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| Tour by The Rolling Stones | |
 One of the Stones' more lurid tour posters | |
| Associated album | Goats Head Soup |
|---|---|
| Start date | 1 September 1973 |
| End date | 19 October 1973 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 42 |
| The Rolling Stones concert chronology | |
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.
The tour followed the release of the group's album Goats Head Soup on 31 August. It began at the Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria on 1 September. It then saw, in large halls to mid-sized arenas, West Germany, England (including four shows at the Empire Pool in London), Scotland, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Belgium, finishing on 19 October with the band's fourth entry into and thirteenth show in West Germany, at the Deutschlandhalle in West Berlin, which would turn out to be Mick Taylor's last live performance with the Stones as a member of the band. Altogether 42 shows were played in 22 cities, with two shows in a day a commonplace.
This was the Stones' first trip to Europe since the European Tour 1970 and was part of parallel three-year cycles of touring the United States and Europe.
Without all the ballyhoo, media attention, and jet set hangers-on of the group's 1972 American Tour, the 1973 European Tour was seen as having less drama — the biggest pending issue was the resolution of Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg's 25 June drugs and weapons bust, which hung over them until a 24 October £205 fine from the Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court resolved it — while showcasing consistently good musicianship. Songs like "Brown Sugar" and "Gimme Shelter" were well received and Billy Preston's organ and clavinet added a contemporary and funky edge to the "classic" Stones sound, although the tour's relatively conventional delineation between rhythm (primarily Richards) and lead guitar (primarily Taylor) parts were later criticised by Richards. [1] By the time of the group's following Tour of the Americas '75, Ron Wood would be in the band and Richards' preferred (if mythological) interweaved approach would be restored.
No live album was released from the tour, although a recording of the first 17 October show in Brussels was headed towards official release but pulled back for legal reasons. As Brussels Affair (and some other names such as "Bedspring Symphony - A Box Lunch and Meat Whistle"), it has been a popular bootleg in superb stereo sound and is often considered a 'lost classic' of bigger importance than some of the official Stones' live albums. The album also included recordings from September 9, 1973 (Empire Pool, Wembley, London). These recordings were broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH). Another broadcast included three soundboard mono recordings from Newcastle, two from Empire Pool, Wembley and one from Rotterdam.
In November 2011, the Rolling Stones launched a web enterprise, www.StonesArchive.com and released the second 17 October Brussels show with two tracks from the first Brussels show as Brussels Affair (Live 1973) worldwide as a digital download in FLAC or MP3 format and as a box set. [2]
Bobby Keys left the tour after the Frankfurt dates. In his memoir, [3] he states that he left to clean up from drink and drugs to save his life.
Opening for the tour's shows was Billy Preston and for him, Kracker, the first band ever to be signed to Rolling Stones Records. Part of the opening show by Preston was released on Preston's 1974 album release Live European Tour , which featured Mick Taylor.
The standard set list for the tour was:
This set list was pretty stable once established; however, during the first few shows, Goats Head Soup tracks "100 Years Ago" (Vienna and Mannheim) and "Silver Train" (Vienna, Cologne, London 1st) got a trying out, as did "Bitch" and "Sweet Virginia" in Vienna. All of the pre-Goats selections had been played on the 1972 American Tour as well, and pretty much in this order. Completely absent was anything from before 1968 in the Stones' catalog. Indeed, on 18 August, before the tour began, Jagger had been quoted, "The only thing I don't really enjoy about playing live is having to perform the old numbers, even though that's what a lotta people wanna hear us do."
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening act(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 1973 | Vienna | Austria | Wiener Stadthalle | Kracker Billy Preston |
| 3 September 1973 | Mannheim | West Germany | Eisstadion am Friedrichspark | |
| 4 September 1973 2 shows | Cologne | Sporthalle | ||
| 7 September 1973 | London | England | Empire Pool | |
| 8 September 1973 2 shows | ||||
| 9 September 1973 | ||||
| 11 September 1973 | Manchester | Kings Hall | ||
| 12 September 1973 | ||||
| 13 September 1973 2 shows | Newcastle upon Tyne | Newcastle City Hall | ||
| 16 September 1973 | Glasgow | Scotland | The Apollo | |
| 17 September 1973 | ||||
| 19 September 1973 2 shows | Birmingham | England | Birmingham Odeon | |
| 23 September 1973 | Innsbruck | Austria | Olympiahalle | |
| 25 September 1973 | Bern | Switzerland | Festhalle | |
| 26 September 1973 2 shows | ||||
| 28 September 1973 2 shows | Munich | West Germany | Olympiahalle | |
| 30 September 1973 2 shows | Frankfurt | Festhalle Frankfurt | ||
| 2 October 1973 2 shows | Hamburg | Ernst-Merck-Halle | ||
| 4 October 1973 2 shows | Aarhus | Denmark | Vejlby-Risskov Hallen | |
| 6 October 1973 2 shows | Gothenburg | Sweden | Scandinavium | |
| 7 October 1973 2 shows | Copenhagen | Denmark | Brøndbyhallen | |
| 9 October 1973 | Essen | West Germany | Grugahalle | |
| 10 October 1973 | ||||
| 11 October 1973 | ||||
| 13 October 1973 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Sportpaleis Ahoy | |
| 14 October 1973 2 shows | ||||
| 15 October 1973 | Antwerp | Belgium | Antwerps Sportpaleis | |
| 17 October 1973 2 shows | Brussels | Forest National | ||
| 19 October 1973 | West Berlin | West Germany | Deutschlandhalle |
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, backing 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 "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 No. 5 hit for Joe Cocker.
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).
Goats Head Soup is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 31 August 1973 by Rolling Stones Records. Like its predecessor Exile on Main St., the band composed and recorded much of it outside of the United Kingdom due to their status as tax exiles. Goats Head Soup was recorded in Jamaica, the United States and the United Kingdom. The album contains 10 tracks, including the lead single "Angie" which went to number one as a single in the US and the top five in the UK.
It's Only Rock 'n Roll is the twelfth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 18 October 1974 by Rolling Stones Records. It was the last album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor; the songwriting and recording of the album's title track had a connection to Taylor's eventual replacement, Ronnie Wood. It's Only Rock 'n Roll combines the core blues and rock 'n' roll–oriented sound with elements of funk and reggae. It's Only Rock 'n Roll reached number one in the United States and number two in the UK.
Made in the Shade, released in 1975, is the third official compilation album by the Rolling Stones, and the first under their Atlantic Records contract. It covers material from Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974).
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 is also the band's first live album with Ronnie Wood.
Robert Henry Keys was an American saxophonist who performed as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and other prominent musicians. Keys played on hundreds of recordings, and was a touring musician from 1956 until his death in 2014.
"Ventilator Blues" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones that is included on their 1972 album Exile on Main St.
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Jagger–Richards, it is the opening track of the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. The song covers the brutal realities of war, including murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer Merry Clayton.
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. The track is over seven minutes long, and begins with a Keith Richards open-G tuned guitar intro. The main song lasts for two minutes and 43 seconds, after which it transforms into an extended improvisational jam. The entire track was captured in one take, with the jam being a happy accident; the band had assumed the tape machine had been stopped, and were surprised to find the entire session had been captured. Originally they were going to end the song before the jam started, but were so pleased with the jam that they decided to keep it in. Besides the regular Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards, Mick Taylor (guitar), Charlie Watts (drums) and Bill Wyman (bass), the track also features conga player Rocky Dijon, saxophonist Bobby Keys, organist Billy Preston and additional percussion by producer Jimmy Miller.
"Waiting on a Friend" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album Tattoo You. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and released as the album's second single, it reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US.
"Star Star" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In a few select countries, the song was released as a single from the band's album Goats Head Soup (1973), with "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" as its B-side. The song's title was changed to "Star Star" from "Starfucker" after Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records insisted on the change.
"Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" is the fourth track on the Rolling Stones' 1973 album Goats Head Soup.
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.
The Rolling Stones' 1970 European Tour was a concert tour of Continental Europe that took place during the late summer and early autumn 1970.
"Fingerprint File" is the closing track from the Rolling Stones' 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n Roll. It is one of their first attempts to branch out into dance or electronic music, and the song resembles music by Sly and the Family Stone. Key ingredients of the song are the rhythm guitar played by Mick Jagger, which features heavy phasing due to the use of the MXR Phase 100 effects pedal, and the highly jazz/funk-oriented bass guitar played by Mick Taylor. Keith Richards uses the wah-wah pedal for his guitar part. Bill Wyman is on synthesiser, Charlie Watts on drums, Billy Preston on clavinet, and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Charlie Jolly Kunjappu is featured on the tabla.
"Dancing with Mr. D." is the opening track of the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones' 1973 album Goats Head Soup.
"100 Years Ago" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup.
Brussels Affair is a live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 2011. It is compiled from two shows recorded in Brussels at the Forest National Arena on Wednesday 17 October 1973, during their European Tour. At the time, the band was unable to enter France, as guitarist Keith Richards had been temporarily banned from visiting the country after being charged with drug possession by a French court. The album was released exclusively as a digital download through Google Play Music on 18 October 2011 in the US and through the Rolling Stones Archive website for the rest of the world in both lossy MP3 and lossless FLAC format. The 2011 digital edition has been bootlegged on physical CD. On 29 August 2012, an official announcement was made, stating its physical release as a high-priced boxset. All three releases include a triple LP and double CD.
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.
