http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/ronnie-wood-revisits-his-lost-sixties-tour-diary-20150609
Ronnie Wood Revisits His Lost Sixties Tour Diary
Guitarist shares teenage rock memories and talks about being a sober Rolling Stone
BY
SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON June 9, 2015
Ronnie Wood reflects on his earliest days in the Stones, partying with Keith Moon and more. Kate Peters/Contour
Before Ronnie Wood joined the Rolling Stones in 1975, he made his name as an ace guitarist with the Faces and the Jeff Beck Group – and before
that, as a teenager in West London, he played in a bluesy group called the Birds. Wood, 68, recently discovered his personal road notes from a 1965 tour with that band. "It's the diary of a 17-year-old rock & roller," he says. "It was leather-bound, with gold edging to the pages, and I used to keep it quite diligently.
I'd forgotten all the details!" Wood fleshed out the diary – which features cameos from Eric Clapton, the Who, and more – with new reminiscences and illustrations for a book,
How Can It Be? (available now in a signed, limited edition of 1,965 copies, with a wider release due this fall).
Wood called during a day off on the Stones' new stadium tour to talk about his rock & roll youth, getting sober, hanging with Harry Styles and more.
How would you describe yourself at 17?
What kind of a teenager were you?Much like I am now, I think. I was very pretentious, and very aware of the audiences, whether they accepted us or gave us a hard time.
What were the crowds like at those shows in '65?
Heavy emphasis on the girls. A lot of it was to impress them – you gauged how well you were doing if they screamed. It took us ages to warm them up sometimes. You had to convert these unbelievers to let their hair down a bit. Then, in certain areas, like in the west of England down at Salisbury, they wanted a piece of you – a piece of your hair, a piece of your clothing. They were really quite savage. And we had no security! We got through that by the skin of our teeth.
Was there a lot of drinking on the road?
Yeah, those were the days of experimenting with scotch and Coke and brandy and things, and perhaps not knowing the limits. There are some entries where it says, "Great night last night. Sick twice." But in those days it used to bounce off us – that and all the travel we did in the van. We'd grin and bear it. If I had to do it now, I probably wouldn't last a week.
A few of the entries mention partying with Keith Moon. What was that like?
[
Laughs]He was a hell-raiser, but a hell of a gentleman at the same time. It was hard to think that the same guy that was really polite to your mother in his smoking jacket was also the guy that was drilling through the hotel room to get in bed with [John] Entwistle because he didn't want to be lonely. The Who were very encouraging to us. One night they came out to this tiny little dive outside London where we were up onstage, and they were shouting up from the crowd, "We're Number One!" We were going, "You bastards!" It was a friendly rivalry.
Did you run into the Stones much in those days?
I didn't really know them. I knew them from afar, across the room. We tried to keep up with the Stones. If they were going out for 75 pounds a night, we were getting 50 pounds. When they were getting 250 a night, we were getting 100. All we lacked was a hit record!
When did you end up getting closer to them?
It all came together in the late Sixties, around the inauguration of Mick Taylor at Hyde Park, after Brian Jones died. I met Mick and Charlie on the periphery of Hyde Park, and they came up to me and said, "We've got this gig today, a free concert, and we're breaking in our new guitar player. Well, we've got to go to the stage. See you soon." I said, "Yeah, sooner than you think!" [
Laughs]
It's been 40 years since you began playing with the Stones. What do you make of that milestone?
It's as though no time at all has passed. Once you're over 30, time just flies, anyway. I still feel like that kid in '65.
The fans have said that you've been playing better than ever on the last couple of Stones tours. Do you agree with that?
Yeah. I'm five years clean and serene this year, so that's made a big difference. I have a completely different focus. It's great for me to revisit albums I wasn't even on – I can see
Sticky Fingers in a completely different light, and clearer.
Do you find it hard to stay away from alcohol on the road?
Well, now I find it easy, thank God. I think it does get easier. The first white-knuckle months when I first cleaned up, it was a bit of a challenge, and I thought, "Oh God, how am I ever going to get through this?" But now I can go through most situations and not get triggered.
A few months ago, you performed with One Direction on X Factor. What was that like?
That was a culture shock. It was really fun. I think I got 500,000 new Twitter followers overnight! They're lovely boys.
They just lost a member. Do you have any advice for them on how to handle a bandmate quitting?
Well, I saw Harry the other day. He's a big supporter of the Stones, and he seems to be rocking on. I think they thought, "OK, we'll just adjust and carry on." I think they're handling it OK.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...ant-to-see-how-far-the-stones-can-go-20150409
Keith Richards: 'I Want to See How Far the Stones Can Go'
The Stones guitarist on their summer tour, playing 'Sticky Fingers' and his upcoming solo album
BY
ANDY GREENE April 9, 2015
The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards tells us about 'Sticky Fingers' and his new solo album in a new interview. Mark Seliger
If everything goes according to plan, the next year is going to be a busy time for
Keith Richards. He's about to begin rehearsals for a
15-date North American stadium tour with
the Rolling Stones, he's got a new solo album roughly slated for September and he may even support it with his first solo tour since 1993. We spoke about all this and more with Richards, who phoned up
Rolling Stone after our
talk with Mick Jagger.
I just spoke to Mick and he said you guys were thinking about playing Sticky Fingers straight through on this tour. What's your take on that?
Well, it wasn't my idea. It was kicked around. I don't know if that would be every night. We might do it in places. First off, we've got to rehearse it all. When it came up, I said, "Yeah, it's not
Exile on Main St. We could do that."
Mick was worried there were too many ballads for a stadium audience.I don't know. It was just an idea. When we get to rehearsals, we'll give it a try.
I'd love to hear "Moonlight Mile" and "Sister Morphine."It's very rare we play them. Playing them in order is an interesting idea. We'll see how it goes. I'd like to give it a try.
When do rehearsals begin?
I think by the end of April we'll go down to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks and then take it down to San Diego to work on the stage.
Do you think they'll be any sort of public rehearsal show?
I've seen no plans for that yet. Usually, those things happen much closer to the event, so I don't know nothing about that yet.
From your perspective, is playing a stadium much different than an arena?
Not drastically. It's just a lot bigger. And with stadiums you've always got the weather to deal with. God joins the band in one form or another.
Your tours used to last about two years followed by long breaks. Why has this one been so different?
I think everybody's really been enjoying the last few years on the road. The last break was really long; about five years. I think everybody really missed it because we came back energized.
Do these shows feel different to you than previous tours?
It's really difficult to say. Once you're up onstage, it's very familiar ground to me. All audiences are different slightly, but what I go up onstage for is the fact that things are not different. Things stay the same.
Beyond the Sticky Fingers stuff, are there any rare songs you hope to bring back on this tour?
It's early days. We'll be talking about it. I guess I'm going to be seeing Mick next week. I have no doubt the subject will come up.
Are you bringing Mick Taylor on the tour?
Um, I'm not sure. The last I heard…I'm not sure if he's available or what his condition is at the moment. I'm waiting to hear about that.
That's a shame because he's all over
Sticky Fingers.Yeah, it's just one of those things. I'm not sure. I just haven't gotten into that thing, but I heard he was sick. [Through a representative, Taylor says he is not sick and was not invited onto the tour.]
Do you see Sticky Fingers as a pivotal record in the band's evolution?
Well, it was one of them.
Beggars Banquet was another. But with
Sticky Fingers, we were working very much with [producer] Jimmy Miller, which was a very fruitful period.
And you were on a new label and thus had a little more freedom, right?
Yeah, yeah. That was the first one on the label. So we did pretty much whatever we wanted to do. Mind you, we always did anyway. What happened after
Sticky Fingers? Was it
Goats Head Soup or something?
It was Exile.
Of course. I'm getting them mixed up.
Sticky Fingers was the last one we made in England at our old haunt, Olympic Studios. Right after that, we moved.
I imagine this tour will be bittersweet since it's the first one since Bobby Keys passed away.
Man, he'll certainly be missed, especially backstage. He was a good, good friend of mine. But he would be the first to say, "The show must go on."
Do you think they'll be a new Stones album at some point?
We're talking about doing some recording after this tour, but there's nothing definite. We just threw out the idea. I'd like to get the boys back in the studio again, yeah. Anything can happen.
What's the status of your solo album?
I think that's coming out in September.
Is it totally done?
Just done, yeah. We're looking for the right time slot to bring it out. The Stones have been working so much lately that I've been holding off until we could find a reasonable time. I think it's September, but I don't know for sure.
Who plays on it?
[Drummer] Steve Jordan and me. We're joined here and there by [guitarist] Waddy Wachtel and [Rolling Stones backup singer] Bernard Fowler. Steve and I put it together.
Are you thinking about doing solo shows to promote it?
That's being kicked around. At the moment, I'm just getting my head into the Stones and I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do afterwards. But usually if I put a record out, I do some road work. So, it's possible.
Is the thrill of playing live the same as it always was for you?
Yeah. It's a unique feeling, really, and you kind of miss it. I'm ready to get up there. I've been looking forward to it.
I know you've been asked this a million times, but do you see a point in the future when the band will stop touring?
No, I never think about that. I leave that to other people.
I guess if Chuck Berry is nearly 90 and still doing this…
Exactly. As long as I feel like it and there's people to listen to it, we'll do it.
What do you hope to see The Stones accomplish before you guys wrap it up?
That's a good question. I'd like to see just how far they can evolve. I have no demands or particular visions for them, but you're just part of this thing and I want to see how far it will go.
I'm always so impressed by Charlie. He just seems to get better and better.
Yeah, man. He's an incredible drummer, man. A very, very cool customer.
I remember a few years ago, Johnny Depp was shooting a documentary about you. There was even some sort of performance he filmed. What happened with that?
We shot some stuff, but I don't think there's anything in the cards about it. I don't think he's going to use the footage and I don't think I've seen Johnny for a couple of years.
To wrap up here, I just want to ask again about "Moonlight Mile" since I've always wanted to see that live. Do you think you guys are going to do it?
Yeah, I think we'll give it a bash, yeah. I'll tell you what: I'll play it for you right now. [
Laughs]
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/mick-jagger-im-not-thinking-about-retirement-20150407
Mick Jagger: 'I'm Not Thinking About Retirement'
The Rolling Stones singer on the band's upcoming North American tour, new 'Sticky Fingers' box set and the possibility of a new album
BY
ANDY GREENE April 7, 2015
Mick Jagger discussed retirement, the Rolling Stones' upcoming tour and the 'Sticky Fingers' box set in a new interview. Joel Ryan/AP
Mick Jagger may be a
great-grandfather just three months away from his 72nd birthday, but slowing down doesn't seem to have crossed his mind. He's spent the past two and a half years on the road with
the Rolling Stones and he's gearing up for a
15-date North American stadium tour this summer. Hours after the tour was announced, Jagger called up
Rolling Stone to discuss plans for the show, the new
Sticky Fingers box set and the possibility of a new Stones album.
What made you guys decide to go with stadiums this summer?
I enjoy playing stadiums in a way, and I had a good time last summer playing them in Europe.
The stages are so much bigger than arenas, so that must make them more physically demanding for you.
Yeah, a little bit. [
Laughs] Well, you could make it a smaller stage. It's my own fault, really, if it's big. It is quite large, maybe 150 feet wide and then the runway is quite large, too.
How do you prepare for a tour like this? Do you have a personal trainer?
I just up the whole fitness thing, and I do have a trainer that I've had for years. I'm always working out. I don't really stop between tours, but then I do have to take it up to another level about three months before one begins. You have to prepare for what you're going to do. You don't prepare for running a marathon.
You do start and stop stuff. You train for the quick burst. It's really hard to do the singing at the same time. I'll be doing cross-training and my trainer is going, "Try and sing during this!" That's not really possible in a gym in front of other people. [
Laughs]
Are you building a new stage for this tour?
Let me think…It's different, I think. Some of it is the same and some is different. It hasn't been seen in North America, but it's somewhat similar to some of the European gigs.
How involved do you get in the stage design and other technical aspects of a tour?
I pretty much go through the design and run through different options. It's a video-based stage with lots of screens, so it's important what goes on them. We've got some new pieces for the video. I'm pretty involved in all that. The actual playing surface is more or less standard and we worked it out a while ago; how much room you need for this and that.
Then there's the other variable of the width of the stadium. A baseball stadium, for instance, is normally much wider than a football stadium. Each one is a bit different, so I have to look at all those as well and say which is which. Stadiums really aren't uniform like arenas, which tend to all be the same. With stadiums, you have to tailor the stage design each night.
Are you going to play more Sticky Fingers songs than usual because the album is being re-released?
Maybe, yeah, or at least playing the ones we don't normally play. But I haven't really gotten to that yet. We're floating the idea of doing the whole album. I played it - and it's a really great album - but it's got a lot of slow songs. I'm just worried that's a bit problematic for a stadium. So, I don't know. I'm sure we'll think about it. I'm just working on that now, but I'm sure we'll feature some of the more unusual ones. I think that'll be good.
I would love to hear "Moonlight Mile" or "Sister Morphine."
Yeah, exactly, and we haven't played those for a bit. I think that's a good idea, and we definitely will feature those.
Do you think you might play the whole album straight through at least once?
Maybe. [
Laughs.] Maybe in the same running order, but normally in a whole show, we might do one ballad. Maybe Keith might do a ballad, but maximum two.
Sticky Fingers has, like, five slow songs.
But they're really good slow songs.
I know they're good. I think the album is all good. I just don't know how it would work. Maybe we'd play it and everyone would say, "Great." But maybe they'll get restless and start going to get drinks. [
Laughs]
So you'll figure this out at rehearsals?
Yeah. We play a lot of the tunes in there and know them pretty well. But the ones you mentioned we don't play as much. I mean, we've played all of them I think once before. It's not like doing
Their Satanic Majesties Request. So, I'm sure we'll have a go at playing the whole thing. I mean, [
laughs], I'm not sure it's gonna work.
There used to be long gaps between tours. You'd go out for two years, and then disappear for the next four or so. But you've been on tour since 2012, though doing far fewer shows with long gaps between legs. What's changed?
As you say, we do less shows. It's still the same in that we go around the world and then start again. [
Laughs] We ended in Australia in December and then we're back where we started. The 50th anniversary tour started in England. But now we did the whole shebang and we're starting again. I've really worked out the philosophy for it. People seem to be enjoying touring every year.
The Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Concert in London, England on November 25th, 2012. Dave J Hogan/Getty
Do you see this as the final leg or just another one?
It's the beginning of another one. As I said, when we finished Australia we'd done everything. We did England, North America…We haven't done South America for a bit. We were gonna do it, but it's kind of difficult to put together. We did Europe, Asia and then we're about to do North America again.
Are you bringing Mick Taylor on this tour?
I don't think so. We're not. Not on this tour.
Why did you pick Sticky Fingers as the next archival release?
I think it was planned years ago when we had a release schedule. The record company put together this sequence of release that we're doing, so that's fine.
I don't see any unreleased songs on the track listing.
No, there isn't. [
Laughs] I looked very hard, but I didn't find any. The truth of the matter is…Now I'm not the greatest Rolling Stones historian, but
Exile on Main Street is the one after
Sticky Fingers, right?
Right.
So then, in the
Exile period, we used quite a few tracks that were recorded in the
Sticky Fingers sessions. When we re-released
Exile on Main Street, we found others that were not released and we put them on the new package, which was a bit stupid, really. I should've really kept some back, but I didn't really think about it at the time. There was nothing that was unreleased left, unfortunately. I think that's really the truth of the story.
Do you think the Stones are going to record a new album at some point?
I knew you were going to ask me that! [
Laughs] But I don't know. It would be very nice and I've got a lot of new songs and songs I've written over the last couple of years. I've done really good demos for all of them, which I would love to record. So, let's hope so.
Are you thinking about making another solo album?
I haven't, really. I'd love to record a Stones album. If that doesn't happen, then yes. That's a truthful answer. I've got songs that would be great for the Stones, and I've got songs that wouldn't be perfect for the Stones.
Do you envision an end date for this tour?
Well, after the U.S. tour, there's nothing booked. But there are plans for what we'll do in the autumn for gigs, maybe. I don't know about the early autumn, but in the late autumn there's a lot of talk. I haven't booked it yet, but…
Does retirement ever cross your mind?
Nah, not in the moment. I'm thinking about what the next tour is. I'm not thinking about retirement. I'm planning the next set of tours, so the answer is really, "No, not really."
