At the end of the new issue of Uncut, in My Life In Music, Jennifer Herrema from Royal Trux recalls the first time she saw the Rolling Stones in concert. “I fell in love with the Stones at a very early age,” she says. “What sealed the deal was my dad taking me to their Tattoo You concert when I was a kid. The Stones blew my mind. I cried because we couldn’t go back the next night.”
It is possible we all have a story to tell about the first time we saw the Stones. Mine was in summer 1990, at Wembley, on the European leg of the Urban Jungle Tour. More used to seeing bands on the north London indie circuit back then, the Stones’ use of giant inflatables and pyrotechnics came as something of a revelation. In May, the band begin the next leg of their No Filter tour – including their first UK shows since 2013 – so what better time to shine a light on a critical period in the Stones’ storied career?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Beggars Banquet and Graeme Thomson talks to the band’s closest collaborators and confidants to get the definitive inside story of their first masterpiece. Graeme’s terrific piece depicts a band in transition, regrouping after the failure of Their Satanic Majesties Request and responding to the diminishing powers of their de facto founder, Brian Jones, before emerging at the year’s close a tougher, stronger and better band. “Remember,” cautions the band’s former manager Andrew Oldham, “what drags the mere man down only propels The Rolling Stones further.”
[
www.uncut.co.uk]
The Rolling Stones, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Eric Burdon and Françoise Hardy feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated June 2018 and out on April 19.
The Stones are on the cover, and inside we relive the band’s pivotal 1968: a year of rebirth and revolution dominated by “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, Beggars Banquet and the fall of Brian Jones. What emerges from this remarkable 12 month period is a portrait of a band overcoming diversity – going back to basics in order to move forward.
“It was like being let out of a cage,” Uncut hears. Plus! the Stones on the road in the 21st century! “We want to keep going!”
[
www.uncut.co.uk]