The recent publishing of Robert Greenfield rsquo;s Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones warrants a reconsideration of his previous book on the subject of the Rolling Stones, S.T.
P.: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones. Chronicling the Rolling Stones 1972 U.
S. Tour, S.T.
P. (Stones Touring Party) was originally published in 1974, experienced and written while still close to the source. The tour was undertaken in support of the recently released Exile on Main Street.
Chronologically, S.T.P.
occurs three years after Stanley Booth rsquo;s account of the controversial 1969 World Tour The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, roughly buffeted between the drowning death of Brian Jones in July 3, 1969 and the murder of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Free Concert, December 6, 1969. Discographically, the period in Booth rsquo;s account encompasses the releases of Beggar rsquo;s Banquet, Let It Bleed, and the recording of Get Yer Ya Yas Out and Sticky Fingers. There was no formal would tour to promote Stick Fingers and its production overlapped that of both Let it Bleed and Exile setting up the 1972 tour.
Reportage-wise there is no account for 1970 through rsquo;72. That is until Greenfield rsquo;s new Exile.
Greenfield s S.
T.P.: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones is an account of what many consider the greatest rock and roll tour in history.
A bit of hyperbole, to be sure, but I suspect that it was the Rolling Stones, swaggering into their decade, did set the tone for rock and roll excess. Exile on Main Street was released on May 12, 1972. Rehearsals for the tour took place in Dallas, Texas.
The tour began June 3, 1972 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver British Columbia and officially ended July 26, 1972 in at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There were 48 shows between these dates and added American concert dates.
Greenfield begins S.
T.P. where Booth leaves off with The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, at Altamont.
He details the Stones preparations for the tour and revels in the excess of the tour itself all in the shadow of the California tragedy. Greenfield relies mostly on interviews and his writing largely lacks the immediacy Stanley Booth had from actually traveling with the band in 1969. But, alas we have no better guide and like Holy Scripture, how else can a myth be born?
While the Rolling Stones were at their ldquo;elegantly wasted rdquo; best during the 1972 appearances, they were more controlled than during the 1969 set of concerts. During that tour, the band was feral, slashing through shows, some brilliant, some utter trash. Bootleg live recordings from the period bear this out.
On any given night, the Stones could create the most primal and essential music and the next night they would play like a sloppy drunk garage band standing in their own vomit. Between tours, the band perfected its hedonism.
By 1972, much was the same, but much had changed.
The band ran a bit tighter ship. The true star of the shows was the Exile material. ldquo;Rocks Off, rdquo; ldquo;Happy, rdquo; ldquo;Down the Line, rdquo; ldquo;Tumblin rsquo; Dice, rdquo; and ldquo;Sweet Virginia rdquo; were all performed live to great acclaim.
Exile on Main Street was released amid what could only be considered a futuristic promotional process. The Stones were tax exiles in the South of France where, at the Villa Nellcote rented by Keith Richards, the band created perhaps the masterpiece of rock music, all in spite of themselves. It was not view so at the time, but then again time provides the hindsight to consider such things.
Greenfield rsquo;s account is close to the source while not being in the middle of it, effected by his copious use of interviews and primary source materials. The author has been taken to task by critics for having relied on too many secondary and tertiary sources. While this is true, perhaps it is best as those summer months in 1972 were spent in a warm heroin haze that has taken on a faded color photograph tone over the past 35 years.
In a myth, the circumstances need not have happened to nevertheless be true.
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