Rolling Stones release new song 'Living in a Ghost Town'

NEW YORK — The Rolling Stones on Thursday released their first new original music since 2012, a single aptly named "Living in a Ghost Town."

Frontman Mick Jagger announced the surprise release on Twitter, saying, "The Stones were in the studio recording new material before the lockdown & one song -- Living In A Ghost Town -- we thought would resonate through the times we're living in."

Speaking to Apple Music moments later, Jagger said he and Keith Richards wrote the song over a year ago, but that it was uncannily fitting to current times.

"It wasn't written for now, but it was just one of those odd things," he said.

"It was written about being in a place which was full of life but is now bereft of life so to speak... I was just jamming on the guitar and wrote it really quickly in like 10 minutes."


Before releasing the moody song heavy on twang, Jagger tweaked some of the lyrics to fit the contemporary moment.

"Some of it is not going to work and some of it was a bit weird and a bit too dark," Jagger said. "So I slightly rewrote it. I didn't have to rewrite very much, to be honest. It's very much how I originally did it."

The 76-year-old sings of chaos and destruction and the seemingly infinite loneliness of isolation.

"Life was so beautiful / Then we all got locked down," Jagger sings.

"Please let this be over / Stuck in a world without end."

Also speaking to Apple Music, Richards said the song was cut in 2019 at a Los Angeles studio and re-worked for release recently.

"It's sort of eerie when suddenly it's coming to life," he said, adding that he'd been thinking the pandemic was an appropriate time for release.

"Then Mick called me and said the same thing and that great minds think alike."

The iconic British rockers have spent much of the past two decades touring, though the coronavirus halted those plans.

The band was set to play 15 shows across North America starting May 8, but all have been postponed due to the pandemic.

"Living in a Ghost Town" is the Stones' first original work since 2012's "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot" came out on the greatest hits album "GRRR!"

The band hasn't released an original album since 2005's "A Bigger Bang" but have said they've slowly been working on a new collection over the past several years.

Over the weekend, the Stones headlined a marathon virtual concert put on by the international advocacy organization Global Citizen in collaboration with Lady Gaga.

Appearing ageless, Jagger delivered the classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want," as his fellow Stones played from their respective homes, including a grinning Charlie Watts on the air drums.

Agence France-Presse

Richards apologizes to fellow Rolling Stone Jagger

LONDON - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has apologized to Mick Jagger for derogatory comments he made about the lead singer in his 2010 memoir "Life", which caused a rift within the band.

In comments reported by Rolling Stone magazine, the two rock'n'roll veterans agreed it was time to move on.

Fans will be relieved to see them burying the hatchet, as the row had threatened to undermine plans to celebrate the Rolling Stones' 50th anniversary this year and to go on another world tour.

"Looking back at any career you are bound to recall both the highs and the lows," Jagger was quoted as saying. "In the 1980s for instance Keith and I were not communicating very well.

"I got very involved with the business side of the Stones, mainly because I felt no one else was interested, but it's plain now from the book that Keith felt excluded, which is a pity. Time I reckon to move on."

Richards added: "Mick's right. He and I have had conversations over the last year of a kind we have not had for an extremely long time and that has been incredibly important to me.

"As far as the book goes, it was my story and it was very raw, as I meant it to be, but I know that some parts of it and some of the publicity really offended Mick and I regret that."

An eagerly anticipated world tour by one of the world's biggest music acts is now not expected to happen until 2013 at the earliest, according to the same magazine.

Some industry sources had put the delay down to the argument between Richards and Jagger, but Rolling Stone said it may be more closely linked to concerns over Richards' health.

"The quality of the guitarist's performances declined after he suffered a head injury on vacation in Fiji in April 2006, midway through the Bigger Bang tour," the magazine said.

As well as the tour, the Rolling Stones have announced the July 12 release of a picture book tracing their rise to global fame. The band debuted at the Marquee Club in London's Oxford Street on the same date in 1962.

There will also be a "groundbreaking" documentary film released in September. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

No Rolling Stones tour despite 50th anniversary

NEW YORK — The Rolling Stones are staying put this year, Rolling Stone reported Wednesday, leaving fans to look forward instead to a major documentary marking the rock band’s 50th anniversary.

“Basically, we’re just not ready” for a fresh concert tour, guitarist Keith Richards told the pop culture magazine, adding that 2013 was the group’s “more realistic” target for hitting the road.

Quoting other, unidentified sources, Rolling Stone cited worries about Richards’ health in the wake of a head injury he sustained in Fiji in 2006 as one reason for the band to stay close to home.

“They don’t want to do a full tour,” a concert industry source told the biweekly magazine. “They don’t want to travel, and there are concerns about Keith’s health.”

On their website, the Stones announced Wednesday the upcoming release of “a groundbreaking and eye-opening documentary,” directed by Brett Morgen, covering the history of the band from its founding in London in 1962 to today.

“The film will be showcased in September as part of the Rolling Stones 50th anniversary celebrations,” said the website, without elaboration.

Rolling Stone said the Stones reassembled in a London studio in December to play together for the first time since their Bigger Bang tour ended in 2007—with bassist Bill Wyman sitting in for the first time since he quit in 1992.

“We played a lot of blues and outtakes of ‘Some Girls’ and things like that,” it quoted lead singer Mick Jagger as saying. “It went very well.”

Whether Wyman would join them on the road in 2013 was still not resolved.

“I think he’s up for it,” Richards said. “We talked about it.”

source: japantoday.com

Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and More Celebrate Hubert Sumlin in New York

Close to midnight last night at New York's Apollo Theater, Eric Clapton had just finished a thunderous take on classic blues number "Forty Four" when Keith Richards ambled onstage with no introduction. Wearing a dark blazer, long green scarf, fedora and a huge grin, he embraced Clapton and stood center stage to massive applause, delivering a smoky take on Wolf’s "Going Down Slow," a chronicle of a frail man who has savored life’s greatest pleasures. "Man, I've had things that kings and queens will never have," Richards growled. "In fact, they don't even know about them, let alone get ’em. And good times? Mmmm...." He hovered around Clapton and then stood sidestage by the piano while Clapton delivered a throaty verse and then weaved clean-toned solos with young Austin guitarist Gary Clark Jr.

There were many highlights at Howlin for Hubert – a tribute to guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who played in Howlin’ Wolf’s band for decades and passed away on December 4th due to heart failure – but that was the peak. It was Richards’ first major musical appearance since the Rolling Stones last toured five years ago, and he showed little rust. After "Going Down Slow," he sat down and played metallic 12-string slide while singing "Little Red Rooster," and then strapped on a Gibson electric guitar to sing and trade licks with Clapton on "Spoonful." "It’s good to be back," Richards said, peering up to the balcony before breaking into a cackle. "Goddamn, it’s good to be back."

The entire show, which featured all-stars including Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Jimmie Vaughan, Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II and Elvis Costello – plus overlooked legends like Wolf’s former bandmates, harmonica player James Cotton, guitarist Jody Williams and saxophonist Eddie Shaw – was one for the history books. The event originated while Sumlin was still alive as a celebration to mark his 80th birthday. It stayed that way; Guest after guest recounted Sumlin’s unfaltering positivity and passion for his instrument. At one point, Toni Ann Mamary, Sumlin’s longtime manager and companion, tearfully recalled Sumlin tellling her, "I’m gonna be there. I don’t care if I play – I’m going to be there." She added, "Can you feel him?"

The night began with a film featuring classic Sumlin performance footage and a recent interview with him, where Sumlin humorously described how he found his own piercing signature sound after Wolf strongly urged him to lose the guitar pick. The stage lights then revealed two massive portraits of Sumlin behind the stage. His sunburst Stratocaster sat on a stand at center stage, with his trademark feathered cap hanging off of it. Clapton emerged – with short, slicked-back hair and wearing a blazer – with Cotton, Sumlin’s old musical partner. Clapton kicked the night off howling an acoustic, stomping "Key to the Highway," complemented by Cotton’s razor-sharp harp fills....

source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/keith-richards-eric-clapton-buddy-guy-and-more-celebrate-hubert-sumlin-in-new-york-20120225