mick jagger looks happy (not) to be dressed up

I know the wedding was many years ago, but these photographs just make me chuckle. Mick Jagger does not look too pleased to be dressed up in costume for his wedding to Jerry Hall, and is probably having acid flashbacks to the cover of The Rolling Stones album 'Their Satanic Majesties Request'. It just shows, no matter how much money and fame you have, you still have to make compromises in a relationship!

Here's the album cover mentioned above

And here's an outtake from it

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the rolling stones at la forum 1975 - happy

This was the tour where it was more or less 'One song - One line', but Keith Richards still manages to look cool (with his new teeth), despite the bellbottoms, missing the start of 'Happy', and various other bits. Mick does the honourable thing and helps him out, but the sloppiness is also part of the attraction with the Stones, and Keef just keeps rolling along.

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l'm not buying keith richard's old home yet

Damn!!!
I haven't won the Euro Lottery of about 170 million pounds, which is a crying shame, as l've had my eye on Keith Richard's old place by Washington Square Park, New York, which would have been a small drop in the ocean for me at a me if l had have won at a mere10 million pounds or so. It's spacious, has a great location and views, and doesn't look as though there are many places for spiders to hide.
What's not to like?
It was on sale last year by Douglas Ellman Real Estate, and some photographs are below.

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mick jagger running down the beatles at the abbey road crossing

Brilliant stuff! Mick Jagger running down The Beatles at the Abbey Road crossing. Whoever put this together deserves a medal.

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mr parrot back to his normal self

Mr Parrot has not been well recently, but l'm glad to say he has made a full recovery and is back to trying to get attention from me, even when l am watching The Rolling Stones.

Hurrah! 

Maybe he will turn out to be indestructible like me. I certainly hope so.

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mick jagger is 75

It's Mick Jagger's 75th Birthday today. A thought that should make any rock fan feel old.
Rather sadly, when l saw them in 1982 l thought they were a bunch of old gits living on past glories.
He was 38 at the time, and looked like this....possibly on their last tour.
How wrong l was.

Remember him this way





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keith richards funeral

I will never get to go to Keith Richards' funeral (if he ever dies), but at least l've got close.
Hence the evidence from Monday.

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out and about - the beatles and the stones in stockton

Once more, out and about, this time to see The Stones, as you may well have guessed, a Rolling Stones tribute band, at Ku in Stockton. The singer didn't sound a lot like Mick Jagger, but we still had a great night, and we were also treated beforehand to a stripped down version of Beatles songs done acoustically. The Beatles part of the show sounded more like them, but we prefered the Stones, as the songs are better.
This was also after watching Manchester United beat Arsenal, and myself and Robbo beating lads at pool in dodgy bars before the gig.
Marvellous!
Here's a video l made at the show.

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mr freedom

Back in the 1960's, when London used to be the epicenter of coolness, it's kind of hard to believe that these two men (Tommy Roberts and John Paul) ran one of the coolest shops in town. Mr Freedom.
It's even harder to believe, looking at what they are wearing, that the shop sold trendy clothes to the rich and famous.
There is still a Mr Freedom outlet going today (look here), but the coolness has long gone, despite the expensive prices.

However, back in the day, as well as the clothes, they did have a (now really dated) advert that featured some great electronic music. Jean Jaques Perrey - 'Moog Indigo'.



And here's Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones wearing one of their t shirts (Which can now be purchased here).

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lost rolling stones record cover from 1969

I got this from Andrew 'Loog' Oldham's twitter account. He was the (very cool yet annoying to the establishment) manager of  The Rolling Stones back in the 1960's, and this, according to him, is the cover from an unfinished lost album project in 1969.

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charlie watts is a happy man!

This makes a change as far as Rolling Stones photographs go. The band are looking sullen, while the notoriously dry witted and gloomy facaded Charlie Watts is actually smiling.
I wonder how long it took the photographer (unknown to me) to persuade them to do this shot.

And here's the classic response from Charlie about what it's like working with The Stones



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the soup dragons and the rolling stones - l'm free

And on the note of being free in the last post -  Here's The Soup Dragons, with their version of The Rolling Stones'  'I'm Free'. Much as l love The Stones, l have to admit that The Soup Dragons version is miles better - especially on Ecstasy (From what l can recall many years ago).



If you want to compare them - here's The Rolling Stones' version, though l can't supply the drugs for the full experience.




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hoagy carmichael - song bonanza!

While watching the Keith Richards TV Takeover on BBC4 this weekend, he showed a clip of Hoagy Carmichael, and related the tale of speaking to him on the telephone (much to Keith's delight). As l am also a fan, here's four  of Hoagy's songs, including some lesser known ones.
Enjoy!

Am I Blue



Barnacle Bill The Sailor



My Resistance is low



The Monkey Song



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vietnam footage coupled with the rolling stones' gimme shelter (and paul hardcastle's '19')

What can l say?
A great song with moving footage. Rather them than me, and remember, the average age of those fighting was 19.



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mick and keef have a well earned rest

One of my favourite photographs of The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richard looking knackered backstage after a gig.
It's not easy being rock and roll, and you have to put the hours in (trust me....l speak from experience).

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gimme shelter - playing for change

Playing for change is a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music.
Join  here

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the rolling stones at glastonbury festival and the strypes

No doubt there will be much discussion around the country today about The Rolling Stones' appearance at Glastonbury Festival yesterday, so here's my view.
They delivered what was expected of them. A collection of their mostly well known songs with a lot of prancing about (resulting in some poor singing), with some shoddy playing and posing thrown in for good measure. Mick Jagger tries to please everyone with his cockernee geezer accent and desperation to show how he can still move about at his ripe old age of nearly 70, and Keef is more concerned with looking cool and iconic, rather than bashing out some memorable tunes.  It was good to see Mick Taylor up with them, sharing some of the plaudits and glory, and Keith Richards looking as though he is going to end up emulating Taylor in the lifestyle choices nowadays, rather than the other way round (healthy eating wise).
Some songs sounded decent, some (2,000 Light Years From home), were atrocious.
Nowadays, half of the attraction of seeing The Stones is the fact that they are an institution.  Wizened old legends, creakily stepping down from their personal Mount Olympus' to entertain the common folk, who may never get the chance to see them again. Supposedly their rehearsals for the tour came in at a million of your English pounds and pence, but they still play like a sloppy, pissed up bar band playing the songs for the first time.
On the other hand, this could also be commended, as they don't try to be ultra professional, and are more bothered about the audience going away happy after an entertaining spectacle rather than pleasing the TV viewers at home, and that is certainly how it came across yesterday. They were much better than they could have been, it's normally a great day out, and rather like some football matches, the build up and anticipation (plus the all day drinking with mates or partners) is most of the fun.  The match/concert at the end is something that will hopefully prove to be worthwhile and pleasurable, but a good day out can still be had if it is not.
If you really want to recapture the early bluesy Stones, go and see some young bands who still have it all to prove, not some old gits looking after their retirement funds.

I've got high hopes for The Strypes.  At the moment, they can't get near what the Stones were like in their heyday, but they have a long, long time ahead of them to have a decent pop at it. If they end up half as good, that would still be an achievement worth aspiring to.



The Stones - remember them this way.  Gimme Shelter on Pop Goes The Sixties



The young pretenders - The Strypes with Blue Collar Jane on The Late Late Show.


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the rolling stones rehearsal sheets

The Rolling Stones sure know how to do things in style.  These are a couple of rehearsal sheets for the current tour, which l got from Ronnie Wood's twitter feed.  I don't know if all the sheets are the same design, or these have been adapted by Ronnie himself, but l like them, and it's the sort of crap l would frame and stick on the wall.
It's a shame the band sound crap most of the time nowadays.

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anita pallenberg

Old age - it happens to us all, even the once beautiful icons of the 1960's.
It was while watching Mister Lonely the other day that it started to bug me that l kind of recognised the person who was playing The Queen.  It was only when the credits came up at the end that l realised it was non other than Anita Pallenberg.
She was once infamous, due to being one of those at the epicentre of the 60's bohemian culture and lifestyle, mainly with The Rolling Stones, and is still seen out and about with that other iconic 60's Stones girlfriend and pop star, Marianne Faithfull.
Partner of Stones guitarist Brian Jones, until she left him for Keith Richards, she also starred (and slept with)  Mick Jagger in Performance, and appeared in Barbarella alongside Jane Fonda.
Her and Richards had three children.  A son (Marlon), a daughter (Dandelion - later changed to Angela), and another son, Tara (named after their friend Tara Browne) who died after 10 weeks.  They were heavily into drugs (it was while the Canadian police came to arrest Pallenberg in Toronto, that Richards was busted in 1977), but although seemingly suited to be together, ultimately, the relationship ended.
Pallenberg was also arty and intelligent, heavily into black magic (as a lot of stars used to be - hello Mr Jimmy Page), and became newsworthy again when she had an affair with her 17 year old gardener, who proceed to shoot and kill himself at her home in 1979.
Now a fashion designer, friend of Kate Moss, and occasional DJ (of course she is).

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drunken night in with the rolling stones

Myself and the FPO stayed in tonight and knocked back some wine after our chicken soup.  While we were knocking back the wine, we were also prating about to a Rolling Stones compilation which featured the two videos below, both of them magical, but for different reasons.

The Jingles version of The Rolling Stones' 'She's a Rainbow' is done in the style of Oasis, with the front Jingle doing a more than credible Liam Gallagher impression. It's also cool that they are covering one of the lesser known Stones songs (from Their Satanic Majesties Request), so l assume whoever chose to do it must be a fan.

The Wayne Gibson one is from Crackerjack, in front of a bunch of young children, and the subject matter and lyrics couldn't be more out of place if they tried.  Under My Thumb is a real put down of a girl and how she has been made to be submissive and weak.  A treat for any five year old.  What madman booked this, thinking it would be a good idea?  A great Northern Soul classic, and a top Rolling Stones song, but pleas...not in front of the children!

On a related note, l can now do the splits and rest my arm and head on my extended leg while doing so. I'll never walk again, and my scrotum will never be the same, but it was worth it.  To see a martial arts master doing the same, check out the end video of Lou Reed (at 2:48). It's not as easy as it looks.








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