Real Time Thoughts on 121212 Concert for Hurricane Sandy

I tell ya, the way to watch the 121212 Sandy benefit concert is on DVR. You skip the hurricane montages and the Billy Crystal filler between sets and get right to what you want.

I actually skipped the first 30 minutes or so. Sorry but Springsteen has never done much for me, and his special guest Bon Jovi even less. Maybe it's because I have never had a true blue collar job and don't relate to the east coast but Bruce has never clicked for me. I'm sure he rocked and was a cool choice to open the event but I guess I'll never know!

So that means I jumped right to Roger Waters. Man, who invited him to this thing? I love Waters and Floyd but if you wanted uplifting, you weren't going to get it here!

He opens with In The Flesh, which is very in your face, then continuing to tell the MSG that we don't need no education. Money and Us and Them are totally aimed at the politicians in attendance and viewing around the world. Maybe not the most appropriate cause at which to get on the soapbox but it was pretty cool.

My only problem with Roger Waters' band doing Dark Side stuff is that Waters doesn't sing on any of it, so it's a bit of a tribute band situation. Those two songs didn't do much for me.

The closer, Comfortably Numb, was good. Eddie Vedder guested to sing the choruses and was excellent. But the whole thing was too heavy for the cause if you ask me.

Next up we had Adam Sandler with Paul Shaffer between sets doing a silly version on Hallelujah that was more appropriate to the cause than Waters' whole set, which says a lot!

Bon Jovi was up next. Skipped most of it. Again, not super into him but Richie Sambora sounded good.

Next up was Clapton, who walked out with a nylon string guitar and sat down. I thought oh no holy shit bossa nova Layla. But no, it was a sweet version of Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out.

Then a drummer and bass player joined and Clapton picked up his Strat for a funky version of Got To Get Better in a Little While. Nice to see Clapton in a three piece that isn't Cream, and his solo was absolutely off the hook. Next was a jumpy version of Crossroads. The whole set was really stripped down, blues-based jamming. It was cool. Could have as easily been in a bar!

I generally think he is over rated but truth is, Clapton really shines at events like this where he can hand pick four or five tunes that he can really own. But I did think, why didn't Clapton get up with Waters and rip a solo on something? He did lay down sweet leads all over Waters' Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking way back when, but oh well...

The Stones followed. I was pretty excited to see this based on their recent UK and US shows. Interesting set list and decent playing. The opener was really surprising! You Got Me Rockin from Voodoo Lounge. But slower and more groovy, like almost everything I heard on YouTube from those other concerts. The only other song they played was a super slowed down Jumpin Jack Flash.

Two songs? Total tease. But Jagger was tremendous. Still skinny, slinky and jerky, and his voice sounded strong as ever. Woodie sounded great. Had all the licks down. Pretty mellow onstage now that he's sober but gets the job done. Charlie is rock solid but as noted, slower. And fucking Keith. He is absolutely ancient. Shit they all are but somehow it works.

Next up was the first artist who wasn't between the age of 48 and 70. Alicia Keys, born in New York in 1981. I don't know much about her but she played three songs on piano and she was awesome. Fantastic voice, no autotune bullshit. Real singing and real playing. She was also so far the only NY-born artist, which helped her connect with the audience when she asked the whole MSG to put their lit cellphones in the air. Her generation's version of the lighter I guess...

Then it was time to roll out more oldies, with The Who. Wasn't sure I'd dig them or not. Lots of shark jumping lately for example their atrocious Super Bowl appearance. But The Who owned it. From the opening synth of Who Are You they slayed it with reckless abandon. Second song: Bell Boy from Quadrophenia. Are you kidding me? Epic! Using films of Keith from the 1973 tour for his vocal parts was brilliant.

I could have done without Pinball Wizard (ever again) but Baba O'Rielly was on fire (much because of drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino) and Love Rein O'er Me was a surprise electric finish (no Fooled Again) but it worked. The tempo was a little slower, so it was kind of brooding and Daltry really brought it. Daltry and Townshend wrapped it up with an acoustic Tea and Theatre, a newer gentle, introspective tune I have come to enjoy.

So I thought The Who stole the show to this point. Yeah, Daltry's voice has had it and he looks a bit like William Shatner up there, but Pete windmilled away, ripped some blazing leads and sawed at his guitar, while Starkey and Palladino channelled their best Moon and Entwistle. So The Who do six songs and the Stones do two. Weird.

How do you follow up The Who? You don't bother trying so you put Kanye West onstage. Who gives a fuck? Fast forward after 29 seconds. Take fast forward off to see what I am missing and hear Kanye's voice through auto tune. Really? Oh forget it...

How do you make up for that shit? Billy Joel? Close my eyes and his voice sounds exactly the same as it always has. Fantastic! Dude hasn't put out an album in 17 or 18 years but an still bring it at an event like this. Joel is a bit of an anomaly to me. Have a Merry Little Christmas into New York State of Mind was a nice touch. Closing with You May Be Right and Only The Good Die Young was cool.

I have never thought Billy Joel was very legit but over the years he had stuck through it and now has earned a bit of respect. Kind of like Neil Diamond. I dunno maybe I am smoking crack. He was good at this event.

Next up was Chris Marin from Coldplay on an acoustic guitar for some reason. Damn is his stuff singable. He did Viva La Vida and then dragged out Michael Stipe for Losing My Religion. Was pretty cool, actually!

Then the closer was supposed to be Paul McCartney and I feared for my sanity at hearing that dreadful song of his, Freedom. But no, he showed up playing Kurt Cobain in a reformed Nirvana.

Well, first he played some stuff with his usual absolutely killer, rocking band: Helter Skelter, Let Me Roll It, 1985, a new tune called My Valentine, and Blackbird.

But then here we go. No lie. Dave Grohl on drums. Recluse bassist Krist Novoselic. First guitarist Pat Smear. And McCartney. Huh? Did it work? Yeah!

But it was weird! Reminded me of McCartney's side project The Fireman. Dave Grohl plays harder than McCartney's usual drummer, if that is possible. Novoselic looked uncomfortable and strange. McCartney was playing some boxy looking slide guitar thing. The new song co-written by the Nirvana folks and McCartney was called Cut Me Some Slack or something like that. It totally rocked but then it was back to normal and McCartney played I've Got A Feeling and a few others to close it out with Live And Let Die. The Nirvana tune should have been the end. But what are ya gonna do?

All in all a hell of an event and lineup. Jagger said it best when he said this has got to be the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled in Madison Square Garden!

As with most of these events, there were loads of celebs answering phones and talking between bands. Nothing much to call out except when did Chelsea Clinton get semi-hot?

Here is the McNirvana tune:

Stones, The Who, McCartney, Roger Waters, Springsteen to Rock MSG for Hurricane Sandy

I would be crucified for suggesting there is an upside to horrible tragic events like 9-11 and Hurricane Sandy, but New York tragedies do tend to lead to the most killer all-star charity concerts.

Take tonight, where the 12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy cranks up at 7:30 p.m. ET, with this crazy all-star cast: Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Chris Martin of Coldplay. I am sure there will be guests too.

Some of the pre-event buzz says that Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl will do some kind of a duet, and Roger Waters told Jimmy Fallon last night that he’d be closing with Comfortably Numb with the assistance of a special guest, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. That will be pretty cool.

My kid has his Christmas program tonight – I really have to tell the school to consult with my rock and roll calendar before booking shit – so it’ll be DVR all the way for me!

Here is the full video from Waters’ interview on Fallon last night. Fallon is always so freaked out by Waters, it’s funny! Hulu won’t let me embed the video but you can see it here.

Mick Taylor Slays Midnight Rambler with the Rolling Stones

OK here it is - thanks to jeffou67 on YouTube - the full glory of Midnight Rambler live from the O2 with Mick Taylor.

First up, it's odd when Mick Taylor is the most animated musician on the stage (Jagger excepted). Where back in the day, Taylor would stand in the back and rip leads, here he is literally chasing Jagger around the stage, trying to get his attention and mug it up a little.

Jagger is having nothing to do with it, but it's cool to see the Mick's jostle for the spotlight. Keith and Ronnie are content to chill with Charlie and let Taylor do his thing.

The playing? Very nice. The sound guys have to sort out some shit at the front end, but soon Taylor can hear himself and is laying down tasty licks like in the old days. There a few clams, but overall the performance underscores why the Mick Taylor era is the quintessential Stones era for many, including me.

I am really glad they are doing this again on Tuesday night, because I bet it will be tighter. One suggestion though - dude, lose the hoodie!

Here it is in all of it's raw glory:

Stones Dig Deep for First Full 50th Anniversary Concert; Jeff Beck, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman Guest

The Stones have just played their first full-length arena concert of its 50th anniversary tour. This is less than 12 hours old, so I am sure more video and details will emerge, but the just-posted video of Jeff Beck playing the old tune I'm Goin Down with the Stones is pretty amazing.

The posting party is not allowing people to embed the video, so check it out here. (Keith's solo is pretty good too).

As expected, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor also sat in. I will post video of that as I find it. Here is the full set list - pretty cool first half! Some real untouched gems there:

I Wanna Be Your Man (first live performance since 1964)
Get Off of My Cloud
It's All Over Now
Paint It Black
Gimme Shelter (with Mary J. Blige)
Wild Horses
All Down the Line
I'm Going Down (with Jeff Beck)
Out of Control
One More Shot
Doom and Gloom
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (with Bill Wyman)
Honky Tonk Women (with Bill Wyman)
Before They Make Me Run
Happy
Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
Miss You
Start Me Up
Tumbling Dice
Brown Sugar
Sympathy for the Devil

Encore:
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Jumpin' Jack Flash

Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman to Join Rolling Stones in London

According to Classic Rock Magazine, former Rolling Stones Bill Wyman (bass) and Mick Taylor (guitar) will join the band as special guests when the Stones play this month at the O2 Arena on Sunday, November 25 and Thursday, November 29.

This is truly exciting news, because I love both of these guys' playing. Certainly the Mick Taylor era was the hands-down best era for the Stones. It will be interesting to see how he fits in all these years later.

Taylor's role was always to tastefully noodle throughout the band's repertoire live. They even gave him two solos in some songs, such as Love In Vain (video below).

I hope he gets to play at least a couple of songs per night.

By the way, I have DVR'd the HBO Stones bio Crossfire Hurricane and hope to check it out this weekend. I'll let you all know what I think.

Stones Roll In Paris Club Gigs to Warm Up for 50th Anniversary

The Stones are starting to do surprise one-off club gigs in Europe as part of the band's 50th anniversary gear-up. They have done two shows so far – last night and last Thursday, both in Paris.

The set lists lean a little on the ‘classic’ side for me. I seriously never need to hear You Can’t Always Get What You Want live ever again. But some of the other tunes: All Down The Line, You Got Me Rocking, Tumblin’ Dice, Miss You, and the new Doom And Gloom are keepers. And I can never hear enough Midnight Rambler!

Recent word is that Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor may take part in the four large shows that are booked in London’s O2 Arena on November 25 and 26, and New Jersey’s Prudential Center on December 13 and 15. That would be very cool to see as long as they still have their chops!

I am not sure how much this short official video from the first club show last week has been doctored, but it sounds pretty good to me. Usually I don't like it so much when bands that are on the older side slow their tempos way down (for example, Yes), but this songs works a bit slower, I think! What do you think?

New Rolling Stones Tune - Doom and Gloom

The Stones put out a new song today - one of the two new ones set to appear on the band's umpteenth greatest hits package, called Grrr!, out November 12.

The song, called Doom and Gloom is below. My friends like it. They think it's a strong Mick performance. I'd agree with that. He sounds good. Maybe re-doing cutting floor songs from Exile and Some Girls got him in touch with his 70s self.

Or maybe since he and Keith are patched up after Keith's tell-all book, Mick's feeling good.

The production is nicely stripped down but I don't know - it's not totally kicking my ass. What do you think?

Two Rock Films Worth Watching Out For - Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin

Who of my faithful readers doesn't enjoy a good rock and roll documentary or concert film? Well, you'll be happy to know that two doozies are coming our way.

Led Zeppelin just held a press conference this week where they announced the official CD and DVD release of the one-off 2007 reunion concert held in London.

There have been scads of stories about what the band said and didn't say. One of the better ones is this ClassicRock.com article on 10 reasons why Zeppelin won't reunite ever again.

You can go to LedZeppelin.com to check out the various packaging of the CD and DVD of the show. Me? Give me the one with the full concert and backstage extras, if it exists.

But to me the coolest news is that the main film of the concert, called Celebration Day, will be shown on the big screen on Wednesday October 17 (one night only) around the world.

You can find theaters in your area at Zep's website too. And dig the movie trailer:



The other film coming out soon is on the Rolling Stones, and is more of an official documentary of the band, celebrating its 50 year anniversary.

Announced in late August, the film is called Crossfire Hurricane. It will also run in theaters but only in London, and then will show on HBO in November.

Here is the trailer, which just posted yesterday:

Rolling Stones Open Bootleg Archive

The Rolling Stones are making some of their most popular bootlegged shows from the 70s and 80s available for $5 a pop at http://www.stonesarchive.com.

So far there are only three available but you'd be hard pressed to find better recorded live Stones gigs outside of Get Yer Ya Ya's Out.

The oldest is from October 1973 and is called The Brussels Affair.

This is a hot night on the Goats Head Soup tour so we get mainly classic Mick Taylor era tunes like Brown Sugar, Rip This Joint, Street Fighting Man, Happy, Tumblin Dice and one of the most raw and vibrant versions of Midnight Rambler to grace the transom.

You can hear Jagger grunting through the harmonica as he rips out heavy distorted blues riffs, and the speedy jam section is proof of why the Stones were once rated as once of the best live bands out there.

Of course we get incredibly underrated Goats Head Soup material as well. Dancing With Mr D live? Get the hell outa here!

The band actually played (and recorded) two shows on this day in Brussels. This release is the best songs from both gigs. But you can find bootlegs of both shows (search for 'The Complete Brussels Affair') and it's cool to hear the two complete concerts with different set lists.

The second release is from a Los Angeles gig in 1975 and is from the tail end of Ronnie Wood's first tour with the band. This is the tour where they had a bunch of side guys on horns and percussion and also Billy Preston was with them.

You can hear live versions of a lot of these songs on Love You Live from the same tour but because the band didn't know they were being recorded in LA for official release, these versions on the bootleg are more raw and real.

The guitar interplay between Richards and Ron Wood is much tighter. It's like one guitar player, really. Very intertwined. Where Mick Taylor did more soloing over Keith's groove.

Having listened to a lot of Love You Live growing up, it's interesting to hear the songs the Stones played on this tour that were left off that album, like All Down The Line, Angie, an almost eight minute very bluesy Wild Horses and of course Gimmie Shelter. Cool to hear Wood's take on Taylor's parts.

This release, called LA Friday, was really recorded at a Sunday concert. You get the whole thing here - 25 songs including two Billy Preston tunes from when they'd turn the spotlight on him briefly each night.

After this tour the band went to Paris to record Some Girls, so you can imagine the group getting tighter every night on this tour, gearing up for that.

The third release is from the 1982 tour where the Stones officially jumped the shark for me and became a stadium band with huge props and stages and balloons and shit.

Still worth a listen but my least favorite of the bunch.

Mick and Keith talk about these bootlegs in the below videos from the band. As usual Keith has better things to say.

His thoughts on Mick Taylor versus Ronnie Wood and his own role playing with each is really telling. He has great respect for both guitarists and of course has really unique perspectives on each. Some great sound bites there. Enjoy!

One caveat on actually getting these releases off the web: the experience of downloading these songs is not seamless. The Stones partnered with Google in the U.S. and the process of pulling the songs off the Web is not as intuitive as iTunes. Not a deal breaker but something to note.

I had all of these shows on unofficial bootlegs and the sound is far superior as expected on these official releases. In some cases there are more songs and a different order. It's nice to hear these as the Stones meant them to be heard. I hope they continue to issue more shows. At $5 a pop I'd probably buy them all!

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.

Former and Current Stones Jam at Ian Stewart Tribute

I heard on the radio today that former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor announced intent to write a memoir book a la Keith Richards' book Life.

Taylor told BANG Showbiz,"I kind of loved it. I loved it and I hated it. The more successful the Stones became the more seriously they took themselves. I jot down my memories all the time and have done for years in case I ever lose my mind. I don't want to write the kind of book that will shock people, about the scandals, sex, drugs and rock and roll because Keith's done that with his book."

I would love a book by Taylor on his years in the band - their most prolific period by far. But then he said, "It's a hard book to write. My time will come but it's not yet."

So is he writing it or not? I dunno. So I dug around some more and found this far more interesting gem:

Examiner.com reports that Taylor joined Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood onstage at a tribute to the Stones' late pianist and co-founder Ian Stewart. The story goes:

What may be the closest thing to a Rolling Stones concert in 2011 happened on March 9 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. As previously reported in this column, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman were rumored to perform at a tribute concert in honor the late Ian Stewart, who was an original member of the Rolling Stones. That rumor turned out to be true, and former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor was also part of the all-star event (consisting of two separate concerts in the same evening), which was billed as a Ben Waters show "with special guests.

What? Holy shit. And YouTube, being the second most popular search engine on the planet, of course has front row video for your edification:



Footnote - the author of the article, Carla Hay, who has interviewed all past and current Stones? I knew her in high school. Oh Carla, I knew you way back when! You've come a long way, baby! Ha ha ha.

The Stones' Gimmie Shelter Deconstructed

My friend Nedmusic turned me onto this incredible breakdown of the Stones' classic 1969 song Gimmie Shelter. Someone has been able to isolate the vocals, rhythm guitar, second guitar/piano, bass and drums into five separate tracks. It's breathtaking to hear all the parts broken out like this. Spend some time checking this out if you dig the Stones - unreal.

Also credit must be given to the original Dangerous Minds post, where all of this came from.

Vocals (Mick Jagger and Merry Clayton):


Keith Richards' main guitar. Note the interesting punch ins and outs of Keith's licks to compensate for the fact that this is probably a four-track recording!


Charlie Watts' drum part plus percussion:


Bill Wyman bass:


Keith's second guitar and Nicky Hopkins' piano (at the moment it looks like this one has been taken down by YouTube):

DVD Review - Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones

The Stones are like cockroaches - they seem to have been around forever and just won't die. Despite the fact that their last truly great album was put out in 1981.

But every few years they churn out a new collection of tunes and hit the road to smash touring records yet again. There are glimmers of greatness - the Shine A Light movie for example has some really cool moments. And if their recent albums were pared down from 15 tracks to the 10 strongest, they'd be pretty good.

But honestly, the band jumped the shark once Keith cleaned up. Coincidence? No idea but I am reading his autobiography and we'll see if I can glean any tidbits for you all.

My favorite era of the Stones is the Mick Taylor era. So I was majorly geeked to get the recently released Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, a concert film from the 1972 Exile on Main Street tour.

This DVD reminds me of why I fell in love with the band in the first place. Charlie and Keith are the tightest rhythm section around. Bill Wyman pumps out some great bass lines. Jagger is at his full-throated screaming pilled-up best. But the real star of the show is Mick Taylor, who basically solos throughout every song, adding those tasty, tasty licks that seem so effortless but add incredibly to the music.

Highlights are the roughly 10-minute Midnight Rambler, Tumbling Dice, Gimmie Shelter and an unreal version of Love In Vain. In his book, Keith talks about how the young pre-fame Stones just wanted to 'be black guys' and play the blues. Later of course they got into other areas but the blues was always their fallback, and Love In Vain is top of the pile here. It does not hurt that Taylor gets two solos - one one slide and one not.

Even tracks like Dead Flowers - a song that seems like a bit of a novelty on the studio release - shine, as Keith and Mick share the mic for the harmonies and Taylor adds tasty leads throughout.

The bonus features include the band rehearsing stuff from Exile to get ready for the tour. That is worth the price of this DVD alone. Unreal.

Watching this DVD made me reach back into the bootleg community and score copies of live shows from 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976. There are some real gems out there, people. This band was tight in the 70s, despite the stories of addiction and debauchery. Especially look for the March 1971 Leeds, the October 1973 Brussels, and the July 1972 Madison Square Garden shows. All very good.

And get this damn DVD - it's great! Here is a clip:

Bold Prediction: Mick Taylor Will Re-join The Stones

Running on the treadmill tonight listening to the remastered Exile on Main Street, a bunch of random tidbits of information coalesced in my mind and I had a eureka moment that I needed to share with everyone. It's a little far-fetched, or is it? Here is my bold prediction:

The Rolling Stones will get back together with guitarist Mick Taylor, will ditch Ronnie Wood, and will tour playing Exile On Main Street in its entirety.

My rationale? Dig it:

--Exile On Main Street is #1 on the charts this week and there is currently a great interest in the Mick Taylor era of the band (1969-1974). This has always been called the Stones' most creative period, and much of the credit goes to Taylor's tasty and fluid lead and slide playing. It is the Stones' first #1 album in 16 years.
--Mick Jagger had Taylor come to the studio to lay some leads down on the new Stones single from the Exile bonus tracks, Plunder My Soul (video below).
--Keith Richards in a recent Rolling Stone interview said "If I had my way, Mick Taylor would still be in the band."
--Ron Wood has been off the deep end for more than two years, falling off the wagon and splitting up with his long-time wife Jo in exchange for a 21 year old Russian girl, who he later was accused of assaulting. Too extreme even for the Stones, Keith reportedly was trying to cut down on his drinking and partying after he saw how low Wood had fallen. That to me says a lot. Respect for Woody lost?
--Wood just this week is reportedly in a reunited version of the Faces, his pre-Stones band fronted by Rod Stewart. New gig for Woody.
--Rumors of Ronnie's departure from the Stones heated up when the band's official Web site changed his bio's status in the band from 'ongoing' to '1976-2010.' (It has since been fixed)
--Mick Taylor isn't doing anything right now.

OK yes I am crazy but think about the show. I predict they would do theaters, and play Exile along with other Mick Taylor material. Think of the the set list: Exile On Main Street (all 18 songs), Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses, Moonlight Mile, Stray Cat Blues, Dead Flowers, Heartbreaker, Angie, Time Waits for No One, It's Only Rock And Roll, If You Can't Rock Me, 100 Years Ago, Dancing With Mr D. Need I go on? I have a boner just thinking about this.

Pair that with the fact that bands playing their classic albums all the way through is also very hot right now. Everyone from Springsteen to Rush are doing this.

Well, time will tell but remember you saw it here first! What do you think?

Plunder My Soul, from the Exile bonus tracks:

CD Review - Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Reissue

Even though Exile on Main Street is my favorite Stones release hands down, I had not heard the album all the way through in quite some time. Growing up, I used to practice playing leads to this album, since almost all the songs are in the same key (A), and I could practice my Pentatonic scales to almost all of it. To this day, when someone throws a song at me that goes from A to D, all my Exile licks come out!

Exile is a bit of a weird choice of albums to remaster and repackage since its beauty is how gritty the thing is – among other things, the album is notorious for being recorded in Keith Richards' basement when the band was living in France as tax exiles in the early 70s. The basement had no ventilation or natural light and was basically a total shithole. The tales of drug use and debauchery, while probably exaggerated, go hand in hand with the basement legend.

But this remastered version is crisp and certainly benefited from digital transfer with modern technology, just like The Beatles remasters from last year.

Regarding this grittiness, when you get down to it only about half of the 18 tracks were recorded in Keith’s basement, and all the vocals were laid down in L.A. But this just shows that it’s not necessarily the place, but the general vibe of the band that is etched on this release. The album embodies blues based rock and roll and also seeps with a druggy undertone and groovy rawness. Is it Charlie’s slinky beats? Mick Taylor’s shimmering slide parts? Keith’s thin, creepy backup vocals or grungy rhythm guitar? Or is it Mick Jagger, who vacillates between a full bore coke-induced jittery screaminess (Rip This Joint, All Down The Line) and downer induced lethargy (Torn and Frayed, I Just Want To See His Face)?

I dunno. It might be the guest musicians who push it over the top. Billy Preston on organ, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Bobby Keys, sax. Those guys add as much to the vibe as the rest of the Stones. Anyway, if you have not grooved on this album in a long time (or – gasp – ever!), you owe it to yourself to do so stat.

The bonus CD of 10 unreleased tracks from the sessions is pretty cool. New old Stones. New songs Alive and Kicking, and Plunder My Soul are both worthy of inclusion on Exile, despite the fact that the vocals were clearly recorded this year, not 40 years ago. But the music is swampy and gritty, with dirty harmonica, honking baritone sax and barroom piano.

The other new songs (I’m Not Signifying, Following the River, Dancing In The Light, So Divine) are OK but you can see why they were left off the original album release. I’m Not Signifying has some sweet slide guitar and dirty blues harp interplay over a slow bluesy shuffle that never really seems to lock until the end when slightly out of key New Orleans-esque horns come in and Charlie moves to the ride.

Following the River sounds like the not quite as developed bastard cousin of Shine A Light – music is better than the lyrics here but nothing really special until, again, the band kicks it up at the end of the song. Dancing In The Light is a pretty good upbeat tune with all sorts of snapping Telecaster leads. I could hear this one of the original release but they probably ran out of space, and it meanders a bit. So Divine starts out with a variation of the Paint It Black lick and carries on for four and a half more minutes. Snooore.

Then we get to the alternate takes of Loving Cup and Soul Survivor. Loving Cup is much slower and frankly sounds like an outtake from Beggars Banquet, which is a very good thing. Killer to hear this. Soul Survivor is also a real gem, with Keith taking the lead vocals here, singing totally different lyrics from Mick’s version on the original album. Kind of a trip.

The next tune, Good Time Women, is a working version of Tumblin Dice and has the signature lick in the chorus. Very cool tune that reminds me of Taj Mahal for some reason. The final song, Title 5, is short and sweet and is almost like the Stones doing a surf shuffle instrumental. A bit of an offshoot of Rip This Joint, but not as good.

My Best Buy version came with a second bonus CD with audio interviews from all the Stones on the album (Jagger, Watts, Richards, Taylor and Bill Wyman and nothing from Ron Wood). Truth be told I bought this release partly for this disc so I could hear the band share their stories of the album (esp Taylor and Wyman who are no longer in the band). In retrospect, it's interesting but not a must-have.

Overall, the re-issue sounds fantastic and provides enough solid bonus material to make this a must-have for fans of rock and roll and certainly fans of Mick and da boyz. Get it!

Bill Wyman Is Next Bass Player To Be Erased

There was a lot of controversy a few years ago when Van Halen reunited without bass player Michael Anthony and the band erased Anthony's image from thumbnails of the band's original albums on its Web site, going so far as replacing him with photos of Van Halen's son Wolfgang who took his place.

Now the Stones have pulled a VH. On the band's Rarities CD (which was released a few years ago truth be told), the band abused Photoshop to make Bill Wyman disappear from the cover, despite the fact that he was in the band during most of the period the CD music was recorded (1971-2003).

It took five years for anyone to notice but according to this story people are enraged this week.

Check out the side by side below. The story notes that they did a crappy job of deleting Wyman, leaving his bass cable in the shot!

Why on the hell do bands do this kind of stuff? The worst offense is Ozzy Obsourne (Sharon, really) being so angry at original bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake that she had the masters of the classic Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of A Madman replaced with newer musicians. I am so glad I have those on vinyl because all the CDs I have ever seen have the new guys on it and the magic is gone. Talk about the Original Sin. Ugh.

Mick Taylor Torn and Frayed

Once in a while there is an article about an old rocker that is so weird it makes you turn your head and say "whaaa?" For example, 70s Lennon clone Gerry Rafferty allegedly vanished last year and the rumor mill heated up that he went MIA two days after checking himself into a hospital due to liver disease. People thought he was abducted or took off to go die in peace in a hole somewhere. According to an update on his Wikipedia entry, he's doing just fine thank you.

But yesterday another weirdo story caught my eye - this time an article about former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, indicating he is for the most part broke due to the Stones not paying him any royalties since 1982. There are photos of his dilapidated house and old moss covered car etc. I guess the club circuit keeps him alive but that's it. No side career as a painter like Ronnie Wood or Paul Stanley as a "fall-back."

If true, this is a travesty. Whether or not Mick is the sharpest tool in the shed or best businessman in the music biz (he's not) aside, his playing on the Stones' albums from 1968 to 1974 is glorious and without him, albums like Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll would not be nearly as staying. And he should be paid for it, like everybody else.

His slide work on stuff like Dancing With Mr D is epic, and his soloing on classics like Time Waits for No One is, well, timeless.

As I loved KISS for Ace Frehley, I love those Stones albums for Mick Taylor's playing.

According to the article, Taylor was written out of his royalties share when the Stones changed labels in 1982, and he never bothered to sue to fix the slight (see 'not the best businessman' above). That plus battling drug issues off and on over the years have taken its toll, and his photo in the article was a bit of a shocker.

I saw Mick Taylor at Slim's in San Francisco in the 90s and he was pretty good. He did the exact same set twice for some reason (must have thought it was an early and late show and didn't notice all the people in the audience were the same), but he was still good.

The article is also a bit of a tell-all (I hope he got paid for it), and an interesting read. I do feel badly for him but it really just makes me want to listen to some old Stones, which of course will only make Mick and Keith richer. Hmmm...

RIP Allen Klein - I Guess

With all the celeb deaths in the last two weeks - Farrah Fawcett, The Gloved One, Billy Mays, Karl Malden, Steve McNair etc, a pretty big one got glossed over - Allen Klein.

Klein was the famous New York businessman who managed business affairs for the Rolling Stones and later The Beatles - hosing both groups in the end.

He is one of the many reasons for the rift between Paul McCartney and the other Beatles that hastened the band's end. Later, the other three Beatles said Paul was right and they never should have signed on with Klein. Oh well...

Read the Wikipedia entry for the gory details of all his various business noodlings, but for now, dig the take on Klein from the Beatles parody movie The Rutles. Klein is played by John Belushi and his two henchmen are SNL writers Tom Davis and Minnesota Senator Al Franken (whaaaa?):