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Rolling Stones' Chuck Leavell: Band sounding 'better than ever' on 'Blue & Lonesome'...

NEW YORK –  The Rolling Stones' legendary piano player Chuck Leavell was as surprised as anyone when he heard his bandmates had, out of nowhere, cut a dozen blues covers over the course of a few days in a London studio.
"We were on tour in Latin America… and Keith pulled me aside, he said 'Man, you’ve got to come to my room and listen to this stuff that we cut.' So I listened, it was fantastic,” Leavell told FOX411. “He said, 'We gotta get you on it.' Mick came to me later and said, 'Chuck, sorry you weren’t there, we gotta get you on it.'"
So the band went about getting Leavell’s signature keyboards on "Blue & Lonesome," their first album in 11 years, released Friday.
"The producer Don Was and I went down to New Orleans and worked in this wonderful studio called The Parlor to get the authentic sounds that we needed for this record," Leavell said. "I played everything on a nice upright piano. And all the sounds, in addition to the upright, the guitar sounds, the drum sounds, they’re all going back to 'the day.'"
"Blue & Lonesome's" 12 tracks include covers of blues songs from Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, and Eddie Taylor. Eric Clapton, who just happened to be at the same studio at the time, lends his guitar on two tracks.

Leavell, 64, who has played on every Stones album since "Emotional Rescue," says the band is in peak form.
"The band sounds better than ever, and I'm not saying that just to say it. It's true," he said. "Everybody's on top of their game, and Mick is amazing. His voice is fantastic and it just keeps getting better and better."

Leavell is surprised as anyone that the band is still cooking, and that they sell out every single place in the world they play. He also says that for him at least, it almost never happened, as at one point, he was ready to hang up the rock star life.
“Back in ’81 my career was kind of floundering. I had been in the Allman Brothers band but that band had broken up,” Leavell said. “I had a band called Sea Level and it was successful, but that band had broken up, I was interested in forestry because my wife had inherited some land, and so I found myself with a little trio playing clubs and not really going anywhere.
“I came home one day and I talked to my wife, her name is Rose Lane, and I said ‘Rosie, I’m always going to play music but things really aren’t going that great right now, maybe I should just let it go and let’s focus on forestry and the land.’ And she listened very patiently, and at the end of all that she said ‘Well that’s interesting Chuck but guess what, the Rolling Stones called you today.’ I said ‘Honey, don’t joke with me now!’ But it was true!”
In joining the Rolling Stones, Leavell had to fill some pretty big shoes – following some the most famous keyboard players in rock and roll. But despite playing with the Stones almost as long as their original bass player Bill Wyman, Leavell never expected to be considered one of the full band members.
“It is definitely a British institution,” Leavell laughed. “And throughout the years and the career of the band there have been a lot of contributors. I mean look at the piano players: Ian Stewart, who was actually a founder of the band. The great Nicky Hopkins, who I did get to know and who was a lovely, lovely guy, one of the best piano players. Billy Preston worked with the Stones, as well as working with the Beatles. Jack Nitzsche. It has just been a nice line of contributors that are maybe not members of the band, but have made their mark, and I’d like to think I’ve been one of those.”

http://www.foxnews.com

Ronnie and Sally Wood's first date was Paul McCartney's wedding...

   

Ronnie Wood took his now-wife Sally to Sir Paul McCartney's wedding on their first date.
The Rolling Stones rocker became friends with the 38-year-old theatre producer in 2003, but their relationship didn't turn romantic until some time later, and the brunette beauty began to think differently about her pal when she accompanied him to the Beatles legend's nuptials with NANCY SHEVELL in 2011.
Sally recalled: ''There was this lovely family atmosphere and Ronnie and I had a real laugh. We danced and it was the first time I remember thinking of him in a completely different way.''
A few weeks later, the 69-year-old rocker wrote a letter to Sally about how deeply he felt for her, and on the advice of a friend, she agreed to give things a go and the pair will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary next week.
And Sally - who has six-month-old twins Alice and Gracie with Ronnie - insists the 30-year age gap between them has never been a problem.
She said: ''You know what, I find it rude when people talk unkindly about it... Yes, he is older and I am younger, but I don't think about age when I think of Ronnie. He's always had this unbelievably positive, youthful energy about him, which I absolutely love.
''I also think there is a lot to be said for marrying an older man. He knows who he is, he knows what he wants. He makes me happy, we laugh and he's a great dad. He's so relaxed and incredibly creative.''
The 'Brown Sugar' rocker is a hands-on dad who is happy to change nappies and get up with the babies during the night.
Sally laughed: ''He says the babies keep his hours, so he's really happy to be up in the night with them.''
Sally and Ronnie - who has sons Jesse, 40, Tyrone, 33, and Jamie, 43, and daughter Leah, 38, from his previous marriages -
haven't ruled out having more kids in the future.
She said: ''I'm definitely not saying no. Before the twins were born, I didn't think any further than them. But they are such lovely, happy babies I think it would be incredible to do it again with the knowledge I now have.
''Our life is complete just as we are, but you never know what will happen.''

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18 December 1943 - (age 73)

Mick Jagger’s eighth child gets over-the-top celebrity baby name...

The name of Mick Jagger‘s new baby boy has been revealed.
The rocker’s daughter, Elizabeth, posted a snapshot that has since been deleted of the adorable newborn on Friday with the caption, “My beautiful baby brother Deveraux Octavian Basil Jagger.”
Modal TriggerMick Jagger, 73, and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick, welcomed the baby on Dec. 8 in New York.
Deveraux is the eighth child for Jagger.
The baby is reportedly named Basil after Jagger’s late father.
A source told The Post in September that the Rolling Stones frontman had mixed emotions about becoming a father again.
“Family is extremely important to him, and he is unhappy at the thought that when he should be teaching his kid to play catch, he’ll be 80 years old,” the source said.
Elizabeth is one of four children Jagger had with Jerry Hall. He also has children with Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger and Luciana Gimenez Morad.

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Rolling Stones Score Their First UK Number One Album In Over 20 Years...

The album racked up more than 106,000 combined sales to take the top spot, giving it the second-highest opening sales week for an album this year, behind David Bowie’s Blackstar, which sold 146,000 copies in its first week back in January.
According to the Official Charts Company, 99% of the album’s sales were either physical purchases or downloads, with 1% attributed to streams. The record has also now been certified gold.
 

In a statement the band said: “We are absolutely delighted with the success of Blue & Lonesome in the UK and around the world.”
Blue & Lonesome is The Stones 12th UK number one album and their first studio record to top the chart since Voodoo Lounge in 1994.
The band’s frontman Mick Jagger will have extra reason to celebrate this weekend, after just becoming a father for the eighth time.

Sir Mick Jagger becomes dad for the eighth time aged 73...

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has become a father again at age of 73, his publicist has confirmed.

The singer already has seven children whose ages range from 17 to 45 and he became a great-grandfather in 2014.
His 29-year-old girlfriend, American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, gave birth to a boy in New York on Thursday, the singer's publicist Bernard Doherty said.
A statement said Hamrick and Sir Mick were "both delighted" at the birth.
It added: "Mick was at the hospital for the arrival.

"Mother and baby are doing well and we request that the media respect their privacy at this time."

                           

                                     Melanie Hamrick gave birth in New York on Thursday

Sir Mick began dating Hamrick after the suicide of L'Wren Scott in 2014, his partner of 13 years.
The music star had his other children with Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall and Luciana Gimenez Morad.
He has five grandchildren and became a great-grandfather in May 2014 when his granddaughter Assisi, daughter of Jade Jagger, gave birth to a baby girl.
The Rolling Stones recently released a new blues album called Blue & Lonesome.

Ronnie Wood love The Rolling Stones to play clubs and pubs...

 

 

 

 

Ronnie Wood would love The Rolling Stones to do a club and pub tour.
The 69-year-old rocker has joked that he would like the 'Satisfaction' hitmakers - also comprised of Sir Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards - to perform in intimate venues, and while that is unlikely to happen, Wood says they are in talks to play some of the more offbeat areas of the UK on their next tour, which looks set to be sometime in 2017.
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he quipped: ''What I've announced is a club tour this year. None of the rest of the BAND know this yet but it's going to be great, coming to a town near you.''
He added: ''I said to the boys that I want to play the provinces around Britain. That would be great.''
However, the only thing they are waiting on is drummer Charlie Watts, 75, who plans to go on holiday in March.
He said: ''We have it sort of tentatively booked in the near future but I know Charlie wants the month of March off. I don't blame him.''
And the legendary group could have some new music for their fans by the time they hit the road if Keith Richards has anything to do with it.
Wood said: ''Keith just tried to get us in the studio in New York last week.
''I was like, 'Hang on. Do us a favour - we have Christmas coming up up.' But It's going to pick up steam again.''
It comes following reports that the 'Paint It Black' rockers are planning a new world tour in 2017.
A source previously said: ''Mick will never lose that bug for performing.
''Next year is going to be a big one, but not just because fatherhood is looming once again. He's keen to go back on the road and play in huge stadiums, and some have already been secretly booked out in preparation for a possible show.''

 

 

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Rolling Stones - Rare Never Released 1972 & 1973 Footage (from Bootleg D...

The Rolling Stones have no plans to retire and are working on embarking on a new world tour in 2017...

The Rolling Stones are plann
ing a new world tour.
Veteran rockers Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts, are hoping to hit the road in 2017 for a series of concerts all over the world.
A source told The Sun: ''Mick will never lose that bug for performing.
''Next year is going to be a big one, but not just because fatherhood is looming once again. He's keen to go back on the road and play in huge stadiums, and some have already been secretly booked out in preparation for a possible show.''
Mick, 73, and ballerina Melanie Hamrick, who is over 40 years his junior, are expecting a baby together next year.
Meanwhile, Keith recently claimed the band's new album was ordered ''from above''.
The 72-year-old rocker said the band had ''no intention whatsoever'' of making a blues record, but their collective enthusiasm was reignited when they covered 'Blues and Lonesome' in an exercise to unite them as a group.
He said: ''There was no intention whatsoever of making a blues record.
''I knew we were going to be working in a room we hadn't worked before. The first day or two, this room's fighting us.
''I had just happened to call Ronnie up a month before and said, 'Just in case, get down that Little Walter track, 'Blues and Lonesome' and suddenly the sound comes together in the room.
''Mick turns round and says, 'I'd like to do this Howlin' Wolf song. 'OK, keep rolling...'
''From there, we almost felt we were being ordered from above.
''It wasn't planned. That's one of the reasons I love it. It happened. And when things happen, I can take a hint.''

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EXCELLENT, SIMPLE, DIRECT, PURE BLUES - ( loud and clear sound )

On 2nd December 2016, The Rolling Stones will release ‘Blue & Lonesome’, their first studio album in over a decade. ‘Blue & Lonesome’ takes the band back to their roots and the passion for blues music which has always been at the heart and soul of The Rolling Stones.
The album was produced by Don Was and The Glimmer Twins and was recorded over the course of just three days in December last year at British Grove Studios in West London, just a stone’s throw from Richmond and Eel Pie Island where the Stones started out as a young blues band playing pubs and clubs. Their approach to the album was that it should be spontaneous and played live in the studio without overdubs. The band – Mick Jagger (vocals & harp), Keith Richards (guitar), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ronnie Wood (guitar) were joined by their long time touring sidemen Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and Matt Clifford (keyboards) and, for two of the twelve tracks, by old friend Eric Clapton, who happened to be in the next studio making his own album.
‘Blue & Lonesome’ sees the Rolling Stones tipping their hats to their early days as a blues band when they played the music of Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Eddie Taylor, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf – artists whose songs are featured on this album.
“This album is manifest testament to the purity of their love for making music, and the blues is, for the Stones, the fountainhead of everything they do.” Don Was, Co-Producer of ‘Blue & Lonesome’

Audio: Album Review - Rolling Stone - Blue & Lonesome (Album) - 2016

Video: Keith Richards "Grown Up Wrong" / BLUE N LONESOME Little Walter

Born: Dec 18, 1943 - Dead: Dec 2, 2014 (70)

Born (1943-12-18)December 18, 1943 Slaton, Texas, U.S. Died December 2, 2014(2014-12-02) (aged 70) Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.

Video: The Rolling Stones - Ride 'Em On Down

ROLLING STONES HAVANA MOON - BEHIND THE SCENES (Back to the island ... why not? )