Part of our ticket package for the Rolling Stones was some swag that would be sent after the show. It got here today! [jumping up and down] I had no idea what was in the box until I opened it up and saw Grrregory staring out at me. I said, “Ooooo!” There are hardback programs, collectible laminates on lanyards, (those will be going in the shadowbox!), tote bags (at least one new grocery bag for badass rock and roll grocery-shopping me...the other one might be going in the shadowbox), and two knit blankets. I’m not sure the programs sold at the show were hardback programs, so these are SWEET. Beautiful, glossy photos, and it was so cool to see the photo that is the one on the Mick t-shirt I got at the concert! I’m really glad I chose that shirt! Gorgeous...I want to reedus him. heehee I spread the blanket out on the living room floor and posted a picture of it on Facebook. I said, “I want to roll around on it!” and our friend Russ asked, “Naked?” Bahaha! I said, “Hush, Russ.” Ken and I cracked up later when Sheeba checked out the tongue blanket and proceeded to give himself a tongue bath on the tongue. So meta. That’s my kitty! I said that I’m gonna walk around here wearing this em-effin’ blanket like a cape this winter!
Again, no regrets. It was a fantastic concert, my favorite concert ever, and a wonderful memory with my best friend. Opening up this box and seeing all the Stones swag was a fun moment and a great reminder of the show, and it brought a big smile to my face. It was like Christmas morning at Nutwood today! You can count on me walking around here this winter with that rug on my shoulders like Mick’s flag cape here. I’ll serenade Sheeba and do my Jagger moves. I won’t slam anyone in the face with my guitar, though. Ha!
The Rolling Stooooooones! Damn, Skippy, that was one helluva show. But I’m getting ahead of myself. [click on any picture to embiggenate] This is going to be a long one, so brace yourselves! As we were getting ready to leave here on Friday, I had an email from Rolling Stone (the magazine). I had sent them an email about their cover story on the Stones, and they said they were planning on publishing it in their Letters section, and they wanted to confirm I was who I said I was, and that I am from where I said I was from. How perfect was that?? I’m heading out to see the Rolling Stones, and Rolling Stone is going to publish my letter about the Rolling Stones! So meta. I’ll post it here when it comes out. Our drive up to Chicago was fun, with lots of Stones being blasted on the CD player and lots of seat dancing from me. Unfortunately, I was also singing, so poor Ken had to put up with that! But he’s a good sport, and he knew how fired up I was. The party ground to a halt about five miles away from the hotel as traffic slowed to a crawl. It took us almost an hour to go five miles! I love Chicago, but man, I’d hate to have to drive in that every day. We finally got to the hotel and settled in. Whoa, nice digs! We had an executive suite, so there was plenty of room, and holy shit, look at that view! Overlooking the Chicago River, seeing the boats and surrounded by beautiful skyscrapers. I am in you, Chicago, and I love you! We got a little more pumped up by playing some Stones on the ‘puter, then it was time to head out. Our first destination was the Billy Goat Tavern for a bite to eat. The Billy Goat is famous for being the place that inspired the “Saturday Night Live” skit “Cheeseboorger, cheeseboorger, Pepsi, no Coke!” They even have it listed on the overhead menu that way. The place was total chaos, full of Stones fans going to the show, and Stones songs blaring overhead. It was so packed that someone said to just look for a couple of empty seats at a table and ask people if you could join them, so we did exactly that. Turns out that we sat with some really cool and fun people. Laura was from San Francisco, and this was her 61st time seeing the Stones! Wow, I thought I was a huge fan! I forget where her friend Steve was from, but he was super nice, too, and we had a really nice chat. He said there’s a group of them from all over the country who connected online and meet up for shows, and they’ve known each other for years. How cool is that? There were a couple of Keith Richards look-alikes, and that was kind of fun and maybe a little bit weird. But hey, it’s cool. Everyone was having a great time, and the vibe was very friendly and you could tell that people were pumped up. I started having a feeling that it was going to be a great show. The cheeseboorgers were mediocre, at best, but the atmosphere was crazy and fun! I probably won’t go back, but I’m glad I can say that I’ve been there now! It was so packed and so hard to get a beer and get in and out of the chairs at the table that we decided to head closer to the United Center and see if we could find another place to have a beverage. We found a place called the Arrow, and although it was fairly busy, it wasn’t too bad and we had no problem getting a table. It was also full of Stones fans, and the place was playing Stones songs overhead. More good vibes from people, everyone looking happy and excited. Oh yeah, this was gonna be a great show! There was a couple at the table to our left, and I noticed her lace t-shirt and thought it was really cute. A lady at the bar saw my Stones t-shirt and said, “Are you going?” I said, “Oh yeah!” and gave her two thumbs up. Later on, on my way back from the bathroom, I stopped to say hi, and we chatted a bit. Turns out she was from Memphis, and I told her we love that city and had a great weekend there. This was their first time away from their kids for over a year, or something like that, so she seemed super excited to be here for the weekend and to be seeing the Stones. She seemed really sweet, and I said it was nice talking to her and I hoped she had a great time at the show. A little later, she hopped off of her barstool, stumbling a little bit, and came over to us to chat some more. More talk about how we were excited for the show, and I think I asked her if she was liking Chicago. She said, “Yeah, but there are so many FOREIGNERS here.” I looked blankly at her. She went on. “I mean, all the Mexicans. Back home, we’ve got lots of African-Americans—and I’m being nice here. Let’s just say it’s very DARK there.” I was so shocked that I really couldn’t say much for a moment. She said, “I’m scared at home. But I’m not scared in Chicago.” It was the most bizarre and offensive thing I’ve heard in a long time. I finally found my voice and said, “Well, we love everybody.” I think Ken reiterated that. That seemed to stop her from going on, and she moved away. I turned to Ken and was like, “Holy shit!” She had seemed like such a sweet person, and to hear that just spewing out of her mouth was actually shocking to me. I know that racism is far from gone, but it’s still astonishing to hear. She’s lucky I was in a super good mood about seeing the Stones, because my response was a kind one (although I think I made it obvious how I felt). If she’d caught me on a bad day, she’d still be reeling from the encounter. We made our way over to the United Center, got beverages, got some swag (I’ll post a pic of my t-shirt when I wear it for the first time...it’s very cool!), and found our seats. The crowd seemed (baby won’t you keep me) happy and excited. Our seats seemed even better than we thought they would be. The stage was in the shape of the famous Stones lips and tongue logo, with the center of the tongue open and with seating (the “Tongue Pit”). We were in Row 12 outside the edge of the tongue, on the right side, but it seemed like we weren’t that far away—it looked like less than twelve rows from that part of the stage. Anyway, they were pretty good seats, and we knew we’d have a good view of the guys when they moved out to the outer edge of the tongue. We asked the guy sitting next to us to take our picture in front of the stage, and his wife soon joined us. She looked familiar—or at least her shirt did—and I said, “Were you guys sitting next to us in the bar?” She said yes, that was them! How wild! We ended up having a really nice chat. Georgina and Ian are originally from the UK, and have lived in the Chicago suburbs for I think they said twelve years now. Very nice people, and it was fun to talk with them! We mentioned the crazy bigot lady at the bar, and Georgina laughed and said, “We saw that exchange, and then your face afterwards! I told Ian that that woman talking to you must be drunk, because your face was like ‘oh my god.’” We cracked up and I said, “Yeah, I’m not known for my poker face!” They were very pleasant companions as we all waited for the Stones to take the stage. Good grief, this entry is already long, and I’m not even to the show part yet! I shall forge ahead. I’m getting to the music part, I promise! They were probably 45 minutes late taking the stage, but no one really seemed to mind. No one got angry or ugly. There was honestly such a feeling of excitement and joy among the crowd. It was such a great vibe! I’d imagine that that is the kind of crowd a band loves to see. When they finally took the stage, I did indeed scream again, just like I did back in ‘89, but the years have made it less of a high-pitched screech and more of a raspy thing. Haha! I didn’t look at the time of the show, but Ken and I agreed that it had to be a couple of hours. They absolutely brought it. The setlist shows the incredible songs they did; some of their most famous, the two new ones, and a few of their more obscure ones. My friend Robert asked me what the highlights were for me. At first I couldn’t really pick, because I was still so excited from the show, but after a little reflection, I said probably “Midnight Rambler,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and of course, “Sympathy for the Devil.” The first is a bluesy masterpiece, the second is a rocker (both done with one-time guitarist Mick Taylor...he was fantastic), and “Sympathy” is my all-time favorite song. On the way home, we were listening to more Stones, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” came on, and I’d have to add that as a highlight, because they sang it with a local choir as the first encore song, and it was a beautiful moment. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was the second encore song, and that also rocked. The special guest was Sheryl Crow, and they did “All Down The Line” with her. She did a great job, but I was really hoping for Buddy Guy. I’m guessing they’ll save him for their last show in Chicago on Monday. It was very exciting when the guys came out to the edge of the tongue, because we had such a great view of them! Our plan was to go to Buddy Guy’s club afterwards, but when we got out it was raining steadily, and we started getting fairly well soaked by the time we walked long enough to get a cab. We were both ready to head back to the hotel and wind down there. Probably a good thing, because I was still just wild from the show and didn’t really need any more stimulus! I hope we can get to Buddy’s when we go up in August for a Cubs game! On the way back, I was telling Ken that I decided that this was now my #1 favorite show I’ve ever seen, surpassing the previous #1, which was the ‘89 Stones show. This was for several reasons.
The venue was smaller and more intimate, about 20,000 vs over 50,000. The acoustics were great, and we had good enough seats that we could really see the stage well, especially when the guys came out to the edge of the tongue.
The band sounded fan-fucking-tastic. They played so well together, Keith and Ronnie meshing perfectly, Charlie laying down that backbeat, and Mick was a skinny little strip o’ bacon powerhouse. His voice sounded incredible and was as powerful as ever, and he’s still got the moves, baby. There is no better frontman in rock and roll. Period.
I think I appreciate them even more now, as they have continued to cement their place in rock history. They had a lot of commercial success in the ‘80s, with “Emotional Rescue,” “Tattoo You,” and the tour Shane and I saw them on, Steel Wheels, was a monster. But as I continued to get more into them and listen to more of their older stuff, I realize just how important they are to music and how amazing it is that they’re still going and still making great music. (I love “Doom and Gloom”!)
Finally, the people in the crowd weren’t the only ones having fun. You could tell that the Stones were having a BLAST up there. Keith was all smiles, and they genuinely looked to be having a great time. I don’t know if it’s because they’re happy to still be alive and still doing what they’re doing or what, but it shows and it is infectious. We love it that they’re still rockin’ us, and I think they love it that we love it! Like I’ve said before...gotta show the band some love! It doesn’t matter if it’s a local band or the freakin’ Rolling Stones...they’re working hard and they feed off of our OUR energy as much as we feed off of theirs.
So there you have it. Anytime someone anticipates something as much as I was anticipating this show, there is always a chance for disappointment. I am very happy to report that this was not the case here. It was even better than I’d hoped for, and they totally rocked me. Thank you, Rolling Stones. I love you guys. I really, truly do.
Oh, and when I saw online later that it was Ronnie Wood’s birthday today, I tweeted happy birthday to him and said that they totally rocked it last night. He favorited that tweet, so that made me happy! I should be getting some more swag in the mail this week, including programs and some collectible stuff from our ticket packages, and my Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary-Crystal Head Vodka package. Sweet! More pictures to come! Now I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for a new album after this tour. If “Doom and Gloom” is any indication, it should be a good one! Oh, and I stood the whole time. It’s the Stones, man. Show some respect, because they’re so respectable!
It should come as no surprise that I’m on a major Stones kick at the moment (get used to it...it’s going to be going on for over a month), so I’ve been posting a Stones song on Facebook once in a while. The other day, I posted “Paint It, Black,” and said that was my second favorite Stones song. My friend Holly said that her favorite is “Shattered” (that is my third favorite Stones song, for the record) and it brings out her “inner lizard.” That phrase spoke to me. It somehow perfectly describes that sort of down and dirty, raunchy, hip-swivelin’ Stones style. When the Inner Lizard comes out, shit gets real. You know those ‘would you rather’ questions? Like “Ginger or Mary Ann?” One of the classics is “Beatles or Stones?” Of course I love the Beatles. Who doesn’t? They were my first taste of pop music, when I was maybe 5 or 6, and my Beatlemaniac sister played her records for me. But for me, it was always about the Stones. They always had a darker edge, a more dangerous, bad boy sex appeal. I was listening to their latest greatest hits CD, “Grrr!” while I was working out today, and it struck me just how many of their songs unleash my inner lizard. There is something about Mick’s voice that reaches right into the dark corners of my psyche. It ranges from a deep baritone to a raspy growl to a bedroom whisper that “it’s only rock and roll but I liiiiike it.” He’s really not even subtle about it. What part of “Let’s spend the night together” needs clarification? Anyway, make all the jokes you want about the Stones being older than dirt, but these songs still totally trip my trigger. Young Mick Jagger was a beautiful, angelic devil (Anne Rice’s phrase for Lestat springs to mind: Brat Prince.), one who could seduce, incite, and inflame. The songs will continue to do that long after he is gone. Of course, the Stones don’t have the market cornered on rock and roll sexyfuntimes. Remember how John Lithgow told his town that there would be no dancing because it would lead to sexyfuntimes, and Kevin Bacon was all like “Yo, dick move, bro, and I’m bangin’ your daughter” and danced all crazy around a barn and rode a tractor and then everyone made up and wore ugly tuxedos and danced all crazy some more? Anyway, John Lithgow and all those other preachermen who said that rock and roll led to “other things” weren’t so far off the mark. Because the lyrics make you think about a lot of things. Not just sexyfuntimes, but things like inequality and revolution. Deeper concepts of the human condition. Life outside your small town. “Imagine no religion.” Experimentation, broadening your horizons, walking a mile in someone’s shoes, seeing beyond the narrow borders of your early existence. There are some people who don’t want these questions asked, and they certainly don’t want to have to answer them. How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, right? Rock and roll IS dangerous. Dangerous to the status quo, dangerous to those who have a vested interest in keeping you in line, dangerous to the powers-that-be. Once that Inner Lizard is unleashed, it’s hard to get it back under control.
It’s not often that you get a week-long stretch of just unbelievably gorgeous weather, but that’s what we’ve had this week. Cousin Shane has apparently developed psychic abilities and asked for this week off on vacation. I’m glad it’s been so perfect for him!
After a quick trip to the store this morning, I got in a super good workout. Beyond the 8 miles on the bike and doing weights, I did 35+ minutes and 1.8 miles on the elliptical! Woohoo! I’m going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for that one (pat pat), because when I first started on the elliptical, I could do about 3 minutes before I had to stop. So I’ve made some great progress, and I’m pretty damn proud of it! Since I started hitting it harder and eating smaller portions, I’ve lost 4 pounds, and I’m proud of that, too. Our upcoming vacation could be a problem, because I won’t be able to get those kinds of workouts done, but we’ll try to get in lots of walking, and the occasional workout at various hotels we’ll be staying at. I’ve already realized that I won’t be able to eat at every Route 66 restaurant, and definitely won’t be able to do breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I just can’t eat that much! We’ll do what we can, we’ll eat at some good ones, and stop for a drink at other good ones.
After my workout, I got the stuff together in the crockpot for Italian beef sandwiches tonight, then spent some time on the deck—a little sunning (it was hot!) and a lot of reading. I got to watch a lot of birds stop by for a bite and a drink, and Chip and Dale (our chipmunks) chowed down on the corn I put out for them and then chased each other around. It was cute. :)
I made plans with Shane for a late breakfast/early lunch on his day off this coming Tuesday. We read this morning that a locally owned restaurant, Cira’s, is closing soon. Shane has been there a while back, but I don’t think I’ve been there since I was a kid. Apparently the elderly owner has had a health setback, and although the employees and family have tried to keep it going in his absence, they feel that he won’t be coming back to work there and the time has come to close it. Shane and I have talked about how we wanted to go there, and when we saw that they’re closing soon, we said, “We have to get there!” Thank goodness that we can both do it on Tuesday, before Ken and I leave on vacation. I forget exactly when the article said it was closing—sometime within the next couple of weeks, when we’re on our trip.
Our grandparents lived right around the corner from the restaurant, and I remember walking around that neighborhood when our folks would visit Grandma and Grandpa. I’m sad that this South Bend fixture is closing soon, but I’m glad Shane and I get to go before it closes its doors. It’s also a good reminder to do these things before it’s too late! How many times do you say, “We need to stop there” or “We need to go there one of these days”? After Ken and I get back from our trip, we’ll find a time soon to go to Buffalo Rose in Lakeville, because I’m afraid it might not be around for long, especially once the new highway is open and bypasses the town.
I’m learning that sometimes you have to make time to do these things, rather than just passing by and saying, “I’ll stop next time I go by,” especially when it comes to these little locally owned places. Our choices are becoming increasingly generic, so seek the unique! Hey, I’d better trademark that. Seek the Unique!™
Tomorrow will be a quiet day at Nutwood, with outside time and a BBQ42 (barbecue for two). Ribs, probably some grilled potatoes with onions, and cucumbers and onions in that creamy sauce (some of you know what I’m talking about!). I’m also thinking about a pomegranate martooni. Sunday is an afternoon at our local zoo (the Potawatomi Zoo), a fine little zoo for a small city and one that I haven’t been to since I was in elementary school, with Ken’s Mom and her friend Yvonne, followed by dinner at the Oaken Bucket. Another locally owned place, and one that has what are widely considered to be the best burgers in town. Lots of warm weather all weekend, which is exactly what I like, and it might even be nice enough that we can sit outside on the patio by the St. Joseph River.
Oh, and Mick Jagger is hosting SNL this week, with musical guests including Arcade Fire, Jeff Beck, and...Foo Fighters! Angels are singing, people! ANGELS ARE SINGING!
First of all, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers on their Super Bowl win! It was a great game, and I was happy to see the Packers win. Sorry to any Steelers fans out there, but I haven’t like the Steelers since the Cowher days, and I also like Aaron Rodgers for coming in and leading the team after Favre. But no matter who you were rooting for, it really was a great game, and it’s always fun to see a close, well-fought championship game. Okay, I promise that this could be the last time I’m going to write about Keith Richards’ autobiography Life. (Did anyone get that reference?) Well, maybe not the last time...as time goes by, it’s possible that something will start me up and I’ll get no satisfaction until I write more about it for my own emotional rescue, probably undercover of the night...okay, I’ll stop! heehee I finished the book this weekend, and I can honestly say that not only is this my favorite biography/autobiography that I’ve read, it’s one of my favorite books of all time. I don’t know if I can express the love that I have for this book, but I’ll try. Keith writes about his childhood, his parents, his schooling, all that...but things really get to popping when he finds rock and roll (Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel” just totally did it for him) and his granddad Gus lets him play his guitar. Thus young Keith is set upon his path. Although he briefly encountered Mick Jagger when they were very young and lived near each other, they ran into each other at a train station when they were teenagers, and Mick had all these blues records that Keith was very envious of, so they started hanging out together. As Keith said, you hung out with the guy who had the records! I loved reading about their influences, which were very much American blues, especially Chicago blues. They loved all the Chicago blues guys. Keith also wrote a lot about how he developed his technique and what it entails, which I will mention a little further on. This book isn’t for the faint of heart. The details of his and others’ drug use is not pretty. Keith makes no apologies for it, saying “This is who I was, this is what I did, so deal with it,” but he also doesn’t glorify it. He was rich enough to afford the best pharmaceutical grade stuff, but he was eventually forced to resort to the cheap shit when on the road. He went cold turkey several times, and describes rolling in bed for three days and shitting himself and literally clawing the walls. Glamorous stuff, right? His addiction to heroin was insidious...he had it under control for so long (or so he thought), and finally realized that he was no longer in control. After seeing countless friends (and a bandmate in Brian Jones) succumb to addiction, he was finally able to get himself out of it. He describes staying up for days on end as he worked on music. Nine days was his record. Anyone who has been sleep deprived knows how wonky you can get. Hell, after being up for 24 hours, I’ve had hallucinations. I can’t imagine adding heavy drug use on top of that. There is an argument to be made that there wouldn’t have been such great music without the drug use. Entirely possible, but that’s a topic for another day. I’m just glad Keith survived, when so many didn’t. He talks about the early days in England, when they were just starting to catch fire. The crazed teenage girls, throwing panties on the stage, once trapping him in a mob and literally tearing his clothes off. He feared for his life. Never underestimate the power of teenage hormones! He tells a story about one encounter:
The sky is sullen. It’s a day OFF! Suddenly the storm breaks viciously! Outside I see three die-hard fans. Their bouffants are succumbing to nature’s forces. But they stay! What can a poor boy do? “Get in here, dopes.” My tiny cubicle is filled with three drowned brats. They steam, trembling. They drench my room. The hairdos are done. They are trembling from the storm and from suddenly being in their (or one of their) idol’s room. Confusion reigns. They don’t know whether to squat or go blind. I’m equally confused. It’s one thing to play onstage to them, it’s another to be face-to-face. Towels become an important issue, as does the john. They make a poor attempt to resurrect themselves. It’s all nerves and tension. I get them some coffee laced with a little bourbon, but sex is not even in the air. We sit and talk and laugh until the sky clears. I get them a cab. We part as friends.
I think I fell a little in love with Keith when I read that. Oddly enough, throughout the book, I was struck by what seemed to be a fairly sweet demeanor and attitude. He’s a badass, no doubt about it, but he is also loyal to a fault once he has made friends with someone, and he is a devoted husband and father. His kids might have had a rather unorthodox upbringing (his son Marlon hit the road with him when Marlon was seven years old), but there is no disputing that he loves them unconditionally. After years of no contact with his father, he renewed their relationship and they became great friends. (If you want the story about him snorting his father’s ashes, you’ll have to read the book.) A very stormy relationship is that of his with Mick Jagger. This was a little hard for me to read, because I love both of them. At times, Keith seems petulant and rather petty in his criticisms of Mick; they almost split a few times, but always found their way back to each other. Keith resents Mick trying to “take over” the band, and was pissed that Mick was making so many of the decisions concerning the Stones. He glosses over the fact that during his years of drug use, he was uninterested in such business decisions, and it was probably because of Mick that the Stones survived. I found their relationship a fascinating dynamic. They both seem to realize that they bring out the best in each other musically, and this symbiotic relationship has proven insoluble. He said their friendship goes far beyond bandmates and simple friendship. They are brothers, which includes the hate and loathing that very often occurs between siblings. He says that they have their disagreements, but no one can say shit about Mick in front of Keith. “I’ll slit their throat,” he says. Loyal to a fault. As for his playing style, I know very little about guitar, so I asked my friends Jim and Darren. I learned a little about open tuning, and about how Keith dropped his sixth string and usually plays with five. As I was reading about this and learning about it (at least what little I could comprehend), as well as the blues influence on the Stones, I found myself listening to their music with a renewed ear. I listened to the remastered “Exile on Main Street” a lot, and I’m hearing things there that I’d never heard before. It is on the verge of an epiphany. And what an absolutely remarkable album is “Exile.” As I listen to it again, I am stunned at just how good it is. Keith writes a little about various songs he and Mick wrote, and their songwriting process (which is pretty much to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks). Keith would usually come up with the riff, and Mick would add the lyrics. “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)” was all Mick’s, though, and Keith says it’s brilliant. I love listening to all of these songs again and hearing Keith’s licks as influenced by the blues. I adored this book, and I have a newfound respect for Keith. He wrote with brutal honesty and great humor about his journey. This is an absolute must-read for anyone who loves music, and especially, anyone who loves the Stones. There is truly none other like them, and the same holds true for their founding guitarist. He’s one of a kind. I was utterly and completely charmed.
In my previous entry, I mentioned that I was reading Keith Richards’ autobiography, Life. I am still enjoying it immensely (thanks, Darren!), and I’m on the part where The Rolling Stones have just formed, and are starting to get some local gigs.
Keith writes about running into Mick Jagger (who he knew as a schoolkid) at a train station and finding out that Mick was heavily into the kind of music that Keith liked, the blues. Keith said that whoever had the records was the one you wanted to hang out with, and Mick had ‘em. He had sources in Chicago where he was able to get records that no one else in the area could get, and the two of them spent endless hours playing the records, over and over and over, as they tried to get the sound, tried to figure out the chord changes, tried to learn the lyrics. It’s fascinating.
What struck me about much of this was Keith’s reverence for the blues and the musicians who play them. He mentions Chicago often, showing how much influence Chicago blues had on rock and roll. Keith, one of the biggest rock stars in the world, writes of these artists with the air of an awestruck teenager. (Which I find charming, and it reminds me of the time Cousin Shane and I got to see the Stones on the Steel Wheels tour. It is the one and only concert I’ve been to where I screamed like a teenager when the band took the stage. True story. I thought I was cooler than that, but I was moved.) I find it incredibly cool to read of what was essentially the birth of rock and roll, at least as we know it today. I’m not saying that the Stones invented rock and roll, not at all. It was a nascent movement at that time, and many musicians were trying to figure out their own sound. Keith writes of blues purists who felt that anything other than a black man playing an acoustic guitar with no accompaniment was most definitely NOT the blues. Even Chicago blues artists were booed when some dared to break out an electric guitar!
Perhaps there are some who find solace or superiority in being such purists, but they’re kind of missing the point. The Stones and others of the time were emulating the artists they loved and admired. The key thing in the context of which I am writing is that they built on that sound and formed their own. They weren’t ripping off the artists by stealing their music and releasing their versions of it, although they did release a few older songs as singles. (People do remakes all the time, and some are good and some are not.) They loved the roots of the songs, learned the rhythms and the key changes, and then got creative and wrote their own. Are their subsequent songs simply rehashing the old songs, stealing the sounds for their own? Yes and no. Their songs contain elements of those blues roots, include many of the same key changes, but there is no denying that they made their own sound and made their own songs. (For those of you that don’t know, the Glimmer Twins are Mick and Keith’s nickname as a songwriting pair, and also the name of their production company. Check out that link to see the list of incredible songs that they’ve written together. Blows my mind.)
Every music genre builds upon those that have come before it. After all, there are only a certain number of notes. But how do people put their own spin on it (so to speak)? How do they place their personal fingerprint on the music? What do they create on their own, after being influenced by these talented and amazing musicians? How are they inspired?
In the case of the Stones, they were motivated and inspired to create some of the most amazing rock and roll we’ve ever heard. Some will argue that the Stones are no longer making great music or relevant to the current music scene. I say, “So what?” I still love listening to stuff they released over four decades ago. Just as they loved listening to stuff that these blues musicians had released years before, and listening to those who were still making similar music. Just because something is old doesn’t make it irrelevant. The Stones are true geezers now, but they still rock like mofos.
An interesting point there, too. We’ve seen the popularity of rock and roll rise in our lifetimes. This is a fairly new phenomenon in the scheme of things. Bluesmen and other musicians make music into their ‘80s and beyond. When was the decision made that rock musicians have to quit at a certain age? The antics and the stage shows might take on a different, calmer tone (haha), but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still great musicians playing some great music. The guitar riff in "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was recently listed as the best/most memorable riff in rock and roll. That's not too shabby, even if it was written some forty years ago.
All I know is that if I put on the Stones, there are still songs that make me dance, make me move, make me feel all rebellious and junk. Isn’t that what rock and roll is all about?
It's been a while since I did a Music Moment! This time it's not about the body of work of one particular artist, but one particular album: the Stones' "Exile on Main St."
This past week, they issued a remastered version, along with ten previously unreleased tracks. And Beth is a happy girl.
I'm not a complete Stones freak. I don't have all their albums, and I don't pretend to know every detail about their music. But I've been a fan for...hmm, I guess over 30 years. That's retroactive, too, because I went back to their albums from the sixties, when I was really too young to know about them when they first issued them. (I got "Let It Bleed" and "Sticky Fingers"in the early 80's.) You know those memes that ask you questions like Mary Ann or Ginger, Batman or Superman? When it comes to Beatles or Stones, I'm Stones.
I've been listening to Exile and the new songs, and baby, I'm lovin' it! This is the Stones at their bluesy best. I have enjoyed revisiting this and other Stones music, because it's a great reminder of how much they're rooted in the blues. They loved performers like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and it shows throughout their entire career. "Exile" may have been the height of their creativity, with a fantastic blend of ballsy rock and rollicking blues. The recording of "Exile" has become legendary. Keith's rental "house" in the south of France was all business in the basement where they made the music, but a nonstop party of drugs and sex upstairs. In a recent Today Show interview, Matt Lauer implied condemnation for the drugs and sex and asked Mick if they could have made this music if they were sober. He asked Keith if it was wrong to have his young son in such an environment.
I think Mick and Keith both gave great answers to these silly questions. It was a different time, man. C'mon, Matt, get real. It truly was a different time, and it wasn't just the Stones who were doing drugs...it was pretty much everyone who was making music at the time, including the Beatles, the Doors, Janis, Jimi, and on and on. It's useless to try to apply today's mores to that time. Lauer came across as a priggish schoolmarm. You don't need to glorify such drug use, but as Mick pointed out, it wasn't about the drugs, it was about the MUSIC. Put on your big girl panties, Matt, and stop judging people for what they did 40 years ago!
Anyway, whatever was going on in that mansion in the south of France, it resulted in some totally kickass music, and that is what matters. I won't go over the merits of the original Exile, but I'll make a few comments on some of the new tracks. I'm not sure how many of these were finished and how many they had to go back and "tidy up," but I heard Sir Mick say that they tried to stay close to the original sound of the Exile sessions...and I'd say that they did.
"Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)" - a nice, rocking start to the new tracks. "Pass the wine, baby, let's make some love."
"Following the River" - starts out with piano, has a distinct gospel sound...this is a breakup song, and I'm not ashamed to say that I got choked up when I heard Mick's anguished plea: "I'll be thinking about ya, 'cause you always brought the best in me."
"Dancing in the Light" - a more upbeat song following the previous sad one...I love the line "I got that sinking feeling, whose potatoes are ya peeling?"
My absolute favorite of the new songs is the shortest one, a brief taste of an instrumental. It's called "Title 5," and it is a total fucking rave-up! The preview is only 30 seconds, but the song is only 1:47, so you get the idea. Man, I wish they'd expanded that a bit, because I love that song! I had to do a little chair-dancing to that one: the Monkey and the Jerk. If you don't know them, I'll teach you. Ha!
I know that some of my friends feel that the Stones haven't made any new or relevant music in some time. I suppose that's fair enough, but that doesn't mean that they are irrelevant. It's still some of the best music ever, and for me, the Stones embody everything that is good and right and lusty about rock and roll. Maybe the guys won't get it, and I suppose some of the women don't feel it, but Mick was always sexy to me, with those weird, sinuous moves, his sexy baritone (hard and silky at the same time), and that bad boy attitude. Oh yeah, babe! And when they all kicked in with that driving beat and that hard-pounding and rhythmic bass and drum and...ummm, what was I saying? But yeah, they're smart, too. That's always hot! "It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)" is playing right now. I like it...ssssss...I liiiiike it.
Bottom line: if you already love the Stones, you'll enjoy this reissue and the extra tracks. If they really don't trip your trigger and never have, I don't see any reason for you to buy this. I pass no judgment, because music appreciation is in the eye of the beholder. But seriously, what is wrong with you?! heehee
If you ever doubt that the Stones are badass, let's revisit a short clip of Keith meting out a bit of justice to an unruly fan. If I recall, this was the first clip I ever posted on my blog, so it has a special place in my heart for many reasons.
Part of our ticket package for the Rolling Stones was some swag that would be sent after the show. It got here today! 
