The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75

Last updated

The Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75
Tour by The Rolling Stones
RollingStonesTourOfTheAmericasPoster.jpg
Start date1 June 1975
End date8 August 1975
Legs1
No. of shows46
The Rolling Stones concert chronology

The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75 was a 1975 concert tour originally intended to reach both North and South America. The plans for concerts in Central and South America never solidified, however, and the tour covered only the United States and Canada.

Contents

History

After the departure of Mick Taylor, this was the Rolling Stones' first tour with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Announced on 14 April as merely playing with the band on the tour, it would not be until 19 December that he would be officially named a Rolling Stone. Longtime sidemen Bobby Keys and Jim Price on brass were not featured on this tour, while Billy Preston had replaced Nicky Hopkins on keyboards in 1973. Additionally, Ollie E. Brown was added as an additional percussionist. Keys made a guest appearance on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Brown Sugar" at the Los Angeles shows.

The Tour of the Americas '75 was not tied to support of any newly released material, as it began more than seven months after the release of their last studio album at the time, It's Only Rock'n Roll . Instead, the compilation album Made in the Shade was released to capitalise on the tour's publicity.

The announcement of the tour became famous in itself. On 1 May, reporters were gathered inside the Fifth Avenue Hotel on 9th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village to attend a press conference where the Stones were scheduled to appear. But the Stones never went into the hotel. Improvisational comedian "Professor" Irwin Corey gave a typically long-winded, nonsensical performance for journalists waiting for the Stones. The press was still listening to Corey ramble on when they finally noticed that the Stones were playing "Brown Sugar" on a flatbed truck driving down Fifth Avenue.

The handful of curiosity seekers standing outside the hotel – who'd heard a rumor of the press conference and who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Stones entering the hotel – were instead treated to the sight of a flatbed truck rolling down Fifth Avenue carrying the Stones, their instruments and a wall of amps. The truck stopped in front of the hotel entrance and the band played an extended version of "Brown Sugar". [1] Charlie Watts had suggested this adaptation of a promotional gimmick often used by New Orleans jazz musicians; the idea was later emulated by groups like AC/DC and U2. After the Stones finished the song, the flatbed truck rolled down Fifth Avenue another block and the band jumped into limousines. They never attended the press conference.

The mid-1970s were the era of extravagant stage shows, from the likes of Elton John, Alice Cooper, Kiss and Queen. In keeping with this, the Stones embraced a new format for the 1975 concerts. Their act was aided by theatrical stage props and gimmicks, including a giant inflatable phallus (nicknamed 'Tired Grandfather' by the band, since it sometimes malfunctioned) and, at some shows, an unfolding lotus flower-shaped stage that Charlie Watts had conceived.

The tour officially began on 3 June 1975 at the Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas; however first the group played two warmup shows on 1 June at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The tour continued, playing mostly arenas in the United States and Canada, including six consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden in New York and five nights at The Forum in Los Angeles. However, a planned Latin American leg in Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela for the balance of August was cancelled due to a combination of currency fluctuations and security concerns. Four additional US dates were then added, culminating in a final performance on 8 August at Rich Stadium near Buffalo, New York.

The 1977 live album Love You Live has "Fingerprint File" and "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" from Toronto, 17 June 1975 and "Sympathy for the Devil" from Los Angeles, 9 July 1975.

In 2012, the entire show from Los Angeles, 13 July 1975 was released as part of the 'Rolling Stones Archive', [2] mixed and remastered by Bob Clearmountain. This show was previously available in excellent audience quality on the 'LA Friday' bootleg. The title is a reference to a Rolling Stone review of the Friday, 11 July 1975 show, even though the actual featured show was from Sunday, 13 July.

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

Additional musicians

New York, Madison Square Garden, June 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27:

New York, Madison Square Garden, June 22:

New York, Madison Square Garden, June 27:

Los Angeles Forum, July 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 shows only:

Los Angeles Forum, July 13:

Tour set list

The most typical set list for the shows was:

Intro music: Fanfare for the Common Man

  1. "Honky Tonk Women"
  2. "All Down the Line"
  3. "If You Can't Rock Me"/"Get Off of My Cloud"
  4. "Star Star"
  5. "Gimme Shelter"
  6. "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
  7. "You Gotta Move"
  8. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  9. "Happy"
  10. "Tumbling Dice"
  11. "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"
  12. "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)"
  13. "Fingerprint File"
  14. "Angie"
  15. "Wild Horses"
  16. "That's Life" (sung by Billy Preston)
  17. "Outa-Space" (led by Billy Preston)
  18. "Brown Sugar"
  19. "Midnight Rambler"
  20. "Rip This Joint"
  21. "Street Fighting Man"
  22. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
  23. Encore: for the New York City and Los Angeles shows "Sympathy for the Devil" was played as an encore, with Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana guesting in New York City and Jesse Ed Davis guesting in Los Angeles.

The set was longer than on previous tours, and set list variation was a bit more frequent, with several tunes making sporadic appearances: "Rocks Off", "Luxury", "Dance Little Sister", "Cherry Oh, Baby" and "Sure the One You Need". Otherwise, as with their 1972 American Tour, the band's pre-1968 catalogue was almost completely ignored except "Get Off of My Cloud", and their signature song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" absent.

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenueOpening act(s)
Tour
1 June 1975
(2 shows)
Baton Rouge United States LSU Assembly Center
3 June 1975 San Antonio San Antonio Convention Center
4 June 1975
6 June 1975 Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium Eagles
Rufus
The Gap Band
8 June 1975 Milwaukee Milwaukee County Stadium
9 June 1975 Saint Paul St. Paul Civic Center Billy Preston
11 June 1975 Boston Boston Garden
12 June 1975
14 June 1975 Cleveland World Series of RockCleveland Stadium Tower of Power
The J. Geils Band
Joe Vitale's Madmen
15 June 1975 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
17 June 1975 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
18 June 1975
22 June 1975New York CityUnited States Madison Square Garden Eagles
Rufus
The Gap Band
23 June 1975
24 June 1975
25 June 1975
26 June 1975
27 June 1975
29 June 1975 Philadelphia The Spectrum
30 June 1975 Eagles
The Commodores
1 July 1975 Landover Capital Centre Eagles
Rufus
The Gap Band
2 July 1975
4 July 1975 Memphis Memphis Memorial Stadium The J. Geils Band
The Charlie Daniels Band
The Meters
Furry Lewis
6 July 1975 Dallas Cotton Bowl Eagles
Montrose
Trapeze
9 July 1975 Inglewood The Forum Eagles
Rufus
The Gap Band
10 July 1975
11 July 1975
12 July 1975
13 July 1975
15 July 1975 Daly City Cow Palace The Meters
16 July 1975
18 July 1975 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum
20 July 1975 Fort Collins Hughes Stadium
22 July 1975 Chicago Chicago Stadium The Crusaders
23 July 1975 Electric Light Orchestra
24 July 1975
26 July 1975 Bloomington Assembly Hall The Crusaders
27 July 1975 Detroit Cobo Arena
28 July 1975
30 July 1975 Atlanta Omni Coliseum The Meters
31 July 1975 Greensboro Greensboro Memorial Coliseum
2 August 1975 Jacksonville Gator Bowl Stadium Atlanta Rhythm Section
Rufus
The J. Geils Band
4 August 1975 Louisville Freedom Hall Outlaws
6 August 1975 Hampton Hampton Coliseum The Outlaws
8 August 1975 Orchard Park Rich Stadium Rufus
The Gap Band
Outlaws

Tickets

Tickets were sold by direct mail order by the concert venue, not a national ticket seller in 1975. For example, A ticket request and a check for $12 (US) was required for each ticket sale for the Jacksonville show sent by US Mail, and was fulfilled in about two weeks.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Preston</span> American R&B musician (1946–2006)

William Everett Preston was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Reverend James Cleveland, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He gained attention as a solo artist with hit singles such as "That's the Way God Planned It", the Grammy-winning "Outa-Space", "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Space Race", "Nothing from Nothing", and "With You I'm Born Again". Additionally, Preston co-wrote "You Are So Beautiful", which became a #5 hit for Joe Cocker.

<i>Love You Live</i> 1977 live album by the Rolling Stones

Love You Live is a double live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 1977. It is drawn from Tour of the Americas shows in the US in the summer of 1975, Tour of Europe shows in 1976 and performances from the El Mocambo nightclub concert venue in Toronto in 1977. It is the band's third official full-length live release and is dedicated to the memory of audio engineer Keith Harwood, who died in a car accident shortly before the album's release. It's also the band's first live album with Ronnie Wood.

<i>Gimme Shelter</i> (1970 film) 1970 documentary film

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 American documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert and the killing of Meredith Hunter. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the group's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Gimme Shelter was screened out of competition as the opening film of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Licks Tour</span> 2002–03 concert tour by The Rolling Stones

The Licks Tour was a worldwide concert tour undertaken by the Rolling Stones during 2002 and 2003, in support of their 40th anniversary compilation album Forty Licks. The tour grossed over $300 million, becoming the second highest-grossing tour at that time, behind their own Voodoo Lounge Tour of 1994–1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Bigger Bang Tour</span> 2005–07 concert tour by The Rolling Stones

A Bigger Bang was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album A Bigger Bang. At the time, it was the highest grossing tour of all time, earning $558,255,524. It has since been surpassed by U2's 2009–11 U2 360 Tour, placing second as of 2019. The tour was chronicled on the video release The Biggest Bang, compiling full performances, several recordings from shows and documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour</span> 1989–90 concert tour by The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album Steel Wheels; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg of the tour, which featured a different stage and logo, was called the Urban Jungle Tour; it ran from May to August 1990. These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969</span> 1969 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones' 1969 Tour of the United States took place in November 1969. With Ike & Tina Turner, Terry Reid, and B.B. King as the supporting acts, rock critic Robert Christgau called it "history's first mythic rock and roll tour", while rock critic Dave Marsh wrote that the tour was "part of rock and roll legend" and one of the "benchmarks of an era." In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the tour among The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years.

Four Flicks is a concert DVD collection by British rock band the Rolling Stones, filmed during the band's Licks World Tour in 2002–2003. The collection was released exclusively through Best Buy on 11 November 2003, which caused other retailers to remove the band's previous releases from their stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rolling Stones European Tour 1973</span> 1973 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones 1973 European Tour was a concert tour of Great Britain and Continental Europe in September and October 1973 by The Rolling Stones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rolling Stones Tour of Europe '76</span> 1976 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones' Tour of Europe '76 was a concert tour of Europe that took place in Spring 1976.

"Dancing with Mr. D." is the opening track of the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones' 1973 album Goats Head Soup.

<i>Stones at the Max</i> 1992 American film

Rolling Stones: Live at the Max is a concert film by the Rolling Stones released in 1991. It was specially filmed in IMAX during the Urban Jungle Tour in Europe in 1990. It was the first concert movie shot in the IMAX format.

Voodoo Lounge Live by the Rolling Stones is a concert video, filmed at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida on 25 November 1994 during the Voodoo Lounge Tour. The concert was broadcast as a pay-per-view special. Of the 27 songs played, 17 were released on the home video.

<i>Bridges to Babylon Tour 97–98</i> 1998 video by the Rolling Stones

Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98 by the Rolling Stones is a concert DVD released in December 1998. It was filmed in the TWA Dome in St. Louis, Missouri on 12 December 1997 during the Bridges to Babylon Tour 1997–1998. Featuring performances by Dave Matthews and Joshua Redman.

<i>L.A. Friday</i> 2012 live album by the Rolling Stones

L.A. Friday is a live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 2012. It was recorded at The Forum in Inglewood, California, near Los Angeles. The album was released exclusively as a digital download through Google Music on 2 April 2012. The concert was on Sunday 13 July 1975, but bootleggers used the Rolling Stone title of the review of the Friday show for its vinyl bootleg releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">50 & Counting</span> 2012–13 concert tour by The Rolling Stones

50 & Counting was a concert tour by The Rolling Stones to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band, which started in October 2012 and ended in July 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14 On Fire</span> 2014 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

14 On Fire was a concert tour by the Rolling Stones, which started on 21 February 2014 in Abu Dhabi. It was a follow-up to the 50 & Counting tour which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the band. The tour was very much similar to the 50 & Counting just as the "Urban Jungle" portion of the Stones' Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour in 1990 was similar to the "Steel Wheels" portion in 1989. 14 On Fire had the same stage design, setlist structure, and clothing/merchandise as 50 & Counting. Also, Mick Taylor was a guest throughout this tour as in 50 & Counting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zip Code (tour)</span> 2015 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

Zip Code was a concert tour by English rock band the Rolling Stones. It began on 24 May 2015 in San Diego and travelled across North America before concluding on 15 July 2015 in Quebec City. The tour was announced on 31 March 2015 with tickets going on sale to the general public two weeks later. The name is a reference to the jeans-related artwork for Sticky Fingers, which received a special re-release in 2015, and had its entire track list played during the Zip Code Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">América Latina Olé</span> 2016 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

América Latina Olé was a concert tour by The Rolling Stones, which began on 3 February 2016 in Santiago and made stops in La Plata, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Lima, Bogotá, Mexico City and ended in Havana with a free show on 25 March 2016. The tour was chronicled on two video releases: The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon, which documented the final show, and Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America, a documentary following the band across the continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Filter Tour</span> 2017–21 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

The No Filter Tour was a European/North American concert tour by the Rolling Stones which began on 9 September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The tour was scheduled to conclude in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour resumed in September 2021. A few weeks after that announcement, the Stones announced that drummer Charlie Watts underwent an unspecified medical procedure and that he would likely be unable to join the tour due to a lengthy recovery. Watts ultimately died on 24 August 2021. The band announced on 5 August that longtime Stones associate Steve Jordan would fill in as drummer for the 2021 dates.

References

  1. "ROLLING STONES BROWN SUGAR NY - YouTube". YouTube .
  2. [ dead link ]