| The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969 | ||
|---|---|---|
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| The generic tour poster, bottom filled by venue | ||
| Tour by The Rolling Stones | ||
| Start date | 7 November 1969 | |
| End date | 6 December 1969 | |
| Legs | 1 | |
| Shows | 28 | |
| The Rolling Stones tour chronology | ||
| European Tour 1967 | American Tour 1969 | European Tour 1970 |
The Rolling Stones' 1969 American Tour[1] was a much publicised, written about, recorded, and filmed concert tour of the United States that took place during November 1969. Rock critic Robert Christgau called it "history's first mythic rock and roll tour",[2] while rock critic Dave Marsh would write that the tour was "part of rock and roll legend" and one of the "benchmarks of an era."[3]
Contents |
History
This was like no other tour the band had yet undertaken. Away from the stage since April 1967, and the U.S. since July 1966 due to drugs charges and subsequent complications,[2] they found that live performing had moved on. Instead of performing in small- and medium-size venues to audiences of screaming girls, they were booked into arenas with packed but more mature crowds ready to listen and move[4] and amplification systems to match (as they would later say, it was the first time they could hear what they were playing). The tour was notable for being Mick Taylor's first with the Stones, having replaced Brian Jones shortly before Jones' July death.[4]
The tour began on 7 November at Colorado State University, and then proceeded generally west to east, often playing two shows a night. The tour's second stop, at The Forum in Los Angeles, attracted national media attention as the outing's formal opening.[5] The most known shows are those of 27 November and 28 November at New York City's Madison Square Garden, which were deemed the major rock event of the year.[6]
Another well-known show from the tour was the second concert in Oakland, California on 9 November, which was captured on
The final regular show was on 30 November at the International Raceway in West Palm Beach, Florida. After the tour's planned conclusion, the Stones organised and gave one last performance, at the close of the disastrous Altamont Free Concert on 6 December.
The Stones were introduced as they took the stage as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World," a title they claimed here for the first time[7] and would zealously strive to keep for decades to come. Material was mostly from 1968's Beggars Banquet album and the not-quite-released-yet Let It Bleed. The performance itself featured the Stones showmanship that would become familiar: Charlie Watts businesslike drumming leavened by an occasional wry smile, Bill Wyman's undertaker persona on bass, the guitar interplay of Mick Taylor with Keith Richards, and most of all Mick Jagger's prancing, strutting, leering and preening in front of the crowd.[6][4] "Ah think I've busted a button on my trousers" he teased the audience. "You don't want my trousers to fall down now, do ya?" At one point in some shows, Jagger motioned for the audience to rush past ushers to the edge of the stage;[5] of the group's reaction to the crowd's fervor, a spokesman said, "They loved it."[5]
Shows sometimes ran past midnight,[5][6] and the Stones' performance lasted about 75 minutes.[6] Terry Reid, B. B. King (replaced on some dates by Chuck Berry), and Ike and Tina Turner were the supporting acts, with audiences in their seats for some three hours, including long delays between acts, before the Stones materialised on stage.[4] Janis Joplin joined the Turners during the Madison Square Garden stint.[6]
The U.S. was in political turmoil at the time, and some militant groups tried to portray the tour as a call for radical political action, especially in light of the previous years' Stones song "Street Fighting Man".[8] The Stones had no such interest themselves, and while on tour Mick Jagger publicly rebuffed a request for support from the Black Panthers.[8] Stones media appearances during the tour featured typical banter of the time on other issues; while other members of the group affected boredom, Jagger gave non-sequitor responses to cultural questions,[6] and said of New York, "It's great. It changes. It explodes."[6]
The tour gained sold over $1 million of tickets,[6] founded on typical ticket prices of $4.50 to $8.00.[5][6]
The 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!, mostly based on the Madison Square Garden shows, documented the tour, as did the Maysles brothers' 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter which, while mostly known for its filming of Altamont, also contains substantial footage of the band's performance during the tour at Madison Square Garden. Gimme Shelter also captures a famous Jagger tour press conference response to whether he was "satisfied": "Financially dissatisfied, sexually satisfied, philosophically trying."[6]
Tour band
- Mick Jagger - vocals, harmonica
- Keith Richards - guitar, vocals
- Mick Taylor - guitar
- Bill Wyman - bass guitar
- Charlie Watts - drums
- Additional musicians
- Ian Stewart - piano
Tour set list
The fairly typical set list for the tour was:
- "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
- "Carol"
- "Sympathy for the Devil"
- "Stray Cat Blues"
- "Love in Vain"
- "Prodigal Son"
- "You Gotta Move"
- "Under My Thumb"
- "I'm Free"
- "Midnight Rambler"
- "Live With Me"
- "Little Queenie"
- "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
- "Honky Tonk Women"
- "Street Fighting Man"
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Starting a trend that would continue for some years, the Stones ignored most of their pre-1968 catalogue, playing fewer songs from that period than songs not yet released. In particular, "Brown Sugar" received its very first live rendition on December 6, 1969 during the Altamont concert.
Tour dates
- 07/11/1969
State University - Fort Collins, CO - 08/11/1969 The Forum - Los Angeles, CA (2 shows)
- 09/11/1969 Alameda Co. Coliseum - Oakland, CA (2 shows)
- 10/11/1969 San Diego Sports Arena - San Diego, CA
- 11/11/1969 Coliseum - Phoenix, AZ
- 13/11/1969 Moody Coliseum - Dallas, TX
- 14/11/1969 University Coliseum - Auburn, AL (2 shows)
- 15/11/1969 Assembly Hall - University of Illinois, Champaign, IL (2 shows)
- 16/11/1969 International Amphitheatre - Chicago, IL (2 shows)
- 24/11/1969 Olympia Stadium - Detroit, MI
- 25/11/1969 The Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
- 26/11/1969 Civic Center - Baltimore, MD
- 27/11/1969 Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
- 28/11/1969 Madison Square Garden - New York, NY (2 shows)
- 29/11/1969 Boston Garden - Boston, MA (2 shows)
- 30/11/1969 'First Annual West Palm Beach International Music and Arts Festival' - International Raceway, West Palm Beach, FL
- 06/12/1969 Altamont Free Concert - Altamont Speedway, Livermore, CA
References
- Carr, Roy. The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Record. Harmony Books, 1976. ISBN 0-517-52641-7
- ^ The tour seems to have had no official name.
- ^ a b Robert Christgau, "The Rolling Stones", entry in The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, Random House, 1980. pp. 198–199.
- ^ Marsh, Dave (1987). Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-54668-7. p. 15.
- ^ a b c d Mike Jahn (1969-11-28). "The Rolling Stones Are Still Exciting". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F6061FF73E591A7493CAAB178AD95F4D8685F9.
- ^ a b c d e "Rolling Stones Open Tour With West Coast Concert". Associated Press for The New York Times. 1969-11-10. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00815FB3E591A7493C2A8178AD95F4D8685F9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Francis X. Clines (1969-11-28). "16,000 at Madison Square Garden Shout With Joy in Reaction to Sounds of Rolling Stones". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70810F73E591A7493CAAB178AD95F4D8685F9.
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Rolling Stones: Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifoxqr5ldje~T1. Retrieved on 2008-06-25.
- ^ a b Martin, Linda; Kerry Segrave (1993). Anti-rock: The Opposition to Rock 'n' Roll. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306805022. pp. 160–161.
External links
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