Happy Birthday Brian.!! -- 2/28/42

The Rolling Stones: Why Mick Taylor Had To Go...

VETERAN ROLLING STONES engineer and producer Glyn Johns witnessed a dramatic change in the group’s guitarist Mick Taylor (above, second from left), who replaced Brian Jones in 1969, after the hedonistic Exile On Main Street sessions in the South of France in 1971.
“He turned from from being a quiet, softly spoken, charming young man into a raving egomaniac junkie,” Johns tells MOJO in the latest issue of the magazine (April 2015/ # 257). “I was mixing the record… and said to Mick Jagger, ‘Either he goes or I go.’”
In an eight-page feature detailing the producer’s turbulent working relationship with the Stones, spanning their earliest demos in 1963 to 1975’s Black And Blue sessions, Johns explains how Jagger asked him to work on the tapes of Exile In Main Street in London after sessions at Nellcôte in France “had run riot and people were allowed to do whatever they wanted”.

Johns descibes working on a track at Basing Street Studios on which Taylor had overdubbed backing vocals, drums and a bass. When Taylor asked the famously no-nonsense producer why he had removed them, he replied, “The Rolling Stones have a f**king great drummer and a really great bass player. You, sunshine, play the guitar and you’ll hear it rather nicely when I’ve finished this.”
It was then left to Jagger to ask the guitarist to leave the studio so Johns could continue mixing the track to his satisfaction. Taylor would sensationally leave the Stones three years later in December 1974, and, after quitting drugs during a long and successful solo career, rejoined the group onstage for their 2013 ‘50 & Counting’ tour.
The producer – who remains on friendly terms with the surviving Stones and worked on their 50th anniversary collection, Grrr! – is currently promoting his memoir, Sound Man, recounting his extraordinary 50-year career as engineer/producer for the Stones, The Beatles, Small Faces, The Who, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Clash and more.

 http://www.mojo4music.com

COOL.!! --- Bill Wyman’s Official YouTube video channel launches ...

 

 

Bill has launched his official video channel on YouTube, bringing you exclusive videos, interviews, live performances and archive video from Bill’s renowned musical career – all new for 2015.

Bringing his musical career to YouTube, Bill’s official video channel gives fans the chance to watch rare video footage both here on the official Bill Wyman web site, and also directly in YouTube.
As a bonus, some of the videos uploaded are in high definition online for the first time, adding a layer of never-before-seen detail to a legendary career. Videos include live performances such as Monkey Grip Glue and What A Blow. There are also TV interviews and videos where Bill chats about his time with the Rolling Stones and with the Rhythm Kings.
You can visit the official Bill Wyman YouTube channel to see the video archive, or you can view selected highlights from the channel right here on the official web site. We’ll be updating the Video section of the web site with selected videos from the new channel, or you can head to the YouTube channel to watch them all!
Make sure you check out the official Bill Wyman YouTube channel.

(Interview)-- Ronnie Wood Recalls 1965; Looks Ahead to Future Stones and Faces Projects

  Most people know Ronnie Wood as the perpetually grinning guitarist of the Rolling Stones who has been with the band since 1976. Some remember his era as the “Keith” to Rod Stewart‘s “Mick” in the Faces, the band he was with from 1969 through 1975. And, before that, he and Stewart got their big breaks in the Jeff Beck Group. But in the beginning, he was a member of a garage rock band called the Birds (not to be confused with the American band the Byrds).
That is the phase of his career that he focuses on in his upcoming book, How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary by Ronnie Wood. The text reprints his 1965 diary in which he documents his time as a Bird—most pages also include current annotations by Wood.
Radio.com spoke with about this project and while it doesn’t look like the Birds will ever fly again, he had hopeful news for Faces fans and great news for Rolling Stones fans.
~
Radio.com: How did you find your diary from 1965? 
Ronnie Wood: It was found by my dear brothers, God bless them, who are no longer with us, in my dearly departed mother’s belongings along with some treasured drawings of mine from that time. It was quite interesting for me to re-read this stuff, stuff that I’d forgotten about. My manager flipped out and said, “People would love to read about you as a 17-year old.”
There are a bunch of your sketches in the book. Is there a book of your early drawings in the works as well?
I’m including more sketches from that time to pad the book out, but it could be a taste of things to come.
Your style has developed a lot since then. What do you think when you look back at your old drawings now? 
I like them. That’s what I was like back then. You learn and you change your style, but I’m still very proud of my early work. I used to be a lot more detailed and more photographic in my drawing.
Sometimes I can’t remember what I did last week, but I remember things that I did at age 17 perfectly. Is that your experience?
Lots of it I remembered perfectly. But some of the stuff I wrote was, “Great night last night: [got] sick twice!” I was new to the alcohol then. [laughs] I can’t believe that I wrote down what I did, nearly every day.
A lot of people you wrote about are legends and still making music today. It must have been a great scene. 
I always had great respect for my fellow guitarists. Like Eric Clapton…but we shared the same girlfriend; that would be my first wife Chrissy. He and I always had this thing with girls, we had the same thing with Patti Harrison and Clapton—whatever. [laughs] But he was in the Yardbirds, who had a hit record. Everyone who I was hanging with at the time had a hit record. Pete Townshend as well. Jeff Beck, also with the Yardbirds then. They all had a certain amount of success. The Birds never had a hit record, but there was an amazing camaraderie among my contemporaries that kind of comes across in the book. Mitch Mitchell, the drummer from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, would stay over at my parents’ house. So would Keith Moon of the Who.
Most people know Ronnie Wood as the perpetually grinning guitarist of the Rolling Stones who has been with the band since 1976. Some remember his era as the “Keith” to Rod Stewart‘s “Mick” in the Faces, the band he was with from 1969 through 1975. And, before that, he and Stewart got their big breaks in the Jeff Beck Group. But in the beginning, he was a member of a garage rock band called the Birds (not to be confused with the American band the Byrds).
That is the phase of his career that he focuses on in his upcoming book, How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary by Ronnie Wood. The text reprints his 1965 diary in which he documents his time as a Bird—most pages also include current annotations by Wood.
Radio.com spoke with about this project and while it doesn’t look like the Birds will ever fly again, he had hopeful news for Faces fans and great news for Rolling Stones fans.
~
Radio.com: How did you find your diary from 1965? 
Ronnie Wood: It was found by my dear brothers, God bless them, who are no longer with us, in my dearly departed mother’s belongings along with some treasured drawings of mine from that time. It was quite interesting for me to re-read this stuff, stuff that I’d forgotten about. My manager flipped out and said, “People would love to read about you as a 17-year old.”
There are a bunch of your sketches in the book. Is there a book of your early drawings in the works as well?
I’m including more sketches from that time to pad the book out, but it could be a taste of things to come.
Your style has developed a lot since then. What do you think when you look back at your old drawings now? 
I like them. That’s what I was like back then. You learn and you change your style, but I’m still very proud of my early work. I used to be a lot more detailed and more photographic in my drawing.
Sometimes I can’t remember what I did last week, but I remember things that I did at age 17 perfectly. Is that your experience?
Lots of it I remembered perfectly. But some of the stuff I wrote was, “Great night last night: [got] sick twice!” I was new to the alcohol then. [laughs] I can’t believe that I wrote down what I did, nearly every day.
A lot of people you wrote about are legends and still making music today. It must have been a great scene. 
I always had great respect for my fellow guitarists. Like Eric Clapton…but we shared the same girlfriend; that would be my first wife Chrissy. He and I always had this thing with girls, we had the same thing with Patti Harrison and Clapton—whatever. [laughs] But he was in the Yardbirds, who had a hit record. Everyone who I was hanging with at the time had a hit record. Pete Townshend as well. Jeff Beck, also with the Yardbirds then. They all had a certain amount of success. The Birds never had a hit record, but there was an amazing camaraderie among my contemporaries that kind of comes across in the book. Mitch Mitchell, the drummer from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, would stay over at my parents’ house. So would Keith Moon of the Who.
After the Birds, you joined the Jeff Beck Group. You were a guitar player, so how did you end up as Beck’s bassist? 
We did play guitar together for a bit because we took Kim Gardner, the bass player from the Birds, to the Jeff Beck Group. And after a while, Jeff said, “I don’t think Kim is right, would you mind playing bass?” I said “No, I think it would be a fantastic challenge!” It gave me a new perspective on the guitar when I went back to playing it when I joined the Faces. I learned a lot about playing bass from the drummers in the band, Micky Waller, Aynsley Dunbar and Tony Newman. I learned different ways of working with a rhythm section.
You also wrote about working with a pre-Motörhead, pre-Hawkwind Lemmy. What was he like back then? 
He was crazy, Lemmy. He was a really big fan of the Birds, which I didn’t realize at the time. I recently bumped into Lemmy at Slash‘s house in L.A., and he told me about things that I’d completely forgotten about. He was really nice about my early days.
Did you know any of your future Faces bandmates in 1965?
The Small Faces were a brand new act just about to surface in the years afterwards. They were getting together in ’65. My first wife, Chrissy, was the secretary to [legendary band manager and Sharon Osbourne’s father] Don Arden, she was telling me about these funny little gnomes who would walk into the office, known as the Small Faces.
Is there any chance that you, Rod Stewart and Kenney Jones will ever do anything as the Faces? 
Well, we just played at Rod’s 70th birthday a couple of weekends ago in L.A. We got up at Rod’s party and me, Kenney and Rod and played “Stay With Me” and “Sweet Little Rock and Roller.” Rod and Kenney were very enthusiastic about a Faces reunion after. I said, “Give me a break! I’ve gone out with the Stones over the summer. I’ve got my artwork to do. I’m up to my neck in projects.” But you know, you never know. We were thinking of getting a test show together and if something comes of it then we might come to America.
Speaking of the Stones, the last tour must have been tough, especially as it was the first tour without Bobby Keys on sax in decades. But how was playing with Karl Denson? 
Karl was great, but we were really sad to lose Bobby. And Mac, [Faces keyboardist, and one-time touring Stones keyboardist] in the same week! We’re thinking of keeping Karl on, because he really loved Bobby’s work.
Do you have any more shows planned? 
We’re coming to North America in the summer.
Do you have any other projects in the works? 
I’m going to do a short film for galleries and museums about my hands. About playing guitar and painting, that should be quite interesting.
 

 http://wzlx.cbslocal.com

The Stones in Las Vegas.?

Those mid-June plans for a Rolling Stones concert in Las Vegas have hit a roadblock, and I’m told that unless the group changes its mind, the music legends won’t be appearing here.
Originally the British rockers led by Mick Jagger had planned to include Las Vegas as a U.S. “14 On Fire Tour” stop in their current world tour.
The date of June 13 was penciled in at the 16,800-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena, but it turns out that bookings as far away as Europe and Australia have been juggernaut sellouts — in stadiums.
So promoters and management have apparently decided that the group will only play stadiums, not concert halls or arenas.
Even though we have 40,000 seats at Sam Boyd Stadium with room for thousands more standing on the field (remember The Grateful Dead had 125,533 fans there for its final show in 1995), it appears for now that Las Vegas is in jeopardy and struck from The Stones’ current concert plans.

 

http://lasvegassun.com

(10 Photos) - Keith Richards at Rockefella Center Saturday Night Live New York City New York United States, Sunday 15th February 2015.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…THE ROLLING STONES....

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones is a concert movie first released in 1974.
It was filmed during 4 shows in Ft. Worth and Dallas, Texas during the band’s 1972 North American Tour in support of their classic 1972 album “Exile On Main St”.
“Ladies and Gentlemen…” utilized the four magnetic striped “Foxhole Perforation” 35 mm film format pioneered by Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” in 1939.
However, unlike “Fantasia” the four magnetic tracks were used to create four discreet channels — two on either side of the screen, and two on either side of the rear of each theatre.
The purpose of the quadraphonic sound recording was to transform the 650 seat motion picture theatre auditorium into the auditory phenomenon of a 10,000 seat rock ‘n roll arena. The film began before most audience members even realized it: a black screen and quadraphonic audience noise fooled theatergoers into accepting the recorded ambience as coming from their own venue, intensifying the aural intimacy when the Stones began to play.
The film was sold by The Rolling Stones as a tax-incentive based venture capital investment. Nine (9) separate investment groups competed to acquire the film, and the winning group formed Dragonaire Ltd., a one-film distribution company that was formed to “four-wall” the film throughout the United States. Dragonaire Ltd. proceeded to rent theatres for limited engagements in major markets (commencing at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on 15 April, 1974) and sell tickets not only at the theatre but also through concert ticket vendors such as Ticketron for the limited engagements.
The Quadraphonic presentation of “Ladies and Gentlemen…” required a 44 JBL driver sound system (four were created for Dragonaire) capable of generating 3300 Watts RMS, carried to each venue in a 14 ft. bed truck. The film was played in limited engagements during which the word of mouth for the film increased attendance throughout the run. Limited engagements were conducted in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles before the picture was sold to Plitt Theatres which released the film in a “flat” screen monoaural version.


THE FOLLOWING ARE ARE PROMOTIONAL POSTERS, TICKETS AND ITEMS GIVEN AWAY AT THE PREMIERE.
There were a variety of different colored silk scarves with a glitter tongue and Easter 1974 on it given out at the premiere. I’ve have a dark blue and a light blue, both shown here. I’ve also seen a pink and peach colored one?

 garyrocks.wordpress.com

Rolling Stones will tour North America in 2015, says Ronnie Wood...

The Rolling Stones will tour North America in 2015, according to guitarist Ronnie Wood. The tour dates have not yet been announced. In an article published on Feb. 11, 2015, Billboard quoted Wood as saying, "We're gonna come [to] North America again in the summer. Yeah, we had a meeting in New York with the boys and we're gonna come [to] North America again in the summer."
Wood added, "We`re just mind-blown about how the music is coming out even better than ever," says Wood, "And I`m getting it easier nowadays, 'cause we're having an easier schedule than I used to have."
The Rolling Stones previously toured North America in 2013, as part of the band's "50 and Counting" 50th anniversary tour. In 2012, the Rolling Stones performed a select number of concerts in London and the New York City area.
The Rolling Stones' "14 on Fire" tour was the No. 3 tour of 2014, based on grosses for ticket sales in the year 2014, according to Billboard Boxscore. The tour had $143,448,464 in ticket sales from 21 shows. The "14 on Fire" tour took place from February to November 2014 and went to Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
One Direction was No. 1 on the list, with $290,178,452 in ticket sales from 69 shows. Justin Timberlake was No. 2 on the list, with $203,848,901 in ticket sales from 111 shows.
Critics' reviews of the Rolling Stones' "14 on Fire" tour were mostly positive. Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who was a special guest on the Rolling Stones' "50 and Counting" concerts in 2012 and 2013, was a special guest on the Rolling Stones' "14 on Fire" tour.
The Rolling Stones' "14 on Fire" concerts in Australia and New Zealand were originally supposed to take place from March 19 to April 5, 2014 but the shows were postponed after the death of Mick Jagger's longtime girlfriend L'Wren Scott, who committed suicide on March 17, 2014. Scott was found hanged from a doorknob in her New York City apartment. The Rolling Stones rescheduled the concerts in Australia and New Zealand for their "14 on Fire" tour. As previously reported, the Rolling Stones have settled a lawsuit against an insurance company that denied the band's claim for due to the postponed concerts.
The Rolling Stones' rescheduled concerts in Australia were affected by health problems. On Oct. 15, 2014, the Rolling Stones announced that their longtime saxophonist Bobby Keys was unable to perform on the Australian/New Zealand leg of their "14 on Fire" tour due to undisclosed health reasons. Keys was replaced by Karl Denson on the concert dates, which ran from Oct. 25 to Nov. 22, 2014.
Keys died on Dec. 2, 2014. The cause of death was not publicly disclosed. He had recorded and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1969, except for the Stones' 1976 tour. Keys was a close friend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards; the two men shared the same birthday (Dec. 18, 1943).
Lead singer Mick Jagger also had a throat infection, which led to the band cancelling a concert that was supposed to have taken place at Hanging Rock in Macedon Ranges, Australia, on Nov. 8, 2014.
The Rolling Stones are reportedly contemplating touring South America in 2015. According to the Peruvian newspaper La Republica, the tour will likely go to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile. The tour dates in South America have not yet been officially announced. The Rolling Stones previously performed in South America in February 2006, as part of the "A Bigger Bang" world tour.

 http://www.examiner.com

Rolling Stones announce limited edition 7" release of 'Dead Flowers' ...

The Rolling Stones will release a single version of their country-rocker "Dead Flowers" as a single for the first-time ever. Originally released on their classic 1971 studio album Sticky Fingers, the limited edition 7" vinyl release will be part of the Secret 7'' program with proceeds going to U.K. charity.
According to an update posted Jan. 7 on The Stones official Facebook page, Secret 7" involves 100 copies of "Dead Flowers" being pressed onto 7" vinyl and fans will have an opportunity to create their own unique artwork for the single. The selected artwork will be exhibited from Apr. 10 - May 3 at London's Somerset House before going on sale on May 4.
The Stones are among seven contributing artists participating in this year's Secret 7" event, which also includes: Peter Gabriel, St. Vincent, The Chemical Brothers, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Maccabees and Underworld. When the vinyl singles are put up for sale at a cost of £50 each, only the artwork will be displayed, so the "secret" is discovering which title you have purchased after pulling the record from the sleeve.
Sales from the event will benefit Nordoff Robbins Music Treatment program, a non-profit organization, which uses music therapy to assist children with various learning disabilities. For more information, click here or here.
The Rolling Stones are currently on holiday following the completion of their hugely successful "14 On Fire Tour", which wrapped on Nov. 22, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand, at Mount Smart Stadium. There have been numerous media reports about The Stones 2015 tour dates, including concerts in South America, as well as headlining appearance at Rock in Rio in Las Vegas, but confirmed dates are TBA.

 http://www.axs.com

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Gram Parsons’ pants.

By garyrocks

A completely weird story.
Another eBay find.
Listed as Mick Jagger’s pants,
given to Gram Parsons as a gift.
Like who would want these besides me?
So I bookmark the page, watched and waited.
No takers.
When stuff like this shows up on eBay and it does on a fairly regular basis, usually it doesn’t sell.
Reason being is no one will take the time to ask the right questions and find out more information.
Collectors for the most part who buy online are impatient and lazy.
Not me.
It’s easy to assume they’re fake with no reasonable back up or provenance.
Opening bid was $2000.
I emailed my friend Jeff Gold of Recordmecca in Venice, CA, and asked him what he thought, and was this listing legit.
They were described as pants belonging to Mick, then given to Gram Parsons as a gift.

 garyrocks

(video + photos)--GRAMMY Awards - Lisa Fischer Offers Thanks At The GRAMMYs

The Holy Grail of “Exile On Main Street” memorabilia. The promo baseball shirt...

By Garyrocks

Exile on Main St. featured a gatefold cover and included a series of 12 perforated postcards with a sequence of images inserts, all of which were shot by photographer Norman Seeff. The back cover features various photos of the Stones; the “mystery woman” pictured in the lower left side is Chris O’Dell, their personal assistant. The album photography and concept was by Robert Frank and includes images from his seminal 1958 book The Americans. The “Joe Allen” pictured in the collage is of a postcard-style advertisement by Frank of the contortionist, Joe Allen, billed as “The Human Corkscrew” for his ability to wiggle and twist through the “13 1/2 inch hoop” approximately 25,000 times during his circus career, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 8 May 1950. The man with the three balls (a tennis ball, a golf ball, and a “5” billiard ball) in his mouth is formally known as “Three Ball Charlie”, a 1930’s sideshow performer from Humboldt, Nebraska who could also not only balance on several balls at once, but could also juggle balls, and whistle, all while performing all 4 tasks simultaneously, according to Ripley’s.



Well, here it is.


After years of trying to hunt this rarity down, I found it. And now, I own it. This one came from my buddy Jeff Gold of Recordmecca. Still gets the rarest shit around.
http://recordmecca.com/
Here’s the original photo this was taken from. Referred to as “Three Ball Charlie.”
Below Charlie and Keith wearing Charlie.



 
 garyrocks.wordpress.com

Ronnie Wood's 1965 diary published: 'How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary'

Genesis Publishing, which specializes in limited-edition collector's books from rock artists, is publishing a 1965 diary from Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. The book, which is titled "How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary," does not yet have a publication date, but Genesis is taking pre-orders on its website. The book will be published sometime in 2015.
Here is the description of "How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary" from the Genesis website:

Ten years before he joined the Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood’s musical apprenticeship with The Birds catapulted him onto the stage of swinging London’s music scene, aged just seventeen.
"I suppose my own private world is in the diary." - Ronnie Wood
Featuring a cast of characters including Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Marianne Faithfull and many more, the story of Ronnie’s adventures was handwritten in his 1965 diary. Inspired by its discovery 50 years later, Ronnie Wood presents his journal for the first time, plus much more in a major new book for 2015.
Shown right: Ronnie Wood is creating a series of new sketches to be included in his new limited edition.

In 2012, Genesis published "The Faces 1969-75," a limited-edition memorabilia book from The Faces, the band that Wood was in from 1969 to 1975. He toured with the Rolling Stones in 1975, while "on loan" from the Faces, and then Wood officially joined the Rolling Stones in 1976. Wood (who was one of the original members of the Faces) did reunion tours with the Faces in 2010 and 2011. The tour lineup also included original Faces members Kenney Jones (drums) and Ian McLagan (keyboards); lead vocalist Mick Hucknall (who substituted for original Faces singer Rod Stewart, who has declined to do a Faces reunion tour); and bass player Glen Matlock, who replaced the late Ronnie Lane. The Faces were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. McLagan died of a stroke in Dec. 3 2014.
Wood's memoir, "Ronnie," was published in 2007. His other books include the art collections 1988's "The Works" and 1998's "Wood on Canvas: Every Picture Tells a Story," which was published by Genesis.

 examiner.com