2012
You know I'll never break your heart
2012
You know I'll never break your heart
| Mick Jagger's statement (January 25, 2012): Said my name is called Disturbance...
During
my career I have always eschewed party politics and came to Davos as a
guest, as I thought it would be stimulating. I have always been
interested in economics and world events. I now find myself being used
as a political football and there has been a lot of comment about my
political allegiances, which are inaccurate. I think it's best I
decline the invitation to the key event and curtail my visit. |
January 31, 2012: The second official classic Rolling Stones bootleg is| Keith Richards (September 2011): Remembering hitting a stage-rusher with his Telecaster at Hampton '81 to "save" Mick
I saw nobody between him and Mick: Oh God, here we go, I'm not gonna get any more money for this
(laughs)... I have no idea what this guy's gonna do. I don't know if
he's gonna stab Mick, hug him, kiss him, roll over and screw him. I
don't know! All I know is that he's trying to get his hands on Mick and
this I have to prevent. And I do have a weapon in my hands (laughs)....
I was playing Satisfaction at
the time. This is gonna sound terrible but the damn thing stayed in
tune. And this is the greatest advert for Fender! (laughs) |
| Ron Wood (February 2012): The Rolling Stones touring soon and being asked to play at the Olympics
We've
got more meetings, everyone wants to do it. I've been asked to do the
opening ceremony with the Stones and close the Games with The Faces.
I've got to be the first bi-athlete musician. |
| Mick Jagger (February 2012): No Fashion Week groupie
(Fashion
Week) was great! And one thing I've got to say is it was so great to
see the First Lady wearing L'Wren Scott clothes when we were at the
White House the other day. So that was really good. And I didn't see
much of Fashion Week because I only came up for the last day. I'm not
really that much of a Fashion Week groupie, but I went to L'Wren's show
and that was great. |
| Ron Wood (February 2012): On the verge
(Touring?)
Be lovely, wouldn't it? That's what we're on the verge of. I don't know
what the hell is gonna happen yet but we all feel we owe it to
ourselves and to the people to do something. Well, they're still in the
talking mode. And I don't know, each week brings a new development.
Basically, get the boys feeling comfortable with each other, 'cause
we're all ready to go individually. It's just a matter of tying up
loose ends and coming together as a unit. |
| Mick Jagger (February 2012): Please Mr. President
I wasn't really nervous. I don't know why I wasn't nervous. I don't really get nervous. The only thing that makes me nervous is live television, and I didn't even know it was going to be live streamed! Because live television is live television and you get slightly worried. But the actual gig, when you've done the rehearsal on the stage the day before and you've gone through everything and everything seems to be fine, you don't really get nervous. I don't anyway. But everyone seemed to be very relaxed. (Handing the microphone to the President) wasn’t on the list of things I expected to do. It was just a moment. And I was the only one with a spare mike!... (Obama) was so reluctant, but that reluctance — you've got to do it. I want to energize the room. If they’re energized, fantastic. I loved it. They seemed to be very enthusiastic and it was a really great show. I hope they enjoyed it and I’m very honored to have played the White House. I saw them (the President and the First Lady) tbefore. I saw him at the rehearsal and the First Lady was very kind to wear L’Wren Scott, so that was a very nice added extra. |
| Mick Jagger (February 2012): Rocking at 68 The thing was, way back in the '60s we used to go and see performers that were the same age I am now. So I suppose in the back of my mind I hadn't ruled that out. Now we're still doing great things. You've got to have a high energy level. You can't have a low energy level in this kind of music. That's the thing, you've got to keep going. Obviously, you're not going to be the same energy level as when you were 20, but you've still got to put it out there, and that's what I always try and do. |
| Mick Jagger (February 2012): Lovely things to come We have lots of special things planned (for the Rolling Stones' 50th anniversary), but I'm not telling you what they are!... I don't know what's been announced and what hasn't been announced, but everyone asks me about the shows. We haven't announced any shows yet, but I do hope that something happens, even though nothing's booked. There will be lots of lovely things. I've written a lot of songs, but I don't have any concrete plans (to record a new album). |
| Keith Richards (March 2012): Slowly bringing along the third solo album We're not rushing it, 'cause there's no need to. But I'm quite surprised how much stuff is coming out of it. |
| Keith Richards (March 2012): Which two guitars he'd keep if he could only keep two I'd take a Martin, acoustic, early '30s, you know, '30s job for an acoustic. Gibsons I love and everything but if you've got to say one on one, I'd take a Martin. And I've got to say, for myself, I take a Fender. I take a Telecaster, he's just so sturdy. It's a working man's guitar, you know. Nothing goes wrong with that thing. You can hit people over the head with it and it'll still stay in tune (laughs). |
| Charlie Watts (March 2012): The Queen's Diamond Jubilee I don’t think (the Stones will play the Olympics). I didn’t want to do it for a start. I’d love to have done the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, because that’s a great thing, I think, but I don’t think we’d have the time to do it. It’ll be a night of the Sirs won’t it, with Paul McCartney and Elton. |
| Keith Richards & Mick Jagger (March 2012): Conception in 2012, birth in 2013 Keith: Basically, we're just not ready. I have a feeling (2013 is) more realistic... I saw Mick on Saturday (March 10). He's going to be living in New York too for a while, so we're planning to get things going with the Stones again... We'll just get the boys back together again then and maybe cut a side. I've got plenty in the locker here, but it's not on tape. The Stones always really considered '63 to be 50 years, because Charlie didn't actually join until January. We look upon 2012 as sort of the year conception, but the birth is next year. Mick: I've been playing guitar and singing and getting myself back together. You can't just walk up there and do it. If you're playing a football tournament, you've got to practice. I feel very confident. I don't want to sound cocky, but it's just part of what you do. If you prepare, then you can be cocky. |
| Keith Richards and Mick Jagger (March 2012): Mending the Glimmer Twins after Life Keith: (Mick) and I have had conversations over the last year of a kind we have not had for an extremely long time and that has been incredibly important to me. As far as the book (Life) goes, it was my story and it was very raw, as I meant it to be, but I know that some parts of it and some of the publicity really offended Mick and I regret that. Mick: Looking back at any career you are bound to recall both the highs and the lows. In the 1980s for instance Keith and I were not communicating very well. I got very involved with the business side of the Stones, mainly because I felt no one else was interested, but i's plain now from (Life) that Keith felt excluded, which is a pity. Time I reckon to move on. |
| Keith Richards (March 2012): Bill Wyman next year? We're back in touch, which is great, because I hadn't really spoken to him for years... I think he's up for (a Stones tour in 2013). We talked about it. I'll let you know when I can. |
| Keith Richards (March 2012): The documentary (Director Brett Morgen) told me 80% of the footage has never been seen before, which amazes me. I didn't know there was that much around. |
| Charlie Watts (March 2012): Ring me up I don’t know (what the Rolling Stones' plans are). Nothing’s been decided. I mean, I hope they’ll ring me up if we do anything and let me know. |
April 2, 2012: The third official classic Rolling Stones bootleg is released,| Mick Jagger (2012): Opening up the live archives They've always been out as bootlegs. We just decided to make whole-lot-better versions of them available. |
| Ron Wood (April 9, 2012): The Stones to meet up again (It's just) to throw some ideas around. It's like working out for the Olympics or something. You've got to go into training. So we're going to go into training. |
| President Obama (April 9, 2012): Respect for Mick Jagger What was really fun was the rehearsal the day before. And part of what I really enjoy watching anytime I see these rehearsals is how generous the big name guys are with all the musicians involved. I saw that when McCartney was here, I saw that when Stevie (Wonder) was here, Herbie Hancock, and Mick was the same way... And it was really nice to watch (Mick) just trying to work through these numbers with the house band and a couple of guys who were with him who were obviously far less famous, about half his age or maybe even less than half his age. But treating them with respect and caring about the music. And what was interesting was the next day, in the evening, in the performance, when Mick gets up there he says, you know, Part of what makes this night special is I remember when me and the rest of the Stones travelled to Chess Records and how - they're in the middle of the south side of Chicago and probably the first Englishmen that most of these folks have ever met, like Howlin' Wolf, the rest of the crew at Chess... - and he says how much he appreciated their generosity, teaching them what they knew about music, even though these kids they're like arriving from another planet. And the sense of him wanting to kind of do that same thing and then it all comes full circle. And he had unbelievable energy. I tell you, that guy, when he performed the next night, he was as energized as he's ever been. |
| Ron Wood (April 16, 2012): A phone call from Mick I heard from Mick Jagger; he's going, What the hell?! We don't know anything yet!' And I said, You know what the media are like. I just expressed my personal view; I would love to go into the studio. Then they took it all wrong.... So I have to make a personal apology to the rest of the band. I didn't mean to say things out of line. We do have a 50th anniversary. Whatever is going to be done, we will know in the next few months. |
| Ron Wood (April 17, 2012): The hand of fate I just believed... When I was at school and I'd run home and I'd watch the Rolling Stones, I would say I'm gonna be in that band. I had ambition and I had drive and I was in the right place at the right time. And I just believe in fate - and if you have faith in enough in something, you can make it happen. |
| Keith Richards & Stones documentary film director Brett Morgan (May 2012): The NY-NJ maintenance check Keith: It was fantastic. We played everything. Charlie and the band were in top form. I realized it had been five years!... We just did it to get our chops together. It was like playing in the garage. A maintenance check, you know? Morgan: Someone would mention a song and within the second run they had nailed it. Having screened 50 years of material over the last six months, I would rank it up there with anything I've ever heard from them. They were extremely tight. |
| Charlie Watts (July 2012): Playing, not rehearsing We've been playing, not rehearsing. |
| Keith Richards (November 2012): The acid test To me, that was the acid test. The boys in the room are now what happens. And when Charlie Watts clicked in, I knew something was going to go on, that the juggernaut would continue. For four or five days in New Jersey, we were rocking, and everyone's going, Yeah, the energy's there. The I wanna do this, I gotta do this was there. So all of the other stuff went under the bridge and the Stones are going forward. It's like it's our duty... That's the point about music. It takes you over and above any of the petty little things, the bickering and all that crap. There we go, this is what we do. Play Midnight Rambler with Charlie, and Mick on harp, and we all look at each other and go, Forget about it. Whatever went on, went on. This is what we do, and this is what they want. |
| Ron Wood (May 14, 2012): More Stones work in the fall It looks like we are going to be doing more stuff. I'm keeping October-November free, that's what I've been told. I'm just awaiting more information.... New (songs)? Are you joking? We are familiarising ourselves with our back catalogue and have only scratched the surface. |
| Keith Richards (May 2012): Solo vs. Stones recordings Everything starts off as an idea for the Stones. But if the Stones are not around, I'm gonna put 'em out or do something with them - you know what I mean? |
| Keith Richards (May 2012): An upcoming world tour? We're open for anything. It all seems that things are moving forward... The door is open for anything. |
| Keith Richards (May 2012): The Glimmer Twins in 2012 Things are very, very cool. (Mick and I) operate very well together right now. |
| Keith Richards (May 2012): Mick without the Stones on Saturday Night Live I spoke to Mick and he said it's something that he said yes to many months ago, so he's just doing it. He's on his own. |
| Keith
Richards (June 2012): From July 1962 to July 2012: Stones meeting
in London in July to discuss future (tour and album) It's all very hush-hush. I'm going over to London for a bit, so I'll find out more then.... We're going to talk about (recording an album) in July and see. I mean, I'd love to get some tracks down and see what songs we've got. And that goes along with part of getting the band back together and getting things moving. So I'd love to cut some tracks, yeah.... I have no doubt (Mick and I write together again). |
| Charlie Watts (June 2012): The Stones' 50th anniversary The anniversary starts next month but it goes into next year because Bill Wyman and I joined on January 2, 1963 (sic), I think it was, [note: Bill performed for the first time on December 14, Charlie on January 12, but they both joined permanently on January 23] but the Stones actually played in the Marquee on July 12 1962. Alexis Korner’s band, of which I was the drummer, we did a radio broadcast that day and I remember coming from Broadcasting House and going down to the Marquee, and standing in the doorway looking at Brian Jones, doing his Elmore James stuff with the slide guitar. I don’t know (about a new tour) , we haven’t got that far. |
| Charlie Watts (June 2012): Charlie's real job My job is playing with the Rolling Stones, that’s become my life. This? I love playing with Dave, Ben and Axel and you can’t want for more than that. |
June 26, 2012: The Rolling Stones unveil a new logo for their 50th anniversary.| Charlie Watts (July 2012): "50th anniversary stuff" (Next) I think we're going to be doing a lot of 50th anniversary stuff, we, the Rolling Stones. (Not a tour or an album), just other things. Fifty years of things. A documentary, well, they haven't approved it yet. I haven't seen it, but we worked on that earlier this year. Books and things like that. There will be other things that the 50 years mean. And touring, we haven't gotten that far. We're still talking about the color of the back page of the book, so we'll see what happens. |
| Charlie Watts (July 2012): The fans and lasting 50 years When I joined the Rolling Stones ... I thought it would last a few months, because that's what bands last. I'd been in a lot of bands up until then that last two or three months. Then it became three years. I thought that's it, it won't. ... We're very fortunate. One of the ways that it lasted so long because we have a huge fan base, and I don't mean that in a conceited way, but it is that. |
July 10, 2012: The fourth official classic Rolling Stones bootleg is released
July 10, 2012: The Rolling Stones also release the live DVD-CD Live at the| Keith Richards (July 2012): The Stones performing again There's things in the works - I think it's definitely happening. But when? I can't say yet. |
| Charlie Watts (July 2012): Mick and Keith 50 years on Mick and Keith were the same at the start as they are now. Except poorer and living in one house together instead of five each. They are exactly the same and I’m in the middle aren’t I, physically on stage, and off it. We have been together so long and so many things have happened. I just spent a week with them and they were exactly like Mick and Keith... Keith’s packed up drinking or something and he is in great shape. And he should do really. The thing is with all that, you get to a certain age and you can’t carry it anymore. |
July 12, 2012: On the 50th anniversary date of their first ever concert, the Rolling Stones appear in public| Mick Jagger (July 2012): The Rolling Stones at 50 It’s incredible to think about working with the same band for fifty years. Of course, members have come and gone over the years, but it is still the Rolling Stones. Inevitably it makes you think about the mortality of it. But here we are making plans and attempting to get things organized for the future! |
| Charlie Watts (July 2012): The book You have got a lot of stuff from a very early time which is usually the bit people don’t have. It’s good for us and me particularly because I never follow The Rolling Stones or keep pictures or anything so to suddenly see half of them is great. |
| Keith Richard & Ron Wood (July 12, 2012): Live plans soon Keith: It's great being back with the guys, but I can't tell you anything about any shows. My lips are sealed... I don't know, we've only just been kicking the idea around. We haven't got around that far into it, you know. But it will kind of build itself as we go along, you know. Ron: What we do is live in hope and hopefully this week we'll unfold some plans. |
| Mick Jagger (July 12, 2012): The Stones on stage in 2012 Yeah, definitely, later on. Later on this year on stage... (We'll be performing live) in the autumn. You will definitely be seeing us all together soon. It’s been great fun being back together and there are a lot of memories in here. I can’t believe it’s been 50 years. We’ve been hanging out together, seeing quite a bit of each other and we want to do some gigs. |
| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October-November 2012): A quickie Keith: It was probably the quickest Rolling Stones recording session I can remember, ever. We cut two tracks in three days. It was incredibly professional. I had One More Shot ready, Mick had Doom and Gloom ready to go, so, boom, let's cut 'em. Ron: It was really focused, really nose to the grindstone. And we kept everything very simple, basic... We recorded One More Shot on the Tuesday, Doom and Gloom on the Wednesday, overdubbed on Thursday. In the old drug days, it would have taken us six months to do that. We had a new angle on it this time. |
| Keith Richards (October 2012): Reunion of the Twins When Mick and I looked at each other the years melted away. It only took us three days to cut two tracks, that's very fast for the Stones. |
| Keith Richards (April 2013): New songs I don’t know how important but I think it was important to have a couple of new tracks to go out behind because it gives the sign of future possibilities and it gave us something new to play. So it’s something to add to the incredible list that we have already. |
| Keith Richards (July 2013): Who's in the room? The Stones are amazing that way, their chemistry and their energy when they get together. The hard bit with the Stones is getting them together. Once you’ve got them in a room, even after all these years, it’s an amazing feeling. You go, There must be somebody else in the room! There is this other entity that’s sort of driving things — whatever his name is! |
| Keith Richards and Bobby Keys (October 2012): The Stones live in London and New York Keith: We've got some shows in London, I believe, and in New York, but I really can't talk about any of that at the moment. They've put the gag on me on this. You can hint! Bobby Keys: (The Rolling Stones are) gonna do some more concerts, starting in November with two in England and then a couple here in the States, then there's a few added concerts after that. Keith told me a couple months ago there was something in the wind and just be ready to go. I'm waiting for them to send me the plane ticket and the information, and then I'll go. |
| Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (October 2012 & April 2013): The apology Mick: (Keith) did apologize, to my face (for comments in his book Life). So you have to put all that sort of stuff away. Water under the bridge, really. Hopefully, you know, we can carry on working.... (It was a) prerequisite, you might say? Well, I think it was a good thing he got together with me and said that. I don't really want to talk about it apart from that, but I think it's good that he said it, and yes, it was a prerequisite, really. You have to put those things to one side; you can't leave them unspoken. It's very tempting – English people like to do that quite a lot. They don't like to face up to these things. Sometimes it's easy to push them out of the way, but I think it's good that we had that conversation. Keith: The book came out and, whoops-a-daisy... we don't really need to go there... It was something to get out of the bloody way so we could get the band on the road. You know, I'll say sorry to God if you like. I don't give a shit. I said, Look forward, brother, look forward. If you was married to somebody for 50 years, you can have your little spats here and there, and we don't mind having them in public occasionally. We can't get divorced - we're doing it for the kids! As I told Mick, You should have seen what I left out (laughs). I did also say to Mick, I know exactly what you did. You got the book, you went straight to the index – Jagger, M – and that's what you read. You didn't take it in context. You didn't. So, yeah, we had a bit of a doo-dah about that, but I was expecting it. We resolved it, in our own way, you know.... (Mick did request an apology) and I said that I regret if I caused you any, you know, inconvenience or pain, or something. It was... (laughs) I'd say anything to get the band together, you know? I'd lie to my mother. |
| Keith Richards (October 2012): Starting concert rehearsals Everybody relies upon their instincts, especially once you start working regularly together again. Because it pulls all the bits and pieces together, which when you're not working and playing with the guys, dissipates, obviously; you're not having that immediate contact. But two days of hanging around with the guys again, a certain demon energy takes over and you wonder where it's coming from! We had one rehearsal in New York in around April or May, but that was just to put our feet back in the water and see how everybody felt. But now we're into full rehearsal mode and it feels great. We're really kicking in again, everything is coming back. |
October 11, 2012: The Rolling Stones' new single, Doom and Gloom, is released.| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October 2012): More gigs in 2013? Keith: I wouldn't be surprised (if we do more concerts next year). Nobody has given us a heads up but this band isn't going to wind up with four shows. Next year looks like it is on.... The band wants to get these four gigs under their belt and then think about next year after that. Anything is possible with this band. My experience with the Rolling Stones is that once the juggernaut starts rolling, it ain't gonna stop. So without sort of saying definitely yes - yeah. We ain't doing all this for four gigs! Ron: I don't know if we really want to schlep around the world because it's very wearing on you, but the music and the audiences are such a reward, the adrenaline is something you can't fight. So hopefully, I'll go for it. I'll go for the duration. |
| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October 2012): The Glastonbury festival in 2013 Keith: On a good day if the weather's fine (playing Glastonbury is) an interesting proposition. Ron: There's been no mention of Glastonbury within the band but I'm going to bring it up. They'll probably go, Get out of here, Woody, shut up, no. But I don"t care. I always take risks like that so I'll put it forward. I have great respect for Glastonbury because it is an institution, that frolic in the mud... the ghost of Woodstock, I regard it as. |
October 16, 2012: The fifth official Rolling Stones bootleg is released via internet,| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October 2012): Oiling the machine Keith: It requires quite a bit of discipline to be a Rolling Stone. Although it seems to be shambolic, it's a very disciplined bunch.... It's amazingly fast (getting our groove together again). I was surprised how little rust was on the machinery, you know. We went straight into oiling. But yeah, I think everybody was itching to go get on the road again or, you know, to get on stage and to play together. It's a great feeling. Ron: We’re all making a concentrated effort of being there on time every day. We start at three o’clock in the afternoon, we go through to dinner time, we have one break and so far everything has been (like) an operation, nose to the grindstone. We want to give 200 %. Every night at 9 PM it's What am I going to do? I've just woken up. You can't get to sleep until 3 AM. |
| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October 2012): Keith boozing in '07 Ron: Keith is a pleasure to play with now. It was a pain on the last tour toward the end, because he was really going for it on the drinking and denial. But now he's realized that he has got to look after himself. I'm not going to preach to him. I will step in if I see any danger. Keith: I don't get ridiculous (anymore with alcohol). I like a glass of wine with my meal and everything, but I've given up sort of waking up and having a drink, you know? I gave up smack, I can give up anything. |
October 18, 2012: The Rolling Stones, along with Bill Wyman, attend the premiere at the Odeon Cinema| Mick Jagger (November 2012): Hurricane: The First Twenty Years (It ends after twenty years) because we ran out of time... We'd have needed another six months to go up to the present. I was disappointed we weren't going to do the whole story... Brett's excuse was that it was an interesting place to end, but we really needed another nine months to do Part 2. It's a good place to drop out, and we could always do Part 2 later. I should have started two years before because it's quite time-consuming. I thought about it two years before but didn't do much. It was rushed, and yet we got a very decent film out of it. This is the best (Stones film) I've seen for a long while. This and Shine a Light are two of my favorites. |
| Mick Jagger (October 2012): Watching yourself I don't enjoy it that much, to be honest (laughs). I wouldn't play it over and over. I wouldn't say I'm jumping up and down everytime I see myself going, Yeah, you're great! You look fantastic! Why did you wear that jacket? The check tweed? |
| Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Chuck Leavell & Charlie Watts (October-November 2012): Getting the juices flowing again Keith: Going in(to the rehearsals), one thinks, Oh, my Christ, I'm a doddering old man. But it's not true! The payoff from the energy that's been wound up over the five years is incredible. Ron: Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and I were saying the other day our hands are not even sore at rehearsals - and we've been really going for it.... We're blessed with still being able to cut it. Sir Mick is as agile as ever - he's like a 25-year-old. I have to settle for being a 45-year-old. Keith said, How can it be our 50th anniversary? I'm only 38. Chuck Leavell: Ronnie Wood is in such good shape. Charlie has been playing a good bit with his boogie outfit and some of his jazz stuff, Keith has been playing with Steve Jordan a lot. As you probably know, they've had that thing over the past year where they get together a couple times a week, so he's built his chops back up, and you know Mick is singing his ass off. It's been about five years, so when you do finally get together and get in the same room and get behind the instruments and crank it up, man, it just reminds you how much we all love this stuff. Charlie: Once the guitar straps are put over their heads, it’s back into it. We’ve been doing it so long now — it’s what we do. |
| Mick Jagger (October 2012): Doing Mick Jagger at 69 Everyone's human and you can't really expect it to last forever. On the other hand, you try to keep yourself in shape. Obviously you can't do the same things (onstage) you did when you were 19, so you have to do other things. There's no miracles in life... (The expectation is) a bit of a burden, really, isn't it? I better be OK, at least. |
| Ron Wood (October 2012): Back-breaking work for Charlie It takes a heavy toll playing them drums, to make it look like he's doing nothing, and to make it sound like those firecrackers going off. It all goes to his back, you know? He suffers terribly. |
| Ron Wood (October 2012): Warm-up gigs coming up There’s going to be little club gigs that we’re going to surprise ourselves to do as well. We’ll bung a few in next week or the week after, so look out for any Cockroaches gigs or whatever! I don’t know who we’ll be billed as but we’ll turn up somewhere and put a few to the test. Tiny, 200, 300 people kind of places. |
| Mick Jagger (October 2012): The 50 Years & Counting Tour, aka the F-Off Tour (jokes) I wanted to call the tour Fuck Off. But no one went for that.... If you have a 50th anniversary of any kind, it's going to be somewhat looking back. It can't, by definition, avoid it. But I tried - and I think the rest of the band think the same way - to make sure it's not become an exercise in too much nostalgia. That there's some forward-looking part of it. I think it's good to celebrate it. Then it's done. |
| Mick Jagger (October 2012): The last time? That's not a card, in my opinion, that should be played. I know lots of people do play that card, but it nearly always backfires on them. |
| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October 2012): A new Rolling Stones album? Keith: You know, I wouldn't say that's impossible. At the moment, the band are just focusing on these two tracks and these gigs, to the end of the year. But once this thing starts moving, baby, it's almost impossible. Right now, I'm just happy to have the thing rolling. Ron: Well, not planned, but no doubt there will be... I think we should go to the basic essence of the songwriting of Mick and Keith (when we make another album). If they need any help, I'm always there., but I don't think they need any help. They seem to be thriving at the moment. Very creative. |
| Mick Jagger & Ron Wood (November 2012): The expensive tickets Mick: It's complicated... You might say, The tickets are too expensive. Well, it's an expensive show to put on, just to do four, because normally you do 100 shows and you'd have the same expenses. Most of the tickets go for a higher price than we've sold them for, but we don't participate in the profit. So, if a ticket costs 250 quid, and it goes for 1000 quid, I just want to point out that we don't get that difference, someone else gets it. But I wouldn't put a ticket price of £1000 ($1500), even if we were getting all the money. Ron: We're spending millions on the stage, and we've already spent a fortune in Paris. |
November 6, 2012: The Rolling Stones' restored and expanded 1966 film,
November 9 & 12, 2012: The Rolling Stones' career-spanding greatest hits album
November 12, 2012: The sixth official Rolling Stones bootleg is released via internet,| Ron Wood, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (October-November 2012 & April 2013): In the eye of the storm Ron: I was pleasantly enthralled (by the film). I was sitting next to Keith, and it was funny seeing his reactions to when they used to do cover versions, early songwriting experiments and the whole development. He kept nudging me, saying, Yeah, we were looking to Buddy Holly there, or whoever it may have been. But in the early footage, he would nudge me and go, Who's that? And I'd go, That's Mick. Then he'd go Who's that? And I'd go, That's you. It would be kind of tongue-in-cheek, but the amount of change, physically, that the band have taken over the years is amazing. Mick: We were such nice children, underneath it all. It's the blowback from Andrew Oldham: The Rolling Stones are the rebels. And the blowback was quite intense, because you got labeled with this and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy... It wasn't a goal in life to become an institution. If you stick around long enough, you tend to become one. It wasn't our master plan. Keith: I think just reviewing the whole thing from that distance, I detected certain patterns of events that I wasn’t aware of at the time. These were all separate incidents when they happened, but I saw a certain thread running through things... That thread is how much I love Charlie Watts and actually how much I admire Mick Jagger for all of the work he does in front. You can take it for granted, but that man is incredible. His determination and the way that, with a bit of luck, he can be swept along with enthusiasm, which is very difficult to do with Mick (laughs). The band tries to turn Mick on. That’s when we know we’re doing a good gig, when Mick is turned on by the band. That’s the whole point of it. |
| Ron Wood & Keith Richards (November 2012): The five-year layoff Ron: The hurdles between tours always gets higher, and this one seemed insurmountable. With the book, and the vibes, and the space between everyone, all over the world, could we all get together? I never gave up... but it's such a relief to see we're all in the fold. Keith: I think the pressure from people, from fans or whatever, from all you guys out there, was unrelenting (laughs). Come on, we've got to do something, man... You got to us... The band needed five years off, maybe. We'd been on the treadmill for quite a while, and I think we were pretty burnt-out by 2007. But this band is younger now than it was five years ago. It's got a lot more energy in it.... (T)here's almost a sigh of relief to get back to work... This is what we do. The energy is certainly there. It's almost like, open the cage and let the tiger out. This is bottled up energy ready to go. That's the way I'm feeling about it and I think the rest of the band, too. |
| Mick Jagger (November 2012): Sons of Jagger I've got one younger son who is I don't think really keen on music and the other one adores it. My second youngest son (Gabriel) he wrote a wonderful rant against pop music generally. I don't think he was doing it against rock. He was asked to do a rant at school against anything and its very, very funny. It was all about girls with not much on, ridiculous lyrics that are just repeated endlessly, and electronic set-ups. It was very analytical! It was aimed at Rihanna more. He doesn't get it from me, he's completely made it up, I was really surprised and impressed! They are somewhat showing musical ability. My youngest boy (Lucas) is the most addicted to pop music and he sings all the time. Snatches of little bits of pop songs, not always in English. My eldest son James is back in England, he's in a band called Turbogeist. I don't want to put it in a niche but if it was pushed in one, it would be thrash mental with an English sense of humour, but it's a good band. That's my only child that's actually on stage! |
| Mick Jagger (November 2012): Another "interesting undertaking" People say, Oh, it’s a business. It’s not really the business of it. It’s the creation of the whole thing. Of course the money thing is part of it, but the most important part is getting the thing on the road, with hundreds of people and tons and tons of equipment. It’s an interesting undertaking. |
| Mick Jagger (November 2012): The modern-day Stones: to be or not to be (a band) When you’re at the beginning of your career, you’re in the band 24 hours a day. But as you get older you don’t want to be doing that. I think the band is fine being in the band, and the band rather likes not being in the band, too. That’s a good balance. |
| Mick Jagger (November 2012): The 2012 tour setlist I don’t want to be totally predictable, which is kind of hard when you’ve been doing something for 50 years. It’s the Rolling Stones onstage. You know what it’s like. They do Honky Tonk Women. They do Satisfaction. People coming to a 50th-anniversary show want some kind of predictability. It's the Rolling Stones onstage. We do things we just wrote and things we did in 1963. |
| Keith Richards (November 2012): Playing with Charlie again Charlie Watts is amazing. I don't know how I spent five years without playing with him. When I get to play with Charlie - this is my juice, man. This is my stuff. We're basically like a bunch of kids, Let us out, let's go. |
| Ron Wood (October 2012): Delivering the goods Any time we go on stage, for all of us, we realise what a heavy responsibility we've got to deliver the goods. We want to give 200%. And that's our way of thanking the fans. We want to give it to them properly like they give it to us. |
| Keith Richards (November 2012): Fulfilling the mission Once we get behind our instruments there’s something bigger. The sum is greater than the parts. There’s just a feeling that we were meant to do this, we have to do this, and we’re just following the trail. |
| Mick Jagger (April 2013): Feeling nostalgic? It was a nice feeling, but I wouldn't say it was nostalgia. I don't know if you can get nostalgic playing in an arena. You don't get sidetracked when you've got a lot to do. I felt a bit fuzzy when we did the O2. The audience was very warm and we got a good response. I was really grateful that people still like us. It was nice to be up there. |
| Mick Jagger, onstage (April 2013): Opening with "I Wanna Be Your Man" We thought it'd be a laugh. It was great in rehearsals, but it didn't really translate as good as I had hoped. The idea was having three really ancient numbers to open with, and having this black-and-white look and feel to the whole thing. It kind of worked, but then it kind of crumbled, as these things often do. |
| Charlie Watts (April 2013): Almost quitting before the 2012 reunion I thought (about retiring) before the O2, but it was actually very comfortable to do. It was good fun, is what I meant to say... I always (have misgivings). It's a young person's (game). The thing I find difficult is that 50% of it is image, not my side of it, but it is, and as you get a bit older you think, Oh gawd! I don't like looking at the pictures. |
| Keith Richards & Ron Wood (October-November 2012): More touring in 2013? Keith: One thing at a time, baby. It's taken me a year or two to get it this far. I do know that once this juggernaut gets rolling, it's hard to stop. Without being able to promise anything, I have a feeling there's definitely going to be something going next year. Ron: Yeah - if (the fans) have a bit of patience, and they let us get these first confidence gigs over with. |
| Keith Richards (December 2012): Getting his chops back I thought we'd be rusty. The amazing thing was, it sounded as fresh as you could hope for. It was a great week... (O)ne of the reasons I'm working (now) with Steve Jordan is exactly to (get my guitar chops back). And also, I can't stop, man. I've got to play occasionally. Otherwise I get antsy. |
| Mick Jagger (December 2012): Gimmie shelter Imagine you hadn't known it was coming. It would have been pretty dire. I think it's good to do events to support people in the area where you're very familiar with. I mean, I've been coming (to New York) for a long time. |
| Mick Jagger (April 2013): By the time we got to Newark... (We were d)efinitely (crisp and tight by then). We sort of worked our way up to that point. It didn't feel like it was unrehearsed, but it still felt relaxed. |
| Keith Richards (April 2013): Moving less onstage I wanted to concentrate on the playing. We obviously hadn't played onstage for a long time, and I did want to stay close to Charlie Watts, keep the band in tight. It wasn't from a physical point of view. I wanted to stay centered, I wanted to play well – with me, I never know! As long as I've got the band centered then I can play well. |
| Mick Taylor (December 2012): Playing with the Stones again It's been really amazing, thrilling and exciting. It's been great to play with the band again. I still get the same feeling that I used to get when we played on stage before. I'm a lot more outgoing and not quite as shy as I used to be, so in that respect it's different. I feel re-energized by the experience, too... We didn't even think about it; in a strange way all three guitars kind of blend seamlessly into each other, especially if the sound is really good on stage. (Midnight Rambler is) one of the longest songs we play at the moment, and it gives Mick the opportunity to play some blues harmonica, which he's very good at. |
| Keith Richards & Mick Jagger (December 2012): Getting the Stones back onstage for the anniversary Keith: Nostalgia is not this band's strong point. It was almost kicking and screaming to get us to this 50-year thing. We eventually realized it was a good time to put things together again. Hey, 51 years? Don't give a shit.... Mick took the longest to come along. He was there with it, but it was always Give me another reason. I know Charlie didn't need persuading. He just wanted to make sure Mick wanted to do it. Mick: It wasn't really a debate. I originally said, We can do anything. We can do one club show, if you want. But I always imagined it was going to be brief. |
| Mick Jagger, onstage (December 15, 2012): The Newtown tragedy in Connecticut We just wanted to send our love and condolences to all the people who lost loved ones in the tragedy in Connecticut. |
| Mick Jagger, onstage (December 15, 2012): Hope to see you again soon This is the last show of our anniversary tour, and we hope to see you all again soon. |
December 18, 2012: A download live is released from the December 12| Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (December 2012 & April 2013): The mini-tour: looking back Mick: Everyone was trying to get the band really on. Keith concentrated on holding his parts together, and I wasn't letting the vocals take second place. We wanted to put the music out in a good way, not just be flash. Keith: (They) went like a dream, at the same speed, man. But we barely got off the starting blocks. It would be dopey to bring things up to this level and say, Well, that's that, 50 years, bye-bye... I was amazed. I think one of the main reasons we’re continuing into this year (2013) is because I think we surprised ourselves with how much energy and freshness we put into it. Maybe it was the years off or, I don’t know, but I would suspect that that had something to do it. . . . Energy and freshness (are) my key words this year (laughs). |
| Ron Wood (December 2012): "And they call her Sally... Sally G" (Rod and Paul) have always been very supportive of me and Sally. (When I went to his wedding in October 2011), Paul was saying at the time, Wow, this is wonderful, you two make a great couple. Maybe on my birthday (next year) we can have a big bash and invite all our friends. 2012 was a blinding year. Really wonderful and so creative. The wedding was the culmination of all that. Mick was in Mustique with his family for Christmas, Keith was in Connecticut for his birthday and Charlie wasn't well and was down in Devon, but they've all sent their best wishes and support. |
| Ron Wood (October 2012): Once you start me up... (The Stones will keep rolling). Oh yeah. I think of Howlin’ Wolf plugging in to his kidney machine - however old he was, 80 or something - and still playing. You just rock till you drop. |
| Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (December 2012): Mapping 2013 Mick: I always said that we'd see how this would go, and then we'd think about doing more – or not.... Keith and Ronnie say things to the press because that's their line. They don't say, Oh, I think about it carefully. But they think about it as carefully as Charlie and I do. The reality is they are as tentative as anybody else... There have been quite a few offers. I'm going to see what's on the table and discuss it with everyone. We'll announce it when we've figured it out. Keith: (How much and how to do it) will definitely come into the equation. At the same time, a gig's a gig. The curtain opens and there you are. I just get the feeling – they're itching at the bit now. This thing wasn't enough. |
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