STONES COLLECTOR'S CORNER/NEWS

12/30/99
Laura Jackson already did biographies on Brian (Golden Stone) and Mick (Heart Of Stone) in the recent past. Now she tries to cash in with Mick's most recent divorce/paternity/etc. -headlines and did another book about Mick, this time less a decent biography but a kiss-and-tell-book about his affairs through the years. Of course all this second hand information is less than worth-while to read and therefore more than forgettable. The book comes in paperback, with 316 pages plus 8 pages of black/white photos.
Laura Jackson "Insatiable" (Blake Publ. Ltd., London). ISBN 1-85782-322-2


12/22/99
Just got word from England (thanks to Gary!) that the benefit It's Only Rock'n Roll-single was released in the United Kingdom in two different versions with some more mixes:

CD1 (Universal Music 156598-2, -UK)
1. Single version (4.49)
2. Arthur Bakers and Rennie Pilgrems Rawkin' Roll mix (3.47)
3. Shafts radio mix (3.42)
4. Mickey Finn & L'Double - The Innovative Flex remix (5.07)
5. Video (4.49) CD-ROM track

CD2 (Universal Music 156601-2, -UK)
1. Full length version (6.30)
2. Phats & Small Mutants Disco Mix (4.00)
3. Ruff Driverz Innercity Sumo Mix (6.04)
4. Deadly Avengers Take The Mick remix (3.09)

This is what's on the German-single (see entry for 12/13/99):
1. Single version (4.49)
2. Shafts radio mix (3.42)
3. Arthur Bakers and Rennie Pilgrems Rawkin' Roll mix (3.47)
4. Video (4.49) CD-ROM track


12/13/99
Out today, although running on music television since weeks, is the benefit single It's Only Rock'n Roll in aid for Children's Hour, a global fundraising campaign dedicated to children. Mick and Keith participate among three dozen other stars of today's or yesterday's charts. Big names are Robin Williams, The Spice Girls,
Jon Bon Jovi, The Corrs, James Brown, Joe Cocker, B.B. King or Iggy Pop.
Everyone has about one or two lines to sing, including Mick. Keith can be heard throughout and starts the song with a great, very dirty intro-riff (but IMHO too uncommercial for a fund raising single). Arthur Baker did the production and thus it's no wonder that the song reminds me to Sun City. I can't imagine this song becoming a big hit like Do They Know It's Christmas or some other songs in this vein.
Apart from three mixes the CD includes the video (also with Mick 'n' Keith) as a welcome bonus.
Various Artists  CD-single "It's Only Rock'n Roll" (Universal Music 156 600-2 -Germany)

12/13/99
Although the bootlegs are already available I just bought Sheryl Crow's official live album from her "with friends" gig at New York's Central Park (recorded 14th September, 1999). As I expected it has a better sound but is less complete. At least it includes both Happy and Tombstone Blues, but again we don't get treated with the evening's probably most interesting song (with Keith) Sweet Little Rock'n Roller which was also absent from the Fox TV telecast and all FM broadcasts (which were the sources for the subsequent underground releases).
Sheryl Crow and Friends "live From Central Park" (A&M Records 490 574-2)

12/11/99
When the postman rings twice: Just got the third part of Dieter Hoffmann's tremendous work Schwarzbuch. Of course as brilliant as it's two predecessors it's main emphasises are Atlantic City '89 , 1971- and 1975-shows and Tattoo You-outtakes, but as usual Dieter reviews all kind of releases covering nearly the whole career of the Stones. You can get your copy directly from Basement News Distribution, Waldstr. 59, D-63110 Rodgau, Germany. It costs Euro 50,-.
Dieter Hoffmann "Schwarzbuch Part 3" (Basement News Distribution, -Germany)
ISBN 3-00-001938-3

12/04/99
It was a long wait. Already released this summer I couldn't obtain a copy of this ultimate Birds-compilation. Thanks to Mike I finally got my copy via Japan(!). It includes all their four singles and 10 more songs consisting of demos, backing tracks and most interesting unreleased songs like the great Granny Rides Again, a Who-cover Run Run Run and two different versions of Michael Polnareffs La Poupee Qui Fait Non. There's also a hidden track of That's All I Need For You, lifted directly from the movie The Deadly Bees (with dialogue from the film over it!). Great mid-sixties garage rock from Ronnies first band which unfortunately never really made it.
Liner notes and photomaterial coming with the CD are excellent. Recommended!
The Birds "The Collector's Guide To Rare British Birds" (Deram 564139-2, U.K.)

11/27/99
Lead singer of the short living group Tackhead was Bernard Fowler. They released at least two albums in the early 90's which seemed impossible to find. Most interesting is their debut album Strange Things which was finally re-released as it includes one guesting spot of Mick Jagger on harmonica (on "Take A Stroll"). Also Lisa Fisher (and Cindy Mizelle) are guesting on one (different) track. The re-release comes with some (Stones-less) bonus tracks.
Tackhead "Strange Things" (Echo Beach 028, Germany)

11/20/99
Another new book out in Germany. This paperback reflects the sixties through the developments of the Beatles and the Stones. I haven't read it yet, so I can't tell you if it's any good. The book consists of 150 pages with very few pictures and costs DM 16,80. (By the way Gegenspieler translates with opponents).
Georg Diez "Gegenspieler" (Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt, #14469),  ISBN 3-596-14469-8

11/14/99
Chris Jagger's Atcha already released their thir album but unlike on their first album his famous brother doesn't do a guest spot on vocals or harmonica to plug the album. But he is credited as executive producer, which probably means that he gave the money for the project.
Chris Jagger's Atcha "Channel Fever" (Hypertension HYP 9186 -Germany)

11/06/99
Y2K comes close and this we get treated with two different calendars to cover it with Stones images.
The first got issued by Oliver Books and sports Brian Jones on the cover. The twelve photos for the months consist of two group shots from around 1964, 5x Jagger thru the years, 2x Keith, 1x Charlie, the BJ cover photo again (without the writings) and one live shot of 1982 with Jagger and Ronnie playing guitars. Most of the images are rarely or never seen before.
The other calendar which is in competition this year to the obligatory Oliver product comes from Grandreams and consists of 13 images (incl. cover) incl. 4 group shots, 3x Jagger, 2x Richards, 1x Wood and 3 others with two members.
All photos are from the more recent past (in Stones terms) from 1989 onwards and especially the group shots were already printed to death. One picture of KR is even identical to a shot in the Oliver calendar!
The Rolling Stones Calendar 2000 (Oliver Books, U.K.) www.oliverbooks.co.uk
The 100% Unofficial The Rolling Stones Calendar 2000 (Grandreams Limited, U.K.)

10/31/99
Thanks to my fellow collectors Riccardo and Felix we found an overseen release with Ian Stewart on the piano from 1973! He plays on this album at least on two songs, maybe on two more.
Dennis Coulson LP "Dennis Coulson" (Elektra K 42148, -UK)

10/18/99
The heirs of Ronnie Lane's musical estate dug very deep to pull us collector's last money. After the bonus tracks on Anymore For Anymore and Mahoney's Last Stand and a new collection of demos and outtakes called April Fool (see 06/02/99) we get treated now with a 4-CD box set with three old releases plus a bonus CD called Lucky Seven including seven leftovers from the Rough Mix sessions of July 1977 with STU on piano. Among them are 4 instrumentals, so judge for yourself if you are willing to spend your money for this box.
Ronnie Lane 4 CD's "Boxed Set" (New Millennium Efa/How Come1, -UK)

10/11/99
Just found another new paperback dealing with the history of The Rolling Stones. This time it's an original German book, coming as a paperback. I couldn't read it properly by now. but it looks quite promising after the first browsing thru it's 448 pages. Lots of indexes including websites and fanzines. DM 24,90-
Heinz Bamberg, "Rolling Stones" (Atlantis Schott, Mainz) ISBN 3-254-08379-2

09/29/99
By chance I found a new "tribute"-CD in the cheapo bins of my favourite record shop. A Tribute To The Rolling Stones includes 18 new cover versions (not all are Jagger/Richards-originals) all done by an unidentified studio band. Apart from the usual warhorses we get also rarely covered She Was Hot and Undercover Of The Night. . The problem is (you already guessed it): The music sucks. This CD was cheap (DM 7,-) but couldn't be cheap enough to recomend it.
"A Tribute To The Rolling Stones" (ACD 154.427, -Germany)

09/13/99
Brian Knight's Dark Horse-CD of 1981 was finally released for the first time on CD and includes two songs with Charlie Watts and five with Ian Stewart. The CD comes with liner notes, nice photos, credits and a new cover.
Brian Knight "A Dark Horse" (Citadel CIT6CD, -EEC)

09/01/99
Did I say that the 2 CD's White Boy's Blues Guitars doesn't hold anything new. Well...yes for Mick Taylor-collectors (see 07/06/99) but wait...CD 2 hold a new cover version of Loving Cup credited to Peter Frampton with Keith Richards! This version is totally new to me and I wonder when it was recorded and if it was released before. Singer on this Jagger/Richards-composition is Canadian Nannette Workman and producer was the "French Elvis" Johnny Halliday. Very strange.
2 CD's Various Artists "White Boy's Blues Guitars" (Eagle Records EDGCD083, -U.K.)

08/17/99
A new Faces-compilation is ready to substitute Snakes And Ladders as the ultimate Best Of-Faces-CD: Good Boys...When They're Asleep was compiled under the supervision of Ian McLagan himself and includes great photos, extensive liner notes and a new, previously unreleased track called Open To Ideas, recorded in January 1975. Although this song is very rough and basic it is a truly gem. Let's hope for a future Faces-boxset with hits, misses, live songs, B-sides, rarities and great outtakes like this.
The Faces "Good Boys...When They're Asleep" (Rhino R2 75830, -USA)

07/23/99
Another re-release of the Aranbee Pop Symphony-album on CD brings us probably the first real collector's item on one of these releases: A bonus track with MJ singing to a classical arranged version of I've Been Loving You Too Long is a real treat (this track was already available on a Swingin' Pig-bootleg called Thru The Years in worse quality) and probably the only song featuring involvement of one of the Stones on this CD. Keith Richards credited musical direction was most probably a mid-sixties hype to cash in and is more than doubtful.
The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra "Todays Pop Symphony" (Immediate NEBCD 411, U.K.)

07/06/99
The June issue of Record Collector (with lots of Stones articles inside and Jagger on the cover) holds an ad for a new compilation album named "White Boy's Blues Guitars", out 1st June. According to the ad it includes Mick Taylor so I was searching for this album while in London in mid-June but didn't succeed in finding it. Thanks to Laurent from France I finally know that this album doesn't hold anything new. Mick's contribution is You Shook Me which was already released in 1997 on the nice Knights Of The Blues Table-compilation!
2 CD's Various Artists (w. Mick Taylor) "White Boy's Blues Guitars" (Eagle Records, -U.K.)

06/30/99
Another long awaited biography is out. This time the subject is Ronnie Wood and I was waiting for this bio since it was advertised in the re-released Mahoney's Last Stand-CD in 1998. It was worth the wait. The author Terry Rawlings spoke to a lot of folks who got to know Ron quite well, among others with nearly the whole Wood-family (including Ron, Jo and ex-wife Krissie), Kim Gardner, Micky Waller, Donovan, Shirley Arnold and Jimmy Page. The book concentrates on the time before Ronnie joined the Stones. (The years from 1976 until the present get presented in a 35-pages run-through). 16 pages of b&w photos include rarely seen shots including some from the private archives of the Wood's. Although the book contains some factual mistakes it is highly recommended.
Terry Rawlings "Rock On Wood" (Boxtree, London), 232 pages, hardcover, ISBN 0-7522-1164-1, 15,99 British pounds

06/11/99
While in London I also found a new biography about Brian Jones. It's not the long awaited bio by his last girlfriend Anna Wohlin (which is not out yet) but another one by Jeremy Reed. It's called The Last Decadent, includes 16 pages of b&w photos (160 pages at all) and cost 11.95 British pounds. Haven't read it yet, so I can't give you a review.
Jeremy Reed "The Last Decadent" (Creation Books, London/San Frncisco), softcover, ISBN 1-871592-71-2 (official releasing date: 2nd July).

06/11/99
Thanks to Virgin Megastore I found the new compilation of Chris Farlowe's Immediate-recordings. This album is said to include (on 2 CD's) his complete, remastered Immediate output and more. All in all 49 tracks, most interesting for a version of Moanin' without sitar and a slower mono single version of Paint It Black.
Of course these recordings are interesting as most of them were produced by either Mick Jagger or Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Andrew Oldham. Unfortunately this anthology isn't as complete as the cover claims, missing at least a second version of Yesterday's Papers with Jagger singing backing vocals (this version is available on another Farlowe-compilation -vinyl only- called Hot Property from 1983).
Chris Farlowe "Out Of Time - The Immediate Anthology" (Immediate NEECD 310, -U.K.)

06/02/99
Another posthumous release of Ronnie Lane-stuff from New Millennium brings once again some more new tracks for us collectors to the light of day. April Fool includes an early version of The Faces song Richmond and a livesong from Ronnie's Rockpalast-gig in 1980 with Ian Stewart on piano (You're So Rude).
Ronnie Lane "April Fool" (New Millennium Communications PILOT 20, -U.K.)

06/01/99
Better late than never I got the long overdue album of Art Wood's Quiet Melon II. Brother Ronnie already played a song from the album on a BBC radio show in 1997. Last year saw finally the release of the album, it includes Woody on guitar and lead vocals on Meet Me In The Bottom and maybe on guitar on some other tracks.
It also includes some very interesting archive tracks: The two tracks from Quiet Melon I from 1969 (both with Woody on guitar) and also the A-side of Ted Wood's single Am I Blue from 1975, which was not available on CD before.
But wait, not only the three Wood brothers are on this CD, also Ronnies son Jesse plays guitar on the album, most probably on the track Knee Deep In Nephews.
ART WOOD'S QUIET MELON "MONEYDUE" (Nippon Crown CRCL-4036, -Japan)
01. Knee Deep In Nephews
02. My Resistance Is Low
03. Driftin'
04. Lady Moon
05. Soup In A Basket
06. Meet Me In The Bottom (Ronnie Wood on lead vocals and guitar)
07. Hard Time Blues
08. Turn It Around
09. Gee Baby
10. Never Judge A Man
Musicians: Art Wood, Don Craine, Keith Grant, Sandy Dillon, Ray Majors, Mick Avory
11. Diamond Joe (Quiet Melon 1969)
12. Engine 4444 (Quiet Melon 1969)
Musicians: Ron Wood, Art Wood, Rod Stewart, Ian McLagan, Kenny Jones, Ronnie Lane
13. Am I Blue (Ted Wood)
Musicians: Ron Wood, Ted Wood, Ian McLagan, Micky Waller and more

05/23/99
Had a nice weekend reading the autobiography of Ian McLagan. It was a jolly good read with lots of great anecdotes about hotel wrecking, drug abuse and other famous musicians incl. Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and contemporaries like Bob Dylan and of course The Rolling Stones. Also lots of interesting facts, e.g. Mac was a last minute choice on the 1978 tour as the Stones rehearsed before with Reggae keyboarder Bernhard Harvey because they wanted a player who could skank. The problem was that Harvey was agood skanker but a poor Rock'n Roller, so they decided luckily for Mac instead. Another great story reveals why I'll Let You Know, recorded at RCA in August 1978, never got it's lyrics. Recommended read!
Ian McLagan "All The Rage" (Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1998; ISBN 0283063343)

05/20/99
Today I got the autobiography of Ian McLagan and his new CD "Best Of British". I ordered both at special price from the man himself at www.macspages.com which is his own website. Mac dedicated his first soloalbum for about 18 years to his father (who is also on the cover), his wife and to his late friend Ronnie Lane. I understand that the song Hello Old Friend is a hommage to Ronnie Lane and to my surprise Ronnie Wood does play and sing not only on this track, but also on two more tracks (She Stole It! and This Time).
Ian McLagan and The Bump Band "Best Of British" (Maniac Records MRCD-0001, USA)

05/11/99
Another mysterious extracurricular activity of Ronnie Wood is his sessionwork for Country singer Guthrie Thomas. Now Taxim Records finally released the nearly impossible to find album This One's For Sarah on CD, nearly complete, as they couldn't find all of the mastertapes, so everything is here minus one song which they couldn't find at all (and two songs had to be taken from vinyl sources!). I can't tell you on which songs Ronnie plays, hope he is somewhere on the album and not on the missing track.
Guthrie Thomas "This One's For Sarah' (Taxim Records TX 3008-2 TA, Germany)

04/30/99
Two new compilations from The Creation release not just all songs Ronnie ever did officially with his short-period-band from 1968, but also two previously unreleased archive tracks: Making Time includes an alternate stereo version of For All That I Am and Biff Bang Pow! holds the same of Making Time.
The Creation "The Complete Collection - Vol. 1 Making Time" (Retroactive RECD 9002, USA)
The Creation "The Complete Collection - Vol. 2 Biff Bang Pow!" (Retroactive RECD 9003, USA)

04/21/99
The official release date for the Japanese version of Mick Taylor's new solo album A Stones' Throw which I got for some days now thanks to Mike from Japan. Special is not just the much nicer cover shot (Mick looking thru a bottleneck in b&w) but the two bonus-tracks. We get another live version of Red House (live in Madrid, Spain 12.12.98) and most special Separately, a Mick Taylor/Keith Richards composition, dating back to the Stones Goat's Head Soup-sessions. But unlike the Stones-outtake this version was recorded with a 25-years delay in 1997.
Mick Taylor "A Stones' Throw" (Consipio Records AGCY-20001, Japan)