You've heard he was a student at the London School of
Economics before becoming a Rolling Stone! You've heard that he and Keith
Richards became friends after running into each other on a Dartford train platform! But these are 20 Things You May
Not Have Known About Mick Jagger, who is celebrating his 70th
birthday today! And we've got sights and sounds and marvels to delight your
eyes and ears, and you'll be able to read the very first one of those in a few
moments…
1. Andrew
Oldham’s original business partner, Eric Easton, basically trusted Oldham’s
belief that a new band called The Rolling Stones could be the next big thing,
but he just couldn’t believe the singer had any charisma or talent. According
to Robert Palmer’s The Rolling Stones,
only after much convincing from pianist Ian Stewart did Easton agree to allow
Mick Jagger to retain his lead vocal position. If only Mick had been similarly
supportive of Ian…
2. In 1964, the
hysteria over The Rolling Stones’ shockingly long hair reached new heights of
idiocy when Mick said he was approached by an eighty-year-old woman who asked
if he was a member of The Supremes and “She wasn’t kidding!”
3. Mick Jagger
supposedly played a role in launching The Beach Boys’ popularity in England
when he gave “I Get Around” a big thumbs up on (depending on the source) Juke Box Jury or Ready, Steady, Go in 1964 and it became the Boy’s first top-ten hit
in the UK. Apparently, Mike Love had forgotten the favor twenty-four years
later when The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Said Love during his bizarre tirade at the ceremony, “I'd like to see Mick
Jagger get out on this stage and do ‘I Get Around’ versus ‘Jumpin' Jack Flash’,
any day now… I know Mick Jagger won't be here tonight, he's gonna have to stay
in England. But I'd like to see us in the Coliseum and he at Wembley Stadium
because he's always been chickenshit to get on stage with the Beach Boys."
Cuckoo.
4. According to
Bob Spitz’s The Beatles, Mick Jagger
was in attendance for the Fabs’ milestone gig at Shea Stadium on August 15,
1965. The crowds’ crazed reaction reportedly freaked Jagger out.
5. According to
bass player Mark Tulin, engineer David Hassinger presented Mick Jagger with a
list of potential names for a new band Hassinger was recording. When Mick gave
“The Electric Prunes” his stamp of approval, Tulin’s band had a new name.
6. Although Andrew
Oldham received co-producer’s credit with Mick on Chris Farlowe’s version of
“Ride On Baby”, “Farlowe told the press that the production was ‘all Mick’,”
according to Simon Spence’s Immediate
Labels Unlimited.
7. According to
Nicholas Schaffner’s The British Invasion,
Keith Richards cited “Yesterday’s Papers” as the first Jagger/Richards song
without any Richards input.
8. Despite the
Stones’ druggy reputation, Mick Jagger was never a heavy indulger and allegedly
didn’t try pot until Paul McCartney first rolled him a joint circa 1965 and
didn’t try acid until the unfortunate February 12, 1967, excursion when he and
Keith were busted on the drug charges that would make ’67 a hellish year for
both of them.
9. Although The
Rolling Stones were too caught up in their legal problems to perform at the
Monterey Pop Festival, Mick Jagger still served on the festival’s board of
governors.
10. In 1967,
playwright Joe Orton rewrote an untitled screenplay he called Up Against It as a possible big-screen
vehicle for The Beatles (John, Paul, George, and Ringo would have played four
different facets of a single character). Brian Epstein rejected the script because
of its outré subject matter, though Paul McCartney later claimed it was simply
too “gay,” reflecting Orton’s sexuality rather than The Beatles. When Paul and
his band pulled out, director Richard Lester lined up Ian McKellan and Mick
Jagger—two personalities who’d have no such hetero-uptight reservations—to star
in the film. Sadly, Orton’s death in August 1967 put Up Against It on permanent hold.
11. Later that
year, Mick and Paul discussed starting a recording studio and label to be
jointly owned by The Rolling Stones and Beatles. Ultimately, The Beatles
pursued the latter venture on their own, forming Apple Records the following
year.
12. Mick’s first
solo single, “Memo from Turner”, was supposed to be a Rolling Stones recording,
but Keith was apparently so irritated about his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg’s
love scenes with Mick in the film Performance
(which, legend has it, were not faked) that he continually sabotaged the
sessions with sloppy performances (as heard on Metamorphosis). Mick was ultimately forced to recut the song with
non-Stones backing musicians, such as Ry Cooder.
13. In his
autobiography, Who I Am, Pete
Townshend wrote, “Mick is the only man I’ve ever seriously wanted to fuck,” and
revealed his jealous suspicions that The Who’s manager, Kit Lambert, may have
been “having a sexual dalliance with Mick.”
14. According to
Julian Dawson’s And on the Piano… Nicky
Hopkins, few questions irked the famed session man more than “What is Mick
Jagger really like?” The incessant
inquisition eventually prompted Nicky to threaten to set the next person who
asks him about Mick on fire. That is just what he did when a Canadian
journalist asked the dreaded question and Nicky whipped out his Zippo and
torched the poor schlub’s jacket!
15. The jam
session that immediately followed Mick and Bianca Pérez-Mora
Macias’s wedding reportedly included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric
Clapton, Stephen Stills, P.P. Arnold, Terry Reid, Bobby Keys, Doris Troy,
Ronnie Wood, Kenny Jones, Nicky Hopkins, and the groom on vocals and harp.
Keith Richards, however, was passed out on the floor.
16. In 1974, John
Lennon was in the throes of his legendary “Lost Weekend” while separated from
Yoko Ono. Though partying was at the top of Lennon’s agenda, he did manage to
be productive too, as when he produced a version of 100 Proof (Aged in Soul)’s
“Too Many Cooks” with Mick Jagger singing lead. According to Robert Rodriguez’s
Fab Four 2.0, Lennon recalled his
production efforts involved little more than “sitting behind the desk.”
Probably drunk.
17. Sting
considered Mick’s review of The Police’s debut 7” “Fall Out” in Sounds magazine to be one of the first
great “coups” of his band’s career.
18. In 1978, Mick
claimed he was mainly responsible for writing “Before They Make Me Run” with
Keith only contributing the idea for one of “his” signature songs.
19. When Keith
Richards played his first solo album, Talk
Is Cheap, for his old partner, Mick reacted stoically. However, Keith said
that as soon as he left the room to pee, he peeked back in to see Mick dancing to
the music. When Keith returned, Mick was sitting quietly with his hands folded
in his lap.
20. In 1972, Mick
Jagger vowed to quit rocking and rolling when he was 33 because “that’s the
time when a man has to do something else.” So much for that.
