Bob
Gruen, who describes himself as "a major Stones fan," recalls the first time
when, at age 19, he saw the group in action:
"It was in November
'65 at the Academy of Music in New York ... I'm on my way to 14th Street to buy a $10.
pair of
Flagg Brothers boots--Beatles boots in fact--and when
I get to the store I notice a whole bunch of kids standing
on the street, right in front of the Academy. A friend of
mine comes over so I say 'Hey, what's going on?' and she
goes 'the Rolling Stones are playing here, you wanna
ticket?' Well, I'd never heard of the Stones, but it looks
like a cool scene, so I buy the tickets and run back to
where my friends are rehearsing on Bleecker Street.
They're all too busy jamming to go, but Larry Coryell,
the guitar player, who's there rehearsing with them,
decides to come with me to the show.
So Larry and I go together, and we sit
in the mezzanine.
Walking in it seems like an acid trip because it's so intense. The place is charged
with excitement, you know,
all the screaming, the noise and paper plates and
airplanes flying through the air.
Then the Stones come on. Mick's jumping around the
stage--he's all over the stage at once. He's completely
out of control like a marionette being run by somebody
who's totally high on speed. I don't really hear any of
the music because of the noise. Everybody's just
screaming and yelling. Bill [Wyman] is standing
very
still so that even when a paper plate comes flying straight
toward him he barely moves his head--just three or four
inches very slowly to the left, and the paper plate sails
past him. Then he straightens up and that's the only
move I see in him make during the entire show--whereas
everybody else on stage is moving all over the place and
it's hard even to follow them.
For an encore they played
'Satisfaction' which was
probably one of the loudest things I've ever heard in
my life, and the bassline carried on and on ringing in
my head for weeks afterwards.
That was the first time I saw the Rolling Stones and
until then I hadn't even known that a band could play
a concert in a theatre instead of a bar." |
Keith Richards, NYC, 1981 (c)
Bob Gruen, 1999
Ron Wood and Keith Richards, 1981
(c) Bob
Gruen, 1999
|
