Rolling Stones Question Regarding Mick Jagger
Regina Litman
another Internet site regarding this group that contradicts what I
remember about them.
I never saw them in concert, but I saw them on T.V. a lot in the 1960s,
and I also remember seeing them in at least one concert movie, probably
the "T.A.M.I. Show".
The question is, did Mick Jagger ever play guitar for the Rolling Stones
during appearances? All of the material I have about the group lists the
axemen as of the time they became famous as Bill Wyman on bass, Brian
Jones on rhythm guitar (and I saw him play sitar and/or dulcimer during
an Ed Sullivan appearance around 1966), and Keith Richard on lead
guitar. The fifth member was drummer Charlie Watts. Jones was later
replaced by Mick Taylor, who then was replaced by Ron Wood. After that,
I lost track of the group's personnel changes.
We had a discussion in another place where I hang out online about
whether or not playing a guitar onstage hampers a lead singer or solo
artist. Someone mentioned that he or she didn't think that playing a
guitar hampered Jagger. I responded that I don't recall Mick Jagger ever
being a guitarist for the Rolling Stones. But these television and movie
appearances I saw of the group were in the 1960s and possibly the very
early 1970s. Did Jagger eventually take up guitar after other guitarists
left the group that I always call the Rolling Stones and not by an
abbreviated version of their name? Thanks in advance for any information
you can give me on this.
I do recall seeing Jagger dancing around with a tambourine one time,
possibly in the concert movie.
Jasper Wrath
wrote:
Wasn't he holding a guitar during the Steel Wheels tour?
Maybe it was just a prop,
I've also seen Roger Daltrey holding a guitar, and Davey Jones too.
Thase guys could quite possibly be three chord wonders, I just don't
know.
GBlueOwl
>I am hardly an expert on the Rolling Stones, but something came up on
>another Internet site regarding this group that contradicts what I
>remember about them.
>
>I never saw them in concert, but I saw them on T.V. a lot in the 1960s,
>and I also remember seeing them in at least one concert movie, probably
>the "T.A.M.I. Show".
>
>The question is, did Mick Jagger ever play guitar for the Rolling Stones
>during appearances? All of the material I have about the group lists the
>axemen as of the time they became famous as Bill Wyman on bass, Brian
>Jones on rhythm guitar (and I saw him play sitar and/or dulcimer during
>an Ed Sullivan appearance around 1966), and Keith Richard on lead
>guitar. The fifth member was drummer Charlie Watts. Jones was later
>replaced by Mick Taylor, who then was replaced by Ron Wood. After that,
>I lost track of the group's personnel changes.
>
The only other personnel change was Bill Wyman quitting a few years ago. He
was replaced onstage by Darryl Jones, but I don't think he's ever really been
granted the status of a full & equal Rolling Stone, I think on their studio
recordings they usually have either Keith or Ron play bass and then go back and
do his guitar part, or else get a session musician to do the bass part.
But anyway, to answer your actual question, I'm pretty sure Jagger didn't play
electric guitar onstage until the Steel Wheels tour in the late 80's, and even
then it was just a little bit, it looked mostly for show. I think I remember
him being credited with playing guitar on a few tracks on the Steel Wheels
album, probably the first time he so listed on record. I suppose by now he
might be a bit more proficient, be playing it a bit more live and might even be
making a noticeable contribution to the music if you listen hard enough.
But all this is from far past their prime as a significant creative musical
force. In all their important years in the 60's & 70's, Jagger never played
guitar, onstage or in the studio. On the early stones records he's often
listed as contributing harmonica, and sometimes tambourine, maracas & the like.
The earliest I've heard of him playing any sort of guitar, even in private, is
when he wrote "Brown Sugar", the first Jagger/Richards song for which he
contributed both the melody and the words. He reportedly came up with the
basic riff or whatever while strumming an acoustic guitar, which he was just
starting to learn to play, during downtime while filming a movie in Australia.
Did Jagger eventually take up guitar after other guitarists
>left the group that I always call the Rolling Stones and not by an
>abbreviated version of their name? Thanks in advance for any information
>you can give me on this.
>
The Stones have always made sure they have two full time guitarists, but as I
said, since Wyman left they haven't really had what you would call a full time
bass player who was a fully equal band member, so it's possible that for some
of their most recent songs whatever proficiency Jagger has on guitar has
actually come in handy, at least in working out arrangements and such, as Ron
Wood or Keith might have their hands full with the bass.
Brian
GBlueOwl
<jaspe...@lunchboxpad.com> writes:
>I've also seen Roger Daltrey holding a guitar, and Davey Jones too.
>Thase guys could quite possibly be three chord wonders, I just don't
>know.
Daltrey played guitar very early on, when the group that would become The Who
was just coming together. By the time they made their first recordings as The
High Numbers it was agreed all around that Townsend didn't really need any
accompaniment in this area, and that Daltery's energies were best focused on
singing. Davey Jones is seen holding an acoustic guitar (while shirtless, I
believe) on the back cover of the Pieces, Aquarius Capricorn & Jones album, but
other than that one photo I don't think they ever even pretended that he could
play anything more complicated than a tambourine.
Robert Plant would play acoustic guitar during what we would now call an
"unplugged" portion in the middle of Led Zeppelin concerts in the mid 70's.
Madonna is supposedly playing a bit of guitar onstage these days, for what it's
worth.
Brian
Regina Litman
>
> But anyway, to answer your actual question, I'm pretty sure Jagger didn't play
> electric guitar onstage until the Steel Wheels tour in the late 80's, and even
> then it was just a little bit, it looked mostly for show. I think I remember
> him being credited with playing guitar on a few tracks on the Steel Wheels
> album, probably the first time he so listed on record. I suppose by now he
> might be a bit more proficient, be playing it a bit more live and might even be
> making a noticeable contribution to the music if you listen hard enough.
Thanks for this information. It's quite possible that the person who
posted in the other forum saw the group in more recent years, when I had
not kept up with their changes. So, I'll have to go back and post a
retraction of what I said.
> But all this is from far past their prime as a significant creative musical
> force. In all their important years in the 60's & 70's, Jagger never played
> guitar, onstage or in the studio. On the early stones records he's often
> listed as contributing harmonica, and sometimes tambourine, maracas & the like.
> The earliest I've heard of him playing any sort of guitar, even in private, is
> when he wrote "Brown Sugar", the first Jagger/Richards song for which he
> contributed both the melody and the words. He reportedly came up with the
> basic riff or whatever while strumming an acoustic guitar, which he was just
> starting to learn to play, during downtime while filming a movie in Australia.
I knew that almost every song the group did after starting out with
covers and remakes had the Jagger/Richard songwriting credit (with even
the "Nanker Phelge" name turning out to be either the two of them or the
whole group), so I figured that either Mick was just a lyricist or he
had musical training on an instrument that the group didn't feel was
suitable for their onstage setup (such as a piano). Or he just hummed
the music that came to mind without knowing how to write it. Or that he
did know how to play the guitar but was not good enough to play it onstage.
BustertheK
This has nothing necessarily to do with Jagger or Daltrey or anyone else in
particular, but one of the big problems a lot of singers have is what to do
with their hands while they;re singing - especially since the age of the
wireless microphone.
Therefore, a lot of singers play a rhythm guitar (which may or not be the
group's officiall rhythm guitar) or a tambourine just to avoid having to think
about their hands.
Watch how awkward a lot of young singers look when they have nothing in their
hands. .
In article <3ECFD39...@infi.net>, Regina Litman <rsli...@infi.net> writes:
DChord568
<< Daltrey played guitar very early on, when the group that would become The
Who
was just coming together. By the time they made their first recordings as The
High Numbers it was agreed all around that Townsend didn't really need any
accompaniment in this area, and that Daltery's energies were best focused on
singing. >>
Daltrey is pictured playing the guitar on the video for "Eminence Front." I
don't know if he actually plays it on the record.
<< Davey Jones is seen holding an acoustic guitar (while shirtless, I
believe) on the back cover of the Pieces, Aquarius Capricorn & Jones album, but
other than that one photo I don't think they ever even pretended that he could
play anything more complicated than a tambourine. >>
I saw The Monkees on their c. 1986 tour, and Davy played acoustic guitar on one
number. Nothing fancy, but he seemed to know the chords.
Michael Black
> This has nothing necessarily to do with Jagger or Daltrey or anyone else in
> particular, but one of the big problems a lot of singers have is what to do
> with their hands while they;re singing - especially since the age of the
> wireless microphone.
Didn't Roger Daltrey poke out his eye, or someone else's, one time when
he spun the microphone from the cord? You post somehow dredges up a
memory of reading this in Rolling Stone, sometime in the mid to late seventies
I'd say, in the Random Notes section.
So yes, I can see them finding it difficult without the prop of the
microphone, but one could also see it as a safety move.
Michael
andy749
80s...during the, was it called the Still Life tour?, in around '81-'82,
and I think probably during the Steel Wheels tour.
I have a Leslie West LP where Jagger guests playing some acoustic.
In the extra footage to the Gimme Shelter DVD, he is sitting backstage
with Ike & Tina Turner playing a bluesy thing on electric.
One of the Survivors
Jagger definitely didn't play any guitar (at least in appearances)
with the Stones until at least 1977-78. I have footage with him
playing guitar on a TV appearance to some of those Some Girls and
early 80s album tracks. As far as studio goes, he didn't play much,
but yes he did play some guitar on those early 80s albums (Tattoo You,
Undercover of the Night, Emotional Rescue, etc). I don't know if he
played on all of them, but he did occasionally play some rhythm
guitar. I have no idea when he learned, but it must have been in the
70s sometime. So yeah, he definitely was playing on some TV
appearances...I believe you can see him playing in the video for
"Neighbours" and a few others.
Brett A. Pasternack
>
> BustertheK (buste...@aol.comzz) writes:
> > This has nothing necessarily to do with Jagger or Daltrey or anyone else in
> > particular, but one of the big problems a lot of singers have is what to do
> > with their hands while they;re singing - especially since the age of the
> > wireless microphone.
>
> Didn't Roger Daltrey poke out his eye, or someone else's, one time when
> he spun the microphone from the cord? You post somehow dredges up a
> memory of reading this in Rolling Stone, sometime in the mid to late seventies
> I'd say, in the Random Notes section.
I don't recall Daltrey ever catching someone in the eye with a
microphone, but he did take a nasty shot to the eye courtesy of Gary
Glitter. They were rehearsing for a performance of Quadrophenia that was
part of a huge concert in London in 1996. Daltrey didn't lose the eye,
but he did need to wear a patch for the concert.
JRWOLFESTR
Daltry..played guitar rarely..but played
Davy Jones took up guitar,to help with his songwriting.
other lead singers..Mark Lindsay.. for one has been photographed playing
guitar...compose and record on thier instrument of choice..but would rather
concentrate on thier vocals in performance...although I did hear Mark play some
pretty good sax in concert