The Night I Met The Rolling Stones

Being in the radio/media business for 45 years, I have had many fun times and exciting opportunities along the way.  Without question, one of the most exciting nights of them all was the night my wife and I met The Rolling Stones. It happened at Giants Stadium in August, 1994, during the band's 'Voodoo Lounge' World Tour.  Just two months' prior, I had become Program Director of WXRK, 92-3 K-Rock, in New York. Like, 102.9 MGK, it was a Classic Rock radio station.

Meeting the Stones was the result of the perfect storm. Their Voodoo Lounge album had recently come out, the record company (Virgin Records) wanted to promote it, and the band were touring to support it. They wanted to make sure the classic rock station in the #1 market in the country was supporting the album with airplay. The local record rep from Virgin Records in New York was Bridget Hollenback.  She was always great, totally professional and very easy to work with.  Unlike a few other record reps from other labels, she was never high pressure when it came to us playing us new music by Virgin's classic rock artists.  Of course, giving the new Stones record airplay on K-Rock was a no-brainer. It was a strong album by one of our top 3 bands, and it sounded really good on the air.  The first single was a good choice, too: "Love Is Strong".

Of course I asked Bridget if the Stones were doing a meet and greet! To my surprise, I found that they WERE meeting select radio/media people before their Giants Stadium show.  All she had to do was run it by the national promo manager, an affable record biz vet named John Boulos, and I'd have a shot to meet a member or two.

The night of the show, there were maybe 3 different backstage 'areas' set up at Giants Stadium, each with varying levels of access and a different "Voodoo Lounge" vibe to it.  My wife Paige (the biggest Stones fan I know!) and I met Bridget, and she took us in and dropped us off at one of these lounges to have a drink and wait to see if a meet and greet was going to actually happen.

We were hanging in one of these lounges for about 45 minutes, when Bridget comes running up to us at top speed and goes, "C'MON, THE MEET AND GREET IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!"  We booked through atriums, halls, offices and back rooms before landing in a room with exactly nine industry people. AND THE ROLLING STONES!!!  All four of 'em!! For the next 10 minutes, I had a wonderful chat with Ronnie Wood, and Paige with Mick, before getting introduced to the rest of the band and posing for the photograph you see above.  Just as the photographer snapped the picture, my wife grabbed Mick and, as you can see, he smiled.

Thank you, Bridget and John! It's a night I shall never forget. 

Beatles and Rolling Stones fans got some potentially exciting news this week, with word Paul McCartney will be appearing on the new Rolling Stones album. According to Variety, Paul reportedly played bass on a track from the upcoming release.

While this is fantastic news, it's not the first time The Beatles and Rolling Stones intermingled on record. Below are a few highlights:

The Stones had released their debut single in June, 1963, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On," and it did relatively well on the charts.   The story goes Mick ran into John and Paul and asked them to give the Stones a song for their second single, and they responded with "I Wanna Be Your Man," which cracked the UK top 15.  Of course, The Beatles would release their version a week later on their album, With The Beatles.

You can see Mick and Keith on the video for the song, recorded at Olympic Studios and broadcast live from Abbey Road Studios around the world on the BBC.

On the original master tape box of this classic Beatles track is written, "The Beatles...+ Mick Jagger?" Jagger ostensibly did attend the session at Olympic Studios, adding background vocals at the very end of the song that would appear as the b-side of the "All You Need Is Love" single.

Just one month after the release of The Beatles' "Baby You're A Rich Man," the Stones put out a standalone single for their fans, grateful for the support they received amidst Mick and Keith's drug possession allegations.  The song was "We Love You," and John Lennon and Paul McCartney join in on the chorus vocals.

This quirky song was released as the b-side to "Let It Be" in 1970, though it was recorded in 1967.  Apparently, Paul had invited Ther Stones' Brian Jones to the session, assuming he'd bring a guitar to play.  He showed up "very nervous," according to Paul,. and brought a saxophone with him instead. That's his "ropey" solo you hear at the end of this song.

This one-off supergroup, made up of John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell, formed for the Rolling Stones' pseudo concert film, "The Rock And Roll Circus."  They did one of John's great White Album tracks for the film.

Back in 1973, John Lennon produced a version of the Holland-Dozier-Holland song "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)" for Mick Jagger.  It featured a killer lineup of musicians, including Harry Nilsson, Jack Bruce, Al Kooper, Jesse Ed Davis and Jim Keltner, and remained unreleased for 34 years!