Exile summer

By the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones owed more in taxes than they could pay and the band left the UK before the government could seize their assets. Mick Jagger settled in Paris, and Keith Richards rented a villa, Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. The other members of the band also setttled in the south of France. Eventually Keith's basement at Nellcôte became a makeshift studio to record, using the band's mobile recording truck.

In his autobiography, Life, Keith Richards recalls what happened: "We looked at studios in Cannes and elsewhere, reckoned up how much money the French were going to suck out of us. Nellcôte had a large basement and we had our own mobile studio. The Mighty Mobile, as we called it, was a truck with eight-track recording machines that Stu had helped to put together. We'd thought of it quite separately from any plan to move to France.

It was the only mobile recording unit around. We didn't realize when we put it together how rare it was - soon we were renting it out to the BBC and ITV because they had only one apiece. It was another one of those beautiful, graceful, fortuitous things that happened to the Stones. So one day in June it trundled through the gates and we parked it outside the front door and plugged in. I've never done any different since. When you've got the equipment and the right guys, you don't need anything else in terms of studios".

And so Nellcôte and the Mighty Mobile became the center of the Stones' 1971 Exile recordings. A lot has been written (and filmed) about this long hot summer in the south of France, but very little is known about Stu's whereabouts. For sure he, as managing director of the mobile unit, must have been around, but where did he live? And did he take part in any recording sessions, or was Nicky Hopkins the only piano player the band relied on at the time? Someone?

Adapted from the following source: Keith Richards, Life, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010.

Suggested further reading and viewing:
Bill Janovitz, The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St., Continuum, 2007.
Dominique Tarlé, Exile, Genesis Publications, 2001.
Stones In Exile, Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd., 2010 (DVD).

Fact sheet: Sticky Fingers

April 1971 the Rolling Stones finally released their new studio album "Sticky Fingers" on their new record label Rolling Stones Records. Author Graeme Thomson puts the record in some fine perspective: "Sticky Fingers is the bridge that carried the Stones out of the '60s and into the '70s, pieced together over two years in the gaps between two major, somewhat mythical tours; various legal shenanigans; the integration of Mick Taylor as a fully fledged Stone; and their departure from Decca to form their own record label.

A three-day stopover at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in December 1969 delivered 'Wild Horses', 'You Gotta Move' and 'Brown Sugar'. The rest - the sickly 'Sister Morphine' aside - was recorded throughout 1970 at Stargroves, Mick Jagger's country pile, and tidied up at Olympic Sound Studios in London. It was, according to Jagger, a 'heavy time', and you can hear it in the music. Unlike most other Stones albums, however magnificent, "Sticky Fingers" is an emotional as well as a visceral ride".

Ian Stewart played piano on two tracks, 'Brown Sugar' and 'Dead Flowers'. Other members of the keyboard department on this record were Nicky Hopkins, Jim Dickinson, Billy Preston, Jack Nitzsche, Jim Price, and even Bill Wyman (electric piano on 'You Gotta Move'). A busy affair, with Stu being a constant factor, and Billy Preston the coming man.

Adapted from the following source: Graeme Thomson, Sticky Fingers, The Ultimate Music Guide (from the makers of Uncut).

Let It Rock

March 4, 1971 the Rolling Stones kicked off their first proper UK tour since autumn 1966, after having announced that they were becoming tax exiles and decamping to the South of France, which they did shortly after finishing the tour. The tour was not lengthy (March 4-14, 1971), but audience numbers were enlarged by playing two shows on almost every night.

Although "Sticky Fingers" was still not released, the band expanded the number of selections from it played compared with the previous European tour. Nicky Hopkins took over from Ian Stewart the role of stage keyboardist. On March 26 the band went to the Marquee Club to film a TV special. For this special occasion Stu took over from Nicky Hopkins again, and played piano on almost all songs, including Chuck Berry's 'Let It Rock'.

Headley Grange Sessions

During their 1971 recording sessions at Headley Grange, East Hampshire, England, British rock band Led Zeppelin were using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and were accompanied by Ian Stewart, who ended up jamming with the band on piano. Two songs (or rather jams) saw the light of day: 'Rock And Roll', based on a classic twelve-bar blues pattern, appeared on Zep's fourth album (1971), while 'Boogie With Stu' earned its place on 1975's "Physical Graffiti".

According to guitarist Jimmy Page both songs would not have emerged had it not been for the particularly informal 'live-in' environment at Headley Grange: "Some of the things that happened there, like 'Boogie With Stu' where Stu turns up and plays a piano that's totally unplayable, were incredible. That was too good to miss because Stu wouldn't record, he wouldn't do solo stuff. All of these things wouldn't end up on albums as far as other people were concerned, but they did with us".

Adapted from various wikipedia pages.

Shake Your Hips

Right after their 1970 European tour the Rolling Stones returned to Olympic Sound Studios and Stargroves (with the Mobile) to work on tracks for "Sticky Fingers", and also on songs that would appear on later albums. The Stones' version of Slim Harpo's 'Shake Your Hips' ended up on the "Exile On Main St." album. The song is played in rockabilly fashion. Charlie Watts tick-tacks the rhythm throughout on the drum rim while the lead guitars interweave authentic fifties sounds. Mick Jagger warbles on harmonica as the song fades out. Ian Stewart is on piano.

Adapted from the following source:
Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones. Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002, Cherry Red Books, 2002.

Suggested further reading:
Bill Janovitz, Exile On Main St., Continuum, 2005.

A funky piano

Autumn 1970 (August 30 - October 9) the Rolling Stones toured Europe, for the first time in more than three years. It happened to be the first Stones tour to include other stage personnel in order to enhance the sound. Brass instrumentation (Bobby Keys, Jim Price) now was a standard part of the set. Ian Stewart joined the band on five or six songs every night, although still not visible to the audience.

Here's how New Musical Express reviewed one of the shows: "But the biggest surprise was the appearance of the Rolling Stones Plus Three, which brings the performers on-stage up to eight. The Plus Three are unbilled and unadvertised. They are Jim Price, Bobby Keys, and the Stones' own Man Friday, Ian 'Stu' Stewart, who plays a funky piano".

Quite obviously Stu appeared on the show's three Chuck Berry tunes: the well-rehearsed 'Little Queenie', 'Let It Rock' and 'Roll Over Beethoven', which replaced 'Carol' in the setlist, but also on three original Stones compositions: 'Honky Tonk Women', 'Brown Sugar' and the country-tinged 'Dead Flowers'.

Adapted from the following sources:
Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones. Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002, Cherry Red Books, 2002.
Christopher Hjort, Strange Brew. Eric Clapton & The British Blues Boom 1965-1970, Jawbone, 2007.

Stop Breaking Down

On 1972's "Exile On Main St." the Rolling Stones touched base with what inspired them in the first place. On 'Stop Breaking Down', another "Exile" track that dated back to the 1970 recording sessions, the band, with Ian Stewart in fine boogie woogie form, once more returned to their blues roots. The song, a Robert Johnson twelve-bar classic, got arranged by the band into a semi rhythm & blues mould.

Instrumentally the lead on this Johnson rendition is shared by Mick Taylor, who plays a rasping slide solo, and Stu, with his rhythmic timing on piano. Mick Jagger plays rhythm guitar and harmonica. At the overdub stage echoed compressed 'oohs' were used to good effect. According to author James Hector this was exactly the kind of song Brian Jones wanted the band to make during the "Beggars Banquet" sessions. They didn't, but two years later, Mick Taylor was on hand to turn in some measured slide guitar.

Adapted from the following sources:
Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones. Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002, Cherry Red Books, 2002.
James Hector, The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Rolling Stones, Omnibus Press, 1995.

Suggested further reading:
Bill Janovitz, Exile On Main St., Continuum, 2005.