Excerpt from ‘The Rolling Stones 1962- - 2012 Aftermath’ by Massimo BonannoAvailable on http://lulu.com/spotlight/nellcote

SOME GIRLS 1978

Work on the band’s new album, the first of the new recording deal, began as early as 18 July 1977, when Mick was spotted visiting the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris; some hinted that having signed with EMI the Stones could freely use the label’studios. Mick and Keith had written new material over the previous late spring and summer in Philadelphia and New York, the basic idea was to go back to their roots and recording as a five-man band, there was no room for sessionmen like Billy Preston. For the very first time on a record Ron Wood joined them as a full time Rolling Stone.As both disco music and punk rock dominated the music scene at that time, on 30 September 1977, Keith and Ronnie in New York boarded an Air France Concorde to Paris to meet the other Stones, Ian Stewart and sound engineer Chris Kimsey in the studio in Boulogne Billancourt. The Pathé Marconi studios would become as important in the Stones’ career as the Olympic Studios in London, the Chess Studios in Chicago and the RCA studios in Hollywood. Instead of recording in the main studio, they used a small side room that provided the sound they were looking for. According to history it was Keith who found it as he could judge the acoustics of a studio by the echo from snapping his fingers.On 10 October they began rehearsing the material for the new album; across the Channel the British press reported that Bianca Jagger was dating Roddy Llewellyn, former Princess Margaret’s boyfriend. A week later the French press reported that Mick and Bianca were about to divorce as Mick was now dating Texan model Jerry Hall. On 21 October England saw the release of the double anthology “Get Stoned-30 Greatest Hits, 30 Original Tracks” (Arcade ADEP 32). The album was the British version of the ABKCO’s “The Rolling Stones Greatest Hits Vol 1 and 2.” It reached number 10 in the charts where it spent 10 weeks in the top 30. That day Mick, after an all night recording session, flew to London to attend Jade’s six year

old birthday party. On 24 October Russian spy ships listened in on a NATO exercise and a pilot jammed the air-waves with a Rolling Stones tape. In early November Bianca attended the birthday party for actor Ryan O’Neal at the San Lorenzo restaurant in London and a week later at Sotheby’s auction room she bought a photograph of Mick taken by Sir Cecil Beaton on the set of Performance. On 25 November the Stones broke their Paris recording sessions to allow Keith to face trial in Toronto. While Mick and Jerry Hall flew to Morocco on a short break, on 2 December Keith told the court in Toronto that he was working hard to kick his heroin habit, and revealed that for four years he made repeated efforts to cure himself but everytime a tour came up he began taking the drug again. The judge committed Keith on trial and a date was set on 6 February. The Stones resumed working on the new album in Paris on 5 December; Bianca concorded to New York where she attended a lavish party thrown for her at the Studio 54 by fashion designer Halston. Among the guests were Liza Minnelli, Margaux Hemingway, Andy Warhol. Bianca denied her marriage with Mick was on the rocks. The Stones ended their recording sessions on 21 December and went on holiday. They recorded cut “Lies” (Jagger-Richards)/ “Respectable” (Jagger-Richards)/ ”When The Whip Comes Down” (Jagger-Richards)/ “Beast Of Burden” (Jagger-Richards)/ Ronnie Wood played bass, lead guitar and pedal steel on “Shattered” (Jagger-Richards)/ ‘Sugar Blue’ was on harp on “Some Girls” (Jagger-Richards) which also featured Keith on bass and acoustic guitar, Bill on synthesizer and Jagger on additional guitar. Again Sugar Blue’s harp was on “Miss You” (Jagger-Richards) which also featured Ian McLagan on keyboards. According to history, Sugar Blue, a New York virtuoso harmonica player, whose real name is James Whiting, raised in Harlem, was spotted by Jagger playing in a Paris Metro station and brought straight into the studio. Both Jagger and Richards were on piano and Ron on pedal steel on “Far Away Eyes” (Jagger-Richards)/ The cover version of the Temptations’ hit “Just My Imagination” (Whitfield-Strong) featured Ian McLagan on Hammond organ. The band also cut “Everything Is Turning To Gold” (Jagger-Richards-Wood), “Black Limousine” (Jagger-Richards), first recorded in November 1973, and the unreleased “Claudine” (Jagger-Richards); the song was based on the tale of singer and actress Claudine Longet, former wife of Andy Williams. She was arrested with the accusation of killing her skiing lover Vladimir Sabich. Other unreleased tracks were “Everlasting Is My Love” (Jagger-Richards), “I Can’t Help It” (Jagger-Richards), “Muck Spreading Dub” (Jagger-Richards), the instrumentals “Munich Hilton” (Jagger-Richards),“Jah Wonderful” (Jagger-Richards), “Jah Is Not Dead”,(Jagger-Richards) “Los Trios Guitarras” (Jagger-Richards-Wood).It was rumoured that the new album was to be called either “More Fast Numbers” or “Don’t Steal My Girlfriend.”That December the Rolling Stones were listed in the 1977 Guinness Book of Records as the loudest band of the year.Mick and Jerry Hall spent Christmas in London, two days later they flew off to Barbados. Keith joined Anita Pallemberg in New York for Christmas.The Stones returned to the Pathé Marconi Studios on 5 January 1978 with sound engineer Chris Kimsey, assisted by Dave Jordan, to continue working on the new album. The following day Bianca Jagger was spotted at the trendy Studio 54 in New York with tennis star Bjorn Borg. Three weeks later, on 25 January as Mick and Jerry Hall left the Elysèe Matignon club, Jagger punched a photographer who retaliated knocking Mick down onto the pavement. The following day Ronnie Wood signed a solo recording deal with CBS records at the MIDEM in Cannes. On 27 January Charlie Watts was reported playing a gig in Swindon with Bob Hall’s

Skiffle Group. A week later Bianca Jagger issued a statement about her relationship with Mick: ‘There is no disagreement between us and we are tired of the harassment and falsely attributed statements.’ And yet Hall was constantly at Jagger’s side in Paris. On 6 February Keith’s legal representatives flew to Toronto and got his court appearance postponed to 6 March.In an interview with American magazine High Times, when asked if he had ever been in a dangerous situation with drugs, Richards’ reply was: ‘No, I don’t know if I’ve been extremely lucky, but I’ve never turned blue in somebody else’s bathroom. I consider that the height of bad manners. Even being busted…it’s not pleasure, but it certainly isn’t boring. And I think boring is the worst thing of all.’On 16 February Krissie Wood was reported in a London hospital with minor injuries due to a car crash. Again, in late February both Mick and Bianca firmly denied their marriage was on the rocks but on 1 March Mick offered a reward for the return of the bracelet and earrings he presented Jerry Hall on her birthday, which she lost in the Paris Metro.The Stones finished recording their new album on 2 March 1978.They cut Keith’s classic “Before They Make Me Run” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Richard on vocals, bass and guitar; Ian Stewart played piano on “Summer Romance” (Jagger- Richards). The band cut early takes of “Start Me Up” (Jagger-Richards) and “Hang Fire” (Jagger – Richards), did more work on “Black Limousine”; other tracks they recorded were “So Young” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Ian Stewart on piano, the unreleased “Brown Leaves” (Jagger-Richards); “Do You Think I Really Care” (Jagger-Richards); “Fiji Jim” (Jagger-Richards); “Golden Caddy” (Jagger-Richards); “Petrol” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Ian Stewart on piano; “It’s A Lie” (Jagger-Richards); “Love You Too Much” (Jagger-Richards); “Never Make You Cry” (Jagger-Richards); “Not The Way To Go” (Jagger-Richards); “Disco Music” (Jagger-Richards); “When You’re Gone” (Jagger – Richards), also known as “Redeyes”; “No Spare Parts” (Jagger-Richards) and the Jimmy Reed’s classic “You Don’t Have To Go”, also known as “Biscuit Blues.”Mick played additional guitar on “Lies”, “When The Whip Comes Down”, “Miss You”, “Respectable”, “Just My Imagination”. Mel Collins added sax on “Miss You”.On 6 March the Canadian High Court set Richards trial for 23 October.Having finished working on the new album the Stones left Paris and went on separate ways: Bill and Astrid flew to Barbados, Charlie went to London, Ronnie flew back to Los Angeles while Mick and Keith flew into New York where on 15 March they began editing and mixing tracks for the new album at the Atlantic Studios and at Sterling Studios.On 9 March the British press reported that Chrissie Wood named 25 year old model Jo Howard in divorce proceedings against her husband Ronnie Wood. Meanwhile a rock revue titled Let The Good Stones Roll was staged at the Ambassador Theatre in London.Bianca Jagger attended the British premiere of Saturday Night Fever in London along David Frost, Peter Sellers, Robin Gibb, Keith Moon and Peter Gabriel on 22 March. As Jagger was one of the stars who owned the soccer team the ‘Philadelphia Furies” along Peter Frampton, Paul Simon and Rick Wakeman, he flew to Philadelphia from New York to attend the first game of the North American Soccer League on 1 April. His team lost by 3-1 to the ‘Washington Diplomats.’ Two days later he attended an Academy Awards dinner with Jerry Hall, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol and Margaret Trudeau.

In mid-April Mick and Keith finished mixing “Some Girls”,scheduled for an early summer release. On 27 April the Glimmer Twins flew to Kingston, Jamaica, to attend One Love Peace Concer’ and to see reggae singer Peter Tosh who signed with Rolling Stones Records on 3 May.The Rolling Stones shot promo videos in New York on 2 May; directed by Michael Lyndsay-Hogg they shot videos for their new single “Miss You”, plus “Respectable” and “Far Away Eyes”. Mick sang live on playback tracks. Later that night the band went to the Studio 54 to attend Bianca’s birthday party. Among the guests were David Frost, Liza Minnelli, Truman Capote, Ryan O’Neal. The new single originally scheduled for a 5 May release was postponed. Sound engineer Bob Clearmountain mixed “Miss You” at Power Station Studios in early May, he also remixed a 8 minute-12 inch disco version of it. After weeks of speculations and rumours on 13 May the Stones announced an American tour beginning on 10 June, winding up on 23 July. That same day in London Bianca Jagger filed for divorce from Mick.The single “Miss You”/”Far Away Eyes” was released in England on 19 May on Rolling Stones Records (RSR EMI 2802). Both tracks penned and produced by Jagger-Richards (the Glimmer Twins); it was the first Stones’ single distributed by EMI. It reached number 2 in the charts where it remained for 8 weeks. A pink vinyl 12” single was also released the same day (RSR EMI 2802). It was the Stones’first 12-inch release. Although the band began rehearsing for the tour in mid May at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, rehearsals went on and off until 27 May when the Stones finally began rehearsing on a daily basis until 8 June. It was during the rehearsals that Keith first met Lil Wergilis, a friend of Jo Wood. It was rumoured that Mick, still worried about Keith, had asked John Phillips to help get Keith four hundred methadonelike Dolophine tablets to help him through the tour.“Miss You”/”Far Away Eyes” was released in America on 2 June on Rolling Stones Records (RSR RS 19307). It went straight to the top of the charts. The single, according to Bill Wyman, spent longer on the US charts than any of the band’s previous releases. A 12” single (mastered by Bob Clearmountain) was released the same day (RSR DK 4609). “Some Girls” was released worldwide on 9 June 1978 on Rolling Stones Records. Produced by the Glimmer Twins, the cover was designed by Peter Corriston. In England (RSR CUN 39108) it peaked at number 2 in the charts (25 weeks in charts). In America (RSR COC 39108) it went to number 1 remaining 35 weeks in charts. Hailed as their finest work since the classic “Exile On Main Street”, it resuscitated the band as “Beggars Banquet” did ten years earlier. Once again the Rolling Stones showed their incredible ability to deliver their best works when under pressure and to prosper from their crises.The album was a return to the basics and, as wrote Sylvie Simmons, ‘Its defiance, tension, solidarity and sheer anger perfectly reflected the state of the band and the circumstances under which the album was made. The energy, power, swagger and sarcasm of “Some Girls”, not to mention the memorable songs, link to the classic Stones’ album of the past. But its overall sound was also fresh and contemporary. “Some Girls” (particularly ‘Miss You’ and ‘Lies’) acknowledged the two prevalent and highly polarised musical styles of the late 70’s: disco and punk.’Said sound engineer Chris Kimsey: ‘It was the most shared album I’ve ever worked with them (Jagger and Richards) on. I think Mick took over the business end of it, but not the creative side. Keith, no matter what the state he’s in, would never let anyone take over completely.’

It was rumoured that both Jerry Hall and Bianca claimed to have inspired ‘Miss You’, to many the latter certainly inspired ‘Respectable’.Said Jagger: ‘They were all very New York tunes, written in New York or about New York or with the energy of New York…’Beast of Burden’ is a combination. ‘Miss You’ is an emotion, it’s not really about a girl. To me, the feeling of longing is what the song is about. I don’t like to interpret my own fucking songs, but that’s what it is.’Added Ronnie Wood: ‘With this album I’ve definitely taken a stand with my playing. Those Paris sessions made me feel how much of a Rolling Stones member I have always been. It’s really weird. I feel like I’ve been with them right from the start.’Asked why the new album was called “Some Girls”, Keith replied: ‘Because we couldn’t remember their fucking names.’“The Rolling Stones 1978 American Tour”, was radically different from any other previous tour for the band played small theatres, medium sized arenas and stadiums. Supporting acts were The Peter Tosh Band, Etta James, Journey, Prince, Foreigner, Patti Smith, Fury Lewis, Kansas, Henry Paul Band, Eddie Money, Van Halen, Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Doug Kershaw, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Outlaws, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, April Wine.The standard set list featured “Let It Rock” (Anderson)/”All Down The Line”/”Honky Tonk Women”/”Star Star”/”Lies”/”Miss You”/”When The Whip Comes Down”/”Beast Of Burden”/”Just My Imagination” (Whitfield, Strong)/”Respectable”/”Far Away Eyes”/”Love In Vain”(Robert Johnson)/”Shattered”/”Tumbling Dice”/”Happy”/”Sweet Little Sixteen” (Berry)/”Brown Sugar”/Jumpin’Jack Flash”/”Street Fighting Man.”The band featured Ian Stewart on piano and Ian McLagan on keyboards.The sell out tour opened on 10 June at the Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida, before 12,000 fans. The Rolling Stones were billed as “The Great Southeast Stoned Out Wrestling Champions.” Two days later they played the 3,000 seats Fox Theatre in Atlanta. They were advertised as “The Cockroaches.”Said Richards (who had just restored the final ‘s’ to his surname after 15 years): ‘We’re trying to get close to the people who made us: the audience. We mean that and we’re doing that.’A gig at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, followed on 14 June. On the occasion for an obscure reason only a limited number of tickets went on sale at a very few locations. Fans were willing to pay up to $ 900 for a ticket.The smallest venue of the tour was the Warner Theater in Washington, DC, where 2,000 fans saw the Stones on 15 June. As Mick was ill with flu and there was no encore. He was still ill two days later when he and the Stones performed before more than 90,000 people at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. He went on stage despite doctors’ orders not to. After the show he flew into New York to see Bob Marley at the Madison Square Garden.Paul and Linda McCartney, Diane Keaton, Warren Beatty, Bob Marley and Carly Simon were among the 3,000 audience at the Stones’ Palladium gig in New York on 19 June. Mick joined Peter Tosh on stage for a duet on “Keep On Walking – Don’t Look Back”.On 21 June they Stones played at the Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia. The very next day the band performed at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On both gigs Jagger joined Peter Tosh on a duet on “Keep On Walking – Don’t Look Back.”

A show at the War Memorial Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, was performed on 26 June.They added “Hound Dog” (Leiber – Stoller) to their set list as a tribute to Elvis when they played in Memphis, at the Mid-South Coliseum on 28 June. The show was recorded, as it was the following one at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, on 29 June. The set list was exactly the same as in Memphis. Eddie Money joined the band on stage for “Miss You”. One fan was shot and seventeen were arrested.On 1 July the band played at the Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. A massive rescue search involving five boats, a plane and two helicopters was launched when three Canadian fans’ boat run out of gas while crossing the Lake Erie. Finally they were brought to safety, cost of the operation was $ 15,000.In the meantime Raquel Welch and Lucille Ball were furious when they discovered their pictures on the sleeve of “Some Girls”. They thought their pictures were less than flattering, because their lips and eyes had been high-lighted in fluorescent colors. Within hours threats of legal action against the Rolling Stones and their American record company, Atlantic Records, were taken. New sleeves without the offensive photographs were printed, and the old sleeves on sale in the US were recalled and the photos blacked out.On 4 July the band played before 72,000 fans at the Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Two hundred people were given first aid after some of the crowd went beserk when the group refused to do an encore. Two fans had to be taken to hospital.Two days later the band performed at the Masonic Hall in Detroit before heading to Chicago where on 7 July Mick went to see Lefty Dizzy at the ‘Kingston Mines’.On 8 July more than 80,000 fans attended the Rolling Stones’ gig at the Soldiers Field. Sugar Blue joined the band on “Miss You”. After the show all the Stones went to the 400 capacity ‘Quiet Knight’ club to see Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Mick, Keith and Woody joined Muddy Waters on “Mannish Boy”, “Long Distance Call”, and “Got My Mojo Working.”A gig at the St.Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, followed on 10 July.Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for eight minutes when he fell off the backstage after the show.Several US black radio stations banned the “Some Girls” album because of the lyrics of the title track. Jagger refused to change them.A second concert at the Anaheim Stadium in Los Angeles was added and the 55,000 tickets sold out in two hours.On 11 July a show was played at the Checkerdome in St. Louis. Two days later they broke all the previous records when they appeared before 80,000 at the Superdome in New Orleans; it was the biggest ever indoor concert grossing more than $ 1,000,000 in ticket sales.In America the cover of “Some Girls” now read, ‘Please accept our apologies. We are being reconstructed.’The band played the Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, on 16 July.Fiddle player Doug Kershaw joined the Stones on stage to play “Far Away Eyes” at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, Texas on 18 July.The show was filmed to be released as a closed-circuit broadcast in cinemas, just like “Ladies and Gentlemen-The Rolling Stones”, but the project did not materialized.Said Mick to the audience: ‘If the band’s slightly lacking in energy, it’s because we spent all last night fucking. We do our best.’On 19 July the band played the Sam Housten Coliseum, Houston, the following day Linda Ronstadt joined the boys on stage at the Tucson Community Center, singing on “Tumbling Dice”.

As the Rolling Stones arrived Los Angeles on 22 July, Mick, Jade, Jerry Hall and Diana Ross attended a Bob Marley’s show at the Starlite Amphitheatre in Burbank.Keith: ‘Hollywood is the end of the line for so many people. It’s a killer and if you are weak you can be sure it’ll get you.’The Stones played their first show of two at the Anaheim Stadium in Los Angeles on 23 July before 55,000 people. Among the audience were Richard Dreyfuss, Sly Stallone, Steve McQueen, Valerie Perrine. Peter Tosh and Prince opened the show.They played the second Anaheim show on 24 July. Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins joined the band on stage on “Miss You” and “Brown Sugar.”A judge in Los Angeles blocked Mick’s share of the Los Angeles concerts pending settlement of Marsha Hunt's suit to increase his weekly contribution to their daughter Karis from £ 8.50 to £ 300.On 26 July Mick Jagger turned 35 and the Stones finished their “1978 American Tour” at the Oakland Coliseum before 55,000. Again Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins joined the band on stage. Peter Tosh, Eddie Money and Santana opened the show.Almost 800,000 fans saw the Stones during their seven week trek, playing 25 sell out concerts in 24 cities grossing an estimated 10 million dollars.Right after the final concert Keith moved into Ronnie Wood’s rented villa in Malibu, while Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall spent several days with promoter Bill Graham in Corte Madera, Marin County, in San Francisco area, where they were joined by Brian Jones’ fourteen-year-old son Julian who also attended the Stones’ final show of the tour.On 7 August former Stones publicist Leslie Perrin, died at 57 in a Surrey hospital after a long illness due to hepatitis he caught during the band’s “Australasian Tour” in 1973. Keith wrote a letter to Janey Perrin, Mick sent flowers.Rumours reported that Mick was going to play the main role in “Stranger In A Strange Land,” a movie to be directed by Hal Ashby.From 23 August to 8 September the Stones waxed live tapes from the recent US tour at the Wally Heider Studios (a.k.a RCA Studios) in Hollywood, rehearsed new tracks and worked on some “Some Girls” leftovers with Ian McLagan on keyboards, Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Keltner on percussion. Sessions were produced by the Glimmer Twins and Chris Kimsey, sound engineer was Michael Carnavale. Sessions started no earlier that 3.00 a.m, continuing well into the morning. Tracks recorded were: “Blues With A Feeling” (Jacobs), featuring Ian Stewart on piano/ ”Back In The USA” (Chuck Berry), again Ian Stewart sat at the piano/ “What I’m Living For” (Jacobson/Harris)/ “I’ll Let You Know” (Jagger – Richards), Jagger was at the piano, Ian McLagan on organ and Ronnie Wood on bass and pedal steel/ “My First Plea” (Jimmy Reed), featured Keith on vocals/ “I Ain’t Superstitious” (Willie Dixon)/ “Serious Love” (Sly Dunbar), saw Keith on vocals/ “Knee Trembler” (Jagger – Richards), Bobby Keys was on saxophone and Ian McLagan on keyboards/ On “Where The Boys Go” (Jagger – Richards), Jagger was on additional guitar and Ian Stewart at the keys./ “What Gives You The Right” (Jagger – Richards)/ “One Night” (Bartholomew-King), Ian Stewart was on piano as he was on “Summer Romance” (Jagger – Richards)/ “The Harder They Come” (Jimmy Cliff) featured Ian McLagan on keyboards/ Keith was on vocals and piano on “Your Angel Steps Out Of Heaven” (Jack Ripley); Ian McLagan sat at the organ/ “Tallahassee Lassie” (Slay – Crewe – Piccariello). Except three tracks, to this day such material has never been released.

On 28 August the single “Beast Of Burden”/”When The Whip Comes Down”, taken from the “Some Girls” album was released in America on Rolling Stones Records (RS 19309). It peaked at 7, remaining 13 weeks in the charts.The black and white photo of the picture sleeve showing a lion sitting on a smiling girl caused a great deal of controversy as it was considered it symbolized bestiality. The sleeve was then withdrawn and it quickly became a very rare item among Stones fans and collectors.Keith Moon, the legendary Who’s drummer, was found dead in his Mayfair flat in London on 7 September. Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts attended the funeral service on 13 September. Two days later another single taken from “Some Girls” was released in England on Rolling Stones Records: “Respectable”/”When The Whip Comes Down” (RSR EMI 2861), it peaked at 22 (3 weeks in the charts).The fact that relations between band members had dramatically improved over the previous months, despite the upcoming Keith’s Toronto trial, were clearly revealed by Bill Wyman in an interview with the ‘Melody Maker’.He said: ‘Before I did my solo albums I was getting so depressed, I was thinking about leaving the band because it was no more fun. Ron Wood came along and, especially in the last year, he’s pulled both sides together, and I think he was the main reason for the band being so close and super friendly. Really being able to talk to one another. He’s always laughing and joking and he can always make you laugh. There’s such a great rapport going now between the band. Now I’ve got a new lease of life, a second wind, and it doesn’t cross my mind ever to leave, or that the band’s going to break up.’ Added Charlie Watts: ‘We’re bloody lucky man, we’ve signed a record deal three or four times, and each time we’ve had a fucking good single and a good album. We did it with Atlantic with “Brown Sugar” and “Sticky Fingers” and we’ve done it again this time…When everyone says you’re the best, it’s bullshit. If it was Max Roach it would be fucking true, but when it’s me it isn’t. Absolutely not true, to play “Miss You” is really very easy, it’s just a good song so it works.’Rolling Stones Records released on 29 September Peter Tosh’s new single “You Gotta Walk- Don’t Look Back”, with vocal support from Mick Jagger.A few days later some tabloids on both sides of the Atlantic reported that Mick wrote “Some Girls” after spending a night with two black girls.On 7 October the Stones appered at the US TV Saturday Night Live in New York. They played “Beast Of Burden”, “Respectable” and “Shattered”. Mick caused sensation across America as he French-kissed Ronnie Wood.Said Ronnie: ‘There we were on stage, I had my eyes closed for a few seconds and suddenly I felt this wet warm thing slurping on my face. It was Mick’s tongue. I tried to kick him, but he was too fast. He loves putting people on the spot.’That day the band faced another problem as the nationwide organisation PUSH based in Chicago campaigned agains the lyrics of ‘Some Girls’, the title track of the Stones latest album. The ‘offending’ lyrics were: ‘Black girls want to get fucked all night, but I don’t have much jam…’PUSH President, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, claimed: ‘It is an insult to our race and degrading to our women. Music is the medium through which most of our messages are delivered. We must begin showing some social responsability about the messages we’re delivering to our children.’ He pressed Atlantic Records to stop further production and sale of the album. Hal Jackson, programme director of an influential black station in New York said: ‘I know Mick Jagger very well, the guy’s not a bigot, but it was a stupid thing for him to do.’ Mick Jagger repeated his assertion that the song is a parody.

In mid-October Keith relaxed in Los Angeles a few days before his trial in Toronto; he arrived in New York on 20 October to spend a couple of days quietly resting at his home in Westchester. That same day Mick arrived in London for a short visit.22 October was another key date in the band’s history: as Keith and girlfriend Lil Wergilis flew from New York to Toronto on a private Lear Jet, a daughter, Leah, was born to Ron Wood and Jo Howard in Los Angeles.On Monday 23 October Keith’s Toronto trial began in the Canadian High Court before Judge Lloyd Graburn. Keith pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, a lesser charge than the original one of ‘trafficking with a narcotic’, after plea bargaining between Crown Attorney Paul Kennedy and Richards’ own lawyer.The following day Richards returned to Judge Graburn’s courtroom for sentencing. His defence lawyer, Austin Cooper, pleading for probation, described Keith’s nine-year battle against addiction and his promise to donate $1,000,000 to a rehabilitation clinic.‘In 1969 he started with heroin and it got to the state where he was taking such quantities of the drug and getting no euphoria from it. He was taking such powerful amounts, as much as two and a half grams a day, just to feel normal,’ said defence lawyer. He told of three unsuccessful attempts to cure the addiction but the fourth was now working.‘He should not be dealt with as a special person, but I ask your Honour to understand him as a creative toutured person, as a major contributor to art form. He turned to heroin to prop up a sagging existence. I ask you to understand the whole man. He has fought a tremendous personal battle to rid himself of this terrible problem.’During the trial Keith explained: ‘If you want to get off it you will, and this time I really wanted it to work. I’ve got to stay on the treatment if I want to stay off for good, if I want to kick it for good.’When the Judge referred to the glorification of drugs in his songs and music, Keith replied: ‘That is a misconception. I mean, about one per cent of our songs glorify the use of drugs, and Mick Jagger wrote them anyway, not me.’Judge Lloyd Graburn gave Keith a one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to give a special concert at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which was to be done within the following six months; if not, Keith would be taken before a provincial Judge and sentenced as a result. He was also ordered to continue his addiction treatment and to report to a Toronto probation officer to give an account of the progress of his treatment. The packed court erupted as delighted fans cheered the sentence. The Judge was not amused.Keith left Toronto and flew back to New York where the next day he jammed Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Rockpile at the Bottom Line.Across the Atlantic, Jagger was facing his own problems as on 26 October Bianca’s lawyers attempted to serve him with divorce papers but he flew off to Jamaica before the bailiff arrived at his hotel.Said a representative: ‘I think Mick Jagger left as soon as he heard they were after him. He has a feeling for about this sort of things.’While in Jamaica Mick shot the promovideo of “Don’t Look Back” with Peter Tosh in Kingston. They added live vocals on prepared backing track. Work ended on 28 October; as Jagger flew to New York the very next day, Keith arrived Kingston.Meanwhile in response to the campaign by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Atlantic Records’ Chairman Ahmet Ertegun recomended ‘Some Girls’ be re-edited adding that Mick Jagger owned his whole being to black people and black music. The Rolling Stones also issued a statement: ‘It never occurred to us that our parody of certain stereotypical attitudes would be taken seriously by anyone who has heard the

entire lyrics of the song in question. No insult was intended and if any was taken, we sincerely apologise.’Later Jagger was reportedly to comment: ‘If you can’t take a joke, it’s too fucking bad.’ In Canada the suspended sentence of Keith continued to provoke angry comments. The ‘Toronto Sun wrote: ‘Imagine the laughter among Rolling Stones’ fans throughout the world…their hero got busted and got off.’But Keith’s remark after the trial was what really drove the Canadians mad. When reminded that he had once said ‘They’re out to make rock’n’roll illegal,’ Keith replied: ‘Well, they’ve missed another chance at it. Don’t lock up the rock.’Former Prime Minister John Deifenbacker was outraged and urged an appeal. But Canada’s largest circulation paper, the Toronto Globe, described the verdict as a ‘model of enlightened sentencing, one which should pave the way for a more equitable and civilised treatment of convicted drug addicts in Canadian courts.’Peter Tosh’s album “Bush Doctor”, featuring help from Jagger and Richards was released on Rolling Stones Records on 3 November.Yet Keith’s Toronto trial was still making the news as on 21 November the Toronto Star reported that the Ontario administration wanted Keith to go to jail for heroin possession as a deterrent to his teenage fans. In a letter to Justice Minister Otto Lang, Attorney General Roy McMurtry said the Judge ‘erred in principle’ in failing to jail Keith Richards and asked Lang to appeal against the leniency of the one year suspended sentence. The following day Federal Crown Prosecutor John Scollin won an extension until 3 May 1979 to appeal against the sentence imposed by trial Judge Lloyd Graburn.The single “Shattered”/”Everything Is Turning To Gold” was released in America on Rolling Stones Records (RSR RS 19310) on 29 November. Produced by the Glimmer Twins, side one was taken from “Some Girls”, while flip side was an unreleased track penned by Jagger–Richards–Wood, recorded in Paris later the previous year. It peaked at 27 remaining in the charts for three weeks.Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall attended the first Annual Kennedy Center Awards Gala on 3 December. A week later in London Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart and Alexis Korner were among the members of a specially convened Big Band playing at the Dingwall’s in Camden Town, to celebrate 50 years of boogie woogie.Keith Richards’ first solo single “Run Rudolph Run” (Marvin Brodie-Johnny Marks)/”The Harder They Come” (Jimmy Cliff) was released on 12 December in America on Rolling Stones Records (RS 19311). Produced by Keith Richards, side one was recorded in London in December 1976, flip side was recorded in Los Angeles the previous September and featured Keith on vocals, guitar and bass, Ronnie Wood on guitar, Charlie Watts on drums.Even if on 15 December Japan relaxed its ban on the Rolling Stones, Mick was denied permission to enter Hong Kong as he and Jerry Hall had planned to spend Christmas there. The couple flew to Singapore then to Bali.After their somehow disappointing mid-seventies studio albums, the much acclaimed “Some Girls” restored the Stones’ reputation as the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world still perfectly in tune with the times. The American tour showed a band still capable to deliver the goods, a band which felt much closer to its roots and its audience.The tremendous success of the band was completed when on 28 December Rolling Stone announced its Critics Awards. The Rolling Stones were voted Artists of the Year, and “Some Girls” was the Album of the Year.