Bobby Keys has passed - Our thoughts are with his family

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Bobby Keys, a saxophonist and lifelong rock 'n' roller who played on recordings by Buddy Holly and John Lennon and performed one of the all-time blowout solos on the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar," has died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 70 years old.

Michael Webb, who played keyboard with Keys, said Keys died Tuesday after a lengthy illness. Keys had been on tour with the Stones earlier this year before his health prevented him from performing.

"The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys," the band said in a statement. "Bobby made a unique musical contribution to the band since the 1960s. He will be greatly missed."

Known for his heavy jowls and raw, raucous style, the Lubbock, Texas, native was born on the same day as Keith Richards — Dec. 18, 1943 — and the Stones guitarist would often cite Keys as a soul mate and favorite musician. Besides "Brown Sugar," Keys also played memorable solos on such Stones favorites as the 7-minute jam "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and the country-styled "Sweet Virginia." Other career highlights included John Lennon's chart-topping "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" and albums by Richards, George Harrison, Barbra Streisand and Eric Clapton.

"I have lost the largest pal in the world, and I can't express the sense of sadness I feel, although Bobby would tell me to cheer up," Richards said in a statement.

Keys' career dated back to the 1950s, when as a teenager he played with fellow Lubbock native Holly and The Crickets. He met the Stones in the mid-'60s while they were on the same bill at a state fair in San Antonio, Texas, and was distraught that the British rockers had recorded a cover of Holly's "Not Fade Away."

"I said, 'Hey, that was Buddy's song,'" Keys recalled in Richards' memoir "Life," published in 2010. "Who are these pasty-faced, funny-talking, skinny-legged guys to come over here and cash in on Buddy's song?"

But once Keys listened more closely, he decided the Stones were playing "actual rock and roll," an opinion the Stones more than shared about Keys. He first recorded with them in the late 1960s and toured and recorded with them off and on over the following decades, his work featured on three of the group's most acclaimed albums: "Let It Bleed," ''Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street."

In some ways, he was too close to Richards, developing a heroin addiction that led to his temporary estrangement from the group. But he was with them on every major tour over the past quarter century, dependably stepping up for his solo on "Brown Sugar."

Keys' memoir "Every Night's a Saturday Night" was published in 2012, with a foreword by Richards. Keys recalled that he was first exposed to rock 'n' roll through Holly's music — not on the radio, but at the grand opening of a Texas gas station near the home of Keys' grandparents. It was the first time he had heard an electric guitar played live.

"And right then and there I knew I wanted to have something to do with that music," Keys explained. Holly "just kinda lit a fuse that started burning then, and it's still burning now."

Legendary LED ZEPPELIN / ROLLING STONES Producer Andy Johns Passes

I have been informed that Andy Johns has passed. My thoughts are with his family and friends. I will provide more information as it becomes available. Andy Johns (January 1, 1952 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer, who worked on well-known rock albums such as Led Zeppelin's IV and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. His sound is exemplified by Free's album Highway, which he engineered and produced. Johns, the younger brother of Olympic Studios engineer Glyn Johns, attended The King's School, Gloucester, England in the mid to late 1960s. Before his nineteenth birthday, he was working as Eddie Kramer's second engineer on recordings by Jimi Hendrix and many others. In a career spanning more than thirty years, he engineered or produced records by artists ranging from Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones to Van Halen and Rod Stewart, whose sales total in excess of 160 million copies. Johns was the father of Hurt's former drummer, Evan Johns and rock singer/guitarist Will Johns, and uncle of producer Ethan Johns (son of Glyn Johns).

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Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones

Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), was an English musician and a founder member of The Rolling Stones.

Jones' main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other musical instruments and was a talented multi-instrumentalist. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments, such as the sitar and marimba, was integral to the changing sound of the band.

Originally the leader of the group, Jones' fellow bandmembers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soon overshadowed him; especially after they became a successful songwriting team. He developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished. He was asked to leave the Rolling Stones in June 1969 and guitarist Mick Taylor took his place in the group. Jones died less than a month later by drowning in the swimming pool at his home on Cotchford Farm in East Sussex.

Original Stones bassist Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs ... Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it - highly intelligent - and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away."
Jones's main guitar in the early years was a Harmony Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch Double Anniversary in two-tone green. In 1964 and 1965 he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark VI. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson models (various Firebirds, ES-330, and a Les Paul model), as well as two Rickenbacker 12-string models. He can also be seen playing a Fender Telecaster in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash" promo video.

Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man" (1963), "I'm a King Bee" (1964, on the Rolling Stones), "Little Red Rooster" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1965, on Rolling Stones No. 2), "I'm Movin' On" (1965, on the EP Got Live If You Want It!), "Doncha Bother Me" (1966, on Aftermath) and "No Expectations" (1968, on Beggars Banquet). Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby (Mona)", the guitar riff in "The Last Time"; sitar on "Street Fighting Man" and "Paint It, Black"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Complicated", and "2000 Man"; marimba on "Under My Thumb", "Out Of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers"; recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; trumpet on "Child of the Moon"; Appalachian dulcimer on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane" and harpsichord on "Lady Jane"; accordion on "Backstreet Girl"; saxophone and oboe on "Dandelion"; mellotron on "She's a Rainbow", "We Love You"; "Citadel", "Stray Cat Blues" and "2000 Light Years from Home"; and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) the autoharp on "You Got the Silver".
At around midnight on the night of 2–3 July 1969, Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm. His Swedish girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, was convinced Jones was alive when he was taken out of the pool, insisting he still had a pulse. However, by the time the doctors arrived, it was too late, and he was pronounced dead. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse.[35] As Jones was 27 at the time of his death, he is one of the well known members of the 27 Club.
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Monkey Man - Stones (Charlie Watts )

Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts (born 2 June 1941) is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts was born to Charles Watts, a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail and his wife Lilian (née Eaves) at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Islington and then Kingsbury. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football.

Watts' parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected. After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Charlie Daniels Studios, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. In 1961 he met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated. At that time Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner's offer when he returned to London in February 1962.

Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated as well as working at the advertising firm of Charles, Hobson and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian "Stu" Stewart, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs, but it wasn't until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones
Watts has been involved in many activities outside his high-profile life as a member of the Rolling Stones. In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird. Although he has made his name in rock, his personal tastes focus on jazz; in the late 70s, he joined Ian Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK's top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organised a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm And Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet, which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon, Watts and Keltner released a techno/instrumental album simply titled, Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Featuring the names of his favourite jazz drummers, Watts stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the "Elvin Suite" in honour of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather, capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts At Scott's was recorded with his group, "The Charlie Watts Tentet", at the famous jazz club in London, Ronnie Scott's. In April 2009 he started to perform concerts with the ABC&D of Boogie Woogie together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.
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Former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor to Play Six-Night Run at New York City's Iridium in May

Former Rolling Stones guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mick Taylor will make a rare New York City appearance for a week of shows at Iridium from May 9 to 14.

The final night, May 14, will mark the launch of "Guitar World & The Iridium Present," a new monthly series highlighting the world's best guitarists performing with The Les Paul Trio.

Tickets are on sale today, with an exclusive pre-sale available to fans of Iridium on Facebook.

Taylor, ranked No. 37 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, was in The Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974 and appears on the classic Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. albums.

He came to the band as a 20-year-old, following several years with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. After his time with the Stones, he went on to perform with everyone from Bob Dylan to Percy Sledge, even rejoining The Bluesbreakers for a tour in the early '80s.

At the Iridium, Taylor will perform with an all-star band featuring Max Middleon (keyboards), Wilbur Bascomb (bass), Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums) and Jon Paris (guitar/vocals). For the May 14 Guitar World & The Iridium Present show, Taylor will be joined by Middleton and The Les Paul Trio.

Since Les Paul's death in 2009, his Trio -- guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist John Colianni -- has carried on his legacy, performing every Monday night with special guests that have included guitar heroes from a variety of genres, including Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Ted Nugent and Robert Randolph.

IridiumLive, the club's new label launching April 3, will capture the magic of these and other performances at Iridium with its HD 32-track studio. The first release, A Jazz Tribute to Les, features the Trio performing with Nels Cline of Wilco, Stanley Jordan, Bucky Pizzarelli and Jane Monheit.

In Les' honor, Iridium seeks to balance established stars like Taylor with cutting-edge guitarists like Wayne Krantz, who will perform with the Trio April 9 and celebrate his record release at the club April 12 to 15. A portion of the door from each Les Paul Monday show goes to benefit The Les Paul Foundation, which pays tribute to Paul's memory by supporting music education, engineering and innovation.
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Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones

Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones. Original member Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs ... Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it - highly intelligent - and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away."

His main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other musical instruments and was a talented multi-instrumentalist. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments, such as the sitar and marimba, was integral to the changing sound of the band.

He was originally the leader of the group, but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soon overshadowed him, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished.

He left the Rolling Stones in June 1969 to be replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor. Jones died less than a month later by drowning in the swimming pool at his home on Cotchford Farm in East Sussex.
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Shake Your Hips - The Rolling Stones

This is great old footage of the Stones doing a Slim Harpo song. Everyone knows the Stones and everyone knows that the Stones loved the blues...since I got no film of Slim Harpo...

Slim Harpo (January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues musician. He was known as a master of the blues harmonica; the name "Slim Harpo" was derived from "harp," the popular nickname for the harmonica in blues circles.

Named Slim Harpo by producer J.D. "Jay" Miller, he started his own recording career in 1957. His solo debut was the Grammy Hall of Fame single "I'm a King Bee" backed with "I Got Love If You Want It."

Harpo recorded under A&R man J.D. "Jay" Miller, in Crowley, Louisiana for Excello Records based in Nashville, Tennessee, and enjoyed a string of popular R&B singles, including Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee "Rainin' In My Heart" (1961) and the number one Billboard R&B hit "Baby Scratch My Back" (1966). On these recordings he was accompanied by the regular stable of Excello musicians, including Lazy Lester.

British rock bands like The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd and Them featured versions of his songs in their early repertoires. Later, the riff from Harpo's 1966 hit "Shake Your Hips", which itself was derivative of Bo Diddley's "Bring It to Jerome", was used in the ZZ Top hit "La Grange" and the Rolling Stones covered the song on their 1972 album Exile On Main Street.
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You Gotta Move - Rolling Stones

A modern version of an old Fred McDowell tune.

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones (guitars, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica) and Keith Richards (guitars). Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup. The Rolling Stones raised the international regard for the primitive blues typified by Chess Records' artists such as Muddy Waters, who wrote the song after which the band is named, Rollin' Stone.
American R&B and blues cover songs dominated the Rolling Stones' early material, but their repertoire has always included rock and roll. The Rolling Stones have endured and stayed relevant, said critic and musicologist Robert Palmer, by remaining "rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music", while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone".


Jones initially led the band, but after teaming as songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed leadership. By 1969 Jones' diminishing contributions to the band and his inability to tour the United States for legal and health reasons led to him leaving the band. Three weeks after his departure, Jones drowned. His immediate replacement Mick Taylor stayed with the band until 1974, and was replaced by Ronnie Wood. Wyman retired from the band in 1993, and his replacement Darryl Jones became the primary bassist, but not a full member. Stewart was taken from the official lineup in 1963 to continue as the band's road manager and occasional keyboardist until his death in 1985. Since 1982, Chuck Leavell has been the band's primary keyboardist.

First popular in Europe, The Rolling Stones quickly became successful in North America during the British Invasion of the mid 1960s. Having released 22 studio albums in the United Kingdom (24 in the United States), nine concert albums (ten in the US) and numerous compilations; their worldwide sales are estimated at more than 200 million albums.
Sticky Fingers (1971) began a string of eight consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. Their most recent album of entirely new material, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005. In 1989 the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked the Rolling Stones at number ten on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists", and as the second most successful group in the Billboard Hot 100 chart
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Heart of Stone - Rolling Stones

No introduction needed...the Rolling Stones!!

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Heart of Stone" was scheduled as a single release in the United States. In the United Kingdom it appeared as a track on the UK album Out of Our Heads and on an EP with a subsequent single.

Richie Unterberger says, "'Heart of Stone' a slow and soulful, dramatic ballad with the kind of vaguely discordant, droning guitars heard on many an early Rolling Stones slow number. What was impressive was how the Jagger/Richards song, though similar in some respect to American soul ballads of the period...was not explicitly derivative of any one blues or soul song that they were covering on their mid-60s records. The lilt of the verses owed something to country music and the mournful harmonies heard on the latter part of the verses added to the overall feeling of melancholy moodiness.
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All Down The Line- Rolling Stones

One of my favorite Stones songs.
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Enjoy

I Just Want To Make Love to You - Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones was one of the first popular bands to pick up on the blues. He's a 1964 cut of Willie Dixons song for comparison.
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