Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones

Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties: TV and Radio History As It Happened – Richard Havers – (Harper Design)

For certain bands, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones come to mind, there has been so much written, recorded and said about the band over the course of time, that it becomes darn near impossible to put out something new or different, without the diehard fans of the band questioning accuracy or nitpicking even relatively minor details.

I am certain that will be the case for even a veteran Stones chronicler like Richard Havers and his new tome, Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties: TV and Radio History As It Happened. The fanatics will pick nits with set lists or other seemingly minor details. The reality is this is a very cool collection, that offers a glimpse at not only never before seen archival photos, but facsimile documents that offer a peek behind the curtain of what was involved in the band’s sixties broadcast appearances.

Havers is the author/editor/compiler of a half a dozen other Stones and Stones related books, so he certainly brings a level of insider knowledge to the table when it comes to detailing the band’s story. The pictures truly add some amazing depth to the story, as the bands quickly transitions from mop topped, matching suits and nervous grins to, too cool for the room, edgy rockers full of energy.

Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties: TV and Radio History As It Happened, is a great accompaniment to a proposed DVD release that features archival footage culled from the vaults of the BBC and other broadcast sources, that will tie the story together in great detail.

A Rock ‘n ’Roll Life

It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone – Jo Wood (It/HarperCollins)

We’ve seen shelves full of rocker autobiographies. Groupies, managers, roadies and even hangers-on have all checked in with thoughts on the rock ‘n ’roll life. While I am certain that it is not a first; Jo Wood, who spent 30 years as the girlfriend/wife of Rolling Stone guitarist Ron Wood checks in with her tale from a unique perspective.

With, It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone, Wood paints an interesting portrait of the seemingly anchor free life with what some have dubbed the “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll band.” Not shockingly, young Josephine got her start in the world of modeling, that whirlwind existence, often hand to mouth, but seemingly more often chemical to mouth (or nose) lead her to the attention  of often older paramours.

 

It was that high flying lifestyle that had her crossing paths with the then married guitarist. A handful of interludes later and Wood found herself in the regular company of the Stones sideman. Fueled by copious amounts of alcohol, cocaine and other chemical habits, Wood details the lavish, high end lifestyle one would expect to accompany the life of a Rolling Stone. I have often heard folks wonder aloud “how much money do they need” when aging rockers set out on the road for “one more tour.” I guess I’m not shocked that they would hit the road when you read about the endless shuffling from place to place and home to home and addiction to addiction; it still seems almost amazing when Wood details ducking bill collectors.

While most if not all rock bios offer up details of the seemingly endless parade of available flesh that these stars encounter; you still have to wonder what makes these women stand by their man when they succumb, often with regularity to those desires. Turns out that while they live in a different stratosphere, the simple fact is, like ordinary people, they do the basic thing of staying for the family. That said, there is still a breaking point, which Wood details involving an 18 year old trollop that broke the camel’s back.

Earth shattering or insightful? Probably not. But in the end, It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll is an entertaining romp and almost instantaneously forgotten; just what you want from a rock ‘n’ roll biography.

 

Bobby Keys- Every Night’s a Saturday Night:The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Legendary Sax Man Bobby Keys (Counterpoint)

Over the years I have interviewed dozens of performers who cited the Beatles historic performance on the Ed Sullivan Show as the inspiration for starting their music careers. A nearly equal numbers were inspired by Elvis Presley’s appearance on Sullivan’s show. Bobby Keys’ story of career choice inspiration is wholly unique; first hearing then seeing Buddy Holly and the Crickets playing at the grand opening of a new gas station in Lubbock, Texas was what set Keys on the road to cross paths with and become a sax player and sideman for legendary performers including the Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, John Lennon and Eric Clapton among many others.

In his new autobiography, Every Night’s a Saturday Night: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Legendary Sax Man Bobby Keys, Keys lays out the tale of his wild child youth that later continued into his wild child adulthood. The story he weaves is one of a life in a nearly constant state of flux; as he fluidly leads an at times hand to mouth existence and a life of excess; fueled not only by legendary amounts of drugs and alcohol, but the music that became the real driving force of his life.

Keys clearly embraces his excesses, laying out tales of tour physicians and their “little black bags”, detailing drug enhanced/addled performances, chemically fueled run ins with law enforcement and a particularly colorful story involving a groupie, a bath tub and a huge/expensive quantity of champagne.

The narrative of the story is pretty loose, as Keys recollections of life on the road and in the studio over the course of five plus decades drifts towards stream of consciousness, at times blurred by the passing of time and more than a few deceased brain cells. Keys is at his best when he reminisces about his tours of duty with the Stones.

He offers up interesting insight into the inner workings of the band, the relationship between Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and the veteran drummer, the timeless Charlie Watts. Jagger and Richards are clearly the creative force that has driven the Stones over the course of their career and while they are truly rock ‘n’ roll survivors, Keys depicts the often tenuous relationship dynamic between the pair.

It is his decades old friendship with Richards that Keys offers the great detail about. Richards has championed the sax man’s presence in the band through the good the bad and the ugly.  It is Richards who brought Keys onboard for recording sessions and tours and he is ultimately responsible for rehabilitating Keys reputation with his fellow Stones after a drug and alcohol fueled falling out with the band. The dynamic relationship between Jagger and Richards is put in focus by Richards’ embrace of Keys return to the fold and Jagger’s disdain, because “nobody leaves the Rolling Stones.

If you pick up this book looking for fluid prose you likely be disappointed, but you’re looking for interesting anecdotes and great stories of a rock ‘n’ roll life, then Every Night’s a Saturday Night will fill the bill.