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25 June 1982: Place: Wembley Stadium, London, England.
Track status: Bootleg only.
Rolling Stones with Chuck Leavell, Bobby Keys, Gene Barge.
The European section of the tour coincided with the
release of a 'live album' culled from vast amounts of tape of the
American tour by Bob Clearmountain. It became a single album live
souvenir of both the tour and the film. It was mixed and over-dubbed
in March and April 1982 at the Hit Factory in New York. The album
titled STILL LIFE was perhaps the Stones' best live project to date,
capturing perfectly the excitement of the occassion. Although, it
has to be admitted, that there were some wasted opportunities on
the 1972, 1973 and 1978 tours when the band were cooking on gas.
Two tracks previously unrecorded were included on the album, the
good-time Smokey Robinson Motown song Going To A Go-Go and an untouched
by The Who Eddie Cochran rock 'n' roll standard Twenty Flight Rock.
The former was released in June 1982 as the band's next single,
obtaining a modest chart entry. In Britain demand for tickets was
so great that the Stones' performed for the first time in one of
the bastions of English fortification, the giant Wembley football
arena. When Keith Richards was asked how he would approach this
formidable gig he shrugged and muttered 'from Heathrow'. On Friday
and Saturday 25 and 26 June 1982 more than 145,000 witnessed the
spectacle, those at the back visually aided by huge video screens.
A film recording of the Saturday show was made by the tour crew.
It includes the half circle of balloons above the stage, Bill Wyman
in a blue suit with white headband, the cherry picker being used
for the encore Satisfaction and a slightly subdued performance by
the band. Mick Jagger gave an athletic performance but tensions
were running high. Ronnie Wood was not at his best, his playing
at times was cumbersome and both Keith Richards and Mick were annoyed
that he was not doing as well as he could. The tour package included
the prestigious American R 'n' B artists The J. Geils Band and true
rhythm exponents Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare in their Jamaican
band Black Uhuru. (They were later to offer their talents on the
1983 UNDERCOVER album). The show was watched by an audience whose
age-span took in the original protagonists from the 1960's (now
in their 40's) and teenage newcomers. Smaller British venues included
the football stadiums in Bristol and Newcastle which were also used
to good advantage during a provincial excursion of the heartland
including for once, a sizable Scottish section. Bootlegs of both
the film sound-track and various venues showed that the only significant
change to the set-list was the inclusion of The Big Bopper's Chantilly
Lace but the performance was stilted. The tour personnel changed
for the European gigs; Ian Stewart was still present on piano but
Ian McLagan was replaced by ex-Allman Brothers, Chuck Leavell. He
had been introduced to the band in America and guested at a concert.
It was the start of a strong relationship that has lasted to this
day. The saxophone players were again Bobby Keys and Gene Barge
who replaced Ernie Watts. Gene was one of the renowned artists who
played on many a Chess Studio classic in the 'sixties. The tour
visited Scotland, England (twice), Holland, Germany, France, Sweden,
Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland before returning to England.
The support acts were the aforementioned J. Geils Band and Black
Uhuru. In France only Telephone, UB40 and George Thorogood appeared.
The tour lasted from 26 May to 25 July and included one club gig
at the 100 Club, London. It was rumoured that R 'n' B guitarist
George Thorogood was asked to rehearse Stones' numbers in case Ronnie
succumbed to the strain. The tour was followed in September by the
release of the live Time Is On My Side with Twenty Flight Rock and
Under My Thumb on the 12 inch single.
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