Rolling Stones Postpone 50th Anniv Tour

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Keith Richards says the band is not ready to do a tour in 2012.

An article in the magazine reads: "Basically, we're just not ready," says Keith. Instead, 2013 is the new goal. "I have a feeling that's more realistic.”

The article continues:

But Stones insiders say that one reason for the delay is Richards' health, which has raised questions about his ability to make it through a worldwide tour. The quality of the guitarist's performances declined after he suffered a head injury on vacation in Fiji in April 2006, midway through the Bigger Bang tour.

The Stones gathered in a London studio in December and played together for the first time since the final night of the two-year Bigger Bang tour in August 2007. Making the occasion even more special, former bassist Bill Wyman sat in for the first time since he left in 1992. "We played a lot of blues and outtakes of 'Some Girls' and things like that," says Mick Jagger. "It went very well."

Adds Richards, "It was a very back-to-basics sort of session. There was a lot of jamming. On the third day, Mick turned up, which was a real joy. Because I set it up really as a magnet, you know."

Despite holding off on touring this year, the band is still buzzing from reuniting with Wyman. "We're back in touch, which is great, because I hadn't really spoken to him for years," says Richards. Will Wyman rejoin the group on the road in 2013? "I think he's up for it," Richards says. "We talked about it. I'll let you know when I can."

It would be cool to see the band with Wyman again. The article talks about the notion of the band setting up for 10 shows in New York, LA, London etc, to take the touring pressure off. Despite the fact that many fans would have to travel to shows, honestly the idea of them setting up camp in one town and playing a string of shows just makes sense. These guys have earned it.

Personally, I'd love to see the guys with Mick Taylor again, which has also been talked but but not in these recent reports. I have seen the Stones a few times and they are still solid live but for sure jumped the shark ages ago. Seeing Wyman back or Mick Taylor would juice it up for me. I guess we'll see.

Hopefully Keith is going to hang in there. When did the Stones jump the shark? For me it was after Tattoo You. How about you? Here is the band in its prime IMO:

DVD Review – The Rolling Stones – Some Girls Live In Texas ‘78

As the Stones ponder their 50th anniversary next year, they are re-kindling interest in the band by releasing a deluxe version of their 1978 album Some Girls, remastered (again) and with a full second album’s worth of songs rescued from the cutting room floor. I will review that release soon – but I’ll tell you now that it’s pretty great.

The group also issued a DVD shot in 16mm film of an intimate concert mid-way through the 1978 American tour that I have been watching pretty much non-stop for the past week, called Live In Texas ’78.

The Stones are in top form at this show. The film catches the band on probably its last tour before it got into the big shows with the over the top props and ramps into the audience and all of that. Here it’s a tight five piece with two keyboard players augmenting the sound. And while the band did do some stadiums on the 1978 tour, this show was at a 3,000-seat theater in Fort Worth, Texas.

The set list is exciting. They kick it off with Let It Rock by Chuck Berry and then slide into some older, familiar tunes like All Down the Line and Honky Tonk Women. But then they soon hit the new material, which was from the mostly punk-inspired Some Girls album. Here the band really hits its stride. Jagger straps on a Strat for When The Whip Comes Down and we see Keith cue the bridge when the time is right. Throughout the night, the Stones perform like they still have something to prove. And new band member Ronnie Wood has clearly added some fire to the lineup.

The band does seven of the ten songs on Some Girls, only omitting Lies, Before They Make Me Run and the title track. This is the last tour where they did so much new material live – and per a 2011 interview with Jagger in the DVD bonus goodies, this was unique even on this tour – they did all that new stuff on this night because it was a small show. A big highlight for me is the live version of Just My Imagination – not punk inspired, rather just groovy and rockin.

Despite the tightness of the group, the arrangements on many of the new songs are loose, with solo sections in different places than the album, and Jagger adding extra lines like in Miss You. In fact despite the fact that Miss You was the big single at the time, the song is pretty much an extended jam with Jagger again on guitar, so Keith and Woody take loads of solos, sometimes at the same time!

There is all sorts of shit in this film you’d never see in a concert film today, like a roadie mopping up a spilled drink by the drum riser during All Down The Line. And the hole on the ass of Jagger’s pants that is covered with duct tape during the first few songs but then is gone and it looks like his underwear is hanging out of the hole all night.

Or in Far Away Eyes, when Mick starts the song on piano but after a verse is having problems with it so he moves to the organ and just picks up where he left off. And…why are Bill Wyman’s middle two fingers bound together? That’s another weird little thing on this film. Regardless, he plays great. I always thought he was fairly mediocre but this music shows off his chops. Even on a slow burner like Beast of Burden his parts are moving and melodic. Good stuff.

Where the Ladies and Gentleman film from the Exile tour showcased Mick Taylor pretty much noodling through every song, this concert showcases the emerging guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Wood is rock solid and is just playing, instead of all the mugging he does these days.

In fact none of the band is mugging. Again, somewhere after this tour they became sort of caricatures of themselves in concert but here they are the real deal. Jagger’s voice is still in that really throaty mode, which he got out of later. It’s evident in Beast of Burden, which is a more aggressive delivery than on the album.

And let’s not forget Charlie Watts – rock solid and probably in his prime here.

After seven new songs in a row, the band shifts back to familiar ground with Love In Vain, an incendiary Tumblin Dice, another Chuck Berry cover, Happy (with Keith on vocal of course) and then the one-two punch of Brown Sugar and Jumpin Jack Flash.

The bonus tracks are interesting but probably only worth one viewing. The aforementioned Jagger interview is good. The band’s 1978 Saturday Night Live performance is on here – all three songs – and it’s just as I remember it. Terrible. The mix sucks, Jagger’s voice is gone and the performances are just poor overall. But Jagger and Dan Aykroyd doing a mock appearance on the Today show is a keeper.

You got a Stones fan you want to dazzle this Christmas? Get them this DVD, and Ladies and Gentlemen. They’ll love you forever.

Stones 50th Anniversary Plans Brewing? Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman Involved?

The Stones will celebrate 50 years in the biz next year and the rumor mill is churning with tidbits - will the band do a massive tour? Will they record?

Keith Richards has been the most vocal about it, from Rolling Stone Magazine: Keith Richards will meet fellow Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts in a London studio. "We're just going to play a little together, because we haven't played for three or four years," Richards says. "You don't necessarily want to rehearse or write anything – you just want to touch bases. That's a good start: me, Charlie and Ronnie. Mick's welcome, and I'm sure he'll turn up, but right now we just want to get our chops down."

OK, cool. But another string floating around is cooler - Richards has also invited Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman to consider getting ready for something.

He told Spinner in an interview: And of course everyone else is welcome. Mick Taylor's welcome. I don't see why everybody who was a Stone shouldn't be involved. I read somewhere else that Bill Wyman is at the ready for whatever transpires (can't find where I read it though!) Interesting since he gave up the band due to a loathing of touring.

Meanwhile, the Stones just re-issued Some Girls with 13 bonus/cleaned up tracks from the 1978 sessions, a-la the Exile on Main Street reissue. The band also put out a live concert film from the 1978 tour, called Live in Texas. I have the CD, and the concert DVD is in the mail - watch reviews soon. And while I think the Stones jumped the shark long ago, I'd be up for a concert with Mick Taylor, just to see him work with these guys again.

Keith Richards Gives Up Booze - World Ends Tomorrow

Like Kirstie Alley giving up food, Pete Doperty giving up being a train wreck or the human race giving up breathing air, I never thought I would ever, ever report that Keith Richards has given up booze.

I mean, I thought the dude's blood had been replaced with booze at least three decades ago. But The Sun has reported that Keith Richards has stopped drinking and has apparently been off the alcohol for four months.

A source has told The Sun, “He has always quite enjoyed the fact that he seemed to be able to carry on drinking as much as he liked with no real negative impact on his health.”

According to the story, what prompted Keith to jump on the wagon was seeing bandmate Ronnie Wood getting into drinking very heavily recently. That, and Woodie dating children as a result...

“He has watched Ronnie fall well and truly off the wagon last year and he doesn’t like what he sees. Plus he has started to feel for the first time like it might do him some good to give up the booze for a while.”

Wow. Well, OK. Good on ya Keith! Good luck man.

Next stop: Celebrity Rehab - That would be killer TV...

Keith Richards and the Core Values Fashion Line from Louis Vuitton

Filed in the 'what in the hell' category, Keith Richards has been announced as the new face of Louis Vuitton, French luxury fashion company

Fresh off of snorting his dead father's ashes and almost dying by falling three feet out of a coconut tree on the last Stones tour, Richards will head a campaign to promote the company’s Core Values range, which includes branded travel luggage and accessories.

OK...Yeah!

The Dirty Mac

In late 1968, The Rolling Stones decided to put on a concert event on a soundstage, invite a ton of the day's top musicians and film the whole thing for a movie. Jagger was the ringleader and of course The Stones closed the whole thing out with their own set. On paper, what a great idea! They called it The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

The trouble is, their set stunk. They had been up for days, ingesting all sorts of recreational fuel, and when it came time to take the stage, they put in a mediocre performance.

Other performers were not so unlucky, and, for example, The Who blew everyone away with their blazing rendition of A Quick One. This is the highlight, for me, of the band's The Kids Are Alright film, and I know many others share my opinion.

Another top performance was the supergroup put together by John Lennon, just for the event. Here we had Lennon on guitar and vocals, Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Keith Richards on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. He called the band "The Dirty Mac."

They did one song, "Yer Blues" from the White Album. As much as everyone loves The Beatles, this version totally slays the original. They did another little jam with Yoko but it's not really worth mention.

Lennon's live performances after The Beatles were pretty spotty. He put bands together very quickly for benefit concerts and did one off appearances, but I have never heard anything that really blew me away like the R&R Circus performance. He seems under rehearsed and even a bit nervous.

However, here he is fully confident. It's great to watch.

Needless to say, The Stones shelved the whole movie idea due to their lousy set, and none of this saw the light of day (except for the Who's Quick One) until The Stones decided to release the film on DVD almost 30 years later, in 1996.

The YouTube clip below starts with Lennon and Jagger having a pretty glazed chat. You can taste their huge egos here, and can sense their rivalry but also friendship. Then we get the full song. Enjoy.

Keith Richards - "Naw, I Was Just Kidding"

So this morning, the news is that Keith has retracted his statement that he ground up his dead father's cremated ashes and snorted them with cocaine in 2002 (see yesterday's post).

Too late!

Whether he did it or not, Keith just shot to the top of the list of rock and roll crazy crap, right past Ozzy biting dove's heads off, Ozzy snorting lines of ants off of the floor of Motley Crue's bus, Ozzy...well, anything to do with Ozzy. And also Nikki Sixx dying with a needle in his arm, coming back to life and shooting up again, Keith Moon driving cars into swimming pools, Joe Walsh cutting a hole between hotel rooms in LA with a chain saw. Keith blows by all of them (pun intended) with this, whether he really did it or not.

Right now, VH1 producers are updating their "100 Greatest Metal Moments" or whatever. God bless ya Keith! And yer dad.

Keith Richards: `I snorted my father'

If this wasn't Keith Richards, and it wasn't April 3, I would be certain this was an April Fools joke. Sadly it's not.

In a Yahoo News story that hit today, Keith says, "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared. It went down pretty well."

Awesome.