Re: What If... The Stones Toured in '68?


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Posted by Fleabit Peanut Monkey on February 29, 2000 at 11:01:13:

In Reply to: What If... The Stones Toured in '68? posted by Steve Cronen of the Moon on February 29, 2000 at 06:20:59:

: I know this may seem very inane...

Not at all. I've always considered 1968 a great year for the Stones in many ways. I've also wondered what they sounded like at the '68 NME Poll Winners Concert (anyone have the tape? It exists - Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash)And I was pleasantly surprised by how good they sounded when R&R Circus finally came out. So I consider this a perfectly legit (and fun) academic exercise.

I have a few comments about your setlist-


:Parachute Woman- With Mick on harp, Keith on lead, Brian on rhythm, and Bill on acoustic bass.

It would probably be done as it was at the Rock & Roll Circus, quite different from the Beggar's take. The amplification required to make a stand-up bass heard over electrics didn't really exist, and I don't think Bill is adept at the instrument. They always got Bill Plummer (whoever he is) to play upright in the studio. Only time I've seen Bill with one is in the "She Was Hot" video, and he's not really playing it. (Surprise! Woody isn't playing the flaccid strat either!)

:Cool, Calm & Collected- Underrated. Featured Brian on electric banjo and Mick on the kazoo solo. It MUST be played with the kazoo, or else it’s no good. :-)

Nice thought. Fat chance.

Sympathy for the Devil- Since I never can tell really WHO it is playing lead (many say Keith, others say Brian), we’ll reach a compromise: Do it like in the ’69 tour, and have both guitarists play lead and trade licks.

HUH??? There is NO doubt about who played the lead. It's on film, for one thing, thank you very much Jean-Luc Godard, and it remains one of Keith's finest moments and the primary reason I started worshipping him in the first place. Brian (belated happy birthday wishes)never played anything approaching the filth and fury of this lead.


:Next comes the acoustic set, ala Led Zeppelin’s 1970 tour.

I'm unfamiliar with this - what did they play and how did it sound?

:No Expectations- Brian on acoustic slide.

Sweet.

:Factory Girl- Another underrated one. Keith or Brian could play mandolin.

Oh? I guess I wouldn't be surprised to see Brian play it (the Vox mando-guitar he's often pictured playing would perhaps be substituted - it is NOT a mandolin) , but Keith has never shown any skill at any stringed instrument other than guitar & bass.
Mandolin is tuned differently and has a much smaller fretboard. If they could play it they would have on the studio cut. They didn't.

:Prodigal Son- Mick on guitar, Brian on harp.

I would kill to see this.

:I Am Waiting- W/O the dulcimer, although it sounds great with it, anyway.

Then why without it? Brian played dulcimer live in '66 and '67 (the one he played is in Cleveland's Mistake On The Lake) and they did it (albeit faking the music) on Ready Steady Go in '66.

:Stray Cat Blues- The Ya-Ya’s one sucked, as far as I’m concerned.

AMEN! Let me take this opportunity to once again predict that the Beggar's version will be resurrected on the next tour. Let's also pencil it in for the '68 tour. No strumming! Just filth! Aural pornography!


:Citadel OR 2000 Man OR 2000 Light Years From Home

2000 Man is the only one they could have conceivably reproduced live in '68. I would love to hear it - but it seems unlikely for our purposes here.


:Connection OR All Sold Out OR Miss Amanda Jones- Same here. Connection would have Keith trading lead vocals with Mick, and Brian would play lead guitar on MAJ.

Suits me! I've always wanted to think Brian played one of the guitars on MAJ. Alas, I think they're all Keith. A bravura performance - it sounds like the blueprint for Woody's work with the Faces.

I was going to say these seem unlikely, but then they DID do a verse of "Yesterday's Papers" live in '67, and it sounded good.

:Street Fighting Man- The 1969 version would be cool, but wither way, it’d rock.

OK, but no giant inflatable dogs.

Paint It, Black- Forget the sitar (not forever, though; the song’s better with it). Let’s have this one just rock mercilessly.


Again - WHY without? If we're imagining a tour with Brian, let's let him be Brian! In '66 & '67 he played sitar, dulcimer, organ, guitar & harp. Let's keep it that way.

:Little Red Rooster OR Walkin’ Blues- Brian on slide, Mick on harp.

In a haunted house.


:Child of the Moon- This one would just be ethereal, like floating through space. Brian on sax, Mick on piano, Nicky on organ.

Even in a make-believe setlist this is far-fetched. Is there a sax in this?

:The Last Time- Brian on lead again, just to boost his falling ego.

Hell, with the setlist you've built for him, he'd have no reason for ego problems.

NEXT: setlist for the Dirty Work Tour!





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