Due to my habit of dumping baggage - I have very few things left from my youth. But I kept this ticket stub along with a rose petal. At the end of each gig - it was a ritual for Mick Jagger to throw a hat full of rose petals on the crowd.
1969 was a very important year for me. I turned 21 - I was able to vote for the first time - I bought my first car in my own name - I met my future Lulu and invited her to Woodstock - and I saw the Rolling Stones live. Years later - Bryan Adams sang about the "Summer of 69." Like a million others - I was sure he was writing that song for me. Two years later - I was married to my bride of 41 years.
I think the Stones were making their 3rd tour of America. Although they closed down the old Carnegie Hall on their first trip over - the trip was a dismal failure. But when they returned to England - they were treated like conquering heroes. In 1965 - Keith Richards woke up in the middle of the night and strummed a few guitars licks into a tape recorder. The next day he listened to the tape and heard lots of snoring and the opening riff of one of the most recognizable rock and roll songs of all time. I Can't Get No Satisfaction.
In 2011 - I visited Mick Jagger's boyhood home in Dartford ENGLAND. It looks like one of my boyhood homes at 113 Lombard St in Tamaqua.
M P Jagger was a cross country runner at Dartford Grammar School. The school now has a giant wing on it called the Jagger Art Centre. Mick built it.
43 years ago to the day yesterday - I drove my first new car - a 1969 VW - to the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. I had won a pair of front row tickets in a radio station contest to see the Stones . My friend Matt Welsh came along. I remember when the crowd was booing an opening act - BB King. Finally when the Stones were introduced - I rushed the stage and ended up standing right up front for the whole concert. Matt stayed back - but talk about faithful friends - he spent the whole concert with his hand held high. He wasn't cheering or anything - he had a microphone taped to his wrist with the wire running down inside his jacket to my antiquated reel to reel tape recorder. For years - we listened to a remarkably good recording of every song.
The Beatles were staged as the good boys - the Stones were the rebellious bad guys. In fact - they were all good buddies back in London and loved each other's music and the muse they played on their fans. In 1965 - Jagger was interviewed and asked how long he would be singing and prancing across the stage. He said - just a couple more years - he could not imagine singing about getting no satisfaction when he was 40.
The reviews say that Jagger was marvelous last night in London and so full of energy as he pranced across the stage singing that he could get no satisfaction.
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