The Rolling Stones: News, History & Updates

The Rolling Stones Biography by Greg Prato

Excerpts from Greg’s books for Alternative Nation

FLEMMING RASMUSSEN [co-producer of Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, & …And Justice for All]: I’m not really a fan of any bands anymore, because when I listened to music after I started working in the studio, it’s more like, analytical. But I was a Queen fan and I was a Rolling Stones fan.

ACE FREHLEY [ex-Kiss guitarist]: I was actually more influenced by the Stones [than the Beatles]. I always gravitated towards the bad boys. The Beatles were like “the good guys” and the Stones were like, “the bad boys” – because they were always getting busted with drugs and whatnot. [Laughs] But look at who out-lived who…and they were the ones that did all the drugs!

I also went to see the Stones at Shea Stadium [in 1989]. At the time, I was being managed by this guy, Chip Rachlin, who used to work with the Stones. So, he got me backstage prior to the Rolling Stones going on…and I ended up playing ping-pong with Keith Richards. Go figure! My wife was standing there, and she was frozen – because she was such a big Keith Richards fan. She didn’t know what to say or how to act.

JOHN OATES [Hall & Oates singer/guitarist]: I thought [the Stones’ videos] were nothing. [Laughs] They were exactly like ours—nothing. They were just a bunch of guys clowning around in front of cameras. There wasn’t really any thought put into it, just, “Hey, we’ve got to do a video, let’s do a video, let’s get it out there … and here’s our new single.”

ROGERS STEVENS [Blind Melon guitarist]: When you do those kinds of things opening for a band like that [Blind Melon opened shows for the Stones in 1994], it’s a big stadium that’s half full. And there’s very little feedback energy from the crowd—you just get into the fact that you’re opening for the Stones…and that there’s a giant metal snake hanging over your head. The stage is so big and you’re so spread out. It’s hard to really connect the dots in that way. But some of them were fun—it was really cool getting to hang with those guys.

I remember being in Memphis—we were staying at the Peabody. I had a bunch of family that came up for that show, and we’d been out—totally hammered after the show. So we end up in the bar of the Peabody at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, getting ready to call it a night, and Keith comes down with his bodyguard to the bar, from his room. And is just going out. We were like, “Fuck! There you go—that’s why he’s him and we’re us.” But those guys were total gentlemen—no problems, no attitudes. They talked to us like we were actual human beings, which just made my life.

It’s fucking great. Mick is running the show, tapping away on a laptop, and Keith and Ron are having very tall drinks by 3:00 in the afternoon. They have a snooker table, and Brad is playing snooker with Ron Wood. And Char- lie’s hanging out, totally dapper in his suit. Just really sweet people—really, really cool.

RICHARD PATRICK [Filter singer/guitarist]: I like “Big Bang Baby.” That line, “Crash, crash, crash,” it’s lifted right from a Rolling Stones record, “Gas, gas, gas.” [The song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”] And he made it his own.

ROGERS STEVENS: When I hear Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St., and Let It Bleed, that’s as good as it gets. But when I hear Abbey Road and The White Album, that’s as good as it gets in any era.

CHRISTOPHER THORN [Blind Melon guitarist]: The role model is the Rolling Stones – you see them perform back in those days, and you’re like, “I hope there’s not a riot.” And sometimes, there was.

LES GARLAND [ex-MTV executive]: When I heard the Rolling Stones do “Satisfaction” in 1965, nobody would have had the balls to predict that the Rolling Stones would be the highest grossing tour band between 2000 and 2010. That, to me, is just extraordinary.

QUOTE SOURCES (CLICK LINKS FOR ORDER INFO):

Flemming Rasmussen: Long Live Queen: Rock Royalty Discuss Freddie, Brian, John & Roger
Ace Frehley: John Winston Ono Lennon
Rogers Stevens: A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon
Richard Patrick: Scott Weiland – Memories of a Rock Star
John Oates: MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video
Rogers Stevens: John Winston Ono Lennon
Christopher Thorn: Scott Weiland – Memories of a Rock Star
Les Garland: MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video