From the book description:

"Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times

From the award-winning, bestselling author of classic histories of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, a groundbreaking reckoning with the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band

All great music is a threat.

What left is there to say about The Rolling Stones? A hell of a lot, it turns out.

Bob Spitz has brought his indefatigable energy and five decades of experiences in the fields and hollows of rock ‘n’ roll to bear on his five-year journey to reexamine one of popular music’s greatest stories. There are myriad revisions to the conventional narrative which underscore just how in control of that narrative the band has been up to now—small example: no, Muddy Waters was not mopping the floors at Chess Records when the Stones showed up. But in a larger sense, as with the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, Spitz’s greatest gift is for the big picture. He knows where the magic is, and why it is. He is as clear-eyed a connoisseur of the show business, the spectacle and the collateral damage of this whirlwind as anyone alive, and that lucid gaze pierces a lot of incrusted bullshit, but the ultimate goal is to connect with a creative force whose power shows no signs of fading, over sixty years on.

At its heart the story is about two boys, Mick and Keith, and their unique, fraught, alchemical bond, often tested, never sundered. The Glimmer Twins. The bandmates, like Charlie Watts, who found their groove in relation to this double star made the trip intact, while those who struggled, like Brian Jones and Mick Taylor, were chewed up and spit out. This is a story with many dark corners, including a surprising number of deaths. But whether Jagger and Richards sold their souls to the devil is at the crossroads for blues greatness or just squeezed their heroes for every drop of inspiration, in the end their connection to their music and to each other put them in a category of one, where they very much remain."

[www.penguinrandomhouse.com]

"No, Muddy Waters was not mopping the floors at Chess Records when the Stones showed up..."
Well, no one said they did, Darling, He was supposed to be painting the ceiling.

As for 'squeezed their heroes for every drop of inspiration' they're not Led Zeppelin; there's lots of pop and non-blues inspirations in the Stones' music, as well as highly creative and original adaptations of Muddy n Chuck's moves...

Without any band interviews it'll be another fail, methinks.

Max, agreed. That is not a very auspicious tease.

No, just no.

They always get it wrong, because they are not really fans. The editors don't give a shit as long as they sell books, and they have friends in the press to hype it all up.

I bought a Stones biography titled ‘Old Gods Almost Dead’ It was so atrocious that I vowed to never read another. I get my Stones info from here, and here alone. We learn from each other. I certainly don’t need the opinion of a hack.

Quote
Big Al
I bought a Stones biography titled ‘Old Gods Almost Dead’ It was so atrocious that I vowed to never read another. I get my Stones info from here, and here alone. We learn from each other. I certainly don’t need the opinion of a hack.

well there are good books you should read as a fan mostly the ones written by people who were there when it happened

but the yeah most of the biographies are terrible and riddled with mistakes and the annoying opinions of the authors

as for this book the mixup with the muddy myth already tells me all i need to know about it

frankly the only book left about them that i want to read is mick's autobiography



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2026-02-05 21:08 by ProfessorWolf.

Quote
ProfessorWolf

Quote
Big Al
I bought a Stones biography titled ‘Old Gods Almost Dead’ It was so atrocious that I vowed to never read another. I get my Stones info from here, and here alone. We learn from each other. I certainly don’t need the opinion of a hack.

well there are good books you should read as a fan mostly the ones written by people who were there when it happened

but the yeah most of the biographies are terrible and riddled with mistakes and the annoying opinions of the authors

as for this book the mixup with the muddy myth already tells me all i need to know about it

frankly the only book left about them that i want to read is mick's autobiography

Yes, I’m sure there are. I did, admittedly enjoy the Keith biography by Christopher Sandford(?) Yep! I want Mick’s autobiography, too. I recall should read Bill’s Stone Alone, too.

Quote
Big Al

Quote
ProfessorWolf

Quote
Big Al
I bought a Stones biography titled ‘Old Gods Almost Dead’ It was so atrocious that I vowed to never read another. I get my Stones info from here, and here alone. We learn from each other. I certainly don’t need the opinion of a hack.

well there are good books you should read as a fan mostly the ones written by people who were there when it happened

but the yeah most of the biographies are terrible and riddled with mistakes and the annoying opinions of the authors

as for this book the mixup with the muddy myth already tells me all i need to know about it

frankly the only book left about them that i want to read is mick's autobiography

Yes, I’m sure there are. I did, admittedly enjoy the Keith biography by Christopher Sandford(?) Yep! I want Mick’s autobiography, too. I recall should read Bill’s Stone Alone, too.

oh yes bill's book is great

also stanley booth's book and james phelge's

bill german's book is an absolute must read

I always find it weird and uninteresting when „outsiders“ (as opposed to insiders = people who are in the inner circle or the band) write such biographies. They can collect all the historic data but they never can know what actually happened behind the scenes- and that’s always far more interesting than anything that’s accessible and know to the public anyway

"Never let the truth spoil a good story!" (Bill Wyman)

On the other hand it's not that he wrote it in just a couple of days, it's 700 (!) pages, that takes some efford!

Quote
GJV
On the other hand it's not that he wrote it in just a couple of days, it's 700 (!) pages, that takes some efford!

True, but will he bring anything new to the table? Probably not. Unless the author has had priveliged access to insiders or has been on the inside himself (like Bill German), he will have to rely on the same sources available to the rest of us. If you really want to get to the bottom of the truth and debate details concerning the history of The Rolling Stones, IORR is the best place to go - and I suspect many authors and journalists do just that.

I don't know Bob Spitz, but a quick look at wikipedia shows that he has written biographies on Ronald Reagan, Julia Child, Bob Dylan, Zeppelin, Beatles, and now The Rolling Stones. To me this suggests that he is first and foremost a writer. There is a limit for how many areas you can claim to be an expert. I know quite a lot about The Rolling Stones, maybe I could have written some quite detailed books on certain areas and subtopics within the realm of The Rolling Stones. But I couldn't pretend to be enough of an expert to write books on Dylan, Beatles and Zeppelin as well.

I guess that publishers and the general public are not really interested in facts and details, although they often claim that any new book is different from the rest and that it will bring some new light and evidence - but most of the time it is the same bits of known stuff put togheter in new sentences. Thus, you'll often have the same myths and errors being reproduced.

PS: One recent book that I actually found really interesting, was the one on Altamont by Joel Selvin. I didn't think a new book on Altamont would reveal anything new, but this one was very well researched and contained lots of information that I haven't seen published before.

Quote
Big Al
I bought a Stones biography titled ‘Old Gods Almost Dead’ It was so atrocious that I vowed to never read another. I get my Stones info from here, and here alone. We learn from each other. I certainly don’t need the opinion of a hack.

I read that too and most of the time I just kept thinking "What a dumb title for a book".

Maybe it's me but I like reading books about the Stones and I thought "Old Gods Almost Dead" was a good read, Also the book about Keith written by Victor Bockris I liked a lot, but what I learned here that those stories described in it are not always true, right? I am a huge fan, but I have to admit that I am not always aware of all personal facts and stories, I just love their music.
The first book I read was "The Stones" from Philip Norman, that was perfect for me as a new fan, right then I didn't even know who Brian was, or Taylor. So I learned a lot.
But I know that there are also terrible books which even I can't read,like the one about Mick written by Christopher Andersen, it was like reading a tabloid and nothing about the music.
Is there anyone who has/read "The Mammoth Book Of The Rolling STones" and is it any good?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026-02-06 18:59 by GJV.

i recently read Jo Woods bio--It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone.

She paints a very dark picture of Ronnie. She was no angel herself and clearly has an axe to grind, but i felt no reason to doubt her stories.

Quote
HalfNanker
i recently read Jo Woods bio--It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone.

She paints a very dark picture of Ronnie. She was no angel herself and clearly has an axe to grind, but i felt no reason to doubt her stories.

We all saw the spiral Ronnie was in right before the Licks tour. It was ugly.

Quote
MadMetaphoricalMax
"No, Muddy Waters was not mopping the floors at Chess Records when the Stones showed up..."
Well, no one said they did, Darling, He was supposed to be painting the ceiling.

As for 'squeezed their heroes for every drop of inspiration' they're not Led Zeppelin; there's lots of pop and non-blues inspirations in the Stones' music, as well as highly creative and original adaptations of Muddy n Chuck's moves...

Without any band interviews it'll be another fail, methinks.

Spot on.Guess he thinks Lady Jane, As Tears Go By,2000Light Years From Home,Ruby Tuesday, Dead Flowers, Moonlight Mile, You Always Get WhatYou Want,Feel on Baby,Comtinental Drift, Heaven,etc., are blues inspired.

Revenge will eat one's soul ....



ROCKMAN

Most likely a waste of money, I agree. What I would really like to read would be a book by Pierre de Beauport about working with Keith (not a tell-all book) but a book about the guitars, life on the road, life with working with Keith.

That would be a most interesting book.

Spitz is kind of a hack - a number of his books are full of errors

Spitz wrote probably the worst book about Dylan ever written. Described by one reviewer as 'a two inch block of wood pulp'.
syrel

Quote
MelBelli

Quote
HalfNanker
i recently read Jo Woods bio--It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone.

She paints a very dark picture of Ronnie. She was no angel herself and clearly has an axe to grind, but i felt no reason to doubt her stories.

We all saw the spiral Ronnie was in right before the Licks tour. It was ugly.

Yes - and if I recollect correctly, he was packed off to the Priory Clinic to clean-up before the tour started. It must've been an awful ordeal for his immediate family.

When I caught him at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2001, he was absolutely steaming drunk. A great show, though! He was pretty drunk during his guest appearance on the Jonathon Ross Show from this period, too.

Several folks have mentioned Stones books you like. Here's the spreadsheet I started last summer that inventories books about the band -- the good, the bad, the meh. There are some awesome titles here!

Rolling Stones Library

Quote
Big Al

Quote
MelBelli

Quote
HalfNanker
i recently read Jo Woods bio--It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Thirty Years Married to a Rolling Stone.

She paints a very dark picture of Ronnie. She was no angel herself and clearly has an axe to grind, but i felt no reason to doubt her stories.

We all saw the spiral Ronnie was in right before the Licks tour. It was ugly.

Yes - and if I recollect correctly, he was packed off to the Priory Clinic to clean-up before the tour started. It must've been an awful ordeal for his immediate family.

When I caught him at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2001, he was absolutely steaming drunk. A great show, though! He was pretty drunk during his guest appearance on the Jonathon Ross Show from this period, too.

her takes start way before the Licks tour.

bad parent; bad husband. she was doing a lot of drugs with him for a while, so her mothering skills were also lacking, but she cleaned up and he led a life behind closed doors that was very different from the happy go lucky image he portrayed.