Posted on 07/24/2012 5:11:25 PM PDT by mojito
So it’s official: The Rolling Bones – I mean, Stones — have turned 50. Can 50 really be so bad? Well, that all depends on who you are. To celebrate the “50th Anniversary” of the Rolling Stones, as the media have cautiously been doing, is really just a polite way of saying that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & co. will turn 70 next year. And 70, in the context of “the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band,” sounds deadly. Grotesque. A car-crash you not only don’t want to rubberneck, you want to turn around and drive away from it at maximum speed in the opposite direction.
You can chalk that reaction up to the Stones having once been global ambassadors for youth culture. It’s also an unfortunate side-effect of the historical resilience of their uniquely powerful, raunchy, amoral, decadent, sex-drenched aura. While their fellow ’60’s idol, Bob Dylan, embraced geezerhood and mortality a good 20 years ago, wrapping it around himself in song after song, sucking it into his eyes and flesh as if to conquer it before it conquers him, no rockers have been as successful as the Stones at deflecting attention from just how old they are, and how old they have been, for so long. And now this “50th Anniversary” thing turns up like the Grim Reaper in a smiley mask to strip away the last vestiges of pretence. For the Stones, to cite the beautiful opening line of “As Tears Go By” (allegedly the first song Jagger and Richards wrote together), “It” (finally!) – “is the evening of the day.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Saw that show in Buffalo, Mick couldn’t sing and Keith was well, you know......Keith.
Best album / song?
The decline was when they brought in Ron Wood, he’s not half the musician that Mick Taylor was, but Taylor’s personality didn’t quite fit the band.
They’ll still be playing their tunes when everyone here is dead.
“Oh daddy’is your brain still flash’in? like it did when you were young, or did you come down crash’in see’in all the things you’ve done.................................”
I’m disappointed that Keith didn’t kick Mick’s ass for those lame duets he did with Bowie and Michael Jackson.
Saw a chunk of the live DVD from the Some Girls tour. They weren’t phoning it in for that. You can even see a bit of the punk influence in how they played, much faster than previously.
Also, I think as far as latter career albums go, Voodoo Lounge is pretty underrated.
They did lose personal over the years. I think what strikes people most is that the creative decline of the band was so fast & early. One would expect a slow decline considering the talent they had.
Pure props to Mick Taylor but Ron Wood has few peers as well. Beast of Burden is some fine playing. IMHO
The Stones have the same problem every band from that era has, people compare the new stuff to the old stuff, and if it sounds like it, people complain that they are just doing to same stuff, but if they try to do something different, people complain because it doesn’t sound like the old stuff.
Brian Jones was a huge loss. Amazing of all the big bands of that era, they’ve only lost one prominent member, and that was over 40 years ago.
Lol, you can’t kill Keith ! The guy is still going strong.
I think I used to like listening to the rolling stones.
His autobiography “Life” was one of the best reads I’ve had in years. Totally changed my view of the guy, despite all the drugs, he’s as sharp as a tack.
I’ve heard good things about his book. Might make good summer reading.
Well, actually 50% of the original "Who" members died a decade or two ago.
They're playing the Olympic Closing Ceremonies and are planning a new tour. Roger is in phenomenal shape, and his voice actually sounds better than it has in years.
In 2012, some of the Stones’ last great records from the early 1970s, like “Brown Sugar” or “Tumbling Dice,” are over 40.
As we leave the 20th century further and further behind those distinctions, which once seemed so definitive, seem to matter less and less.
I have a theory that Keith died in 1969 ... and once the drugs wear off he'll realize it. That should be in 2 or 3 years from now. =)
“Saw them on the Steel Wheels Tour, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.”
Ditto...saw it in FL at the Orange Bowl.
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