Rolling Stones: Classic or Dud

also Macca having a young band every time out helps.

plus, the recent cover story in rolling stone suggests, there may be affects from the medication keith still takes because of his "fall from a tree" (something neurological?). whatever, keith obviously lacks dexterity. but maybe there's too much of a microscope on him, people calibrating what he can do now vs what he could do then. because as i witnessed recently in newark -- from $150 seats, not $600 -- is that the push and pull of their rhythm remains unparalleled. that's why i keep going. love this band.

effects. jeez.

Keith hasn't exactly ever been the most nimble of guitarists. That's been a lot of his charm. Charlie is always solid, Ron is up and down as support, Mick is in remarkable shape, bassist has the easiest job in the world (story goes he was hired because he was the least familiar with the catalog; also, supposedly he plays most of the parts with just his thumb, to keep his fusion chops in check). The only reasons I can think for the band sucking, or at least being really erratic, are a) have't practiced enough b) arrogant enough to think they're good enough and c) don't really give a shit. Or all three.

regarding c), When was the last time they did?

Well, per my anecdote just above, they do try harder some nights than others. But there's a cool, sloppy "don't give a shit" and then there's a mercenary "really don't give a shit."

See, there's been a whole bunch about how the tickets haven't sold hugely..

I remember about 15 years ago, a colleague had bought 2 full-price tickts for Wembley Arena (fairly sure it was there), come the day another lad in the office went up on the off-chance and got 2 tickets from a tout, and ended up with better seats. Also, they were within view of the colleague who was sat further up, behind.

There's only been a modest blurt about it, I thought, about a week ago, with massive spin from the RS camp re: how soft sales have actually been. I do know the last time they played here, and end of the season football stadium date where the temp. dropped down to the low 50s, maybe lower, the stadium was supposedly half full.

also wonder if mick taylor isn't along mostly as insurance, in case keith doesn't feel up to finishing a particular gig.

(story goes he was hired because he was the least familiar with the catalog; also, supposedly he plays most of the parts with just his thumb, to keep his fusion chops in check)

Hadn't heard that about Jones' lack of familiarity with the catalog, but the choice of bassist was left completely up to Watts.

So are you guys buying Mikal Gilmore's story that Keith's drinking and/or arthritis have taken a toll on his ability to play?

How did you research for the audition?

I didn't research much. Basically, I got a few of their "best of" records and listened and played along. Instead of learning Bill Wyman's parts verbatim and then trying to sound like him, I learned the form of the songs and the general shape of the bass lines, and then I added my own interpretations. I felt it was important to play in my own style so they would be hiring me for me. On certain songs, however, I play the lines note-for- note because they're essential parts--like in "Start Me Up" and "Satisfaction."

it's been a long run for keith though, all things considered xpost.

bob dylan said that the rolling stones ceased being "the rolling stones" once bill left, and that they are now a "second rate funk band" or something like that. this was in an interview.

Interesting re: Jones quote.

So are you guys buying Mikal Gilmore's story that Keith's drinking and/or arthritis have taken a toll on his ability to play?

Maybe a combination of the two, but certainly the latter. I'd been hearing that from people who would know for a couple of years.

Man, I've got a couple of awesome Keith drinking stories. The first was told to me by Taylor Hackford, who directed "Hail! Hail! Rock n Roll." He had visited Keith's house, and of course, the drinking began early. But just when Hackford was ready to call it a day (morning?) Keith decided to go horse riding, and Hackford sensibly bowed out and watched rather than, you know, die. He (like others) determined that what kills so many, like Gram Parsons, is trying to keep up with Keith when you should really know when the quit.

The other was this video director, or producer?, who wanted to use a Stones video in one of those Director's Series DVD collections. He shows up to Keith's house in Connecticut, and is surprised at the lack of security or anything. In fact, Keith answered the door himself and invited him in. I guess someone had given him a new satellite radio system, and he was fascinated with it, so he and this producer whose name I forget spent a few hours drinking and playing with the new toy. Then, after all that time had passed, Keith turns to him and asks, politely: "So, who are you, and what can I do for you?"

Bob Dylan has said he thinks The Rolling Stones aren't "real" enough without original bassist Bill Wyman in the band.

In an interview with MTV producer Bill Flanagan to promote his new album 'Together Through Life', Dylan said he regards The Rolling Stones as a mere "funk band" without Wyman on board.

The bassist quit the band in 1990, after nearly three decades service.

"I'm not saying they don't keep going, but they need Bill," he said. "Without him they're a funk band. They'll be the real Rolling Stones when they get Bill back."

Earlier in the interview, Dylan said he thinks The Rolling Stones are "pretty much finished," reports Bobdylan.com.

Flanagan then accused Dylan of being stuck in the '80s, before asking him if he really thinks The Rolling Stones are finished as a band.

"Of course not, they're far from finished," Dylan replied. "The Rolling Stones are truly the greatest rock and roll band in the world and always will be. The last too.

"Everything that came after them, metal, rap, punk, new wave, pop-rock, you name it...you can trace it all back to The Rolling Stones. They were the first and the last and no one's ever done it better."

quite generous, I reckons... (re: Dylan Quote)

xpost I think if you're coming off of Miles Davis, you don't need to put a lot of thought into the Stones.

his forefinger and middle finger look pretty fucked up, and this is from 9 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X6S34luGuE

smoking & drinking a lot is obv not going to do much good for an inflammatory disease

I remember talking with people about Richards in the Scorsese "Blues" series on PBS (from a couple years after that clip) and how none of us could get past how warped his hands were. Can't find any clips on youtube (other than one w/Clapton).

Rolling Stones C*cksucker Blues:
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/calendar/film-programs/artfilms/towardCS.html

Free showing of this 1972 Robert Frank directed doc that supposedly can't be shown in commercial theatres and such, is on view Saturday afternoon at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Y'all should come see it. I liked it when I saw it there many years back

But maybe it wasn't that good. I also see folks have dismissed it on various threads

they come off as total assholes in it imho so in that sense it's worthwhile/interesting

i think it's a very accurate account of life on the road, which means it gets boring in places and is at times repellent, which is as it should be. a great piece of journalism, and the music kills.

I saw Cocksucker Blues once, and in all honesty it bored me rigid and didn't live up to the hype as far as I was concerned.

You get to see Keith nodding out on smack, Keith and Bobby Keyes throwing a TV out of a hotel, people shooting up and doing coke, girls with their tits out and all that stuff... and it all sounds on paper like it's going to be monumentally exciting, but in reality it's as dull to watch as wallpaper.

Like "Eat the document", kinda?

Its not a bad comparison, not as self consciously arty though

live performances in Eat the Document are better imho (even tho you can't really see them lol)

Writer Richie Uterberger:
On Saturday from 2:00pm-4:30pm in Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Main Library at 100 Larkin Street, I'm presenting two hours of rare Rolling Stones film clips from the 1960s and early 1970s. This will be on the 50th anniversary of the month on which the Rolling Stones released their first single. Admission is free.

Unterberger

i had always thought the stones released their first single in 62. i feel like a fucking idiot. i also had thought their first single was "as tears go by," which i see now is not true.

i feel like a fucking idiot.

OK

gonna see them for (only) 100 dollars!

you can start being jealous now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AKez2s_K5Q

Thought this revive would be about the 45 anniversary of Brian Jones' passing.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10455186_10152591232778287_2316212642802061970_n.jpg

he looks old in this pic

will never understand why this guy was a babe magnet. He looks like he demanded a horned toad be implanted into his face.

he was?

he sure was!

...so was Wyman...salt grains, please.

coke grams, please

all of the, were babe magnets, weren't they? i mean it's the stones!

i'm pretty sure any troll ass wanker in a rock n roll band could get extinction level event levels of trim in the 60s and 70s

http://www.punmaster.com/wyman.jpg

"You know it!"

http://www.deathroe.com/ktml2/images/uploads/ChoiceSux/DeadRoaches.jpg?0.7183861447097172

still searching for more booty

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/standard-pictures/article7328407.ece/alternates/w620/Treasure%20Hunt:%20Former%20Rolling%20Stone%20Bill%20Wyman%20says%20he%20finds%20metal-detecting%20more%20interesting%20than%20rock

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_S4cwgRYb1mQ/TOWEyBlw5rI/AAAAAAAAAbs/cX7yi2mAoVc/s1600/rsbowling.jpg

Bowling for Booty

i thought part of the point of the rolling stones was that they were grotesquely ugly but still luridly sexual. you can't be too pretty if you want to seem dangerous.

mick & keef were totally handsome back in the day!!

mick especially