October 15, 2005 [LINK]
Like, totally Stoned
Unfortunately, only one photo I took of the Rolling Stones performing in concert turned out decent: the one showing guitarist Ron Wood. Since it was so dark, I had to use a slow shutter speed, and without a tripod the images came out blurry. I did get a good shot of the huge crowd when the lights came on at intermission, however: a Scott Stadium panorama, and a photo at the entrance outside, can be seen at Virginia, Fall 2005.
At the Green Valley Book Fair yesterday I bought The Rolling Stones -- It's Only Rock and Roll: Song by Song, and was surprised by the chronology. For example, "Start Me Up" was released in 1981; I would have thought it was in the late 1980s. I also learned that some of their biggest songs such as "Satisfaction" and "Honky Tonk Woman" were never included on studio albums. With all they've been through, it's amazing that those bad boys are "still survivin' on the streets" after all these years. The tales of drug arrests, jam sessions with blues artists, the death of Brian Jones and mayhem at Altamont in 1969, romances with Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall, and others less glamorous, all add up to an incredible mosaic that one can interpret in any number of ways. Can you sort out the good from the bad? No. That's life, and that's rock and roll.