LadyJane wrote on Oct 26
th, 2008 at 2:01pm:
What brought you to Rocks Off Aquamarine?
I mean, we ARE the Best Stones Website, but I'm curious how you found us?
LJ.
Just browsing the web . . . thought you seemed a cool bunch!
Well, to continue a bit then (and btw I was a Beatles fan too, originally, but there was huge pressure to be one or the other), in those early days the Stones were very much the "bad boys" of rock, especially by comparison to the Beatles, and it wasn't until way later we realized they were encouraged by the Loog to play up to it, by doing things like appearing on Sunday Night at the London Palladium (weekly TV variety show) and refusing to wave to the audience on the revolving stage at the end. They also began to appear in the newspapers doing things like driving without insurance (Mick) and peeing on gas station walls (you bad boy, Bill). But it was great because they got lots of TV exposure, were on Ready Steady Go (Friday rock TV show) frequently, flirting with the host, Cathy McGowan. I began to drift away a bit during th Aftermath and Between the Buttons period, the music not being what originally drew me to them, and even when the psychedelic era dawned, it seemed at the time that they were copying the Beatles for a while--Their Satanic Majesties their Sgt. Pepper, We Love You their All You Need is Love, etc. By this time they were constantly appearing in the papers in connection with drug busts, and it seems ironic now that we thought at the time that Brian seemed to be getting undue attention from the cops, since now of course we know he was! This all came to a head with the raid on Redlands, and Mick and Keith ending up in jail--this was a major national story, and I've still got all the newspaper clippings. We genuinely thought they were going to go to jail for years, and when they got off it was such a major relief--I can still remember watching live on TV at home as Mick was flown by helicopter to an interview that included the Archbishop of Canterbury! The cops had really overplayed their hand with that one--in fact, it was a major editorial in the (conservative, then anyway) London Times that helped bring about the acquittal, and eventually helped get the law changed (about letting your home be used for drug activities, which is what Keith was accused of. This applied even if you didn't know about the activities). Another irony of all this was that because there was no internet, etc., it wasn't until years later that we all realized that the "naked blonde wrapped in the fur rug" that we'd been reading about was in fact Marianne!
Anyway, the band got themselves together musically, and when Jumpin' Jack Flash came out, and there was the video of them all wearing make-up etc., it started a whole new era, and I was definitely back on board music-wise. Brian "left" the band (again, at the time we took this at face value) and there was this huge concert scheduled in Hyde Park, at which they were going to introduce their new guitarist. All very scary, because suppose he sucked?? And then a few days before the show, there was the news of Brian's death. Some of my "friends" actually laughed at me about it. To me, though, being young, it was like losing a family member.
I never thought the Hyde Park show would go ahead, but they decided to dedicate it to Brian--so I went, and it was a sunny afternoon and the other bands were great (King Crimson in particular, I remember), and I got a good spot, and then the Stones came on and everybody stood up and I couldn't see a damn thing!! But a nice guy, total stranger, lifted me onto his shoulders, just in time to see Mick read the poem--he was wearing white, fortunately, as there seemed to be dozens of people on the stage and it took ages to pick out the rest of the band--and release the butterflies (which I learned later immediately dropped dead). And the best part was that the show was a cracker, and I knew Mick Taylor was going to cut it, and things were going to be even better than ever.
(Though a few days later, Mick went off to Australia to film Ned Kelly, Marianne attempted suicide, and for a while seemed likely to die, and with that happening so close to Brian's death, rumors of dabbling in black magic began to circulate more than ever.)
I'll add some more later if you like, I'm not going for the "world's longest post" or something!
(P.S. I've been really enjoying the pics!!)
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Greetings, questions, and such (Read 4,626 times)
