Excerpt from ‘The Rolling Stones 1962- - 2012 Aftermath’ by Massimo Bonanno Available on http://lulu.com/spotlight/nellcote SOME GIRLS 1978 Work on the band’s new album, the first of the new recording deal, began as early as 18 July 1977, when Mick was spotted visiting the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris; some hinted that having signed with EMI the Stones could freely use the label’studios. Mick and Keith had written new material over the previous late spring and summer in Philadelphia and New York, the basic idea was to go back to their roots and recording as a five-man band, there was no room for sessionmen like Billy Preston. For the very first time on a record Ron Wood joined them as a full time Rolling Stone. As both disco music and punk rock dominated the music scene at that time, on 30 September 1977, Keith and Ronnie in New York boarded an Air France Concorde to Paris to meet the other Stones, Ian Stewart and sound engineer Chris Kimsey in the studio in Boulogne Billancourt. The Pathé Marconi studios would become as important in the Stones’ career as the Olympic Studios in London, the Chess Studios in Chicago and the RCA studios in Hollywood. Instead of recording in the main studio, they used a small side room that provided the sound they were looking for. According to history it was Keith who found it as he could judge the acoustics of a studio by the echo from snapping his fingers. On 10 October they began rehearsing the material for the new album; across the Channel the British press reported that Bianca Jagger was dating Roddy Llewellyn, former Princess Margaret’s boyfriend. A week later the French press reported that Mick and Bianca were about to divorce as Mick was now dating Texan model Jerry Hall. On 21 October England saw the release of the double anthology “Get Stoned- 30 Greatest Hits, 30 Original Tracks” (Arcade ADEP 32). The album was the British version of the ABKCO’s “The Rolling Stones Greatest Hits Vol 1 and 2.” It reached number 10 in the charts where it spent 10 weeks in the top 30. That day Mick, after an all night recording session, flew to London to attend Jade’s six year old birthday party. On 24 October Russian spy ships listened in on a NATO exercise and a pilot jammed the air-waves with a Rolling Stones tape. In early November Bianca attended the birthday party for actor Ryan O’Neal at the San Lorenzo restaurant in London and a week later at Sotheby’s auction room she bought a photograph of Mick taken by Sir Cecil Beaton on the set of Performance. On 25 November the Stones broke their Paris recording sessions to allow Keith to face trial in Toronto. While Mick and Jerry Hall flew to Morocco on a short break, on 2 December Keith told the court in Toronto that he was working hard to kick his heroin habit, and revealed that for four years he made repeated efforts to cure himself but everytime a tour came up he began taking the drug again. The judge committed Keith on trial and a date was set on 6 February. The Stones resumed working on the new album in Paris on 5 December; Bianca concorded to New York where she attended a lavish party thrown for her at the Studio 54 by fashion designer Halston. Among the guests were Liza Minnelli, Margaux Hemingway, Andy Warhol. Bianca denied her marriage with Mick was on the rocks. The Stones ended their recording sessions on 21 December and went on holiday. They recorded cut “Lies” (Jagger- Richards)/ “Respectable” (Jagger-Richards)/ ”When The Whip Comes Down” (Jagger-Richards)/ “Beast Of Burden” (Jagger-Richards)/ Ronnie Wood played bass, lead guitar and pedal steel on “Shattered” (Jagger-Richards)/ ‘Sugar Blue’ was on harp on “Some Girls” (Jagger-Richards) which also featured Keith on bass and acoustic guitar, Bill on synthesizer and Jagger on additional guitar. Again Sugar Blue’s harp was on “Miss You” (Jagger-Richards) which also featured Ian McLagan on keyboards. According to history, Sugar Blue, a New York virtuoso harmonica player, whose real name is James Whiting, raised in Harlem, was spotted by Jagger playing in a Paris Metro station and brought straight into the studio. Both Jagger and Richards were on piano and Ron on pedal steel on “Far Away Eyes” (Jagger- Richards)/ The cover version of the Temptations’ hit “Just My Imagination” (Whitfield-Strong) featured Ian McLagan on Hammond organ. The band also cut “Everything Is Turning To Gold” (Jagger-Richards-Wood), “Black Limousine” (Jagger-Richards), first recorded in November 1973, and the unreleased “Claudine” (Jagger-Richards); the song was based on the tale of singer and actress Claudine Longet, former wife of Andy Williams. She was arrested with the accusation of killing her skiing lover Vladimir Sabich. Other unreleased tracks were “Everlasting Is My Love” (Jagger-Richards), “I Can’t Help It” (Jagger-Richards), “Muck Spreading Dub” (Jagger-Richards), the instrumentals “Munich Hilton” (Jagger- Richards),“Jah Wonderful” (Jagger-Richards), “Jah Is Not Dead”,(Jagger-Richards) “Los Trios Guitarras” (Jagger-Richards-Wood). It was rumoured that the new album was to be called either “More Fast Numbers” or “Don’t Steal My Girlfriend.” That December the Rolling Stones were listed in the 1977 Guinness Book of Records as the loudest band of the year. Mick and Jerry Hall spent Christmas in London, two days later they flew off to Barbados. Keith joined Anita Pallemberg in New York for Christmas. The Stones returned to the Pathé Marconi Studios on 5 January 1978 with sound engineer Chris Kimsey, assisted by Dave Jordan, to continue working on the new album. The following day Bianca Jagger was spotted at the trendy Studio 54 in New York with tennis star Bjorn Borg. Three weeks later, on 25 January as Mick and Jerry Hall left the Elysèe Matignon club, Jagger punched a photographer who retaliated knocking Mick down onto the pavement. The following day Ronnie Wood signed a solo recording deal with CBS records at the MIDEM in Cannes. On 27 January Charlie Watts was reported playing a gig in Swindon with Bob Hall’s Skiffle Group. A week later Bianca Jagger issued a statement about her relationship with Mick: ‘There is no disagreement between us and we are tired of the harassment and falsely attributed statements.’ And yet Hall was constantly at Jagger’s side in Paris. On 6 February Keith’s legal representatives flew to Toronto and got his court appearance postponed to 6 March. In an interview with American magazine High Times, when asked if he had ever been in a dangerous situation with drugs, Richards’ reply was: ‘No, I don’t know if I’ve been extremely lucky, but I’ve never turned blue in somebody else’s bathroom. I consider that the height of bad manners. Even being busted…it’s not pleasure, but it certainly isn’t boring. And I think boring is the worst thing of all.’ On 16 February Krissie Wood was reported in a London hospital with minor injuries due to a car crash. Again, in late February both Mick and Bianca firmly denied their marriage was on the rocks but on 1 March Mick offered a reward for the return of the bracelet and earrings he presented Jerry Hall on her birthday, which she lost in the Paris Metro. The Stones finished recording their new album on 2 March 1978. They cut Keith’s classic “Before They Make Me Run” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Richard on vocals, bass and guitar; Ian Stewart played piano on “Summer Romance” (Jagger- Richards). The band cut early takes of “Start Me Up” (Jagger-Richards) and “Hang Fire” (Jagger – Richards), did more work on “Black Limousine”; other tracks they recorded were “So Young” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Ian Stewart on piano, the unreleased “Brown Leaves” (Jagger-Richards); “Do You Think I Really Care” (Jagger-Richards); “Fiji Jim” (Jagger-Richards); “Golden Caddy” (Jagger-Richards); “Petrol” (Jagger-Richards), featuring Ian Stewart on piano; “It’s A Lie” (Jagger- Richards); “Love You Too Much” (Jagger-Richards); “Never Make You Cry” (Jagger-Richards); “Not The Way To Go” (Jagger-Richards); “Disco Music” (Jagger-Richards); “When You’re Gone” (Jagger – Richards), also known as “Redeyes”; “No Spare Parts” (Jagger-Richards) and the Jimmy Reed’s classic “You Don’t Have To Go”, also known as “Biscuit Blues.” Mick played additional guitar on “Lies”, “When The Whip Comes Down”, “Miss You”, “Respectable”, “Just My Imagination”. Mel Collins added sax on “Miss You”. On 6 March the Canadian High Court set Richards trial for 23 October. Having finished working on the new album the Stones left Paris and went on separate ways: Bill and Astrid flew to Barbados, Charlie went to London, Ronnie flew back to Los Angeles while Mick and Keith flew into New York where on 15 March they began editing and mixing tracks for the new album at the Atlantic Studios and at Sterling Studios. On 9 March the British press reported that Chrissie Wood named 25 year old model Jo Howard in divorce proceedings against her husband Ronnie Wood. Meanwhile a rock revue titled Let The Good Stones Roll was staged at the Ambassador Theatre in London. Bianca Jagger attended the British premiere of Saturday Night Fever in London along David Frost, Peter Sellers, Robin Gibb, Keith Moon and Peter Gabriel on 22 March. As Jagger was one of the stars who owned the soccer team the ‘Philadelphia Furies” along Peter Frampton, Paul Simon and Rick Wakeman, he flew to Philadelphia from New York to attend the first game of the North American Soccer League on 1 April.