Sweet Sounds of Heaven

 

And here's a new prayer from the Rolling Stones, for anyone who still believes they are on the dark side, the side of Satan. Just released.

I think it is also significant that Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder are on the track.

Angry

 

If you haven't heard it yet, this is classic Stones. Suddenly we're back in the Sixties. We even have a Kennedy running for president.

The Stolen Thrones

 

The Rolling Stones have a certain reputation. It is worth pointing out that it is all a sham.

I recently watched a documentary series on the Stones, aired by the CBC.

In in, Keith Richards refers to Mick Jagger as a very honourable man. Ron Wood refers to Richards as “a very moral guy,” and portrays him as being not just moral, but moralistic. Charlie Watts has stayed married to the same woman throughout their fame, and has avoided all the groupie action, despite the obvious and overwhelming temptations. Wood speaks of the band being guided by a “higher power”—the AA standard reference to God—and things coming to them “from above.”

It is true that members of the group have had drug problems. This is common among musicians. Apparently it is difficult to get up there on stage night after night as if you are someone special, and then have to prove it with your playing. Almost everyone seems to resort to drugs of some sort to steady their nerves. Many get addicted. Occupational hazard.

It is true that Bill Wyman, the original bassist, had a reputation for womanizing. But again, this is an occupational hazard, and another kind of addiction. Women will throw themselves at you if you perform onstage, or if you are famous. As Trump has famously remarked, and been condemned for pointing out. It would be hard for anyone to resist this temptation. And Richards has publicly scolded Wyman for giving in to it so completely.

"Sympathy for the Devil"? Listen to the lyrics. It is not on his side. Or listen to "Salt of the Earth"--a restatement of the Beatitudes. Or "Prodigal Son"; an uncritical restatement of the parable.

Jagger does not say that the “bad boy” image is wrong; it would be imprudent to do so, would damage the brand. And Jagger is a smart man and a canny businessman, someone who is able to give an interview in fluent French. But he does tell the interviewer that they are the same sort of blokes as the Beatles, and have always hung out with them. When the Beatles were marketed, at least initially, as fun-loving but essentially nice young men, the Stones management intentionally created the “bad boy” image for the Stones for marketing purposes, to distinguish the product.

In other words, it’s hype. People in general are incredibly naïve, and will usually just accept whatever hype they are fed.

Charlie Watts Dies

 

Charlie Watts has died. He was a great drummer. Some drummers are more celebrated for their attention-grabbing performances. This is not what good drumming is about. The drummer is responsible for the roll in rock and roll, and this means consistency, not flash. Watts was flawless.

On Aussie TV, remembering Watts, the presenters shared opinions of the best Stones song. One suggested "Wild Horses." A great song, but not a true Stones song. The best Stones song, to my mind, against stiff competition, is "Gimme Shelter."

Stones Don't Float

O Oracular Jones, Swimming Mightily Through the Tempests and the Tides

Brian Jones has left the pool

Brian Jones, get out of the pool.
Oh my God, he still has a pulse.
I can hear that faint beat from his foolish heart
Brian Jones, you stunned drunk junkie, sober up.
Everything is possible.
it's all imagination, isn't it?
Brian Jones, you are totally bumming everyone out.

Brian Jones, you are slipping up on the Diddley rhythm
You're playing too serious and slow, it's only rock and roll.
Get up and shake it, or you're going to kill a thousand dances
Clap like you would to old St. Vitus's Boogie Blues
We need your mouth harp; breathe out, breathe in
It's not only you, generic Jones;
You're not in the army, but you're in a band.

Okay, goodbye then, Brian. But don't expect any true sorrow,
You penny ante panto Adonais
This train's moving on to Almonte and beyond
Even if you up and rise again
We don't want to know
I hope Hit Parader doesn't cover it.
This is live, Mr. Jones. This is happening.
There will be no overdubs,

And no retakes.

--Stephen Roney

What Really Happened at Altamont

Meredith Hunter

I don’t know if anyone actually even cares any more, but Altamont was not what most people think. Most people think Hell’s Angels ran riot and murdered somebody, ending the Sixties era of “peace and love.”

Actually, it was an engineering problem.

The stage at Woodstock was at least three metres high. The stage at Altamont was only a metre high—so that audience members could climb on. At Woodstock, audience members naturally stood back, or else they would not be able to see what was happening on the stage. At Altamont, the stage was at the bottom of a slope—audience members naturally crowded forward.

This was not anybody’s fault. The organizers had only 24 hours’ notice that they had to move the concert to Altamont; it was originally planned for San Jose. There was no time to fix the problem.

Possibly the Hell’s Angels used more force than necessary to keep the crowd from swamping the stage and mobbing the performers. But they had an impossible task. Moreover, they were doing it as volunteers, Good Samaritans. They were not being paid for it, and there was no explicit agreement that they were responsible for doing it. They were just stepping into the breach. If they hadn’t, there would have been chaos, and quite possibly many deaths.

One man was killed in the melee; but he was not murdered. Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell’s Angels. But he had a gun, was pointing it at the stage, and may have fired it. This is clear from film taken at the event. The Angel who stabbed Hunter probably saved Mick Jagger from assassination. He was acquitted of any crime by a jury of his peers.

That should end it. Only one person was clearly at fault at Altamont, and that is the dead man, Meredith Hunter.