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- From: rzepelaa@netaxs.com (Anthony J. Rzepela)
- Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.stones,alt.answers,news.answers
- Subject: Rolling Stones FAQ [1/4]
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- Archive-name: music/rollingstones-faq/part1
- Last-modified: 2000/02/28
- Version: 7.02
-
- Rolling Stones' Mailing list/newsgroup FAQ
- ====================================================
- http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover
-
-
- /***********************************************************************/
- COPYRIGHT 1994-2000 (c) Anthony J. Rzepela (editor)
-
- This collection of four works is under the copyright of the editor,
- who may, at his discretion, relinquish said copyright to the authors
- named herein.
-
- This collection may not be broken up, or be made available
- by any publisher. It may not be redistributed in any form
- if any changes are made to it except by the holder of the
- copyright.
-
- The editor of this FAQ retains all rights for use of it.
-
- No author or proofreader or assistant credited herein grants
- the use of his or her name to any publisher. Be warned that
- attempts to publish this shared work-in-progress may interfere
- with legal commitments individual authors may privately hold
- with publishers.
- /***********************************************************************/
-
-
- This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list is intended for
- new subscribers to the USENET news group alt.rock-n-roll.stones,
- where updates are furnished monthly, and the Rolling Stones'
- Internet mailing list (and digest) 'Undercover':
-
- http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover
-
-
- It is a four-part FAQ list, with the following sections:
-
- Part 1: basic question list. You are reading it now.
- Part 2: Live and Unreleased recordings - a history
- Part 3: a bibliography of Rolling Stones-related material
- Part 4: a skeletal discography of official releases
-
-
- Availability:
-
- Latest "official" versions (i.e., versions archived from
- newsgroup news.answers):
-
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/music/rollingstones-faq
- http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/alt/alt.rock-n-roll.stones.html
-
- EMAIL: send email to the address mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with
- the following text in the body of the message:
-
- send usenet/news.answers/music/rollingstones-faq/part1
- (or, part2, part3, part4, whichever is appropriate)
-
- Latest drafts are always available:
-
- http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover/ucftp/faq/
- EMAIL: Send a request to rzepelaa@netaxs.com
-
-
- To get on Undercover, the Rolling Stones mailing list, or
- Undercover-digest, the digest version of the list, send
- your Majordomo subscription request to:
-
- majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com
-
- Your subscription request MUST be of one of the
- four following forms:
-
- SUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER [your email addeess]
- UNSUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER [your email addeess]
- SUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER-DIGEST [your email addeess]
- UNSUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER-DIGEST [your email addeess]
-
-
- List owner Steve Portigal can be contacted by email at stevep@rahul.net
- personally if there is a problem.
-
- Last revised - February, 2000
-
-
- How to use: In the body of the document, you can just skip to the next
- ----------- question by having your software SEARCH for the next
- occurrence of "@Q"
-
- Disclaimers: The authors of information on hard-to-find items are unable
- ------------ to provide you with any more information than is provided
- here on locating those items. Particularly where unauthorized
- recordings are concerned, do not write anyone whose name is
- listed here as an author and ask if they can help you get
- your hands on such-and-such a recording.
-
- Please realize that when you do so, they are being asked by
- a perfect stranger to give advice in writing on how to carry
- out an illegal act.
-
- The authors of this document make no guarantees about the
- quality of workmanship or service you will get from
- patronizing a publisher, CD house, or magazine listed here.
-
- Inclusion of a vendor's name does not imply an endorsement
- or recommendation.
-
- With respect to official releases, the exact versions of
- recordings available and in print at any point in time
- from the Stones' catalogue may suddenly change, without
- the record companies bothering to let us know personally,
- rendering the current document obsolete. As with any
- purchase, it is wise to confirm with the seller exactly
- what it is you are buying.
-
-
- Authors:
- --------
-
- For part II (Live and Unreleased recordings), we thank D.H. ("Mr. X.")
- For part III (the bibliography), we thank Stephen Carter (e-address below).
- For part IV (EPs and albums), we thank Anthony Rzepela (e-address below).
-
- Contributors to Part I of the Rolling Stones FAQ list are:
-
- Jens Backlund (jens.backlund@abo.fi)
- Frank Blau
- Jon Brode (also the major inspiration)
- Stephen D. Carter (steve@carters.u-net.com)
- (cule@ee.manitoba.ca)
- Dave Heller
- Charles Papworth
- Ken Pennington (hfin011@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu)
- Steve Portigal (stevep@rahul.net)
- Dan Ream (dream@gems.vcu.edu)
- Anthony J. Rzepela (rzepelaa@netaxs.com)
- Bjornulf Vik (iorr@arena.no)
-
- We'd also like to thank the fine-tooth brigade: our FAQ helpers/
- proofreaders/fact-checkers:
-
- Todd Furesz (furesz@kids.wustl.edu)
- Jim Henning
- Russell T. Haines of Severe Tire damage
- (rhaines@dnai.com)
- Michael Honig (honey@mwald5.chemie.uni-mainz.de)
- Princess Margaret (PrincssMxx@aol.com)
- Mark C. Walters (mark@pluto.logica.co.uk)
-
-
- Finally, we would like to thank the Rolling Stones, for....whatever.
-
-
- Maintenance: Maintenance on parts one, three, and four are carried
- ------------ out by Anthony J. Rzepela. Discussion/disagreements
- concerning any of all four parts should take place on
- the mailing list 'Undercover'.
-
-
- Summary of questions:
- ---------------------
-
- 1. Who ARE the Stones - what is the band lineup/history?
- 2. Hey! Do they get email???
- 3. What Stones-specific online resources are there?
- 4. Where can I get online lyrics/chords/tabulature/GIFs?
- 5. Where can I get an online discography?
- 6. Hey! Why isn't this discography complete?
- 7. Well, where *can* I get a complete one?
- 8. What about CDs? What do I need for a complete
- set? How do they sound???
- 9. Can you at *least* tell me about the solo records????
- 10. Where can I get bootlegs?
- 11. Which bootlegs are best? Which will have my favorite song?
- 12. How can I get that Keith sound in the comfort of my own home?
- 13. Wouldn't it be neat if there were a Stones "museum"?
- 14. I'm a novice. Can you recommend the best...
- a. albums
- b. movies
- c. books
- d. home videos
- e. fanzines
- 15. What is/who are
- a. "Nanker Phelge"
- b. "The Glimmer Twins"
- c. "Rock and Roll Circus"
- d. "Altamont"
- e. "Cocksucker Blues"
- 16. Gossip
- a. How many times have they been arrested?
- b. How many times have they been married?
- c. Will the band break up?
- d. Are they going to tour?
- e. Do you think this is the last time, really?
- f. How old ARE they?
- 17. What gives with:
- a. that tongue logo all over the place
- b. cheese
- 18. Myths & legends:
- a. Did Keith really get his blood changed?
- b. Do they worship satan?
- c. Is Paul dead?
-
-
- Sources used in this FAQ list:
- ------------------------------
-
- (full publication information on these books can be found in part three of
- the FAQ list, The Bibliography From Hell)
-
- The primary resources used for fact-checking this part of the document are:
-
- Aeppli, Felix - "The Rolling Stones 1962-1995: the Ultimate Guide"
- Dalton, David - "The Rolling Stones - The First Twenty Years"
- Giuliano, Geoffrey - "The Rolling Stones Album"
- Wyman, Bill - "Stone Alone"
- Weiner, Sue & Lisa Howard - "The Rolling Stones A to Z"
-
-
- ==========================================================================
- Answers:
-
-
- @Q1. Who ARE the Stones - what is the band lineup/history?
-
- The first Rolling Stones long-playing album was released in 1964, to
- enough advance excitement to encourage the band's management to
- release it with only a portrait of the band on the front. Once you
- understand that, all the rest really just falls into place.
-
- Originally comprised of Mick Jagger (vocals), Brian Jones (gtr),
- Keith Richards (gtr), Ian Stewart (piano), Charlie Watts (drums), and
- Bill Wyman (bass), Ian Stewart was 'demoted' by de facto manager
- Andrew Loog Oldham by the time of their first album release, because
- he did not look the part of a Rolling Stone. Although Ian did not
- appear in group photographs or get listed in band personnel
- information, he played, credited, on records and in concert with
- the Stones up until his death in 1985.
-
- The first 'real' personnel change took place with the dismissal of
- Brian Jones in 1969, who died several weeks later. Before his
- death, his slot was filled by a young guitarist named Mick Taylor,
- who had been in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and who stayed with the
- Stones until December 1974.
-
- Ron Wood, already a star from his work with Rod Stewart and the Faces,
- joined the Rolling Stones as a 'special guest' in 1975 for their
- US tour and became a non-guest by the end of the year. In 1993,
- bassist Bill Wyman, then 56, officially quit after years of rumours
- and speculation, and Ron became a full and equal partner soon after.
-
- As of this writing, no permanent replacement has been announced
- for Mr. Wyman, although Daryl Jones, ex- of Miles Davis, Peter
- Gabriel, Sting, Madonna and other high-profile professional gigs,
- has played on all Stones concerts from the start of the 1994/95
- 'Voodoo Lounge' tour through the last Summer 1999 dates on the
- "No Security" tour.
-
- @Q2. Hey! Do you think they read email???
-
- The Stones in the Internet Age is a long strange trip. The short
- answer is that if they do have email addresses, no one has seen
- fit to share them with the world at large. Nevertheless, the
- Stones are not Luddites and have gradually warmed to the
- promotional and interactive aspects of the Internet.
-
- As part of promotion for the "Voodoo Lounge" tour, Mick and Keith
- each participated separately in "online" Q&A sessions, but
- these very first ones were more batch than online, with questions
- submitted in advance by online service users, then to the band
- at once by representatives, after accumulating them.
-
- Things have improved since then. Keith's second online
- Q&A session took place live as the Stones were about to take
- the stage in Oakland, California in 1994, all four Stones had
- individual chats take place on AOL during the "Bridges To
- Babylon" tour, and the Stones have often tried to create special
- interactive efforts, sometimes (unfortunately) at the
- "bleeding edge" of technology.
-
- Early in their 1994 tour, a five-song portion of a Texas
- concert was put out 'live on the Internet', and was widely
- hyped as the first concert ever treated that way. In reality,
- the band "Severe Tire Damage" holds the honor, beating the Stones
- to the punch by more than a year, doing a show online in June
- of 1993. This was well before the Stones even announced their
- 1994 tour, let alone any special events connected with it.
- Before the US tour ended that December, the Stones made some
- of the films used in their first-ever CD-ROM.
-
- In December 1995 Jagger, who had already done online Q&As for
- AOL and Prodigy, went live on a CompuServe forum which was
- supposed to demonstrate the latest in Internet-ready interactivity
- applications (live video, for example). In it, Jagger cited his
- lurking on unnamed Internet forums devoted to the Stones as one
- source for 1995 set list suggestions. (He could have been referring
- to the Usenet news group alt.rock-n-roll.stones, or the list
- 'Undercover', or traffic from the officially sanctioned chat
- areas of commercial online services. No one knows for sure,
- but all of these were active at the time.)
-
- An article in the February 1997 issue of "AV Video & Multimedia
- Producer" claims that the first official Stones web site (the
- now static and occasionally still-available http://www.stones.com)
- was put together with a lot of input from the Stones "people" and
- that Jagger personally logged in while on the road with the Voodoo
- Lounge tour to check on its progress and have final approval.
-
- The third official web site released on the Stones behalf was a great
- leap forward. In addition to offering online sales of souvenir
- merchandise, timely news updates, concert ticket contests, and
- "Bridges To Babylon" tour setlists, the site offered users the
- chance to 'vote' for a song from a nominated list they'd like to
- hear played at the next B2B show. There was a point about one-third
- of the way into almost every B2B show where the top vote-getter was
- played by the band. URL: http://www.the-rolling-stones.com
-
- Some of that site's content was incorporated into the 1999 "No
- Security" site (http://www.therollingstones.com), which is the
- band's current official Web site. An enterprising soul managed to
- grab the domain "the-rollingstones.com" for a fan site, but
- that is not an official entity.
-
- In November of 1997, it was announced that Mick Jagger had formed
- a multimedia company, "Jagged Internetworks", whose sole purpose
- seems to be holding the rights to netcasts of cricket matches. The
- URL (http://www-uk.cricket.org/link_to_database/SUPPORT/JAGGED/)
- has a brief note from jagger introducing the site and its purpose.
-
- As for the email question, there are no publicly known
- email addresses for the Stones' members, and we suspect that
- were some to come to light, they'd quickly be changed and
- rendered useless. A number of vendors along the way have
- claimed at one time or another to manage email accounts for
- band personnel, to the point of publicly announcing addresses.
-
- There was never any reasonable indication that this was
- anything but hype, however.
-
- @Q3. What Stones-specific online resources are there?
-
- Lists and newsgroups
-
- The longest-running Stones-related Internet resource is
- 'Undercover', a true mailing list for Stones discussion,
- established in 1992, which is also available in digest form.
-
- Subscription requests should be sent to
- the majordomo server at
-
- majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com
-
- and they MUST be of one of the
- four following forms:
-
- SUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER [your email addeess]
- UNSUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER [your email addeess]
- SUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER-DIGEST [your email addeess]
- UNSUBSCRIBE UNDERCOVER-DIGEST [your email addeess]
-
-
- There is also a USENET newsgroup (news:alt.rock-n-roll.stones)
- dedicated to the Stones, a number of privately run Web chat
- areas, and a busy message area on AOL. Except for the brief time
- that 'Stonesworld' was associated with the Stones, and ran
- a Web message board, there was never any online forum which
- enjoyed "official" affiliation with the band.
-
- Here are some other USENET newsgroups which could conceivably
- hold some online Rolling Stones content:
-
- alt.rock-n-roll
- alt.rock-n-roll.classic
-
- The World-Wide-Web
-
- The current official WWW site for the Rolling Stones is
- http://www.therollingstones.com
-
- The preceding official WWW site for the Rolling Stones was
- http://www.stonesworld.com
-
- Their first official World-Wide-Web site was established in
- 1994 at the beginning of the Voodoo Lounge tour, and is at
- http://www.stones.com ; the "/retro" section still houses
- live audio and video from the 1994 US tour, photographs
- taken by Ron Wood, and selected other goodies, including a
- band history authored by Stones expert and former fanzine
- publisher Bill German. Mr. German's former official fanzine
- ("Beggar's Banquet") ceased pulp-publication and
- is now on the Web at: http://www.beggarsbanquetonline.com/
-
- Former Stones have sites, too.
-
- Gary Paranzino's site, dedicated to former Stone Mick
- Taylor (www.micktaylor.com, nee http://www.paranzino.com/),
- hosts exclusive audio, a messaging area, the Sw-5
- mailing list, an exhaustively researched career history,
- and is just an all around wet dream for Taylor fans.
- It is also used for selling Mick Taylor CDs, which is as
- official as it gets.
-
- Bill Wyman's "Sticky Fingers" restaurant has a site at
- http://www.stickyfingers.co.uk/ with a strong Stones-history
- flavor.
-
- For an up-to-date list of hypertext links guiding you
- to currently operating Stones-related Web offerings,
- see the page
-
- http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover/morestuf.html
-
- This is a constantly updated sheet of pointers to others'
- Stones' resources: FTP sites, guitar tab archives, and other
- Web sites run by individuals, such as John A Artukovich's
- "FingerPrint File" (http://www.primenet.com/~united86/)
- dedicated to the history of live Rolling Stones recordings,
- and
-
- The home page for the 'Undercover' list
-
- http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover
-
- has recently mailed digests, selected Stones' lyrics,
- 1995 and 1997 tour reviews, databases covering Guest
- Appearances by Stones' personnel on others' recordings,
- lists of cover versions of Stones' songs, and more.
-
-
- FTP
-
- The Rolling Stones were just one music act with lyrics,
- pictures and more archived at what was once 'THE' Internet
- music-related FTP site, The University of Wisonsin-Parkside.
-
- We say 'were' because as of 1996, this long-overwhelmed
- site stopped offering service.
-
- And in general, it looks like the days of huge archives of
- lyrics have passed, due to legal pressures from publishers,
- who tend to frown on their property being offered for free.
-
- Other specific types of resources are detailed
- in some of the following questions.
-
-
- @Q4: Where can I get online chords/tablature?
-
- The legal status of guitar tablature has recently come
- into question. You can always find the latest updates
- on who is still brave enough to carry guitar tab
- repositories for your fetching pleasure by using OLGA
- (The On-Line Guitar Archive) at http://www.olga.net/
-
- If you have access to USENET news, look at the groups
- rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature and the more raucous
- and free-wheeling alt.guitar.tab for guitar tablature
- and breaking news on availability. People will often
- post chords or tablature to popular songs (including
- Stones' songs) on these groups.
-
- If you have chords and/or tab for a song, feel free to
- post it to those groups. Due to their large size and
- limited interest, it is usually not appropriate to
- post tabs to a general-interest mailing list such as
- Undercover (although it's been done before, that doesn't
- mean it's appropriate).
-
- If you are posting Stones tablature on USENET, perhaps
- the best solution is to post it to the newsgroups and
- just indicate on Undercover that you have done so.
- You should be willing to offer to mail it to
- anyone who doesn't have news access.
-
-
- @Q5. Where can I get an online discography?
-
- Part IV of this document has a listing which includes all
- Rolling Stones EPs and LPs released in the US and UK, excluding
- out-of-print compilations. Original release dates, producer, song
- lists, and maybe a biased comment or two, are added.
-
- A section of it lists tracks which cannot be found on CDs as
- of the time of this writing. But just about every book and/or
- website on the Stones has discographies of varying depth
- and ambition.
-
- @Q6. Hey! Why isn't this discography complete?
-
- To assemble a complete discography of the Rolling Stones is indeed a
- daunting task. The band has, in its' long recorded history, multiple
- versions of the same songs, multiple versions of an album depending on
- country of origin, multiple record labels releasing their post-1970
- recordings, mono and stereo versions of pre-1970 albums, mono and
- stereo and "electronically processed" stereo versions of individual
- songs, dozens and dozens of singles, dozens of European compilation
- packages, and then, in the eighties, the re-release of three-quarters
- of it all on compact disc. (!)
-
- To give you an idea of the volume, take the experience of German
- Stones' authority Dieter Hoffman, who put a book out in 1991 on
- the topic called the 'White Book'. The work covers all these
- issues in excruciating detail, and it required more than 560 pages
- to do so.
-
- So, in a nutshell - the field is wide open to do one online,
- and do it right, and it could be you who does it, or it could
- pop up tomorrow by someone working on just that.
-
- @Q7. Well, where *can* I get a complete one?
-
- Book buyers have a number of choices for references about the
- band's recording career: from perfunctory sketches in CD-sized
- paperbacks which go for $7, to painstakingly-researched, 500+
- page career encyclopediae. The following three books are
- ambitious, relatively current, and available without going to
- the ends of the Earth.
-
-
- In November of 1996, Stones authority Felix Aeppli released the
- long-awaited followup to his 1985 book 'Heart of Stone'. Entitled
- 'The Rolling Stones 1962-1995: The Ultimate Guide To Their Career
- In Recordings, Performances, Films & Solo Pursuits', the book covers
- just what it says. With 2840 individual entries, more than 650
- pages, more than 100 illustrations of single sleeves and
- record covers, and coverage of film and television, there's not
- much more even the insatiable could want to know. The A4-sized
- tome (approx. 8.5 x 11") bears an ISBN of 0-907872-26-3 and
- a price tag of 65 pounds/$US 125. Currently it is available
- exclusively via mail-order. Ordering information can be found
- at the following Web sites:
-
- Europe: http://www.zoo.co.uk/~recordinfo
- USA: http://www.musicbyemail.com
-
-
- Although it has a mistake or two (out of thousands of opportunities),
- Dieter Hoffman's 'Das Weissbuch' (German for the 'The White Book',
- ISBN: 3980248940) lists all official releases, vinyl and CD, single and
- LP, promos and dance remixes, in Germany, Japan, the UK and US, up
- until the Spring of 1991. It is more than 560 pages long and includes
- b&w photographs of covers and labels, and a detailed index of all known
- recorded selections by the Stones, even those appearing on 'official
- unauthorized' recordings (widely called 'bootlegs', see question 8).
- Although now officially out of print, it was originally priced, as an
- import, at about $US 90.00 for mail order. It has been spotted
- sporadically at Tower Records stores for about half that price, as
- recently as 1996. According to the fanzine "It's Only Rock and
- Roll", copies are still available directly from the publisher
- for 99DM + postage. (New Media Verlag
- Mozart Str. 10
- Winsen and der Luhe
- 21423, Germany
-
- Tel: (+49) 4171 64243
- Fax: (+49) 4171 64355)
-
- Published in 1997 at a reasonable price ($US 25 for softcover) is:
-
- "It's Only Rock and Roll: The Ultimate Guide to the Rolling Stones"
- James Karnbach/Carol Bernson
- ISBN: 0816030359
-
- Publisher: Facts on File
- 11 Penn Plaza
- New York, NY 10001
- http://www.factsonfile.com
-
- Treads some of the same area as Aeppli's 1996 book, and supplements
- dry historical review with collector/fan-oriented anecdotes, pictures
- of desirable rarities, and previously unpublished information exclusive
- to this project. Chapters are dedicated to the band's history in
- live performances/tours, official recordings, television, and film.
- (A book by Steve Appleford which is similar in price, format and
- title also answers questions about officially released material, but
- should not to be confused with the Karnbach/Bernson book.)
-
-
- Stones "fanzines" can also be a good ongoing source for the
- latest information for collectors and interested parties.
- Please see the "fanzine" section in this document under
- question #14e.
-
-
- @Q8. What about CDs? What do I need for a complete set? How do they sound???
-
- Part IV of this document also includes a brief summary on the
- state of the Recorded Stones in _the_ format of the eighties
- and nineties.
-
- It briefly overviews who issues Stones CDs, what you need for
- a complete set of Stones music on legitimate CD (short answer:
- you can't do it just yet), and what kind of sound you can expect
- for your purchase.
-
-
- @Q9. Can you at *least* tell me about the solo records????
-
- Fair enough. For our purposes we are not, at this time, including any
- appearances by band members on others' recordings, or band members'
- efforts at producing or presenting other artists, but restricting
- ourselves, in the interest of brevity, to recording projects prominently
- featuring the member, his name, or some variation thereof (e.g., the
- Charlie Watts Orchestra, Willie and the Poor Boys), and excluding
- singles and configurations that do not present previously unavailable
- material.
-
- The history of the Stones' solo careers goes something like this:
-
- Although considered the first 'solo' effort by a group member, 'Memo
- From Turner', sung by Mick Jagger in the movie 'Performance', released
- in 1970, is credited to the 'Rolling Stones' on European compilations.
- The soundtrack, which is still in print, says 'Sung by Mick Jagger'.
- No one, apparently, was all fired up to collect similar credit for
- Mick's vocal from the movie soundtrack for "Ned Kelly": "The
- Wild-eyed Colonial Boy", a traditional song sung by Mick's character.
- After years of languishing unseen (and largely undemanded) the movie
- came out on videocassette in 1993, and a CD rerelease of the soundtrack
- appeared on Ryko in 1998.
-
- Next up, in 1972, was a collection of lukewarm 'jams' which took place
- several years earlier in the studio while the Stones were 'waiting for
- our guitar player to show up'. The effort was called "Jamming With
- Edward", and it features the talents of Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Mick
- Jagger, and non-Stones Nicky Hopkins and Ry Cooder. It was released on
- the Stones' own record label, rereleased on CD in 1995 by Virgin
- Records in Europe, and in 1997 in the States.
-
- Bill Wyman released two solo albums on the Stones' record label
- in the mid-1970s, contemporaneously with Ron Wood's first solo
- work in his long (but still pre-Stones) career. Keith Richards issued
- a single in 1978, and ex-Stone Mick Taylor had a CBS album with his name
- on it in 1979. Bill Wyman had a certified international hit single
- in 1981 ("Si, Si, je suis un Rock Star") and in 1988, Keith's
- first solo album was released, making him the last Stone
- to release his solo debut album.
-
- The recordings listed below should be fairly straightforward.
- Promo-only versions have an asterisk. "LP" does not mean that
- the title is available on vinyl. Many of these titles have
- been released on CD only. "LP" in this section indicates only
- that the release was a full-length album, and not a CD single
- or promo disc.
-
-
-
- Jagger, Mick "Don't Look Back" sgl (1978)
- (billed as a co-lead vocal w/Tosh in some countries)
- "State of Shock" sgl (1984)
- (billed as a co-lead vocal w/Michael Jackson)
- She's the Boss LP (1985)
- "Hard Woman" sgl (1985)
- (German 7", re-recorded version of the LP track)
- "Lucky In Love" (4:51*, 4:45, and 3:57* versions)
- "Lucky In Love" (extended, and a 6 min. + dub version)
- "Dancing in the Street" (duet w/ David Bowie)
- sgl (1985)
- "Ruthless People"/"I'm Ringin'" sgl (1987)
- Primitive Cool LP (1987)
- "Let's Work"/"Catch as Catch Can" sgl (1987)
- "Memory Motel"
- (re-recorded for a BBC TV show) song (1993)
- Wandering Spirit LP (1993)
- "Sweet Thing" 12" single
- ("Mick's Extended Version", "Mick's Dub",
- "Instrumental of Extended Mix", "Extended Remix",
- "Stripped Down Version", "Instrumental of
- Stripped Down Version") 12" (1993)
- "Sweet Thing" CD5
- ("Mick's Extended Version", "Mick's Dub",
- "Extended Remix", "Stripped Down Version",
- "Instrumental of Stripped Down Version", "LP Mix")
- CD5 (1993)
- "Everybody knows About My Good Thing"
- "Sweet Thing (Funky Guitar Edit)"
- (both selections are found on the "Don't Tear
- Me Up" European CD5)
- CD5 (1993)
- "Wild Eyed Colonial Boy" song (1998)
- (Rykodisc rerelease of soundtrack to the
- 1970 MGM film "Ned Kelly")
-
-
- Richards, Keith "Run Rudolph Run"/"The Harder They Come"
- sgl (1978)
- Talk is Cheap LP (1988)
- "Make No Mistake" (single edit) sgl (1988)
- "Make No Mistake" (extended edit) 12" (1988)
- Live at the Hollywood Palladium LP (1991)
- Main Offender LP (1992)
- "Eileen" US CD5 (has 4 extra non-LP tracks:
- "Gimme Shelter", "Wicked As it Seems", and
- "How I Wish", all live, plus "Key to the Highway"
- with Johnnie Johnson)
- CD5 (1993)
- "The Nearness of You" (song) (1996)
- (KR's 1980 recording of the old chestnut
- is used in the Julian Schnabel film "Basquiat",
- but does not appear on soundtrack CD)
-
- Taylor, Mick Mick Taylor LP (1979)
- Stranger in This Town (live) LP (1990)
- Too Hot for Snakes LP (1991)
- (Mick Taylor & Carla Olsen)
- Once in a Blue Moon LP
- (Gerry Groom, Mick Taylor & Friends)
- Coastin' Home LP (1995)
- Stone's Throw LP (1999)
- "Red House", "Separately" (1999)
- (bonus tracks on a ltd. edition of "Stone's Throw")
-
-
- Watts, Charlie Live at the Fullham Town Hall LP (1986)
- (Charlie Watts Orchestra)
- From One Charlie to Another
- (CD plus book "Ode to a high-flying bird")
- BOX (1991)
- A Tribute to Charlie Parker
- (Charlie Watts quintet) LP (1992)
- Warm and Tender LP (1993)
- Long Ago and Far Away LP (1996)
-
-
- Wood, Ron I've Got My Own Album to Do LP (1974)
- (aka "Cancel Everything" on CD)
- Now Look LP (1975)
- "Sweet Sunshine" (flipside to 'Big Bayou')
- sgl (1976)
- Mahoney's Last Stand (w/Ronnie Lane) LP (1976)
- Gimme Some Neck LP (1979)
- 1234 LP (1981)
- "It's Not Easy" song (1984)
- (on soundtrack to the film "Wild Life", and a 1998
- tribute CD of Stones-related covers called "Cover You")
-
- Live At the Ritz (w/ Bo Diddley) LP (1989)
- Slide On This LP (1992)
-
- "Josephine ('In Your Face' mix)" (4:32) PromoCD (1992)
- "Somebody Else Might ('Slidin' on This' mix)" (3:48)/
- "Ain't Rock & Roll (remix)" (3:46) CD5 (1993)
-
- "Seven Days" (appearance on Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary CD
- CBS C2K 53230) song (1993)
-
- Slide On Live (Plugged in and Standin') LP (1993)
- "Stay With Me" (edit from live LP*) CD5 (1993)
- "Somebody Else Might" (5:59 remix)
- "Josephine" (remix)
- (both tracks are on US "Stay With Me") CD5 (1993)
- "You Really Got a Hold on Me",
- "I Don't Know what You've Got" (bonus tracks on
- rerelease of 1993's SOL) CD (1998)
-
- "So High", "Interfere" CD (1998)
- (from a limited edition 4-track CD included with
- copies of his Genesis Publications book "Wood on Canvas")
-
- "Insurance", "Safety Pin Queen", "Anymore for Anymore",
- "C&W Number", "My fault" CD (1999)
- (five previously unreleased tracks from 1976's
- "Mahoney's Last Stand", on a Japanese CD rerelease)
-
-
- Wyman, Bill Monkey Grip LP (1974)
- Stone Alone LP (1975)
- Bill Wyman LP (1981)
- Green Ice (film soundtrack) LP (1981)
- Digital Dreams (video soundtrack) LP (1983)
- Willie and the Poor Boys LP (1985)
- ("superstar" group w/ Charlie Watts,
- Andy Fairweather-Low, others)
- Stuff (Japan only) LP (1992)
- Tear It Up LP (1994)
- (Live W&TPB album, recorded 1992 in Sweden;
- titled simply "Live" in Japan and UK)
- Struttin' Our Stuff* LP (1998)
- Anyway the Wind Blows* LP (1999)
- (*Artist: "Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings",
- another assortment of superstars doing
- traditional numbers.)
-
- @Q10. Where can I get bootlegs?
-
- Stones fans are pretty lucky when it comes to bootlegs. There are
- hundreds of Stones' bootlegs available, many of them are even
- high quality recordings. You can find all sorts of things
- bootlegged: demos, rehearsals, outtakes, concerts and interviews.
- Unfortunately, bootlegs are sort of illegal.
-
- A legal loophole discovered by 'Swingin' Pig' records in 1986 created
- an explosion in the "unauthorized recording" market, although it still
- finds challenges in court by the likes of U2, Phil Collins, and others.
- Many, (but not all) "unauthorized recordings" are not "bootlegs" but
- were legitimate releases throughout much of Europe at the time they were
- released. (You may, if you are lucky, find "unauthorized recordings" at
- your own local mom-and-pop record store clearly marked *IMPORT*.)
-
- Local authorities in Europe have been increasingly successful
- at finding ways to crack down on the manufacturers as the 90s
- draws to a close. In the US, 1996 saw a marked increase in raids
- on manufacturers and record shows, and shutdowns of long-standing
- retail outlets. But advances in computer technology have brought down
- the price and expertise hurdle of creating music CDs in one's
- living room, and many outlets which used to sell CD bootlegs
- are now featuring home-made CD-Rs of the same unauthorized recordings.
- With releases no longer tied to manufacturing plants and advance
- planning, it's hard to predict with a straight face that this art
- form will disappear any time soon. However, it IS still illegal,
- So...
-
-
- Here are the 4 main ways to acquire bootlegs:
-
- First, know your local record stores. Avoid the large chains - they
- generally only carry legitimate items. The small, independently run
- stores are good places to look, and used record stores are a good bet.
- Get a phone book and personally visit all the stores listed. Bigger
- cities and college towns usually have more of the stores you need.
- Go to your nearest metropolis or campus and comb the stores.
-
- Second, go to record shows and conventions. Even the ones that have
- a "no bootleg" policy can be rewarding, as they often don't enforce
- the rule very well. Check in area newspapers and with local record
- stores for dates and locations. Goldmine magazine prints a national
- directory of record show listings, but it may not list all of the
- shows in your area.
-
- Third, use mail order places. Record magazines, such as Discoveries,
- (or "Record Collector", in the UK) abound with ads offering Stones
- merchandise. Of course, there's always an extra risk involved when
- dealing with mail-order places, but most that bother to advertise
- in major magazines are reputable. If you're unsure of a vendor, start
- small (buy one item) and work up to larger purchases. If they are
- prompt and straightforward, then feel comfortable sending larger orders.
-
- As a last resort, you can often resolve any dissatisfaction with
- a vendor using the power of the purse: many credit card agreements
- have "consumer clauses" which allow you to withhold payment
- to a vendor if you can show that promised goods were not delivered
- in a satisfactory or timely manner.
-
- You can usually find a copy of Discoveries, Goldmine, or
- Record Collector in record or book stores, or get in contact
- with them directly.
-
-
- Caveat emptor. Bootlegs are often over-priced and low quality.
- Due to the legal gray area in which most bootlegs are sold,
- sellers may not have a friendly return policy on them. Some
- other vendors who offer bootlegs may refuse to do business
- with credit cards to avoid the paper trail that gets left behind.
- And one downside of the CD-R "revolution" is the huge supply of
- noisy or unusable discs, some of which may play or fail depending
- on the unit you try to play them on.
-
- Fourth, trade tapes with friends. This is the cheapest way to build a
- respectable collection of bootlegs. Buy a few discs and trade tapes
- of them to get tapes of other things you were unable to buy or find.
- If you make this economical method your main collection-building
- strategy, it is probably worth the effort to pursue titles for
- your purchases which are not very common. This will make tapes
- of your purchased discs more attractive in trading circles.
-
-
-
-
- @Q11: Which bootlegs are best? Which will have my favorite song?
-
- Part two of this document is occupied with nothing but answering
- this question. It is a concise history of the band's performing
- career, and it includes remarks on availability of outtakes,
- unreleased studio recordings, and live performances.
-
-
- @Q12. How can I get that Keith sound in the comfort of my own home?
-
- Two approaches, here:
-
- If you want to play like Keith, well you *really* need a Fender
- Telecaster ;-). As well, Keith plays in open G tuning, his own 5
- string version. Take your low E string OFF the guitar and tune it:
- (low to high) GDGBD. You can always tune the low E string to D as well
- if you don't want to remove strings. Keith sums up his guitar playing
- thusly: "5 strings, 3 fingers, and one asshole."
-
- or:
-
- barre at the 5th fret (that's a C in open G tuning) and slam a few
- chords... hammer on an Am7 form in fron of the bar.. that's an F... slam
- a few more... repeat progression at the 2nd fret... noodle around on the
- open G.... that'll get you through about 70% of all the solo albums and a
- great deal of Stones stuff as well. A few tidbits... Keith uses talcum
- powder on the neck before he plays...it speeds things up a lot, but if
- you are really picky about strings, you will have to be religous about
- wiping them when you are finished. And of course, never be so dull as to
- actually play chords ON the downbeat... wait about 20 nanoseconds from
- all major timing cues...get that one string about 2 clicks out of tune...
- it's all in the tension, you know. And remember, no effects boxes and
- keep in mind that "it only tightens up"...
-
- @Q13. Wouldn't it be neat if there were a Stones "museum"?
-
- Bill Wyman operates a restaurant called "Sticky Fingers" in the
- well-heeled Kensington section of London. The food is much the
- same general type of menu as you might find at Hard Rock. Cost
- seems OK. The whole place is of course a shrine to a certain
- well known band! Bill has decorated it with framed (etc)
- posters, magazine covers, guitars, gold discs, etc etc. - even
- an especially good blown up cutting on the right of the door
- as you go out, headed 'Korner Cancels', referring to the
- first real Stones Gig, on 12th July 1962. No trouble finding
- things to read and gaze at while you await your meal. Most of the
- time Stones music plays. Location: 1 Phillmore Gardens, London.
-
- @Q14. I'm a novice. Can you recommend the best...
-
- First.... a note on the worth of opinions. They are, as the saying
- goes, like anal cavities. Everyone has one and they all stink. They
- are also free, so remember that you get what you pay for.
-
- Detached, objective judgment of the worth of a particular period of
- the Rolling Stones' career is a problem all its own. As Keith
- Richards has said, people tend to be fond of what they were hearing
- the first time they got laid.
-
- a. albums
-
- If you are thinking of starting out with live albums or greatest-hits
- compilations for an exposure to the Rolling Stones, (or for someone
- else's benefit!), consider:
-
- Their early work (the first eight years), originally on DECCA records
- (London Records in the USA), is covered by any of the greatest-hits
- compilations that are now being released on CD by ABKCO.
-
- "Hot Rocks 1964-1971", the double-CD set, is a near-definitive
- collection of the hit singles that established them as legends.
- Alternatively, you could pair up the single CDs "High Tide and
- Green Grass (Big Hits)" and "Through the Past Darkly (Big
- Hits Part 2)" for a collection of equal length with a slightly
- different impact. Or, get the 1989 ABKCO 3-CD set called "The
- London Years", which is stuffed with just about anything
- the band put out as a single in these years. It includes everything
- found on the American versions of the two "Big Hits" compilations,
- everything from "Hot Rocks 1964-1971" with the exception of three
- HR songs, and it has several somewhat rare selections otherwise
- unavailable on CD anywhere.
-
- (As of June 1995, the three compilations mentioned in the paragraph
- below seem to be off the shelves indefinitely and _superseded_ by the
- 1993 European compilation "Jump Back". If you can find any of these
- three compilations on your store shelves, consider that they may
- be gone forever soon. It's mostly no big deal: Two of the three
- have material that is available elsewhere. 1981's "Sucking in the
- Seventies", however, has several tracks on it which remain
- unavailable elsewhere on CD.)
-
- Several compilations cover their post-ABKCO work. "Made in the Shade"
- was originally released in 1975, and "Rewind (1971-1984)" in 1984.
- Unfortunately, the CD releases of these two albums have an overlap of
- four songs. "Rewind" is the better value for your CD money. "Sucking
- in the Seventies", from 1981, is of interest largely to collectors.
- It has three tracks otherwise unavailable on CD, including a live
- song from 1978, and the single/promo edits of 6 other Stones
- numbers released after 1975.
-
- A 1993 compilation, entitled "Jump Back", was not released in the
- US, but has, on a single CD, everything found on the "Rewind" CD except
- for "Hang Fire" and "Heartbreaker"; plus, thrown in for good measure
- are "Bitch", "Wild Horses", "Respectable", "Mixed Emotions", and "Rock
- and a Hard Place".
-
-
- The Rolling Stones have released six "live albums" (seven if
- you count 1995's "Stripped" which has a limited number of
- live performances) and except for 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!',
- released in 1970, everyone seems to hate something about
- all of them.
-
- Moving on to "regular" releases, many people are strongly persuaded that
- the Rolling Stones' years with Mick Taylor, and just before, are an
- artistic peak that no one before or since has been able to touch. To
- acquire that era, you can obtain the albums released from 1968 to 1972.
- (In order of release: 'Beggar's Banquet', 'Let It Bleed', 'Get Yer
- Ya-Ya's Out' (live), 'Sticky Fingers', and 'Exile on Main Street').
-
- While an investment in the ABKCO compilations provides a fairly complete
- overview of the best of the Rolling Stones' first eight years, the band's
- first three American releases ('Newest Hit Makers', '12 X 5', and 'Now!')
- stand as a powerful documentary of what all the fuss was about.
- 'Aftermath' is also a favorite among many aficianados.
-
- What one critic has referred to as their 'silver age' occurred in the
- late 70's-early eighties, after many had given the band up for dead.
- The albums "Some Girls", "Emotional Rescue", and "Tattoo You" (released
- from 1978 to 1981) show a veteran outfit churning out top-notch material
- which was a critical and commercial success. Common rock criticism to the
- contrary, this rejuvenation was NOT just the result of the appearance of
- punk rock and the Sex Pistols in the world. After all, the punk
- phenomenon didn't seem to do much for Led Zeppelin or the Who.
-
- b. movies
-
- The Rolling Stones are the focus of several films that have
- still not made it to the home video market.
-
- Their film history is somewhat chaotic. Part of the reason you
- can't see them all at your leisure may have as much to do
- with technical feasibility as court injunctions.
-
- (Any movies that were subsequently released to the home video
- market are listed under part d. of this question, "home videos")
-
-
- 'Cocksucker Blues' -
-
- A concert film cum tour documentary, widespread exhibition of
- this film has been frustrated by much legal wrangling over the
- years. See question #15.
-
- 'Ladies & Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones' -
-
- A concert film by which all others surely must be judged. High
- excitement prevails in this film of two concert performances from
- their 1972 American tour. Originally released in Quadrophonic
- sound, the original soundtrack, recorded as it is on film
- in an unusual manner, requires considerable labor to screen
- properly. That effort is occasionally undertaken, as it was for
- a September 1996 screening at Lincoln Center.
-
- c. books
-
- The number of published books about the Rolling Stones can (and does)
- fill up a separate document all its own: Part three of this FAQ list.
- Still, it is probably of some use to have a 'shortlist', some starting
- point, so here are the titles of five current books we recommend for
- giving you a good start in learning about the history, influence, and
- greatness of the Rolling Stones.
-
- Please note that these five are not necessarily the best
- books about the Stones, but they ARE the best of what's
- currently available.
-
- 'Dance With the Devil'
- Stanley Booth
- - Delayed for years due to litigation, this book combines
- equal parts tedious personal confession and juicy Stones-tour
- gossip. Particularly compelling is the detailed description
- of a group rehearsal. An insider's account of the Stones'
- entree into the big time.
-
- 'Symphony For the Devil'
- Philip Norman
- - Stops in 1983, but the author delivers a respectful and
- competent biography. Bookended by anecdotes about their
- 1981 tour, Norman's analysis of characters in the play
- known as the Rolling Stones is deep and thoughtful. Revised
- and reissued in 1992.
-
- 'Keith Richards - the Biography'
- Victor Bockris
- - Little more than a cut-and-paste job of other,
- indiscriminately chosen biographies, this book still has the
- advantage of recent vintage, and the fact that the author
- can turn out seductive and flowing prose. Never a dull moment,
- which is actually difficult to say about lesser Stones'-related
- works.
-
- 'The Rolling Stones Album'
- Geoffrey Giuliano
- - Biographically, nothing is very deep - only a thumbnail
- sketch of the band's history is attempted. Sometimes, though,
- this is more refreshing than failed attempts at deep analysis.
- Intended as pornography for the Stones-memorabilia fetishist,
- this book has great color photographs of records, books,
- promotional items, and posters. If a picture paints a thousand
- words, this is a million-word chronicle.
-
- 'Stone Alone'
- Bill Wyman (with Ray Coleman)
- - The only book by any band member that was there in the early
- years, and at the height of the madness, this can (surprisingly)
- get awfully boring. If, as is said, the devil is in the details,
- then opportunities abound here, as one of Wyman's techniques is to
- provide the full text of letters for rather unseemly work-a-day
- tasks. Yet, there is no discussion of the band's musical working
- techniques, except as they pertain to, for example, how long they
- would spend working on a new song of Wyman's versus one penned by
- Jagger and Richards. Great opportunities missed, but others taken,
- if you have the interest and patience. NB: only covers up to
- July, 1969.
-
-
- Now these five *are* the best: good luck finding them all!
-
- 'Stone Alone' - Wyman/Coleman
- 'Symphony for the Devil' - Phillip Norman
-
- 'An Illustrated Record'
- Roy Carr
- - A beautiful, thoroughly researched, large-format book which
- presents the Rolling Stones' discography up to 1976. It includes
- tour history, side-project information, interviews, unreleased
- album covers, and beautiful reproductions of the original DECCA
- LP covers. Essential.
-
- 'The Rolling Stones - The First Twenty Years'
- David Dalton
- - Dalton has edited several books on the topic, any and all of
- them worthwhile. Another large format book, this collection of
- essays, reviews, band history, interviews, photographs, and a
- sessionography, remains overwhelming years after you acquire it.
- Out of print, and highly recommended.
-
- 'S.T.P.'
- Robert Greenfield
- The abbreviation of "Stones Touring Party", and the name of a
- drug, this out-of-print classic is about life on the road
- with the World's greatest you-know-what on their most infamous
- excursion to the United States, in 1972. (Rereleased in 1997
- in paperback, without photographs.)
-
- d. home videos
-
- The Stones are the subject of several releases on home video.
- Any title marked with an 'M' has a theatrical release in its
- history.
-
-
- (Note: the designation ("import") means this is a title that
- is not generally available in the States except in
- 'specialty' stores. Since the rest of the world
- has a different video standard from the US, these
- tapes may have been made through a format-conversion
- process, and so may suffer in son et lumiere.)
-
-
- 'Bridges To Babylon Live'
-
- An edit of their December 12, 1997 show in St. Louis. This
- home video was initially distributed in the US under an
- exclusivity deal with Public Broadcasting, begun in March
- of 1998 and lasting for seven months.
-
- M 'The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus' -
-
- Originally conceived as a television show, this 1968 gala
- (see question #15 for details) was screened for the world
- finally in 1996 at the New York Film Festival before its
- release on home video two days later.
-
- 'Live Voodoo Lounge'
-
- In November of 1995, a 94-minute home video began appearing
- on shelves in the UK. This single VHS tape, released 12/95
- in the US, is a 17-song distillation of the November 1994
- "pay-per-view" concert from Joe Robbie Stadium
- in Miami, Florida. It features one-time collaborations with
- guests Robert Cray and Bo Diddley.
-
- 'The Rolling Stones '95 Voodoo Lounge in Japan'
- (Japan-only release)
-
- A double-disc (or double-VHS-tape) of a March
- 1995 performance in Tokyo which was originally shown on NHK-TV.
- The set list includes "Sweet Virginia", "Slipping Away",
- "Rock and a Hard Place", "Live With Me", "Angie", and
- "Sympathy for the Devil".
-
- M 'At the Max'
-
- 85 minute distillation of the concert film they said couldn't
- be brought to home video. Originally filmed in the eye-popping
- IMAX format, and exhibited only in planetariums or learning
- institutions where your peripheral vision could be properly
- occupied, this feature was culled from three concerts in the
- 1990 European tour. PolyGram released this title on home video
- in Europe in November '94 just as the Stones planned to
- announce 1995 concert dates on the continent. The video was
- released in the US shortly thereafter.
-
- M 'Sympathy for the Devil' (ABKCO re-release)
-
- Re-released for home video in 1994 under the auspicies of
- ABKCO, this version of the 1970 Jean-Luc Godard film
- 'One Plus One/Sympathy for the Devil' opted for the more
- Stones-oriented title.
-
- 'Live Voodoo Lounge'
-
- Highlights of the band's four August 1994 appearances at Giants'
- Stadium at the New Jersey Meadowlands. This 90-minute concert
- tape is basically the 1994 set at that time less five songs or
- so (no 'Love Is Strong', 'Beast of Burden', 'I Go Wild', 'Happy',
- or 'Can't Get Next To You', which were getting played regularly
- at that point in the tour). This tape was only available at
- concerts from souvenir stands, or via mail order directly from
- Brockum, the Stones' concert souvenir marketeers. Originally
- planned to be out of circulation (along with other 1994
- tour souvenir items) in the Spring of 1995.
-
- 'The Rolling Stones: Unauthorised Biography'
-
- This program consists mostly of *still* *photographs* floating in
- a small portion of the screen over a black background. There is
- occasional motion picture footage (a couple uninteresting complete
- shots of some airport arrival or departure which would be shown for
- only two seconds in a judiciously edited documentary.), and the *only*
- music one hears is about 30 seconds of "Around and Around" in front
- of that froofy curtain (is this PD stuff YET?). There are a couple
- TV news stories (Mick's 1967 bust and the 1976 UK tour), about one
- minute of a Wyman interview, and two minutes of of an interview
- with Mick Jagger done after his 1992 solo appearance on Saturday
- Night Live. (He wouldn't reproduce his comedic imitation of
- Keith Richards for the interviewer without the props he had
- on the live TV show.)
-
- '25 X 5 (The Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones)' -
-
- This two-hour retrospective of the band's entire career, released in
- 1990, has some ultra-rare and exclusive footage and performances from
- the band's own collection. It's narrated by interviews with the band,
- so bring your own grain of salt. Highly recommended.
-
- 'Mick Jagger & the Rolling Stones'
-
- A 30-minute episode of something called 'Celebrity Showcase'. At
- least the outside box is honest: it warns potential customers
- that there is no Rolling Stones music on the entire program. Not
- reviewed.
-
- 'Video Rewind' -
-
- A one-hour feature, this early attempt at making a unique offering
- in the then-infantile home music video market is occasionally
- successful and funny. It includes rarely seen "official" videos of
- records released from 1978 to 1983, two television performances
- from "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" in the mid-70's, and a
- cut-and-paste version of "Brown Sugar", which uses spliced
- footage from several tours. The thread/plot tying this
- all together is a long hallucination by Bill Wyman.
-
- M 'Let's Spend the Night Together' -
-
- The home video version of the film of their 1981 US tour, directed
- by Hal Ashby. Opinion on this film is widely varying. Some longtime
- Stones' enthusiasts are disappointed by the performance, while others
- find it an exciting document of a great tour (current author loves
- it, but he was 18 when the tour took place!). A video rental costs
- you maybe three bucks - so we're not going to sweat making a bad
- recommendation. The original VHS release, if you can find it, may
- not be in Hi-Fi.
-
- 'Rolling On' -
-
- A 60-minute television documentary, assembled in 1982, but consisting
- of an annoying 'cheese-rock' soundtrack (no Jagger-Richards tunes),
- and some rarely seen footage from the 'Charlie is My Darling' era
- (1965). Little to recommend it except when you mute the horrendous
- audio tracks, and watch Jagger work a crowd in some rarely-seen
- early live footage.
-
- M 'Gimme Shelter' -
-
- This home video of the documentary of the 1969 tour and the disastrous
- free concert that closed it ("Altamont") stands as a classic film
- separate from any other rock film due to its' too-true human drama
- and its portrait of the end of an era. Last refurbished in 1992,
- the newest editions of the VHS tape are in Hi-Fi. Aficianados claim
- that the audio soundtrack on the last release of this film, in
- fine ABKCO tradition, was made from less desirable mono masters.
- There have been both R-rated (brief nudity, foul language) and
- PG-rated (cleaned up) versions of this film in home-video
- circulation. Other snippets of dialogue, such as some decidedly
- non-obscene negotiation in the Stones' lawyer's office, have
- been removed from some releases for no apparent reason.
-
- 'The Stones in the Park' ("import") -
-
- A one-hour Granada TV documentary of the Stones' July 1969 free concert
- in London's Hyde Park. The stage debut of new guitarist Mick Taylor, this
- show has snippets of some classic performances. Rarely seen, but is
- available for rent in select, non-"chain store" shops.
-
- M 'One plus one (Sympathy for the Devil)' -
-
- A pretentious bore by Jean-Luc Goddard, this film has splices of the
- Stones building and recording the classic track 'Sympathy For the Devil'
- in the studio in 1968. Since seeing the Stones 'behind-the-scenes' at
- work is so rare, this is a valuable document. No. No. Yes. No. No. No.
-
- (A 1994 re-release by ABKCO uses the 'Sympathy' title exclusively.)
-
- 'Charlie is My Darling' ("import")
-
- A one-hour documentary of their 1965 tour of Ireland. Some stunningly
- funny documentary footage of Keith and Mick, drunk, at a piano and
- singing. Also, a nice portrait of the frenzy and excitement that
- accompanied their early road work, including a truly frightening mob
- scene at a show that got out of hand while the band was playing.
- Same narrow distribution as the Hyde Park documentary video above.
-
- M 'That was Rock/The TAMI Show' -
-
- The Stones perform five songs in twelve minutes on the "Teenage
- Music International" show, filmed in Los Angeles in 1965. Other
- guests on the show(s) were Chuck Berry, James Brown, Lesley Gore,
- Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, and Ike and Tina Turner. Worth it to
- see a young Mick and Diana Ross singing together at the finale.
-
- e. fanzines
-
- * Basement News
-
- Basement News Distribution
- c/o Guenter Beetz
- Waldstr. 59
- D-63110 Rodgau 6
- Germany
-
- Phone & FAX: ++49 (6101) 16210
- Cost for 3 issues/year:
- Germany: DM 20
- Europe: DM 25 (Eurocheque or equivalent cash in national currency)
- Overseas: US$ 23 (cash)
-
- Published by Dieter Hoffman, the author of the Schwarzbuch (Black
- Book) bootleg bible and Weissbuch (White Book) listing of legit
- releases. Provides detailed information on current band activity,
- bootleg reviews, and the scuttlebutt on new Stones or Stones related
- record or CD releases.
-
- * Beggars Banquet [NOW OUT OF BUSINESS]
- P O Box 6152
- New York, NY 10128
- (USA)
-
- Monthly - 20 US Dollars/12 issues in the US, 25 US Dollars for overseas
-
- Originally a 'pure' fanzine written by Bill German, this survived
- being the semi-official Fan Club Magazine in the Mid-80's. Rather
- tame and uncritical, and perhaps too much 'Bill German and the Stones'
- (usually Ronnie). Wouldn't be without it.
-
- [Ceased publishing early 1996. A website run by the publisher
- at www.beggarsbanquetonline.com is still going, and offers back
- issues for sale.]
-
-
- * Front Row Fan Club
- Landseestr. 49
- D-76437 Rastatt
- Germany
-
- A German-language _monthly_ newsletter which has published
- more than 50 issues. Includes live CD reviews.
-
- English-language Home Page is at:
- http://www.inka.de/sites/reuthe/index.htm
-
-
- * It's Only Rock'n'Roll
- Vabraaten 111
- N-1392 Vettre
- Norway [Tel: (+47) 6679 4297]
-
- English Language, A5-sized magazine, first appeared in 1980.
- Published approx. quarterly, four issues are definitely scheduled
- for the year 1995. Price: NOK 200 (or, roughly, $US 30.00, or
- 20 English pounds) for four issues. No personal checks, please.
- Visa and MasterCard accepted, which greatly simplifies things.
- URL: http://www.iorr.org/
-
- * Le Club Des Stones
- BP535
- 75666 Paris Cedex 14
- France
-
- Actually the name of the French fan club for the Rolling
- Stones, they'll issue four A4 magazines per year to you
- (in French, natch) for 100F.
-
- * Shattered
- PO Box 3723
- London SE15 1HW
-
- A5-sized 'zine. Four issues 12 UK Pounds/18 pounds overseas
-
- * Sticky Fingers
- Post Office Box 3474
- Granada Hills, CA 91344
- USA
-
- Published its first issue Jan/Feb 1996. Six issues are
- scheduled a year. $3/ea. at newsstands. Features
- extensive reviews of live CDs. Not reviewed.
-
- Rates: USA: $US 30 for 1 year
- Other: $US 40 for 1 year
-
-
- * Stones People
- c/o Yuji Ikeda
- 2-5-16-509 Harumi
- Chuo-Ku,Chuo-Ku
- Tokyo 104
- Japan
-
- With a slower publishing schedule than most fan magazines,
- each issue is nonetheless hefty (~100 pages) and produced
- in high quality.
-
- * Stones People Magazine (nee Stones People Europe)
- Middenweg 2
- 1217 HT Hilversum
- The Netherlands
-
- Quarterly
-
- Prices (Eurocheque or cash only, please):
- NLG 60 (60 Dutch Guilders),
- NLG 80 outside of Holland
-
- 55 US Dollars for USA (incl. S/H)
- 15 US Dollars for sample issue (incl. S/H)
-
-
- Launched in December 1995, the goal is to publish quarterly
- issues of 64 pages each. Includes color photography, and all
- text is in both Dutch and English. Praised even by the
- competition. URL: http://www.stonespeople.com/
-
- * Tumbling Dice
-
- Terry Carty
- 9 Collingwood Close
- Westage-on-Sea
- Kent CT8 8JD
- (UK)
-
- Quarterly
-
- 9 UK Pounds in UK, 12 UK Pounds in Europe, 18 UK pounds in rest
-
- Single issue for 1.5 Pounds plus a SASE (A5 sized).
-
- Only been going since early 1991 and still finding its feet. Each
- issue much improved on the previous, and distribution problems
- slowly disappearing. No band access.
-
-
- @Q15. What is/who are
-
- a. "Nanker Phelge"?
-
- The credited author of several early compositions ("Stoned", "The
- Underassistant West Coast Promotion Man"), "Nanker Phelge" is actually a
- pseudonym used for group compositions. "Nanker" was the nick name for
- a rather unpleasant facial expression band members used to make,
- and "Phelge" the surname of an early roommate of Keith, Mick, and
- Brian's whose personal hygiene left something to be desired.
-
- b. "The Glimmer Twins"?
-
- The production team known to the world as "The Glimmer Twins" consists
- of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, so dubbed because of a chance encounter
- with an elderly woman on vacation, who thought she recognized one of the
- Stones, but only had a "glimmer" of the real identity of her find.
-
- c. "Rock and Roll Circus"?
-
- Mere days after the release of 'Beggar's Banquet' in 1968, the band
- pulled together a 'circus': a television spectacle consisting of real
- circus performers, and some progressive rock acts of the day.
- Jethro Tull, The Who and Eric Clapton were in attendance, as were
- lions, trapeze artists, and Yoko Ono.
-
- The idea was to produce a unique showcase, but the footage was
- eventually shelved, due to what the Stones felt was a sub-standard
- performance. It was not shown publicly for 27 years, except for brief
- excerpts in home videos (specifically, the Stones' own title
- '25 x 5', and the Who's performance of 'A Quick One', which was used
- in their own film/career documentary, 'The Kids Are Alright'.).
-
- It was also Brian Jones' last performance with the band.
-
- The two main musical highlights were a 'supergroup' consisting of
- Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell (of the
- Jimi Hendrix Experience), and a performance of several songs
- by the Stones themselves, including 'Route 66' (not filmed),
- 'Confessin' the Blues' (not filmed), 'Parachute Woman', 'Jumpin'
- Jack Flash', 'Sympathy for the Devil', 'No Expectations', 'You
- Can't Always Get What You Want', and 'Salt of the Earth'.
-
- The surviving footage (65 minutes' worth), including six of
- the Stones' selections, was finally premiered in October 1996
- at the New York Film Festival thanks to an agreement between
- ABKCO and the Rolling Stones. A CD and home video were released
- that month, also.
-
- d. "Altamont"?
-
- To cap off their highly successful Fall 1969 tour of the United States,
- the band planned a large, free concert in San Francisco similar to a
- successful event they had done in London's Hyde Park in July of that
- year. Between permit denials, greed, and a last-minute change of
- venue, the event devolved from a potentially powerful West Coast
- Woodstock to a poorly-planned mess. A bad choice of security
- (American biker gang the "Hell's Angels") contributed to a day-long
- sideshow of violence and "bad vibes".
-
- By the time the Stones came on in the evening, tempers were short.
- The dramatic stabbing of a spectator by one of the Hell's Angels
- during the Stones' set was captured on film in the documentary
- "Gimme Shelter", available now on home video.
-
- e. "Cocksucker Blues"?
-
- It is the title of both a notorious slow blues song performed by
- Jagger which has been frequently bootlegged, and an unrelated film
- project by Robert Frank which was a documentary of the Stones' 1972
- American tour.
-
- The song tells the woeful tale of a "lonesome schoolboy" who has come
- to the big city (London) but does not know where to find all the
- amenities a young man needs. Presented as a single by Jagger to
- fulfill a contractual obligation to the then-despised
- DECCA records, the label declined to release it. It did appear
- very briefly as an 'official' release: as a bonus single
- to a German boxed set in 1984. The box was quickly pulled,
- and re-released without the offending tune.
-
- The film is rarely seen, as a unique legal settlement has required
- that its' director, Robert Frank, accompany each and every showing of
- the film. More bark than bite. Drug-fueled orgies and all kinds of
- human degradations were rumoured to be captured on film. This was
- more a reflection of what people thought went on on a Stones'
- tour than what actually happened. Rather tame, it has some tit, some
- drunken revelry, some drug use by band members, and some footage of
- the greatest rock and roll band in the world in action.
-
-
- @Q16. Gossip
-
- a. How many times have they been arrested?
-
- The band's longtime acquaintance with law enforcement started with an
- infamous 'pissing' incident in March of 1965 in which Bill Wyman, who
- needed to use the rest facilities at a car fuel stop, was not only
- refused admittance to the chamber, but told to promptly vacate the
- premises. Mick Jagger and Brian Jones joined Bill in pissing against
- a wall, and the Stones' image as 'bad boys' was firmly established. In
- a remarkable show of solidarity and opportunism, which was not to
- be repeated, all five band members showed up at court, several
- weeks later...
-
- Unfortunately, being pop-stars in the "swingin' sixties", they were
- easy targets for aggressive narcotics enforcement officers. Human
- nature and law enforcement being what they are, these officers
- descended on the weakest and most vulnerable of the lot, Brian Jones,
- with some regularity and viciousness, although by the end of the
- Seventies, Mick and Keith also found themselves "busted" several
- times, culminating in the most serious case, Keith's 1977 arrest for
- heroin possession in Canada, which threatened the continued existence
- of the band.
-
- The Eighties, the decade of the "War on Drugs", produced its own
- comical efforts at putting Stones Behind Bars, but these were so
- poorly executed, they failed almost upon impact. Ron Wood, several
- years younger than everyone else in the band, got his own taste in
- 1980. Although charges were dropped, Mr. Wood was said to have problems
- with unspecified drugs in the early eighties, and also to have taken
- care of them with a "Betty Ford"-type cure while the Stones were
- languishing unused mid-decade. In 1994, Charlie Watts admitted
- to a mid-80s episodic problem with abuse of speed and alcohol, and a
- flirtation with heroin. He claims to have cleaned himself up
- towards the end of 1986.
-
- 1965 - "Pissing" incident at a gas/petrol station. Five-pound fines
- for Mick, Brian, and Bill are appealed.
- 1967 - The "Redlands" bust - allegations of carpeted girls and Mars bars.
- Keith's conviction on "allowing his premises" overturned on
- appeal; Mick's pep-pill possession successfully appealed - Court
- found that he had been more severely sentenced than an "anonymous
- young man".
- 1967 - Brian busted same day as the "Redlands" case court appearance.
- 1968 - Brian busted for cannabis. Found guilty and fined.
- 1969 - Hashish possession: Mick and Marianne Faithfull; Marianne
- acquitted, Mick is fined.
- 1972 - Jagger and Richards held on assault of a photographer; delay means
- the evening's show in Boston starts after midnight.
- 1972 - Keith's French pied-a-terre is raided; Coke, Hashish, heroin found.
- 1973 - Keith present when his British residence is raided. Drugs and guns.
- 1975 - Keith gets in trouble for carrying a knife in Fordyce, Arkansas
- 1977 - Keith fined 750 pounds + costs for coke possession.
- 1977 - Keith arrested for heroin possession in Canada. Eventually
- "sentenced" to play a free concert and take his cure in New Jersey.
- 1980 - Ron and Jo Howard hang out with the wrong crowd in St. Maarten,
- and spend several days in jail for possession of cocaine.
- 1987 - Jerry Hall gets into some trouble in Barbados when the local
- customs people decide a 20-lb. package of marijuana is hers.
- The "Kangaroo Customs" officers screw their own case, and Jerry
- is found 'not guilty'.
-
- b. How many times have they been married?
-
- Both Charlie Watts and Keith Richards are on their first marriages.
- Charlie married in 1964, Keith 19 years later. Brian Jones was never
- married. Mick Jagger had his 9-year marriage (to model Jerry Hall),
- which he never admitted existed, annulled in 1999. Ron Wood is on his
- second marriage. Ex-Stone Bill Wyman was the only member
- already married when he joined the group, and he entered his third
- legal marriage shortly after leaving the group in 1993.
-
- c. Will the band break up?
-
- At some point, we believe.
-
- d. Are they going to tour again?
-
- As of this revision of the FAQ, the Stones' concert
- concern has just wound down what amounts to a two-year
- tour - on the road from September 1997 through June
- 1999 with some brief layoffs. Rumours always swirl,
- but it's a safe bet that any new tour, if it happens,
- is not going to happen for a while.
-
- e. Is this the last time, really?
-
- They were first asked this in 1966.
-
- f. How old ARE they?
-
- Birthdays are as follows:
-
- Jagger July 26, 1943
- Brian Jones Feb. 28, 1942 (dismissed June 8, 1969; died July 3, 1969)
- Richards Dec. 18, 1943
- Stewart July 18, 1938 (died December 12, 1985)
- Taylor Jan. 17, 1949 (quit 12/1974; usual 1948 b.date wrong)
- Watts Jun. 02, 1941
- Wood Jun. 01, 1947
- Wyman Oct. 24, 1936 (quit 1993)
-
- @Q17. What gives with:
-
- a. that tongue logo all over the place
-
- When the band formed "Rolling Stones Records" in 1971, their label
- design was basic yellow, with a small red, white, and black
- "tongue-and-lip design", as the copyright notices now say, on the
- left side. The "tongue-and-lip", and countless variations, have
- since appeared on all kinds of official (and unofficial) Stones
- memorabilia and products. In a 1971 interview in _Rolling Stone_
- magazine, Keith Richards claimed that the inspiration was the
- Indian goddess Khali, and he went on to say that we could expect
- many variations on the theme.
-
- The credit for the original design has been mistakenly given to
- several people over the years. The most frequent misattribution
- is the claim that it is a creation of Andy Warhol's. Even a
- researcher as thorogh as Philip Norman has mistakenly
- repeated this legend. Warhol designed two Stones' album covers,
- including the first LP released on "Rolling Stones Records", but
- he did not supply the tongue. Mr. Norman claims elsewhere
- that the earliest inspiration was a set designed by
- Kenneth MacMillan for the Royal Ballet's 'Paradise Lost'.
-
- As recently as March 1995, Billboard magazine printed a blurb
- which incorrectly hinted that the 1971 design which would go on to
- remain imprinted on thousands' of Stones' fans' minds came
- from one Ruby Mazur. Billboard finally saw their mistake
- and identified Mazur as the designer of the first officially
- used variation on the tongue: the Rolling Stones Records
- open-hole 7" single sleeve. First used in 1972 and last used
- 9 years later, the sleeve design has one eye, and uses the
- middle record-label open hole as "the mouth" of an ill-defined face.
- The design for the sleeve is memorable because the record-label
- hole is not perfectly round, as is standard industry practice,
- but a contour of the Mazur-designed open mouth.
-
- On April 8, 1995, Billboard definitely attributed the original
- classic design to John Pasch. In a 1997 interview done for a
- television infomercial pitch selling authorized Stones-related
- merchandise, Mick Jagger cited John Pasch.
-
- b. cheese
-
- Very simple really...........
-
- Woody says Keith is afraid of cheese in Rolling Stone
- magazine, October 1994...
-
- Undercover readers analyze the meaning of this for approximately six
- weeks, digressing into the interelationship between cheese and heroin
- addiction and constipation. A syndrome of tight pants wearers dubbed
- (by a doctor) as "Mick Jagger's Revenge" joins the story. Exact
- relevance, if any , unclear......
-
- A newswire story about 18 people being injured in a Cheltenham, England
- cheese-rolling festival and the fact that Brian Jones grew up there leads
- to speculation that Brian Jones rolled cheese down a hill every year as a
- child in Cheltenham and then grew up to be a Rolling Stone. Speculation of
- cheese involvement in Brian's death in 1969 discussed now and then.........
-
- A Toronto caterer to the Stones commented that Keith lingers round the
- cheese tray and eats a lot for a skinny guy......
-
- Keith tells Q magazine that he isn't allergic to cheese, but he might
- as well be.....
-
- Cheese influence on Stones lyrics analyzed (i.e. "don't wanna walk or
- talk about cheeses, just want to see Keith's face)......
-
- Steve Portigal gives cheese names to unsubscribers who send their
- unsubscribe request to the readers, rather than to the admin address
- as instructed at the end of each digest.
-
- Mick Jagger, suspected of being an incognito reader of Undercover,
- begins talking about cheese during concert song interludes,
- introducing keyboard player Chuck Leavell at the Halloween show
- in Oakland, 1994 with the phrase "I talk to the cheese". (editors'
- note: current scholarship claims that what is said here
- is "I talk to the trees.")
-
- And why does this interest us?
-
- To each his own answer...or as Bob Dylan used to say.."the ants
- are my friends, they're blowin in the wind, the ants are just
- blowin in the wind"
-
- [special thanks to Dan Ream with his help on question 17.]
-
-
- @Q18. Myths & legends:
-
- a. Did Keith really get his blood changed?
-
- It was a widely circulated rumour that to cure himself of an addiction
- to heroin, Keith Richards flew to the Swiss chalet of an exclusive
- physician who had a method for replacing all of a patient's nasty
- addicted blood with good clean blood.
-
- Great gossip. Bad science.
-
- While it has been claimed in print by at least one biographer, this
- author was also Keith's dealer for several years. It is widely
- considered to be little more than another colorful urban legend.
-
- b. Do they worship satan?
-
- Among the phenomena that have become known to us since the formation
- of the Rolling Stones are: CDs, wireless amps, home video, and
- Serious Rock Criticism. Early Serious Rock Critics, trying in vain
- to capture in prose the mystique, wonder, beauty, arrogance, and power
- of the Rolling Stones, would often resort to demonic imagery. It did
- not help matters that the band released songs like "Sympathy for the
- Devil", or that Jagger performed in a swirling cape bathed in red
- light. Blame this one on the old "four blind men describing an
- elephant" syndrome.
-
- Professional demonist and man-about-town Kenneth Anger once asserted
- that Anita Pallenberg (Keith's paramour in the Stones' supposed
- 'demonic' period) was a 'witch'. But that's Kenneth Anger.
-
- c. Is Paul dead?
-
- He is rumoured to have shown up at a Rolling Stones concert in
- New York City in 1978 to catch the festivities. Other than that,
- no one seems to care.
-
-