It’s no surprise that the Rolling Stones may have been through more than any other band on the planet can say. Think of any bad right now and it’s almost a guarantee that the Rolling Stones have either been there and done that or they’ve outdone it by ten-fold. Now, this is in no way putting a positive spin on anything related to the drug-filled days of rock music, but it’s safe to say that hearing the Stones open up about some big issues back in the day is no shock.
The year is 1972 and the Rolling Stones have many ideas tumbling through their heads. Not only is the band ready to get out a new record, but Mick Jagger is front and center in the media as well as the spotlight. There’s just one problem – drugs. Yes, Mick Jagger at this time was right in the middle of a horrible addiction to heroin – a drug that has taken so many stars from us. Not just that, but ‘Exile On Main Street’ is just about to come out. Mick Jagger needs to get his act together and rather quickly if the band is going to continue to stay at the top.
The band didn’t shy away from this being true either, in fact, it was written in some of the music that would ultimately end up on the album. Close to the Stones, author Anthony DeCurtis weighed in stating: “Keith had his son Marlon with him, and he would say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go put Marlon to bed.’ And then you wouldn’t see him for a day and a half, and I think that that was beginning to create issues in the band.”
Anthony continues on how this hurt the band: “One of your main songwriters and, in many ways, the musical driving force of the band is somebody who’s having drug problems. And I think that comes up in the lyrics.”
