I may be naïve (I often am, I know), but I want to believe and sure do believe that there is a core in Keith´s & Mick´s souls & brains & feets & guts that speaks about rock 'n' roll. What you bassaleman speak of is survival and business. Saying that we aint gonna get good ol guitar times back was orgasmically & sharply contradicted in central Manhattan in the 10th of May, 2005, 13.05 local time. They gave us something we almost have forgotten. They showed us the true face of rock 'n' roll. No vibrato whatsoever, no Bill-nostalgy or rational musician-ship talking about fillings & f*ck-ups by the guitar boys can take that from us.
Ok, maybe it was the one and only time since 1978-82-period (I say 1978 in that case) that we could hear the core-Stones in a public performace. I´´m happy with that. The 2nd best - given that Chuckie is there to stay (btw, no one has ever been there to stay since Ron from 74-75, right?) - is what tomk, filstan & RedneckRobot are talkin bout up here: a piano, a Hammond thru a Leslie (which should be on the new album from, what we´ve heard/rumoured) & a slightly or even more than that down-mixed Leavell.
- ...And yeah; he has done a tremendous job, and seemingly has a great part of keepin those bastards alive, well & kickin, tourin & remaining as a band! We can never thank him enough for that.
The difference is that between old-mens-rock and fresh one. I sure know what I prefer. Another thing is that I aint the one that decides. And neither are all od you other guys in this thread or board.
Nice to discuss anyway . I wish all of you a good nite, because here where aI am its 2.18 in the middle of the nite & all good citizens that have to work tomorrow mornin at 8 have to hit the bed.

You are absolutely right Baboon Bro. That's what I am saying. Chuck Leavell has become almost essential to them going on tour. It is about survival and the business when it comes to him. As far as the guitar sound that I spoke of and miss so much; If it's back, I am jammin!I did not get to hear the press confrence. I am ready to go to my share of shows SO LET IT ROCK!

mp3's of the press conference available here
[www.rockpassion.com]

Listen to "Waiting on a Friend" from the "B2B" tour, Guitars are buried,
Chuck pissing muzak tinklings for the driving melody, Just a gutless
and soulless arrangement. The same thing happened to "Let's Spend...".
The "Tattoo You" tours blow these versions out of the water.
Seems like things got better on the "Licks" tours, Which I credit to
having Ronnie back in his head. But I think Mick likes Chuck as some
kind of a "concertmaster", so I am afraid we are stuck with him.
BUT I SAY BRING BACK MAC!

(I think he is still just hangin' in Austin TX)

thanks for the link erikjjf !

the reason Chuck is a nuisance is because the guitars are low-down in the mix!

For f*cks sake - PLEASE TURN THE GUITARS UP !!!

...even though we will hear even more mistakes by Keith & Ron

Since the B stage set (without horns etc) often sounded the best of the whole night, you can't argue that they need the horns to fill in the holes. From what I've heard, I prefer a stripped down sound.

However, they NEED a piano player for most songs. I don't think Chuck is bad at all. However, I think the problem lies with the sound engineers who mix it all wrong.

I say keep Chuck (although I personally prefer Mac) and replace the sound mixing guys.

Despite prefering Mac over Chuck, I can't deny Chuck's abilities on the keys. I agree on the comments about the glimmers buying him a real piano. I also agree on the hard work Chuck does getting the show put in a profesional way. But the main complain should be about the guitar players, let's not forget it: they should be high in the mix and the holes should be filled by the guitars themselves (it means that the guitars shouldn't left so many holes, btw).

There are many valid points about going back to a more stripped down sound: the result can be a complete mess, but I miss when the Stones were the Most Expensive Garage Band In The World, with bum notes, messy performances and out-of-tune-guitars... Too much "let's put a perfect entertainment show": they should turn to "let's play @#$%& quick and loud and hit them in the nose"

[There'll be no wedding today...]

Bruno and Filstan make sense! The problem some fans have with Chuck could be remedied, it would seem, if the soundboard techs would pay more attention to detail! I DO admit, when I listen to live Stones on cd, once in awhile Chuck is TOO PROMINENT, but I don't seem to really notice it much when I'm actually at the shows! So, why is it that Ronnie's guitar is turned down so low!? Because it is done deliberately! He screws up so much he can't be trusted to be cranked up!I am not an expert on soundboard, but I've seen Ronnie at his worst and this is the obvious reason for Chuck's keyboard being cranked up and the guitars turned down low! I just think that as a keyboard player, Chuck is very accomplished and it annoys me when year after year, the same things are said about him and it is not deserved!

A few points:

1. The power that Chuck has is ceded to him by MJ and KR.

2. Chuck keeps up with the arrangements, keys, etc.. in a notebook. Maybe you want Mac to steal it!

3. The decline of the guitar players is obvious. This has more to do with his more prominent role than CL taking over. He didn't push Betts and Gregg to the side in the Allmans.

4. Chuck doesn't mix sound. The sound guy is responsible for him being so loud in the mix.

5. All of this should be obvious.

That said, I'd really like KR and RW to let it be known they want a louder guitar mix. Also, I'd like them rise to the challenge and play more while posing less. If this happens, I don't care if Chuck, Mac, or Jerry Lee Lewis is on keyboards.

" --- I don't care if Chuck, Mac, or Jerry Lee Lewis is on keyboards" (Elmo, above).
You got a jolly good idea there! Jerry Lee...

Or maybe Mac could treat the Hammond & Chuck freak out (????) on piano... ?
And on some tunes they could reverse...

_ _ _ Or maybe Mac could treat the Hammond & Chuck freak out (????) on piano... ?
And on some tunes they could reverse...

On that note, I wish it was be a Hammond and a piano only. J. Geils Band (Seth Justman) used to get a great B-3 sound. He might be a good keyboard choice. Billy Powell from Skynyrd would be another interesting choice. Any others?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2005-05-20 21:37 by Elmo Lewis.

To end this discussion: Just give that Leavell a real piano and a Hammond B3. Then he SOUNDS right, because he surely can play.

Why did they fire Billy? He was great, not like Nicky maybe but still. I read somewhere that he tried to change their sound or something and that Keith fired him for that more or less. Hasnt Chuck formed the Stones sound for years onstage??

Not entirely thread-following, but I found a nice site on Bobby Keys:
[www.philbrodieband.com]