(Drivebycuriosity) - A long time ago I read an interview with Mick Jagger. I knew that he had studied at the London School of Economics and I expected something better than the usual bragging by a rock star, but I was still impressed by his smart answers and his broad knowledge. That intensified my interest in a musician who`s early songs I still love. Philip Norman´s biography "Mick Jagger" gives a good introduction into the complexity of giant of 20th century culture (amazon ).
Mick Jagger had a rather conservative start into his professinonal life. After finishing school he thought about studying art or science. Finally he decided for economics, which "seemed about halfway in between", and started to study at London School of Economics. In his leisure time he collected and played albums by Amerian Blues musicians. While waiting for the tram he met Keith Richards, whom he knew from school times. They discovered that they both love American Blues songs, which inspired them to start a rock band.
On July 12 1962 at London`s Marquee Club Mick sang with the Rolling Stones for the very fist time. Soon the Stones became popular as a cover band who replayed their beloved American blues & soul songs. Mick Jagger`s somewhat metallic voice, his stretched Cockney slang pronunciations, plus the rough riffs of Keith Richards, made their cover versions special. They also benefited from the explosive
success of the Beatles, who drew attention to the whole rock genre and created a veritable
market
Rather hesitantly Jagger & Richards started their own compositions. Their song "As Tears go by" was first used by Marianne Faithfull, which made her famous (1964). "The Last Time", the band's first original song, was recorded January 1965. "Aftermath", recorded December 1965 and March 1966, was their first album to consist entirely of original compositions, including "Paint it Black (US version), "Lady Jane" & "Under My Thumb". Then "Satisfaction", released June 1965, and "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968 ) catapulted them into the rock Olympus.
Founding member Brian Jones, presented himself in the early days as leader of the band, but had not much influence on their music, besides playing exotic instruments on some pieces (but there is a different version on wikipedia). Because of his erratic behavior and his drug issues he had to leave the band in 1969. Shortly after his leave he drowned in his pool.
Even though Jagger was smart, well educated and had a controlling nature, he & Richards behaved naively and gave their manager Allen Klein the rights of most of their 60s hits. Much later they filed immense law suits against Klein to receive some of their money.
Norman dedicates a chapter on the arrest of Mick Jagger & Keith Richard in February 1967. The detention was orchestrated by a powerful and ruthlessness tabloid, "The News of the World", which had a personal feud with Jagger. The magazine planted an informant into Richards home, who initiated a massive drug raid, leading to the arrest. The British law system needed a victim, the loud long-haired Stones, where perfect for that. But friends in high place got them released soon.
In the 1970s rock music got defined by Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Jimmy Hendrix, Sex Pistols and many others, but the Stones` popularity continued to climb because they learned to cater the taste of the masses (disco music, reggae and other popular styles) and to control the rights of their songs - and they became filthy rich.
Massive Courage
Another chapter describes painstakingly the infamous Altamont concert that happened north of Los Angeles in December 1969. The event was initiated by the hillbilly band Grateful Dead "in a haze of hippie idealism". Apparently there was no organization and the show went out of control, partly because someone hired the local highly violent Hells Angels - of all people - as security. The beloved "Deads" left the event without playing and let others, including Jefferson Airplane, alone with the mess. The Stones, who performed as last band and at the peak of the turmoils, got later blamed for the mess and that the Hell Angels killed one of the spectators. But one visitor reported that Mick "showed massive, massive courage at the terrible moment" and added "to have stayed on that stage and carried on performing need the balls of a lion".
Jagger tried also a career on film, with less success. The movie "Performance", directed by Donald Cammell & Nicolas Roeg, was the only respectable production, but the film was called pornographic and got not immediately released. Other projects failed, partly Mick was not much interested, and he was turned down for the role of Mozart (!) in Amadeus and Dr. Frank N. Furter in the Rocky Horror Show. Maybe in some alternate universe Mick really played as Amadeus, what a show!
In the 1980, ageing 40 something, Mick Jagger prepared extensively for the stress of hours of extensive shows. He began a program of intense weight training, karate, squash and daily seven-mile runs. After a couple of weeks he was down to just 125 pound and a waist measurement of twenty-seven inches.
After the year 2000 he maintained a strenuous fitness regimen under the famous Norwegian fitness trainer Torje Eike, with daily running, swimming, cycling, gym work, yoga and Pilates, combined with a diet of whole-grain bread, rice, beans, pasta, chicken & fish.
Jagger also was a good cook, more patient and painstaking in the kitchen than anywhere else except music, and might spend a whole afternoon cycling from shop to shop to find every last correct ingredients for a Japanese recipe that appealed to him.
It
goes without a saying that the most beautiful women buzzed around the
mega-rock star like flies, how could he resist? Was he really "predatory", as one of wives later claimed?
Or were the women predatory, who took other´s lover, husband, father of
children away without any scruple? Sleeping with Mick made them famous and gave them access to a lot of money.
It is surprising that the biography ignores the early rivalry between the Stones and The Kinks. The latter group started also as a cover band and played US blues songs as well. But their first album - released 1964 - had already four self composed song, including the Ray Davies composition "You Really Me", which become a number one hit int the UK, about a year before the Stones released "Satisfaction". In the US Stones, Beatles & Kinks together were called the English invasion.
Feminine Qualities
There were rumors that Mick joined a menage a trois with David Bowie and Bowie´s wife Angie Barnett. Angie claimed that she had discovered Mick & David together in bed. Mick dismissed the rumors as "total rubbish". But
Marianne Faithfull wrote in her memoirs that she "realized in some part of
my mind that Mick was bisexual". She added that his more feminine
qualities of sensitivity and intuition were part of his appeal.
The journalist Lesley-Ann Jones claims in her book "The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones" that Mick was bisexual and suggests Jagger had affairs with bandmates Keith Richards, Mick Taylor and others (advocate ).
There is no proof, but Jagger´s performances in the late sixties where often androgynous and there a lot of drag images. Maybe he played with the trans image or not, but he was certainly not afraid of that.
Anyway, Mick Jagger helped to shape the popular culture in the 20th century and his & Richards` songs, at least the early ones, are still important and beloved.
