home comments from “Rolling Stone” magazine about their “egotism” and
perceived lack of humanity ringing in their ears. It was whispered that by
writing 'Sympathy For The Devil”, the band had- like Led Zeppelin toying with
the regalia of swords and sorcery- brought a curse upon themselves.
Whatever the causes, it seemed as if the whole atmosphere around the band was
turning bad.
"I thought the show would have been stopped opined Keith later, "but hardly
anybody seemed to want to take any notice, The violence just in front of the
stage was incredible."
The year ended with Let It Bleed getting to Number 3 in the U.S. and topping the
U.K. album charts, knocking off The Beatles' Abbey Road. This was followed by
stop- gap live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! recorded at Madison Square Gardens
during November 1969. It was their last for London in the U.S. and for Decca in
the U. K. The album went to Number 6 in the U.S. in October 1970 and Number l in
the U.K. The band then formed their own Rolling Stones label, run by Chess and
distributed by the Kinney Record Group.
While controversy raged around The Stones, their personal lives remained in
constant turmoil. They seemed possessed by a fanatical desire to keep their
careers in over- drive. Jagger was being groomed for film stardom, and during
1970 made his acting debut in Ned Kelly. The bizarre Australian accent he used
for the title role was to be the cause of some embarrassed hilarity.
A better performance
He was much better in the surreal and violent gangster movie, Performance,
premiered in August 1970. Mick was more at home playing a stoned rock star than
an Australian renegade and 'Memo From Turner', sung by Jagger on the movie’s
soundtrack album, was a hit in the U.K. in November.
In May 1971 the Stones released the first album on their own label. Sticky
Fingers, which yielded yet another smash hit. 'Brown Sugar' quickly topped the
U.S. and U.K. charts. The album was packaged in a unique Andy Warhol-designed
sleeve, showing a pair of jeans complete with belt and zip fastener. Produced by
Jimmy Miller, the songs were brimming with ideas and full of exultant energy.
Keith Richard supplied his celebrated 'knock'em dead" intros on 'Brown Sugar'
and 'Bitch', and, vocally, Mick ranged across various moods and grooves, from
funk to country to traditional blues. The album went to Number 1 in the U.S. and
the acoustic guitar cut 'Wild Horses' reached Number 28. While the Stones
celebrated yet another chart-busting success, Jagger took time out to marry his
latest girlfriend, Bianca Perez Morena De Macia, in St Tropez, on May 12. It was
the society event of the year, but it didn't indicate the Stones' machine had
slowed down.
The following year, 'Tumbling Dice' (from Exile On Main Street), was a Top Ten
bit in the U.S. and the U.K. Its parent double LP was recorded mainly at the
band's own mobile studio in France. Exile... was released May 26, 1972 and
topped the U.S. chart for four weeks. With Nicky Hopkins on piano and the brass
section in full cry, the band turned in some of their hottest performances since
their early R&B days.
The biggest draw
The accompanying tour, their seventh in north America, began in June at
Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum, where they played to 17,000 people. During their
slog band were greeted by the national press as legends and caused the usual
mayhem, as police used tear gas to control crowds. At the Forum, Montreal on
July 17, a bomb was planted under a truck by French-Canadian separatists, which
destroyed some of the band's equipment. But the show went ahead, as thousands of
fans with forged tickets rioted outside the Forum.
The tour ended with a sell-out three nights at Madison Square Garden in New
York. "They are the biggest draw in the history of mankind!' afterward enthused
-promoter Bill Graham wildly. The drawing power could also be used for
benevolent, as well as financial, gain. The Stones played a benefit concert at
the Los Angeles Forum, in January, for Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
Jagger himself, courted by movie stars, royalty and politicians, was by now
wearing his sexiest outfits onstage, including a white jump suit that left him
virtually bare cheated, with not much concealing the rest of him. Bette Midler
went to see his shows in New York and tater lusted: 'Oh, how I wanted him!
More legal trouble
During the summer, the Stories endured their usual round of disasters, arrests,
and accusations. Keith Richard was arrested at his Chelsea apartment for
possessing drugs, a gun and ammunition, Jagger was issued with a paternity suit
by singer Marsha Hunt, and fire wrecked Keith's home at Redlands. The Stones
were never out of the headlines,
'Somehow the band managed to fit in recording “Goat’s Head Soup”, at Bryon Lee’s
dynamic sound studios,' in Kingston,
Jamaica. It was the last album to be produced by Jimmy Miller and it topped the
U.K. charts. It featured an outstanding ballad, 'Angie', which was released as a
single and topped the U.S. charts in September.
Enter Ronnie Wood
The Stones were back on course. In October 1974, they released its Only Rock'n
Roll, which duly topped the charts in the United States, as did the title track.
But yet another black cloud was on the horizon. On December 12, following some
weeks of rumours, it was announced that guitarist Mick Taylor was leaving.
"After five and a half years Mick wants a change of scene. We are all most sorry
that he is going and we wish him great success, declared Jagger.
Taylor explained that he just felt he couldn't go any further musically and
insisted there was no animosity between him and the Stones. Many felt he just
found life with the world's most famous band too hard to take. Keith Richard was
frankly annoyed at his sudden departure: 'What pisses me off is not that he
wanted to leave, it's the way he left. We're getting ready to cut our next album
and never once did he voice any doubts about continuing with the group. He
obviously had a lot of personal problems that are nothing to do with us. I w-as
disappointed at him leaving because he's such a great musician."
In May 1975 The Stones began a U.S. tour, with 28-year-old Ronnie Wood from
The
Faces officially joining the band on guitar as Mick Taylor's replacement.
"Woody" sometimes known as 'Smiley," had a happy, easy-going personality. Keith
liked him, commenting "Ronnie has a feel which is perfectly suitable for the
Stones. For me, he's the perfect guitar player. He's got a great mixture of
talent and bullshit. -
The first album featuring Ronnie, “Black And Blue”, was released in April. It
was probably their weakest album and Keith Richard bluntly admitted "rehearsing
guitar players, that's what that one was about.' The best of the bunch on the
album was a simple rocker called 'Hot Stuff' and the ballad 'Fool To Cry'. The
rest of the material was uninspired, but the album easily topped the U.S. charts
in May 1976.
At the same time, the Stones began a European tour which included five nights at
London's Earl's Court Arena. On August 21 they headlined at Knebworth Festival,
in Hertfordshire, England where they played a retrospective set of Stones'
classics to a 200000 strong crowd.
Changes in the band's organization were completed in 1977, when they signed a
deal with Atlantic for U.S. distribution and also signed with EMI in the U.K for
their next six albums. It looked like the band's career was secure for the
foreseeable future, but after a spate of minor drugs busts and lines, Keith
Richard had to face yet more trouble with the law. On February 27, he was
arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Harbour Castle hotel in
Toronto, along with Anita Pallenberg, and charged with possessing heroin and
cocaine. He was remanded on bail, with a possible charge of trafficking. The
band were devastated, and Jagger was concerned it would be the end of the Stones
if Keith went to jail.
" lf The Rolling Stones wanted to tour badly wanted to go onstage, I think
they'll have to. Obviously we wouldn’t if Keith were only in jail for a short
period of time, but we can't wait live years, " said Jagger pragmatically.
With the charges hanging over Keith's head, the Stones began a 25-date tour of
north America on June 10, 1978. One of the shows, at the New Orleans Superdrome
on July 13, was billed as the biggest ever indoor concert, attended by a
staggering 80000 fans. It coincided with latest album Some Girls topping the U.S.
chart, a release that gave the band US hits with the disco- influenced 'Miss You',
and 'Beast Of Burden'. Jagger played a lot more rhythm and lead guitar on the
new cuts, and Keith took time out to have a moan about Mick and defend the new
album.
"He (Jagger) turns his amp up so loud you can't distinguish what be plays. But
he's so intensely trying to be in the band to the point of playing- guitar on
everything. “Some Girls” was the most immediate album we had done in a long
while, and you can't argue with seven million sales!'
Repay society's debt
Another thing that was to prove difficult to argue with were the drugs charges
against Richard, which came to court in October 1978. The guitarist pleaded
guilty to possession of heroin, and the- fortunately enlightened - judge imposed
a one-year suspended sentence. Keith was also ordered to continue treatment
battling his addiction and, as an interesting form of repaying his debt to
society, was ordered to play a special concert for the Canadian National
Institute For The Blind.
The Stones, and a band Keith put together called The New Barbarians, played the
charity concert at Ottawa Civic Stadium, Toronto, on April 21, 1979.
Keith's outfit was more than a one-off number; the New Barbarians, including
Ronnie Wood, supported Led Zeppelin at an outdoor gig at Knebworth, England in
August. It was Zeppelin's last gig in the U.K. -the group would split after the
death of drummer John Bonham the following year The New Barbarians also played
their own 18-date U.S. tour. But even with side-projects, it would become clear
that the Stones were still on the agenda as a working band.