On Sept. 10, the Stones hit the United Center. Keith ( Richards ) still had that goofy mischievous grin and Ron ( Wood ) looked sober and giddy. I couldn't see Charlie ( Watts ) , only his white hair in the drumkit. But Mick ( Jagger ) is who I wanted to see. Prancing, bitchy, demanding, bitter...the ultimate pansexual rock star of them all. "Street Fighting Man"...though the Stones are a bit long in the tooth to make it truly fresh...was rousing, and "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" was full of belligerent swagger. But "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" begs the question: what are extremely wealthy men past 50 doing singing about getting laid, street fights, sexual conquests, or what ... ever. In short, why do the Stones still matter?
Hard to fathom. Barnstorming the world on tour at this stage only happens when they have an album to sell. In the '70s they released albums every year with a tour every three. Now it's, "We're back ... new album ... buy it ... and the merch." But not this time. The "Licks" Tour is a 40th anniversary package. And though Jagger looked tight and they sounded great, it's also the best time to take stock of them and us.
Auld lang syne, sure. To see the Rolling Stones rocking out is a vindication of every 40-50-year-old's youth. But where the Beatles could be looked back on fondly as innocent but heady, the Stones were rough trade from the get go. Elvis' waist gyrations may have seemed spontaneous and suggestive in his time ( the late '50s ) , but the Stones ( particularly Jagger ) were blunt, aggressive, and guilty by intent. Their breakout single, 1965's "Satisfaction," was largely about Mick not getting enough snatch. The ultimate porno riff ( thank you Mr. Keith ) and Jagger's belligerent tone suggested pointedly that they had the right to the world and all of its delights. But the single's success ( in the short and long term ) suggested that there were an awful lot of men AND women who weren't getting satisfied and that they felt they had the rights to those same delights.
Like the Beatles, the Stones were a reflection of their times. That their most powerful, dark, and rich period came between 1967 and 1970, a time when America was in internal turmoil, says a lot. But if Vietnam, Watts, the assassinations of J.F.K., R.F.K., and M.L.K. weren't scary enough, the Stones dove head first into the abyss to show us a terrifying underworld. Yeah, the Beatles had "Helter Skelter" and Sly Stone had "There's a Riot Goin On," but those were single statements. The Stones just got wilder, weirder, and downright irresponsible, but with a catch. Jim Morrison of the Doors may have been brilliant, fucked up, and brilliantly fucked up, and Iggy Pop may have been dangerously out of control, but Mick was far too shrewd for that. An economics major before he became a rocker, his deft handling of the band allowed them to remain a major event for decades. But riches couldn't keep ( or perhaps because of the riches ) the Stones out of trouble.
From 1967 to 1970:
1. Constant drug busts.
2. Founding member Brian Jone's drug-induced death.
3. Altamont: Chronicled in the Maysles Brother's documentary Gimme Shelter, where a free concert at an abandoned racetrack ended when a Black man was beaten and stabbed to death by the Hell's Angels ( they had been hired as security ) . All that right in front of the stage and the lenses.
The only way to break the bad vibes was to get back to the music. The live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out reaffirmed them as the best live act ever, but a change in labels signified the Stones complete control over themselves. 1971's Sticky Fingers and 1972's Exile on Main Street, you would think, would be more restrained due to the previous circumstances...but hardly. Fingers' lead-off single "Brown Sugar" ( a party anthem about a white master indulging in his Black female slaves ) was hardly what America needed so soon after Watts and the King assassination ( it stayed at No. 1 for weeks ) . Leering, insulting, violent, Sticky Fingers and one half of Exile were unquestionably some of the best music the Stones had ever made. Goats Head Soup, Only Rock and Roll, and Black and Blue were the opposite, though they each contained a couple of classics apiece ( "Heartbreaker," "Starfucker," "Luxury," "Fool to Cry," "Memory Motel" ) .
The truth was that the Stones finally fell to all the riches that they'd accumulated, hanging out with Liza at Studio 54 and becoming as flaccid as then-President Jimmy Carter. A reflection of their times indeed.
1978's Some Girls saved them in more ways than one. Apart from its success it gave them something to care about. Mick's new romance ( "Miss You" was addressed to Jerry Hall ) , his divorce from Bianca ( "Lies," "Respectable" ) , Keith's drug problems ( "Walk before they Make Me Run" ) , the rockstar dilemma ( "Some Girls," "Beast of Burden" ) , and a romance with N.Y.C. ( "Imagination," "Shattered," "Whip Comes Down"...that last about a gay garbage man ) . "Respectable" is probably the most brutal track the Stones have ever cut, a searing chainsaw-toothed cut to Mick's ex ( they all hated Bianca, and you can hear the venom in the three-guitar attack as Mick snarls, "You're the queen of porn/You're the easiest lay on the White House lawn..." in reference to Bianca's fling with Gerald Ford's son ) . The album had its share of controversy in the title song ( "Black girls just wanna get fucked all night..." ) , but more amusing was Some Girls' cover. A hodgepodge of images of Lucy, Liza, Judy, and Marilyn used without permission, which led to multiple lawsuits. The last bona fide hoorah was 1981's Tattoo You, though the opener and first single, "Start Me Up," promised the usual debauchery, the album was wistful, almost looking at the past nostalgically. "Black Limousine," "Hang Fire," and especially "Waiting on a Friend" were touching, personal, and even warm. The video for "Waiting," released a year after John Lennon's murder...with Keith and Mick casually walking around N.Y.C....then and ironically now after Sept. 11 does a lot to humanize the cold cold city.
But if they managed to live down Altamont and a streak of crappy albums to become familiar and even personable, in the '80s they just got irrelevant. Undercover ( 1983 ) and Dirty Work ( 1985 ) were brutal and delicious, but the Stones on a conveyor belt. Steel Wheels was meaty but ... so what. DooDoo Lounge was the first completely disposable Stones album ever and 1997's "Bridges to Babylon Tour" was a face-less, un-spontaneous, lurching thing. Not much different between that last one and a Journey/Styx reunion blow-out.
And here I can understand and even embrace the derision. Why a rock critic like Jim DeRogatis and the punks would hate the Stones. Enticing their audience into unspeakable carnal acts ( yes ... even homosexuality ) in the name of freedom and rebellion by providing the soundtrack and then shucking it as mere entertainment. For them to turn into yogurt-eating, Stair Master-climbing, rich celebrities cut off from everything real in the world ( namely everyday normal life on any level ) is a bit of a betrayal to, say, the live "Midnight Rambler" or "Street Fighting Man." The wealth/celebrity/power of the Stones wipes out any possibility of not getting "Satisfaction." Sorry Mick, I just don't buy it.
Which answers the question of why after 40 years the Rolling Stones still matter and in that timeframe always mattered. On the "Licks Tour" they played ( at least at the United Center ) on an open stage. No lotus flower stage, no 70-ft inflatable dildos for Mick to frolic with, no Blade Runner set, no inflatable huge "honky tonk women," no flaming torches, no walls of fire...just a stage. And no new album ( though there is a compilation hitting the stores Oct, 1 ) . Just who they are, and the music. "Stray Cat Blues," "Honky Tonk Woman," "If You Can't Rock Me," and even "Satisfaction." That Mick, Keith, Ron, and Charlie are still at the top of their game ( and therefore everyone else's ) can make even this jaded Stones fan a believer all over again. They matter because of the music, it's as simple as that. Only rock and roll indeed.
Heads Up; On Sept. 19 the Hideout is hosting a CD release party for John Hasbrouck ( his debut CD, Ice Cream is a stunner ) . Others on the bill include Devil-In-A-Woodpile, Twang Band, and Ellen Rosner. DO NOT MISS THIS.
Heads No. 2: The first Digital Visions Film Festival is at the Gateway Theatre, 5216 W. Lawrence, Friday, Sept. 20 and Sat., Sept. 21; 19 films, $8 per night, free parking.
