Product Description

The story of the Rolling Stones' life on the road, created with the co-operation of the band, their management and colleagues. Jools Holland interviewed each of Stones, and they talk of the adrenalin of performance and the fervour of the fans. There are photographs from the band's own archives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #195361 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
So the Stones are on the road again. No change there then. Since their first gig at The Marquee on July 12, 1962 they've just kept on going. Death, divorce, drug addiction, arrests, and bitter rows haven't stopped them, so the mundane fact that they are all now well into their fifties sure isn't going to get them off the stage.

This brilliantly illustrated book tells the pictorial story from the very beginning up to 1998 alongside some revealing quotes from everyone who matters. The roadies, stage managers, support musicians, and hangers-on all have their say, but the real juice comes from the lads themselves.

Jools Holland and Dora Loewenstein have done a great job. We get the musical integrity and importance to the band of Charlie Watts, the control freakery of Jagger--everything has to be right; the laddishness of Ronnie Woods--"I'll always be the new boy"; and, of course, the outrageous cool of Keef. Charlie Watts memorably described his first 25 years with The Stones as, "5 years work and 20 years hanging around". On the evidence of this they'll still be here to give quotes in another quarter of a century.--Nick Wroe

Customer Reviews

Great book, full of unseen material
The book is a must-buy for all , Stones fans or otherwise. It traces the history of the Stones' touring in their own words and those who have worked with them. It is full of new interesting material and is above all fantastically designed. Its quality reflects that of a Stones live performance at their very best. If you haven't bought a copy yet, it's advisable to do so NOW!

A treat for fans and idle browsers alike.
I've never been a fan of The Rolling Stones. Oh sure, I went through my phase of listening to '60s r'n'b sounds, and I rated the Stones way above The Beatles, but the blues rock quickly bored me and it was the later '60s beat-psych underground that really took my fancy. Besides, I always preferred The Pretty Things.

As a result, I didn't expect to like The Rolling Stones: A Life On The Road (Virgin Books), but actually it's a treasure. It looks lovely and the fawning forewords by Jools Holland and Dora Lowenstein take only a page a piece. The rest is given over to the story of touring in the Stones' own words, with colourful quotes scattered liberally among a plethora of fantastic photography. It's fascinating to see the faces change throughout the book, and if it's the early days that mean the most, well that's just personal taste. Shots of old men without shirts playing guitars or pouting into stadiums might please someone else, but to my eyes it's just graphic proof of Rock degeneration. Not that they give a toss what I think, of course. Strangely, though, despite the ridiculousness of their inevitable self-parody, the characters of the Stones come through with, if not exactly integrity, then at least intrigue; Jagger with his self-projecting ego, Richards with his oddly religious belief in a Blues/Rock'n'Roll ideology of excess. Best is Charlie Watts, the Jazz obsessive drummer who makes drawings of all the hotel rooms he stays in.

At the price it's aimed more at the dedicated Stones fan, for whom it's a bargain, than at more esoteric po-faced Pop fans like me. That said, if it falls in your lap, be sure to take a look - because even if the words leave you cold (although I'd wager there will be many which will leave you excited), there's always lovely scenery to look at.

Good pictures, but fails because didn`t have real interviews
I heard Mick Jagger saying "this is one of the good books" and i bought it. Made on the same line as the "Beatles 1" fails because doesn't have interviews with the band members , just phrases and citatioons picked from magazines and tv documentaries.