On This Day – The Stones, Decadent and Awful!
Apr 13, 2010 On This Day
On this day in 1976 the Rolling Stones played 2 concerts in the Palace of Culture and Science building in Warsaw, Poland as part of their European tour. It was the first time the Stones had played behind the Iron Curtain. It was also the last tour that included Brian Jones.
The tickets were handed out to Communist Party members – apparently much to the surprise of the band. I think that the only surprising thing was that the band was surprised. Anyway, the audience was instructed on how to behave. It is true to say that visiting Soviet officials were not impressed with the show. They thought that the Stones were decadent and awful.
On their part, the Stones, fake surprise or not, drove round the streets to give away copies of their records to fans after the show. Whether this was a real gesture of protest or a rather good publicity stunt is not known.
It would be a long time before the Stones visited communist bloc countries again.
Tags: brian jones, classic rock music, love rock music, mick jagger, rock and blues, rolling stones, stones and poland
On This day – Brian Jones
Jul 3, 2009 Departures, On This Day
1969, is it really 40 years ago? Brian jones was found dead in his swimming pool.
He was the original guitatist with the Stolling Bones, arguably their best period – when they still played blues based rock. Jones’ influences were jazz and blues with him citing Elmore james, Robert Johnson (see my article Records that Changed the World, point proved),and Cannonball Adderley (yes Iknow he played sax), among others.
He left his native Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK in disgrace having got his 14 year old girlfriend pregnant. He spent sometime abroad before making his way to London.
It was Jones who placed the original advert in a local jazz newsletter for musicians that brought the Stones together. Ian ‘Stew’ Stewart (the Stone that who too old for their image but stayed and played with them for years, as an employee of the band I believe) was the first to respond. The others came over time, jagger introduced Richards (who brought his love of Chuckles Berry to the band) and finally Bill Wyman (who brought his Vox AC30).
Then there was Alexis Korner who helped the band and the rest is history.
By the time he died Jone was a shadow of his former self, a victim of LSD, uppers, downers, alcohol, and effectively ousted from his own band. He was found floating face down in the pool at his house in East Sussex. His then girlfriend claimed that he was alive when pulled from the pool but was dead by the time the ambulance arrived. There is a widely known story that he was murdered by a builder working on the house. There are stories of a death bed confession, witnesses that refuse to talk to the police, looting and thefts from the house after his death.
The truth will probably never be known for certain. One thing that we do know is that this man stated what was, for a considerable time, the best rock band in the world.
Tags: brian jones, classic rock, love rock music, On This Day, real rock
