It’s just a shot away

I am going to bring up Alan Moore twice in the top ten, his tacit endorsement of artist through his work made it acceptable for me to like them, even if they were too old to be normally acceptable to a teenager in the early 80s.  Stephen Doubtfire had tried to persuade me that the Rolling Stones were actually a really good group and not a bunch of “old men” cashing in on their past glories (to be fair to me songs like Angie or It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) in the 70s were strong evidence for my opinion).

In an early issue of Warrior there is a scene in V For Vendetta (https://wordpress.com/post/fivemilesout.home.blog/103 ) where the titular V is dealing with the heads of the fascist regime who were responsible for crimes against humanity.  The Bishop had requested an underage prostitute, but V had sent his protégé Evie (who was older, but was dressed to look younger).  As V arrives he quotes The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil. 

(V takes out another criminal)

I could not argue with Alan Moore, plus I had picked up a cheap second hand copy of Philip Norman’s book The Stones.  Almost all covering their history in the 60s, I read it listening to Rolled Gold and learnt a heck of a lot about events that were less than 20 years past, but to me seemed like ancient history.

It really was no more than bits of the vibrant 60s UK music scene and it seemed like a different world, where groups freely mixed and were so easily accessible.

I also learnt about the Altamont Festival in the USA.  A free festival where the Stones hired the Hells Angels to provide security.  It ended in disaster with Angels killing one of the audience and the Stones fleeing in an overcrowded helicopter – the beginning of the end of the sixties dream.

There were also the more salacious details of the amount of groupies that the band slept with (an age before AIDs and HIV) as well as the raid on Stargrove, where the Police waited for George Harrison to leave, as they were not ready to go after a Beatle, for drugs.  Marianne Faithful (then Jagger’s girlfriend) was allegedly pleasuring herself with a mars bar in the living room.  Apocryphal or not the story is part of the legend now.

The Stones were the Yin to the Beatles’ Yang (though never quite as successful) – the bad boy rebels, rather than the lovable moptop scousers.  In reality both groups behaved pretty much as badly as each other.

The Stones had a staggering performance as a singles band in the 60s, not just in success but in quality.  They could not match the Beatles for their albums though.  Attempts to emulate Sergeant Pepper led to At Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was not an artistic success (though does include some good tracks).  If you ever want to try a Stones studio album the best one is Let It Bleed from the late sixties (not a wordplay response to The Beatles’ Let It Be as it was released a year earlier).

The Stones were another band with a lousy recording contract and had to start again in the seventies, decamping to France due to tax liabilities.  Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street and Goat’s Head Soup show a band who were not quite as good as they once were.

Keeping guitarists was a problem like Spinal Tap’s problems with drummers (and if you have not see the film This is Spinal Tap you really should, it is hilarious).  After Brian Jones died mysteriously in his swimming pool, Mick Taylor joined, became an addict and quit before Ronnie Wood joined, though he was a salaried employee for years after it looked like he was a full band member.  Jagger is notoriously careful with money.

In the eighties there was a last tussle with controversy when their single Undercover (of the Night) about the disappeared people in South American dictatorships had its video banned due to the scene of an execution.  Luckily there was a cleaned up version ready to go when the furore had garnered enough publicity.  Bassist Bill Wyman also turned out to have a penchant for underage girls, which today would have had him in prison.

The band continued touring into their seventies, making huge money but slowly shredding their reputation.

At their peak they were a really incredible band and the late sixties had a run of songs that seem almost apocalyptic.  Sympathy For the Devil, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man and this, my favourite.

Gimme Shelter

Playlist:

1. Come On
2. Carol
3. I Wanna Be Your Man
4. Little Red Rooster
5. It’s All Over Now
6. Time is On My Side
7. The Last Time
8. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
9. Get Off My Cloud
10. As Tears Go By
11. Lady Jane
12. Paint It Black
13. Mother’s Little Helper
14. 19^th Nervous Breakdown
15. Under My Thumb
16. Out of Time
17. Yesterday’s Papers
18. She’s A Rainbow
19. Let’s Spend the Night Together
20. Ruby Tuesday
21. Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadows?
22. Dandelion
23. We Love You
24. 2000 Light Years From Home
25. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
26. Street Fighting Man
27. Sympathy For the Devil
28. Let It Bleed
29. Midnight Rambler
30. Gimme Shelter
31. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
32. Brown Sugar
33. Honky Tonk Woman
34. Wild Horses
35. Beast of Burden
36. Start Me Up
37. Miss You
38. Hang Fire
39. Tumbling Dice
40. Undercover (of the Night)