Bill Wyman=role model for these guys

Everybody knows what kind of Stones fan I am, but that stuff about "explicit, sexist and offensive language" is pretty funny. The Stones would never use language like that!

I'm waiting for K-Fed's lawyers to sue Lil' Wayne as well:

Lil Wayne has got a nice cross tattoo in the middle of his forehead. You can't help staring at it all the time and it helps uplift the already uplifting music.

Wonder if this means some deluxe expanded edition in the Chronicles series?

The Rolling Stones Leave EMI For Universal

From Billboard online:
July 25, 2008 , 10:45 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. and Juliana Koranteng, London
Ending months of speculation, the Rolling Stones have split with longtime label EMI and inked a new deal with the Universal Music Group. The pact covers not only future studio albums but the band's lucrative back catalog from 1971's "Sticky Fingers" onward.

EMI, which has endured a rocky transition to private equity ownership by Terra Firma in recent months, is understood to have lobbied heavily to convince the Stones to remain with the company.

New recordings will be released via UMG's Polydor label worldwide, putting the distribution of the entire Stones catalog under one roof for the first time. The deal covers both digital and physical distribution, with UMG already working on a long-term strategy to digitize the catalog.

The Stones tested the waters with Universal in April, when they released the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese documentary "Shine a Light" through the label. U.S. sales are at 106,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

After recording for Decca Records through 1970, the Stones formed their own Rolling Stones label for the release of "Sticky Fingers" the following year. The previous deal with Virgin/EMI dates back to 1991, prior to Virgin's acquisition by EMI the following year. Warner Music, EMI itself and Sony BMG (as CBS) had all previously handled the catalog between 1971 and 1990.

ABKCO and Decca are co-owners of the copyrights outside North America for the Stones' catalog from 1963-1970.

The Stones released three studio albums for Virgin: 1994's "Voodoo Lounge," 1997's "Bridges to Babylon" and 2005's "A Bigger Bang." The titles have sold a combined 3.6 million copies in the United States.

Geff, you're thinking exactly what I was thinking. Yes, you have to figure Universal is going to want to make some money on the back catalog as well as future projects from the band. I do have one thought which is foremost in my mind concerning this deal. Will having the Stones on Universal make for a smoother bridge between the Stones and ABKCO for some future archival products? For some reason, I have it stored in my head that ABKCO's stuff is distributed by Universal. I might be wrong on this though. Like I said earlier in the year (or else late last year), I had a feeling Universal was going to lure the Stones away from EMI.
And if they do line up Deluxe Editons of the post-ABKCO stuff, I'd like for all of you to envsion me rubbing my hands together like the little weasel on the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons in anticipation of their arrival. So I say to Universal, bring them on and don't spare the unreleased material. And by the way, do convince Mick and Keith to once and for all start an official bootleg series. Would it really kill them to release some Taylor Era live material?

While I'd like to see the Stones go through the vault and legitimize a few of the tracks that have been bootlegged for literally decades, I predict that what we see first will be a career-spanning, Walmart-friendly, best-of compilation--a single-disc version of "Forty Licks". Probably in that crapass, eco-friendly "green" packaging.

I'm still holding out hope for a jewel box version of the UK Aftermath. Maybe I'd better seek it out because I won't buy it in eco-crap packaging. I'd get the digipak version before I'd do that!

Chris--There is a jewel-box version of the UK "Aftermath"--I bought one last month. I know they're hard to find (Amazon refuses to list the digipack hybrids and DSD jewelboxes seperately) but I have one right here...I found it at the Barnes & Noble up in Sarasota.

Thing about the digipacks, if you ever get an SACD player, the hybrids sure sound good........ The Stones are the best sounding SACD's I've ever heard.

I am in a total state of shock as I sit here at my keyboard. I can't believe the passage of time which has gone by. I witnessed my first concert 30 years ago today. I saw The Rolling Stones, Santana, Eddie Money & Peter Tosh at the Oakland Coliseum (stadium). It was Mick's birthday and the final show of the '78 tour. I've written about this extensively over the years here and at the old ICE board. But I just can't believe I've hit the 30 year anniversary. My God!

And Sir Mick turned 65 years old today. Yikes!

My first concert was 37 years ago. Neil Young solo. We smuggled in cigarettes (tobacco cigarettes, not pot) wrapped in tinfoil. We were 13. We were cool.

Too bad that Neil didn't decide to stick around and be part of the New Barbarians shows with Ronnie and Keith back in '79.

If Bill Levenson & Co make it back to Polygram we may have something interesting now won't we............

Oh, I know they did the catalog over in jewel cases. I've just yet to see an Aftermath in one. I've seen the American version, but I have a feeling (based on my experience with Beatles albums) that the UK is probably superior in terms of songs and track sequence.

Anyone care to debunk that? I'm just going on an assumption here.

From a collecting/completist standpoint, I would reccommend the UK version is essential for the 5-minute version of "Out Of Time" (the edited version is not on the US version) Two other songs ("What To Do" and "Take It Or Leave It") appear in the U.S. on the "More Hot Rocks" and "Flowers" compilations; also, the UK edition contains "Mothers Little Helper" while the U.S. version includes "Paint It, Black".

As for what I would reccommend from an artistic standpoint? Well...I don't think three extra songs improve things all that much. "Aftermath" is significant as the first Rolling Stones album to consist solely of Jagger/Richards compositions. Now for the bombastic personal opinion *clears throat* I think "Aftermath" is one of the Stones less-listenable 60's albums, primarily because Jagger and Richards had not yet arrived at their songwriting peak--songs like "It's Not Easy", "High And Dry" and "I Am Waiting" are each "Metamorphosis"-quality album filler, and I, for one, always admired the blues/R&B covers that the Stones recorded for their early albums. In addition, it wasn't until their next album, "Between The Buttons", that Andrew Loog Oldham really seized the opportunity as a producer to help make that record one of the more underrated pop albums of the sixties.

One other note--for all of the bickering and arguing about who was the first band to record a song that defied the conventional three-minute track time (Was it "Hey Jude"? "The End"? "Stairway To Heaven"?) the evidence would indicate that it was, indeed, the Stones--"Goin' Home" is over eleven minutes long, although not a terribly engrossing eleven minutes.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't see this album appealing to anybody besides collectors or historians.

Interesting. I'd still be interested, though, as it's all Jagger/Richards material.

My favorite early Beatles album is the UK A Hard Day's Night... because...it's all Lennon/McCartney.

More Trouble For Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood

Filed under: Classic Rock News, Rolling Stones — Dale @ 11:16 am

It is being reported that a Hollywood-based stylist and costume designer who once worked for the Rolling Stones has received a settlement worth nearly $1 million from guitarist Ronnie Wood.

While working with the Stones in Toronto in 2005 during the group’s Bigger Bang tour, the stylist alleges that she was sexually harassed by Ronnie Wood. 30-year-old Hilary Olson is tight-lipped about the details of the incident due to the fact that she had signed a confidential settlement agreement, something that is not at all uncommon in cases like this.

Olson was reported to be a top stylist and costume designer who, according to her mother, finished first in her class for fashion design at one of the best schools in the world.

Her mother, no doubt desiring to protect her daughter and avoid violating the terms of the settlement agreement, also had very little to say regarding the incident, but did mention that “…it’s well known that what’s-his-name is an alky.” No doubt referring to Wood’s well-publicized problems with alcohol abuse through the years.

She also reports that she has to be very careful when the Stones are mentioned in the presence of her daughter since the incident was so traumatic that it can cause her daughter to suffer a panic attack.

It should also me mentioned that Wood was never charged with a crime nor proved guilty of any wrongdoing.

Wood, who is currently in rehab after an episode that allegedly involved a lot of boozing and a tryst with a young Russian woman. Wood is said to be doing well in rehab and has said that he plans to be back on the wagon and ready to accompany the Stones on their next tour which may come during 2010.

What is not known is if Wood’s wife knew about the alleged sexual harassment incident, but there’s little question that she certainly knows about it now. Already dealing with the reports of her husband’s affair with Ekaterina Ivanova, one can only speculate about how she will react to news of yet another incident involving her husband’s alleged alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct.

Boy! It sure sounds like things have reversed over the last few years. Mick, Keith and Charlie are the mellow ones while Ronnie has been the proverbial hell-raiser.