In 2016, The Rolling Stones are more relevant than ever
Rediscovering is cool!
Do you have a book you like to read every decade or so? Mine is "To Kill A Mockingbird." I like to read it every few years or so. Movies and television are like that, too. My favorite movie has always been "Casablanca" and I go through withdrawal if I don't see it for a decade. You can find all the television shows you used to love but forgot about on MeTv. I remembered how much I really liked "Taxi."
We even do this rediscovering thing with people. Think about all the folks you forgot about after you left high school and now because of Facebook, thirty years later, you're BFFs.
This also holds true for your musical interests. Take a look at your album/cd collection, find some that you haven't heard in twenty years and you'll notice that while some are dated, most are still pretty good.
It's been a good time for The Rolling Stones. You remember these guys...Mick, Keith, Charlie, Ronnie. They've been around since the mid-1960's.
I've seen the Stones in concert twice. The last time was in Los Angles in 1989. The Steel Wheels tour. That was almost thirty years ago and I thought they were old then. They've put out a few albums in that time but nothing I found earth shaking or even all that interesting. They've toured on a regular basis but I thought the act was old in 89, why so would I think any different now?
But......
It's now 2016 and it seems like a great time to be a Rolling Stone and a Rolling Stones fan.....and I'm onboard again.
I give credit to Keith Richards. In recent years, he's become a cult hero. A lot of it is because he's still alive when most of us have thought he would have and should have been dead for years. At a time when his contemporaries are dying, he's thriving.
It's also because us old folks can somewhat relate to him. He has adult children, grandchildren, writes children's books and is actively living his life. It's stuff we want to do, too. If a guy like Keith can do this, why can't we?
It's a big weekend for the Stones. They're playing that gig in Coachella. You know....the festival of music for old people. When the acts were announced as the Stones, McCartney, Dylan, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who, The Stones were the ones I had the most interest in seeing.
Tonight they play with Bob Dylan and the contrast between the two is amazing. Both have been touring this year and while Dylan has been panned for his voice and his lackluster set of old standards, the Stones tour has received rave reviews and they even played in Cuba. There's no question who is the more interesting act now, and it's not even close.
Yesterday, word filtered out that the Stones would release a new studio album. It's their first in eleven years. During their tour, Keith talked about how he wanted the band to get back in the studio. He was energized due the reception of his recent release. This and touring keeps him young and relevant. So it wasn't surprising that they were thinking of making a new record. It is surprising that it's a done deal.
The Stones went back to their roots and recorded an album of Blues tunes. They did it in three days. THREE DAYS!! A lot of artists take three years or longer to finish an album. These guys found ten songs, one producer (Don Was), had a little help by a legendary guitarist (Eric Clapton) and three days later they were good to go. The record drops on December 2...just in time for the holidays. Welcome back to 1965.
So Mick, Charlie, Ronnie & Keith...I know you really haven't been gone but welcome back to my life. Glad to have you here again. Maybe I'll watch Casablanca again, too.
Here's a piece about living like Keith Richards and here's one about Mick Jagger making babies.
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