Stu was unique from the first day I met him. He'd wear these ludicrous black leather shorts and always ride a bike. When we rehearsed at the Bricklayer's Arms, Stu would always be looking out the window to make sure his bike was still there.
He'd keep one eye on the bike and one eye on the piano. And he'd always hit the right notes. At night the women of the street would appear and Stu would always say something like 'Whoa, I'd love to wrap myself around that!' And he'd never miss a note Keith Richards (1988)**
In 1962, Ian Stewart answered and ad placed by Brian Jones Jazz News. Years later he would comment on the humble beginnings of the Rolling Stones:
From my point of view the Stones started with Brian really, in that he was the first one I met. There was only him and a couple of other guys at the rehearsal. He didn't like the piano player he'd got, so I started playing piano and we went through different people. This was at a time when the Ealing thing was starting, and of course Brian knew Alexis [Korner] , so he got to know Mick, Keith and Charlie.*
Stu, as he was called, became Brian's friend and supporter. He was quick to figure out that Mick and Keith were inseparable and they weren't going to get one without the other. He convinced Brian to invite them both to rehearsals.
So we had this group with Mick and Keith and the brought Dick Taylor we used to get any drummer we could find. We didn't really get Charlie with us for a long time because he was playing with another group that was making money and Charlie needed the money. We must have used eight or nine different drummers, but we didn't really play in public at all. In fact, we sometimes went weeks without playing because we just didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I remember Brian would get pissed off with it and vanish, so eventually we thought about starting clubs ourselves, in pubs, the way jazz clubs were at the time*
By 1963 the band had signed a management contract with Andrew Loog Oldham and his partner Eric Easton. Oldham started making changes right away. Some changes were positive. Legend has it that he locked Mick and Keith in the kitchen until they came up with a song. That act started one of the longest lasting and most successful musical colaborations in history. His other act will go down in infamy as being the epitome of heartless cruelty. Oldham decided that Stu's "image" was all wrong for the band and he had to go.
 |
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
