Tour by The Rolling Stones | |
Associated album | Some Girls |
---|---|
Start date | 10 June 1978 |
End date | 26 July 1978 |
Legs | 1 |
No. of shows | 25 |
The Rolling Stones concert chronology |
The Rolling Stones' US Tour 1978 was a concert tour of the United States that took place during June and July 1978, immediately following the release of the group's 1978 album Some Girls . Like the 1972 and 1975 U.S. tours, Bill Graham was the tour promoter. One opening act was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Mick Jagger for their duet "Don't Look Back". The Outlaws backed up Peter Tosh. Another act opening was Etta James, famous for her song "At Last".
The tour used a stripped back, minimal stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76, possibly due to the emergence of the punk rock scene and its emphasis solely on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza.
Continuing a schedule started in 1966 of touring the United States exactly every three years, the Stones played in a mixture of theatres, sometimes under a pseudonym (i.e., at the start of the 1978 US Tour in Lakeland, Florida, as well as in Fort Worth on July 18, The Stones were billed on the tickets as "The London Green Shoed Cowboys [1] "), arenas, and stadiums, a practice that they would follow for many of their future tours as well. The tour was the first in which Charlie Watts used the famous Gretsch drum set that he continued to play with the Stones until his death, as well as his first employment of a China crash cymbal. The concerts featured backing vocals by Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, something that the Stones would get away from beginning with their next tour when Richards handled the majority of the backing vocals himself.
Plans were made to bring this tour to Europe, with several locations in major cities booked, but plans were scrapped for financial reasons. This broke the group's similar schedule of performing in Europe every three years, which had started in 1967. This gap-year from touring prompted Keith Richards to join Ronnie Wood on his 1979 United States solo tour, to promote his then-album Gimme Some Neck , in the process forming the band The New Barbarians.
Rock critic Robert Christgau wrote that the 1978 Tour was an improvement over the group's previous go-around, "especially when Mick [Jagger] stopped prancing long enough to pick up a guitar and get into the good new songs from Some Girls." [2] The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band's greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It meant a return to a mixture of classic Stones numbers ("Tumbling Dice", "Star Star", "Happy", "Brown Sugar", etc.) mixed with blues numbers and Chuck Berry covers ("Let it Rock and "Sweet Little Sixteen" in particular) as well as including a large number of songs from the then-newly released Some Girls LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with Ronnie Wood as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. While no live album was released immediately following this tour, a fair number of bootleg releases showcased its musical qualities – most notably the multi-show King Biscuit Flower Hour FM recording often known as "Handsome Girls". In 2011, a CD and DVD set was released of a July 1978 performance from Fort Worth, Texas entitled Some Girls: Live in Texas '78 . In addition to the complete concert, the DVD included the three songs played on the Saturday Night Live television show in October 1978. [3]
Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included Linda Ronstadt, Eddie Money, Doug Kershaw, Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins. Opening acts included Van Halen, Journey, Peter Tosh, Patti Smith, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Foreigner, Eddie Money, Kansas, Etta James, Furry Lewis, Atlanta Rhythm Section, April Wine, The Outlaws, and the Doobie Brothers.
A typical set list for the tour, with minor variations involving one or two of the numbers being omitted:
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"Miss You" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on Rolling Stones Records in May 1978. It was released as the first single one month in advance of their album Some Girls. "Miss You" was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
"Beast of Burden" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song No. 435 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"Happy" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1972 album Exile on Main St. Featuring guitarist Keith Richards on lead vocals, it was released as the second single from the album in June 1972, entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 69 on 15 July 1972 and reached No. 22 on 19 August 1972.
"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.
"Emotional Rescue" is a song by the English rock and roll band, the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and is included on their 1980 album Emotional Rescue.
"Before They Make Me Run" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls.
"Shattered" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1978 album Some Girls. The song is a reflection of American lifestyles and life in 1970s-era New York City, but also influences from the English punk rock movement can be heard. The B-side, "Everything Is Turning to Gold", was co-written with Ronnie Wood, who contributed lyrics inspired by the birth of his son.
"Respectable" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1978 album Some Girls. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In the liner notes to the 1993 compilation album Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones, Jagger said, "It's important to be somewhat influenced by what's going on around you and on the Some Girls album, I think we definitely became more aggressive because of the punk thing..."
"It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" is the lead single from English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n Roll. Writing is credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the single reached the top ten in the UK charts and top 20 in the United States.
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.
The American Tour 1981 was a concert tour by British band the Rolling Stones, promoting their album Tattoo You (1981). The tour visited stadiums and arenas in the United States, and it became the largest grossing tour of 1981 with $50 million in ticket sales. Roughly 2,5 million concert goers attended the concerts, setting various ticket sales records. The 5 December show in New Orleans set an indoor concert attendance record which stood for 33 years.
"You Got Me Rocking" is a song by English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1994 album, Voodoo Lounge. The song was released as a single in the UK in September 1994, where it reached No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also released as a single in the United States, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in 1995. A recording from the 1997–1998 Bridges to Babylon Tour opened the 1998 live album No Security. It was also included on the Stones' 2002 career retrospective, Forty Licks.
"Far Away Eyes" is the sixth track from the English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1978 album, Some Girls. It was released, as the B-side of the single "Miss You", on Rolling Stones Records, on 9 June 1978. Rolling Stone magazine made it the 73rd song on their list of 100 Greatest Rolling Stone's Songs.
"When the Whip Comes Down" is a song by the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1978 album Some Girls.
"Come On" is a song written and first released by Chuck Berry in 1961. It has been recorded in many versions by many bands since its release, most notably the Rolling Stones. "Come On" failed to chart in the US Top 100, but the B-side, "Go Go Go", reached number 38 on the UK Singles Chart.
"I Go Wild" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1994 studio album, Voodoo Lounge. Credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "I Go Wild" is largely a Jagger composition. "I Go Wild" was released as the fourth and final single from Voodoo Lounge. Following its UK release on 3 July 1995, it reached number 29 on the UK Singles Chart.
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Hyde Park Live is a live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 2013. It was recorded at Hyde Park, London on 6 and 13 July 2013 during the band's 50 and Counting Tour. The album was released exclusively as a digital download through iTunes on 22 July 2013 for a limited time of four weeks. The album debuted at No. 16 in the UK and No. 19 in the US. The same concert was later issued on DVD as Sweet Summer Sun: Live in Hyde Park.
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.