Is Everybody ready For The Next Band? The Rolling Stones 1969 US Tour

Author:Richard Houghton

6th December marks 56 years since The Rolling Stones headlines a Free Festival held at Altamont Speedway in California.
The events of that day have been well documented, and are often held up as “the point the 60s dream ended”.
Thing is, the Altamont show was a tack on to the Stones 1969 US Tour – added in response to criticism of ticket prices for the Tour which spanned November 1969.

The Rolling Stones had released Beggars Banquet at the end of 1968 – it would be the last to feature Brian Jones. Jones appears in some shape on a number of the tracks, but his appearance at the sessions was unpredictable, and his contribution sporadic.
Also at the end of 1968, the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was created – a concept that intended to create “the new shape of the rock-and-roll concert tour”
(plus with no scheduled tour planned, it was a way to give additional marketing boost to Beggars Banquet).
This was to be the last time Brian Jones appeared with the band he started
They had not visited America since 1966, and like The Beatles found the experience to be restrictive and not enjoyable with their show being drowned out by screaming.
They followed friends and rivals The Beatles by retreating to the studio – the fact that drug convictions and Brian Jones general state prevented them from returning any time soon.
But now with a new album in the bank, and plans for another in 1969 (their last for Decca), thoughts turned to returning to the US once more, but one big question hung over them:
“What to do about Brian?”
And that is where this book opens – 8th June 1969: Mick, Keith and Charlie visit Brian at his home informing him he is no longer part of the band. A day later, Brian issued a press statement confirming his departure.
As July opened, Mick Taylor was unveiled as the new guitarist and plans made to play at Hyde Park.
(In truth, Mick Taylor had been around in the studio for about a month adding what he thought was session playing to the early recordings of Let It Bleed).
Brian Jones was found lifeless in his swimming pool 2 days before Hyde Park – with no intention to cancel, the Hyde Park show opened as a tribute to Brian Jones.
The Hyde Park show marked a new beginning for The Stones – not just the absence of Brian, but a stage set with amps cranked up, a set list shorn of hits, and the stage announcement “Let’s welcome the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.
Taking cues from the Hyde Park show, the change of stance and style of Beggars Banquet, and maybe just a nod to the concept of Rock and Roll Circus, planning for a late Autumn tour of the States began in haste.
The 1966 Tour had been playing in Theatres where the band was drowned out by screaming audience. For this jaunt, arenas were booked and their own sound and lighting rigs ferried between venues.
The Tour may only have been 22 days long (plus another week when the Altamont is tacked on), but the sights, sounds, smells, and reminiscences fill up 175 pages.
The book itself follows chronology but is not a single narrative, it is a series of “talking heads” (if you can have then in a book) from those who were involved (whether in a working, writing or watching capacity).
And it is this style, following a note or headline of each show, which makes the book an easy read adding new or different perspective to a history already recorded and written about.
The Tour itself may not have been the first to embrace the arena show, but the way it was done and the response did perhaps lay the template for future arena shows, and not just for The Stones but for the bands and promoters following in their wake.
As the Tour closed, and the events of Altamont peaked and passed into legend, the band started to look to the future – a future free from Allen Klein, free from Decca (nearly), and in control of their own destiny (nearly).
Two mentions of “nearly” there …
Let It Bleed was understood to be the last record owed to Decca under their contract. It turned out that Decca were owed one more album, so the recordings from the Madison Square Garden Shoes were assembled and “Get Your Ya Yas Out” was born. Not just a live album fulfilling a contractual obligation, but a record of the tour that changed the Stones position in the world, and an object lesson and template for what a live album could and should be.
Wrestling free from Allen Klein was easier said than done. It soon transpired that that despite all promises to manage their financial affairs, they were nearly 7 years behind on Tax Payments to UK Government. Tax exile soon followed and the Stones left the UK.
And not only were their taxes not up to date, Allen Klein had retained the rights to all their recordings, and new recordings Brown Sugar, Bitch, and You Gotta Move (recorded at Muscle Shoals) as the Tour closed were part of this deal too.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

I’m going to suggest this is a book form of a SkyArts doc, so would suit anyone who actively seeks out interesting music docs

One thing you’ve learned

Altamont was never supposed to be at Altamont.
It was originally perceived as “Woodstock West”, and intended to be held at San Jose State University, then moved to Golden Gate Park, then moved again to Sears Point Raceway, before finally settling at Altamont.
There is the suggestion that the stage at Altamont was not fit for purpose as it was designed for Sears Point.
At Sears Point, the stage would’ve been at the top of a hill, so a 1 metre high stage would work. Moving to Altamont meant they were now in a flat valley and the stage was just not big enough for the audience to view.

And one more thing – it was at some point on this tour that Keith mutated into Keef …

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