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| nankerphelge |
Mick Jagger wandered through Central Park, "singing after dark," in the Rolling Stones song "Miss You."
He complained about "rats on the West Side" in "Shattered," made love to a New York divorcée in "Honky Tonk Women," and danced "The Harlem Shuffle."
His band is one of England's greatest rock 'n' roll exports. But the Big Apple has played such a central part in its history and its music it should also be considered a quintessential New York band.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the band will shoot its first live television special, Saturday night, at Madison Square Garden (the band also performs there tonight). "New York's sexy, and the Stones are a sexy band, and it fits," says Marty Callner, who is producing and directing HBO's live broadcast. "You wouldn't want to shoot them in Paducah, Kentucky."
Callner says the special's pre-taped opening will take advantage of the setting, following the band from the airport to the hotel to the venue. "The Stones are all about vibe, and feeling," he says, so the idea will be to establish a New York vibe.
That's just what the Stones have been chasing for a long time.
Their most essential live album, 1970's "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out," was recorded at the Garden.
Over the years, the band has often announced world tours with theatrical New York press conferences. In 1975, for instance, they played "Brown Sugar" on a flatbed truck cruising down Fifth Avenue. In 1989, announcing their "Steel Wheels Tour," they arrived at Grand Central Station in a train, and previewed their new album for reporters on a boombox. Last year, they boarded a blimp and hovered over the Bronx before landing in a park to meet the press.
Guitarist Keith Richards currently has a home in the southwest Connecticut town of Weston. He, Jagger and guitarist Ron Wood have also resided in Manhattan at various times.
"They've lived here for many years and soaked in the culture in every possible way," says Bill German, who published a New York-based Stones newsletter, Beggars Banquet, from 1978 to 1996, and currently hosts "Stones Zone," a syndicated radio program devoted to the band.
"It's definitely an important part of their careers, and their lives. They used to jam all the time here, at all the clubs. Every night, they were going out and playing unannounced with any bands that they liked, and it was all unrehearsed. They could just go see a reggae band that they liked, or a blues band, or a new wave or punk band, and get up there. I don't think they could have done that in any other city."
Like other public figures, the Stones can live more normal lives in celebrity-jaded New York than they can in smaller cities. New Yorkers "don't stop you or gape," Jagger told record executive Joe Smith for Smith's 1988 book "Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music." "That's how I like it."
"Miss You" and "Shattered" are the Stones' most famous New York songs, but there are plenty of other references to the city in the band's music.
In "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)," Jagger told a gritty New York story: "The police in New York City, they chased a boy right through the park/And in a case of mistaken identity they put a bullet through his heart."
Covering the Temptations "Just My Imagination," he changed a key line to "Out of all the girls in New York, she loved me true."
Other Stones songs that mention New York include "When the Whip Comes Down," "Till the Next Goodbye," "Hot Stuff," "She Was Hot," "Undercover of the Night" and "Dancing With Mr. D."
The band's last undeniably great album, 1978's "Some Girls," is its most New York-oriented collection, though most of the recording was done in Paris. When the album came out, Jagger told Rolling Stone magazine that he had been in New York a lot the previous year, "and when I got to Paris and was writing the words, I was thinking about New York ... I was noticing that there were a lot of references to New York, so I kept it like that. 'Some Girls' isn't a 'concept' album, God forbid, but it's nice that some of the songs have connections with each other."
One assumes that different things about New York have fascinated the Stones at various times. As ambitious young musicians, they must have been drawn to New York's size, in an "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere" way. Since some of the world's best parties were thrown at Studio 54 in the late '70s, it's no surprise that Jagger hung out there.
Now that band members have become grizzled survivors, and New York has endured the trauma of 9/11, they see something else in the city.
In October of 2001, Jagger and Richards appeared at the Garden's Concert For New York City, benefiting the families of 9/11 victims. They performed "Salt of the Earth" -- in tribute to the many firemen, policemen and rescue workers in attendance -- and "Miss You," but also spoke about the city.
"The one thing to be learned from this whole experience is, you don't f--- with New York," said Jagger.
"You know, I got a feeling this town's gonna make it," added Richards
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| Miss U. |
Can someone here *PLeAZe* tape this show for me?? Huh?!! How bout it? They won't show it here in Canada, except maybe months from now!!!!    |
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| exile |
wont be shown here in Australia for Months probably  |
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| Angiegirl |
Won't be shown here in Holland at all...I win!!  |
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| TomL |
I'm sure copies will be out there. Most likey a DVD also |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
I know someone who is gonna record the thing on DV.
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| exile |
I would send a Blank DVD anywhere in the world if someone would be kind enough to record a copy for me
anyone? |
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