| April 19th, 2004 05:06 PM |
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| Monkey Woman |
Article published by the Scottish newspaper Sunday Mail. A reverent review of the extra-expensive book "STU", but there's lots of quotes from the Stones themselves.
Enjoy...
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/features/featuresfeed/page.cfm?objectid=14156605&method=full&siteid=86024
STONES TRIBUTE TO THE SCOT THEY DUMPED Apr 18 2004
Billy Sloan
THE Rolling Stones have paid an amazing personal tribute to the Scots musician who founded the band.
Original members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, plus Ronnie Wood, have got together to thank piano player Ian Stewart for launching their career.
In a brilliant new book called Stu, the Stones take an emotional stroll down memory lane to recall their favourite reminiscences of the musician who was born at Kirklatch Farm, Pittenweem, Fife.
The lavish 400-page coffee table tome is crammed full of previously unseen photographs of Ian, who died in 1985, aged 47, after a stroke.
It's a measure of the late Scot's standing in the music business that other contributors include rock legends Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jack Bruce and Jeff Beck plus Marianne Faithfull and Jerry Hall.
Jagger said: 'He was a very close friend of mine. He had his prickly side but we had a very easy and good- humoured relationship.
'He would always deflate you if you needed deflating which is great. It's what friends are for.
'I imagine Stu would be pleased the band is still together and touring. He would approve.'
Guitarist Keith Richards said: 'The Rolling Stones are Ian Stewart's band. He was the first one, there at the beginning.
'Without his extra little bit of push and input in those first few months it would probably have dissolved.
'In a way you can say Stu discovered the Stones then forged them.
'Then came the ultimate irony of not being one.'
Keith added: 'Stu was a real stabilising influence. The thing about the man was that if the s*** hit the fan he was a rock either with some handy tips or just holding the fort.'
Ian was removed from the Stones' line-up in 1963 by their first manager Andrew Loog Oldham.
He thought the Scot looked 'too normal' to be in the group. So Stu worked as their tour manager and played piano with them on stage until his death.
Andrew [Loog Oldham] said: 'In terms of the world I'd be able to take The Rolling Stones to, Stu definitely did not fit.
'He looked different from the rest of the band and the audience.
'Today my reasoning would seem far fetched, shallow and extreme but in 1963 I was spot on. In any event, back then I didn't think the British public could count beyond five.
'For duos such as The Everly Brothers, trios such as Peter, Paul and Mary and quartets such as The Shadows, the names-to-faces ratio was manageable.
'But how many of you remember The Tornados, Johnny and the Hurricanes or Emile Ford and the Checkmates?
'They all had too many faces to count, identify with let alone remember.' Eric Clapton recalls the first time he met Stu. He said: 'I remember Stu around the time of the Ealing club where the Stones were formed.
'To me, he was one of the members of the band. We clicked because I was into rural blues as much as Chicago blues. I think we recognised kindred spirits in each other. He was very much a music historian.'
Keith Richards has poignant memories of Stu's death after a period of ill health 19 years ago.
He said: 'I was waiting at a London hotel for Stu to visit me. He had said, 'I've got to pop into town to see the quack first'. It was unlike Stu not to make his appointments. At around three or four in the morning I got a phone call from Charlie saying, 'Stu's not coming'.
'That's how I got the news kind of ironic, in a way, that I was his next destination but he got diverted.'
Today, each member of the Stones reveals their favourite memories of Stu.
STU a limited edition of 950 copies handbound in leather is priced £570 (plus £10 UK courier charges). Each copy includes a signed, numbered Stu screen print by Ronnie Wood.
For further information visit: www.out-take.co.uk
MICK
I REMEMBER the early rehearsals with Stu. He'd turn up on a bicycle in shorts.
When he played piano he changed from a kind of suburban office type Stu to boogie woogie Stu. He'd pump his legs and get lost in the music.
He's been there since the beginning. Stu wasn't the sort of person to say: 'I'm so proud of this band'. But he was proud of us.
It was a funny feeling going from The Bricklayers' Arms to playing Madison Square Garden.
KEITH
STU loved golf and I used to curse him.
We'd be playing in some town and there would be all these chicks who'd want to get laid. And we'd want to lay them and have a party.
But Stu would have booked us into a hotel 10 miles out of town.
You'd wake up in the morning and see Stu on the golf course and realise why we were staying there.
We're bored to death looking for some action and Stu is out playing Gleneagles.
CHARLIE
STU was like our older member. He used to eat with two elbows on the table and it was always minestrone and spaghetti bolognese.
The minestrone was like a classic he had a way of sitting when eating it.
His clothes were always exactly the same, too.
I've never known anyone that stuck with a look and stayed with it.
The shape of jeans went in and out twice during his lifetime.
But he still had a way of wearing them that was totally his own.
RONNIE
STU was the man who made it all function. We'd trust him with the equipment if we were leaving a city.
He made things happen and you didn't see how he did it.
Stu was very helpful with me. If I had any awkward situations things I hadn't been included in like band meetings he'd straighten me out.
He was always sticking up for me if they were giving me s***.
Stu used to love my songs. He'd say: 'Let's do one of Ronnie's'.
BILL
I USED to stay at Stu's house sometimes. The first time, he went out so I went to the kitchen to cook my dinner.
He'd said: 'There's some good Scottish beef, have some of that'. I opened the fridge and this beef was green it had a layer of mould over it.
I told him the meat had gone off. He said: 'I like it like that, that's when it's ready to eat'.
It was disgusting, covered in bluebottles and he's going: 'That'll be ready in a day or two'.
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Well, Bill's testimony is not going to do wonders for the English/Scottish relationships!  |
| April 19th, 2004 05:17 PM |
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| steel driving hammer |
Nice read, thanks.
Nice that they shall never forget him.
Boogie Heaven. |
| April 19th, 2004 05:28 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
It's FAR too expensive. It needs to get out beyond those rich folks for whom it will become a collectors item on the coffee table. But maybe that's the audience for whom it was written? |
| April 19th, 2004 05:29 PM |
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| Stray Cat UK |
I've just been watching Stew on the Checkerboard Lounge video...........Brilliant.
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| April 19th, 2004 10:22 PM |
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| BILL PERKS |
I WAS LISTENING TO RS NOW TODAY AND STU'S PIANO IS SO DISTINCT AND HE'LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN..I HOPE TO PICK THAT BOOK UP SOMEDAY. |
| April 20th, 2004 02:37 AM |
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| beer |
Stu was great, but anybody that pays $600 for a book is a sucker.
the sad thing is, is that i would if i could! Stones Junkie, indeed. |
| April 20th, 2004 04:58 AM |
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| Jumacfly |
Bill Perks!! LOL your little sentence!!
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| April 20th, 2004 06:27 AM |
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| Monkey Woman |
This kind of ultra-expensive books are crying out for pirate editions... 
What are the publishers thinking, anyway? I see the point of a luxury edition for rich collectors, it's something to generate a buzz among the media community and ensuring your book doesn't go unnoticed. Plus, if a millionnaire wants to part with a chunk of money in exchange of a "special" book, the publisher would be a jackass not to take profit from it.
But what's wrong with releasing a "normal" edition once the luxury one has sold out? You don't need a leather binding or numbered prints to appreciate the photos and texts... Many ordinary fans would gladly part with, say, $50 or $60 to get their hands on a truly good book about their favorite band (I know I would). See for instance Bill Wyman's coffee-table book "Rolling With The Stones", I'm told it sold pretty well.
But no, the publisher of "Exile" and the one for "Stu" made a point of destroying the templates to ensure no "cheap" edition would be made... And people moan about the Stones doing shows for outrageous ticket prices or selling overpriced merchandise. At least they *also* have more affordable stuff!  |
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