The butterflies were a bit sad, there were casualties. It was like the Somme
— Says Charlie Watts on legendary Stones Hyde Park gig in 1969, as 2013 date is set
World exclusive
By PAUL SEXTON, Music journalist and broadcaster
Published: 21 hrs ago
THE Rolling Stones are returning to the scene of one of their most legendary gigs — 44 years and a day after it happened.
Yesterday the band dramatically announced they will play a massive show in London’s Hyde Park on July 6.
The outdoor venue was the scene of the famous 1969 concert that took place just two days after the death of original member Brian Jones.
The new Hyde Park spectacular will also be one week after the Stones rock the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival.
Tickets for the gig — part of July’s Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park concert series — have been pegged at £95, well below some recent events there.
The new show will inspire memories for long-time Stones fans of the day Jagger, wearing a white smock, read a Shelley poem in tribute to Brian and thousands of butterflies were released from the stage. The band also introduced new guitarist Mick Taylor.
The crowd that day has been estimated at anything between 250,000 and half a million people.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun, the Stones recall the seminal gig and look ahead to the new one.
“I remember lots of things about Hyde Park,” says drummer Charlie Watts. “Going to pick my trousers up before I went to the Dorchester. Being at the Dorchester with Allen Klein [the Stones’ manager in 1969] marching about like a little Napoleon.
“The butterflies were a bit sad, really. They looked good from the audience, but actually if you were near them there were an awful lot of casualties.
“It was like the Somme before they even got off the ground.”
Of the tragic passing of his Stones’ bandmate, Charlie says: “Brian’s death wasn’t unexpected. You didn’t expect him to die, but he wasn’t well for a long time, a couple of years. So it wasn’t as big a shock as if it had been Bill (Wyman), for example, you would have thought ‘Blimey’.
“But he was only young, you didn’t go at that age.”
When the new Hyde Park gig was given the go-ahead by the band, guitarist Ronnie Wood admits he was slightly surprised, but he is very excited about it.
He says: “I’ve been doing various things in the park with Rod Stewart and other people over the years.
“I never thought the Stones would do it, to be quite honest.
“But it’s come to fruition and it’s very pleasing.”
Ronnie was at the first Hyde Park show in ’69, not as a Stone but a spectator.
At the time the guitarist — who replaced Mick Taylor in 1975 — was coming to the end of his time with the Jeff Beck Group, just before the formation of The Faces.
He recalls: “I was walking around the outskirts of the park, seeing this sea of people, thinking ‘Wow, that looks like a wonderful affair over there’.
“And out of the car in front of me pop Mick and Charlie, and they come up. ‘Ayy, hello mate, how you doing?’ They said ‘Well, we gotta go, we’ll see you soon’, and I said ‘Yeah, sooner than you think’.”
For Mick Taylor, playing his first show with the band, it was a baptism of fire. He recalls: “It was nerve-racking for me because it was my first gig. But for the others, it was probably a much more emotionally draining experience because they knew Brian, I didn’t know him at all.”
In his autobiography, guitarist Keith Richards recalled how important it was to make the ’69 show a fitting tribute to late founder member Brian. He wrote: “We wanted to see him off in grand style.
“The ups and downs with the guy are one thing, but when his time’s over, release the doves, or in this case, the sackfuls of white butterflies.”
Despite their efforts, Keith said the band took a while to hit their stride at the outdoor show.
“We played pretty bad until near the end, because we hadn’t played for years,” Keith told Rolling Stone magazine in 1971.
“Nobody minded, because they just wanted to hear us play again.
“Coming after Brian's death, it was like a thing we had to do. We had that big picture of him on stage, and it comes out looking like a ghost in some pictures.”
Overall, Keith was proud of the ’69 concert.
“Biggest public gathering in London for over 200 years,” he said. “The last time they had a gathering that big in England it started a people’s revolt. Had to be put down with the dragoons.”
The free concert, scheduled before Jones’ death, also featured up-and-coming bands including Family and King Crimson, along with the Stones’ original mentor and inspiration, bluesman Alexis Korner.
Celebrity spectators included singers Paul McCartney, Marianne Faithfull, Donovan and Steve Winwood.
The set list featured the first live performance of Honky Tonk Women, plus Jumpin’ Jack Flash, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Street Fighting Man and Sympathy For The Devil.
So July 5, 1969, was some day for rock fans.
Hyde Park 2013 will take the Stones’ epic 50 And Counting anniversary celebrations — “a year-long royal wedding,” as Ronnie described them — into a second year.
The party began last July when singer Mick Jagger, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie met for a party at London’s Somerset House — 50 years to the day since the group’s first gig, at London’s Marquee Club. Two dates at the capital’s O2 Arena followed last November which saw Mick Taylor and original bassist Bill Wyman return to the stage with the band. Further dates in New York and New Jersey were greeted with rave reviews.
The Glastonbury and Hyde Park shows will be taking place around another big anniversary — 50 years since their debut single, a version of Chuck Berry’s Come On, in June 1963.
The concerts mark a dramatic return for the Stones to the world of festivals, which they deserted after the disaster of Altamont, in the US, five months after Hyde Park. That free show ended in tragedy with the infamous fatal stabbing of teenager Meredith Hunter at the hands of Hells Angels.
Taylor says: “I don’t think the Stones have gone anywhere near doing a free concert, and just leaving it up to other people to organise, since then.
“Festivals are a lot better organised now.”
Now he is ready for some new adventures with the Stones in the summer. He says: “I’m going to be part of their continuing saga, yes. I did feel like I was in my own back yard by the shows in Newark. The O2 shows, I think everybody was a bit tentative because they hadn’t played together for six or seven years.
“But the musical chemistry and the energy really gelled.”
With rehearsals starting again later this month, Ronnie can’t wait to get back on board the greatest pirate ship to sail the rock ’n’ roll seas. He said: “The call-up papers have come, marching orders have been issued.
“Then we’ll have a few months off,” he adds with that twinkle in his eye, “I can’t see it ending.”
‘I can still fit in the dress’
MICK JAGGER and Keith Richards discussed both Hyde Park gigs with BBC Radio 5 Live’s Colin Paterson yesterday. Here are some extracts.
MJ: Brian Jones, who was a founding member of the band, had very recently died. A pretty crazy thing to do really – but in the end, it was a bit of a landmark concert.
KR: It was difficult. Because you’re a band and it’s the first go-round with the new guy. On top of that, it’s one of the biggest shows you have ever done. Basically, you make the sign of the cross and you keep your fingers crossed!
MJ: (This time) I’ll try to keep the poetry to a minimum. But you never know.The white dress? I don’t know. I tend to choose my dresses at the last minute.
I can still get into it. I can still just about get into the zippers. I’m not really worried about that area.
Read more:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4872320/The-Stones-on-legendary-Hy...; (includes photos which we cant reproduce here for copyright reasons)
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