I was rather surprised by this:
As Ronnie was leaving rehearsals
this week, a few off us got into a
discourse with him about his solo
discs, and as it turns out, he
didn't have,and wanted a copy
of "Now Look" burnt to disc.

A few of us raced over to my place
after he left and were up til the wee
hours burning him a quick copy from
vinyl, using my HHB freestranding burner.
Recorded it thru a refurbished seventies
system I got made awhile back especially
for the vintage vinyl. Sounds great.
We then colour photocopied and reduced
the artwork, put together a nice package,
and all signed it for him. But by time
evening rolled around again, word had
no doubt gotten out and he'd already
been slipped at least one other copy,
maybe even innundated with them. So if
yer thinking of sending him one forget it,
he's probably got lots by now! :-)

Sigh. Oh well, the main thing is he got it.
Somehow I couldn't imagine us grooving to this
neat mid 70's lp, while our man with the guitar
doesn't have one himself. Hope it brings him as
much pleasure hearing it again, as it does for us!

In our dreams, we stood around speculating that
Keith and him MUST have left so late last night coz
they were sitting around listening to it (not any
copy, but ours mind you......;-). And why not?
Keith + even ML helping out on guitars, Bobby Womack,
Ian McLagan, a fun but often seemingly forgotten
Ronnie solo outting!

Well, be that as it may. Dunno what Ronnies sudden
interest might be in it other than he saw it in the
crowds and was reminded of it, or....or.....or???

Was also surprised he wouldn't have a copy!!!
He sure seemed fond of it. How could that be?

LoFL, Davido - now which thread am i supposed to repsond under?
what a strange and cool story - and of course that was *your* copy the guitarcreatures stayed late listening to. the others were nowhere near as fine!

ain't it a beautiful thing to give something to a Stone, instead of asking for something - and to give him something he *wanted!* that rocks major. good on you for seizing that sweet opportunity.


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

Hey with sssoul!

Yeah, it makes me happy to think
Ronnie and maybe the other boys will be spinning
this fine seemingly lost disc too, while they
are here rehearsing. Hopefully I will get to talk
to him a bit more about "Now Look", but it is
getting pretty crowded out there at the gates,
and time may be running out. Still, the music
is the thing which really unites us,
wherever we may be. Ronnie rock on.......................

Thanks Davido - keep those dispatches coming!

Sure John! I've posted a fair number
elsewhere here on the IORR including
the "What about Rude People..." thread,
in hopes of keeping folks advised in
whatever small way I can. Will try to
keep them together, perhaps here now,
and on that thread so they are easier
to find.......................

Going back tonite to try to follow
up on Now Look, but suspect with the
weekend crowds may have to wait until
early next week. Stones don't seem to
be coming over when it gets to big
and carried away, so we'll see.........

By the way, kinda neat that Mick Taylor
is also on this disc, playing slide on
"It's Unholy".....................

Does anybody have any questions about
this album in case I get to talk to
Ronnie about it again? He seemed
very keen on it, it is a good one,
but not quite sure why he wouldn't
have it, or is so interested now
tho could just be a fluke....................?

Could you tell him that everyone, especially Lorenz who flew over from Vienna for a day, enjoyed the Ronnie and Fiends gig very much? Perhaps he is interested in getting the bootleg! Or perhaps he wants to release it on CD or DVD?


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

You'd think he could get it from amazon! Some funky, great tracks - It's Unholy is fabulous...I'd wonder if he has other unissued material with Bobby Womack - he put out one cd by BW in '94 on his own "Slide" (I think) imprint, dist. by Continuum, which went bankrupt shortly after (Continuum issued the 1991 - 93 solo lps by RW, CW, & the Womack cd has the RS on 2 or 3 trax)

Hmmmm. Well it is out of print in Canada now I think,
isn't available on amazon.ca here, tho still shouldn't
be too hard to get. Would seem to me, that for whatever
reason, he wanted it right now, and seemed quite pleased
as her poured himself into his car, and was off into
Toronto and the night.......................

It is kinda aweful when your away from home and you
suddenly realize you just gotta hear this or that
and damn you haven't got it on you eh? Whew! :-)

If/ when we get to talk to him again I'm definately
going to focus on the solo stuff, and try to have
some thoughtful and interesting questions to ask,
or say, none of this ga ga fan stuff, or minion
suck up bits they probably hear a lot and
must often get so sick of.

Course when they are suddenly standing there in
front of you in real life, in person for the first
time, it would seem to be easy enough to just freeze
like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming
car -it sure is easy enuff to go blank! This has all been
completely new for me, and when I have so far been
able to get a few words in, when they come over,
it's pretty much just been to thank them for
all the great tunes. They just smile, + at least
I don't feel like a complete idiot, coz I suppose
that's really the botttom line, for me anyway.
I'm a good Canadian Boy eh? I just have to say thanks!

But we've gotten that out of the way now and so.........

Lorenz -would definately pass on the compliments,
if possible, but wonder if bootlegs might
not be a touchy subject?

Well, you could frame it like you know some friends in London who attended & raved about how good it was, & might it be coming out on DVD / cd?...

Sure, but I don't think I'd hand Ronnie a copy of the boot, that might backfire.....if something seems dicey with the rehearsal crowds the boys seem to just back off, cut us off, perhaps figure they've paid their dues, don't need to get involved with us, if it even slighly rubs them the wrong way.

The big English guy, (is it Clive or is he Micks driver?), will come out before they exit, and coolly scope the crowds at the gate. There's also another layer of local security, who seems to be advising them via cellphone on whether its best to come over to see us, or just wave. I'd say they have ALOT of discretionary power to use, or perhaps even abuse here. If anybody rubs them the wrong way for whatever reason, real, imagined or perhaps even fabricated, they can forget ever meeting the boys or getting an autograph, perhaps even worse. There were allegations last week one security punched out a rather rabid fan who tried to follow Ronnie to a bar a few nights ago, but he was somewhere in the back and I didn't see that.

By the way, Mick seems to have a penchant for first signing stuff for young twenty something babes in short skirts, and there sure can be alot of them waiting around to see Ronnie come very late at night, but I suppose that isn't anything new! ;-)

I have noticed some of the fans are handing them bootlegs to sign. So is that cool? Mick is selective of what he signs, they all seem wary of guitars. Photos are a pretty sure thing, as are fans t-shirts and hats. They'll sign albums that seem to catch their fancy.I saw one old vinyl bootleg get signed, but only on the back, am not sure if that was an accident or not, it was quite the melee, when Keith came over. I don't think I'd risk it right now. I may even be in Ronnies good books over that Now Look cd, anyways he seemed to really appreciate that, why spoil a good thing?..................

Kind of intriguing eh? Can even get pretty obsessive after awhile. I'm going to go check it out tonight, but figure it will be quite a mob scene with the weekend crowds. We'll see.....

Cool happenings over there davido...thanks for keeping us informed.

ROCKMAN

Wow - You're dancing on the edge of the volcano
I cant give you any advice - only keep cool - u aint no deer in spotlight & every boy & gal is reading your posts.
keep it up pal
best regards

Sure Rockman, my pleasure. Course I'm just a fan,
not an insider, so what I hear and say is only
from the gate. Take it as you may.

Tonight the crowds were suprisingly thin until after
10 pm. Nothings for sure anymore, Mick left before
9 tonight with Wren in tow, but did come by
both the north and south gates to sign
autographs. There were only a handful
of fans, like most of the regulars
I wasn't there yet, of all nights,
coz I was doing my weekend thing.
But hey, I saw him once already
this week....................
Yeah! That's a good excuse!
Ho boy! Hmmmmmm.

Then security got me mixed up, with catering, I think.
When the south service gate was opened, I walked
thru. They asked if I was on my way to the kitchen.
I said no the rehearsal hall, and they tossed me out.
Aaaargh! Well, I had to go for it, but perhaps used
a little too much chutzpah eh? Didn't play my cards
right? Oh well, everybody was in good spirits, very
good natured about it, had a good laugh, and I'm
none the worse for wear and tear. Whew!
Could've been tense...................

Next, I went for a walk around the building, and saw Chuck Leavell
looking at me thru the open door of the white van. Our eyes locked, I'm
thinking, do I want to say hello to him????? Naw, not really a fan. Duh-
wrong answer again!!! The door closes, and the van drives off into
Toronto and the night, with Charlie, who'd quietly slipped
out, and was sitting in the back!!!!!!!

I'm afraid I was just too pooped to pop, I was batting zero here tonight,
well at the very least my timing was off. It's been a long week,
with a lot of rock and Rolling Stone jollies. It's too bad
I missed these final opportunities, but they all would've
been a bonus, and next week could even have
more exciting Stone moments yet...........

Ronnie, and last but not least Keith gave us an early night off
as they called it quits by midnight for the weekend. All we got
was a wave tonight. Ronnie managed to walk over to his car
and climb in by himself tonight, and apparantly when he arrived
early this afternoon, he looked lucid. Whew! All that hard work!
Well I hope the boys relax and have a good time, but
not too good a time, and are back and raring to go
on Monday. I know I'll settle for some much needed
sleep and all I've had to do is stand around
and watch them come and go. Burn cds. Take photos.
Cheer them on. C'mon boys! Let's play those
guitars. Play those drums. Sing. Yup.
Lifes tough at the gate......;-)

Lotsa talk about the scuffle the other night,
latest rumour is that the guy who allegedly
got punched out by security is. a professional
autograph hound. If so, doesn't make it right
of course, but they sure can be a nuisance,
not really in the Toronto spirit of things.
Whole thing is still kinda confusing tho....

PS -Thanks for the
kind word and good
advice open-g!

>> when they come over, it's pretty much just been to thank them for
all the great tunes. <<

that's mighty mighty fine, Davido.
thank you for conveying that.
and thank you for your cool reports, too.




"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

Thanks with sssoul!
Wish I could've gotten
into the rehearsal hall to
actually hear the tunes live last
night, but sigh alas! It was to
no avail. Still, was worth
the try. Don't think I
could live with myself
if I hadn't tried! ;-)

On average, how many fans are hanging around outside of the rehearsals?

Early to mid week as low as a dozen
or two, depending upon the time of the day.
Pushing a hundred and fifty or so by
the end of this week, nearer to midnight
when they leave. It seems to vary widely.
I can't speak for before that,
maybe somebody else can?

Also, of perhaps interest or insightful note:

There are three possible main entrances, a drive through
out front which isn't used much, and two at the back
driveway/ parking lot gates, where just about everybody
hangs out.

The rehearsals are in a private school, on a street
corner, in a nice part of town, not to far off the beaten path.
There are no doubt some locals there, most are surprised at us,
or indifferent, tho some definately don't like all the furor,
think we're nuts.

It's a rather nondescript block shaped building, pretty sound
proof, with most windows up high off the street level, doesn't
really have much character, but I suppose it's quite functional
and serves it's purpose.

Apparantly the Stones wanted the downtown CBC studio/ old
Mason Temple Hall, where they rehearsed last time, but tried
booking it too late. It was being used to film Canadian Idol
when they wanted to start practising, so they were out of luck,
tho the Stones friends and staff from there are always
dropping by to say hello to them, and a lot of the
old familiar faces they recognize in the crowd.

It mostly seems to be a love in; security is tight, there have
been a few tense situations this week, then again, for the
most part, most of them seem to be great.

There's lots of neat bars, restaurants and shops nearby but I
don't think the Stones have had much luck getting out
unnoticed and undisturbed over their time at the
school, and are ticked off/ disappointed/
at times were even pretty concerned about that.

Most of the crowd is just local and/ or longterm die hard
fans, a fair number of them our good friends from
the U.S., who seem to like coming up here to
vacation, hang out, and see the Stones,
with a some notable exceptions, as
I've already noted, it seems a
relatively laid back, very
Canadian Stones scene.

A couple of things caught my attention Davido - any idea why Ron is leaving last - the security thing? You mentioned he 'seemed lucid' at one point - any indication he's screwing up his sobriety (god I hope not). I saw a pic of Keith w/ a Warren Zevon cd - he seems to have cds almost as often as MJ has his cell phone. And does Bobby arrive w/ Bernard, Lisa, Blondie etc(& Charlie??) or by himself?

Ho boy! Out of respect for Ronnie,
I don't want to bad mouth him, but
out of concern for him, well
it does looks like he's having a
realreal real real real real good
time! Maybe too much so! I
certainly hope not, for
his sake, the band.

Then again maybe the gravity is just
a bit too strong around here in
Toronto lately, eh? Planes crash,
and it can even git a little
hard walking and getting into our
cars, without some help, during
the wee hours, when the moon is
high, and so are ones spirits.
But then again, a bar can be a
good place to go and sit down,
if you are looking for a chair
with four legs, or perhaps
a stool...... So who knows.
Let's just wish him the best,
and hope he knows what he's
doing. He's a big boy now.

Thanks - chronologically a big boy, anyways....Leaving last, a bar can be a good place etc - especially after your wife left hours earlier, & the other RS too...

Heh heh er.......Oh Boy!
ONNYA?!? Could be tense...........?

Keith still likes to toke.
Tossed his roach when he came
over to sign autographs one night;
"Wot?!?@!#$%$#@ Bloody Hell why not?!?"
Fans all went scrambling for it.
Keith just chuckled. He didn't
seem to be drunking or on
anything heavier than that;
pretty lucid, if you can
ever really describe
Keith that way.........;-)

You know if RW's toking up w/ KR, that's actually a pretty positive sign (compared to alcohol/freebase) - I mean, they might be bonding again?....I guess we'll get more signs, good or bad, as the week, & the tour, progresses.
Davido you're on the Toronto forum - did you read the stories Micki shared about 'managing' the late great Johnny Thunders posted 7/31??

Hi John!

I haven't seen KR + RW together during
the short 4 days I've been outside,
they come and go separately, as do
the girls. Apparantly, they stay
late working on the guitar parts
with the rest of the band -Mick
cuts out first. I wouldn't want
to read too much into this, except
I suppose they would be together
inside late into the night......

As an ex-drinker myself, I dunno,
I'd be worried about Ronnie, tho if
KR's still a heavy drinker, while they
rehearse, I'd suspect at the very least
he just holds it better in public
without any help. But KR didn't
seem drunk per see to me,
Ronnie is definately
suspect.

Enablers cover for an alcoholic and
maintain the fantasy that everything
is okay, nothing i wrong. I hope
the Stones camp don't do that for
Ronnie, it really is a disservice
to him, and perhaps all concerned.

But then again, this all is speculation,
based on his comings and goings. Apparantly
the week before he was coming over and seemed
quite clear, happy, coherent, yakking away,
signing autographs. From what I saw this week,
I'd be suspicious as hell, but like you said...............

No - I missed that post about Johnny Thunders,
get my Toronto Forums my email, but was away
on vacation, had to dump a whole lot of
stuff. Is there a permanent site/
message board, like this where
I can check it out?

If anybody is in the Toronto area, or
thinking of coming here this week,
see my Rehearsal Vigil posting....................