THE ROLLING STONES CHRONICLE

1986
 

I had it with you


    January 2, 1986: Keith and Patti Richards join the Woods in celebrating their first wedding anniversary at a club in
        New York City. Also, a Jamaican musician files suit against Mick Jagger, alleging his song Just Another Night is
        plagiarism.
 

    January 8, 1986: Keith Richards and Ron Wood attend the taping of U.S. TV's Late Night with David Letterman.
 

January 12, 1986: Mick Jagger & Ron Wood record a demo, Soul City, at the latter's home studio in
    New York City, later to become Peace for the Wicked on Mick's second solo album.
 

    January 18, 1986: Mick flies off again briefly to the Caribbean.
 

    January 23, 1986: Keith Richards appears as a presenter at the first annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies at
        the Waldorf Hotel in New York City, inducting Chuck Berry, then jamming onstage with Berry, Ron Wood, Neil
        Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Julian Lennon and others.
 

January 27, 1986: Keith Richards & Ron Wood fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to showcase the new
    album Dirty Work to CBS executives.
 

    January 28, 1986: Keith Richards and Ron Wood return to New York City.
 

    January 30, 1986: Keith Richards and Ron Wood hang out at Trader Vic's bar in New York City, while afterwards
        Keith Richards hangs out with Christopher Reeves and Robin Williams.
 

    January 31, 1986: Back in New York City, Mick Jagger attends Johnny Copeland's show at the Lone Star Café, along
        with Ron Wood.
 

    Early February 1986: Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts fly in to New York City to join the other Stones.
 

    February 3, 1986: Mick Jagger attends the opening of Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters in New York City.
 

February 5-7, 1986: The Rolling Stones rehearse, then tape a videoclip for Harlem Shuffle in New York
    City.
 

    February 10, 1986: Charlie Watts returns to England.
 

    February 11, 1986: Keith Richards jams with Ron Wood at the latter's house in New York City.
 
 

Keith Richards (February 1986): A solo album?

Something's been forming up in my mind over the last three months. Stuff I've been thinking of doing for years. It's sort of coming together. But I'm waiting for the little internal clock in me that says, Now!, you know. I may well do something when this Stones thing is on its way - after the record and the tour - I may do something later this year. Make a start of it anyway.


 

    February 12, 1986: Bill Wyman returns to England.
 

    February 15, 1986: Mick Jagger makes a cameo appearance on U.S. TV's Saturday Night Live.
 

    February 16, 1986: Ron Wood flies to London, England.
 

    February 18, 1986: Mick Jagger flies to London.
 

    February 19, 1986: Keith Richards flies to London.
 

February 23, 1986: The Rolling Stones perform for the first onstage in nearly 4 years, to a chosen,
    non-paying audience at the 100 Club in London, England, as a tribute to Ian Stewart. They mostly
    perform blues covers, joined by Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. Paul McCartney is
    among the audience and makes a private audio recording of the show.
 
 

Bill Wyman (1986): Playing onstage again

It made a nice jam. We hadn't played together for 4 years. We like to do small gigs once in a while for nostalgia. Playing at the 100 Club for Stu was like playing our first-ever gig..


 

February 25, 1986: The Rolling Stones appear live, televised at the Roof Garden Hotel in London,
    England, accepting via satellite a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Eric Clapton presents the
    award.
 

February 26, 1986: The Rolling Stones' lead single off their next album, Harlem Shuffle, is released.
 
 
 
 
 
 

February 26, 1986: The Rolling Stones give interviews for British and U.S. television and radio.
 
 

Mick Jagger (February 1986):Will the Rolling Stones go on tour?

There is no tour planned, that's as far as it goes. It's not even planned. If it's planned, I'll tell you about it... No (Keith and I haven't fallen out over it). We haven't even TALKED about it... Well, we haven't been getting along very well so I think - you know, we've been together doing this album for a year, so I think we'll need a little bit of time to see how things go.


 
Keith Richards (February 1986): Jagger on tour without the Stones?

If he was to go out without the Stones. I mean, it would be one thing to say he don't want to go out on the road... But if he was to say he don't want to go out with the Stones and goes out with Schmuck and Ball's band instead?... I'll slit his fuckin' throat.


 

    February 28, 1986: Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Bill Wyman attend a party thrown by Jeff Beck in London, also
        including Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton.
 

    March 1, 1986: Keith Richards and family fly to Antigua for a month-long holiday.
 

    March 3, 1986: Bill Wyman is at the Video Café in London receiving awards on behalf of Willie and the Poor Boys
        and the Rolling Stones.
 

    March 4-6, 1986: Ron Wood leaves London for New York City. Mick Jagger leaves for Barbados, spending the month
        there, where he records demos for more solo work.
 
 

Mick Jagger (March 1986): No longer nineteen

It's not like I'm 19 anymore and I just want to get this band in front of people. This band has done everything it set out to do and more. I have accomplished everything I wanted. The Rolling Stones is everything I wanted it to be and more. I'm very proud of the band and I'm kind of proud of my own achievements with the band. But I do deserve to keep myself alive by doing other things... That doesn't mean I have to leave the band.


 

    March 10, 1986: Keith Richards is interviewed for U.S. TV's Entertainment Tonight in Antigua.
 

    March 14, 1986: Ron Wood catches a Patti Labelle concert at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City.
 

    March 17, 1986: Ron Wood and family leave for a holiday in Jamaica.
 

    March 23, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra performs at London's Fulham Town Hall.
 
 

March 24, 1986: The Rolling Stones' 20th U.S. and 18th UK studio album, Dirty Work, is released.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: Not touring behind Dirty Work

Keith: Dirty Work I built pretty much on the same idea as Some Girls, in that it was made with the absolute idea that it would go on the road. So when we finished the record and then... the POWERS THAT BE - let's put it like that (laughs) - decided suddenly they AIN'T gonna go on the road behind it, the team was left in the lurch. Because if you didn't follow it up with some roadwork, you'd only done 50 percent of the job. (The album didn't do all that well because) there was no promotion behind it. As it came out, everyone sort of said, Well, they've broken up or They're not gonna work. So you got a lot of negativity behind it.

In all honesty, it was Mick decided that he could do... I don't know whether "he could do better" is the best phrase, but he felt, actually, that the Rolilng Stones were like a millstone around his neck. Which is LUDICROUS - and I told him so... He said, I don't need this bunch of old farts. Little do you know, Sunny Jim.

Mick: The Dirty Work album wasn't that good. It was OKAY. It certainly wasn't a great Rolling Stones album. The feeling inside the band was very bad, too. The relationships were terrible. The health was diabolical. I wasn't in particularly good shape. The rest of the band, they couldn't walk across the Champs Elysées, much less go on the road... Touring Dirty Work would have been a nightmare. It was a terrible period. Everyone was hating each other so much: there were so many disagreements. It was very petty; everyone was so out of their brains, and Charlie was in seriously bad shape. When the idea of touring came up, I said, I don't think it's gonna work. In retrospect I was 100% right. It would have been the worst Rolling Stones tour. Probably would have been the end of the band... 

If everything in the garden had been lovely it would have been very nice. But everthing in the garden wasn't lovely, it was fucking horrible and it would have taken a fucking amount of pruning to... Well, I just think that going on tour with the Stones the way the Stones were would have been a disaster, or a recipe of one. The band was not getting on at ALL. It was AWFUL. The graphic experience to me of a band on tour not working was the Who's last tour (1982). When I saw that it really scared me and it remained with me seeing this real kind of hatred feeling. It was shorrible, you know, Pete Townshend being in another hotel and no one speaking. That gave me a real frisson and it was then that I realised that was no way the Stones would go out because it would have been exactly the same, probably worse. It would have been just a money-making tour. It wouldn't have been a Stones TOUR, it would have been the big banana and I just couldn't face that.

We just got fed up with each other. You've got a relationship with musicians that depends on what you produce together. But when you don't produce, you get bad reactions - bands break up. You get difficult periods, and that was one of them...


 

    April 1, 1986: Keith Richards returns to New York.
 

    April 2, 1986: Keith Richards is interviewed for U.S. TV's The Today Show and confirms the Rolling Stones will not
        be touring.
 

    April 3, 1986: Keith Richards gives press interviews for Dirty Work from Rolling Stones Records offices in New York.
 

    April 6, 1986: Ron Wood returns to New York City and visits Keith Richards.
 

   April 8, 1986: Keith Richards flies back to Antigua.
 

    April 12, 1986: Mick Jagger has dinner with Daryl Hall and the Eurythmics' David Stewart in New York City.
 

    Mid-April 1986: Mick Jagger spends time in Germany.
 

    April 19-25, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra performs in Deptford, England, then at Ronnie Scott's in London.
 

    c. April 22, 1986: Mick Jagger returns to New York City, where he records the song Ruthless People, for the film of
        the same name, with Dave Stewart and Daryl Hall.
 

    April 23, 1986: Keith Richards leaves Antigua for London, England.
 

    April 25, 1986: Keith Richards watches the Charlie Watts Orchestra perform at their last night at Ronnie Scott's.
 

    April 27, 1986: Ron Wood and Mick Jagger leave New York City for London, England. Mick records the solo track I'm
        Ringing with Jeff Beck.
 

May 1-2, 1986: The Rolling Stones gather for the last time in two years, filming a videoclip for One Hit
    (to the Body) in Hertfordshire, England.
 
 

Mick Jagger (1987): Why did the Rolling Stones "end"?

I can't be specific. I CAN'T. I don't think I HAVE to, really. It's just that friction builds up over the years. It's like a marriage but I don't want to talk about the what, why and wherefore of me and Keith's marriage and sort of say, Oh, it was awful, he used to leave his dirty knickers all over the living room floor, that kind of thing. It's just that friction builds up and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. It became impossible to run the band the state they were worked up into. I didn't really know WHY they were so worked up, but I think a lot of it was just having too much of a good thing. It was all a bit knackered and I was the one who had to hold it all together and I just lost patience with everybody, it's as simple as that. I just could not deal with them anymore. It was like: don't expect me to pick up the pieces again and put everyone together again and make it whole because I can't be bothered anymore. You have to read between the lines a bit, I'm afraid, but it does come down to two people flying off the handle.


 

    May 1986: Mick Jagger leaves London for France. Keith Richards spends the month in England.
 

    May 4, 1986: Bill Wyman and Ron Wood visit Keith Richards' home in London, where they discuss the band.
 

    May 10, 1986: Ron Wood returns to New York City from England.
 

    May 21, 1986: Ron Wood flies to Miami, Florida, to guest on TV actor Don Johnson's album.
 

May 25, 1986: In a BBC radio interview, Keith Richards confirms the Rolling Stones will not be touring
    this year.
 
 

Keith Richards (May 1986): The lingering shock of Stu's death

It's difficult to do anything at the moment, let alone tour. I was talking to Charlie the other day and he's still waiting for Stu to come bouncing through the door. It hasn't sunk in all the way yet. We're all so used to seeing him then not seeing him for a few months that it just feels like a gap right now. I guess we'll have to get used to it eventually. For the band it was a big wallop and as I say, we're still in semi-shock.


 

    May 28, 1986: Ron Wood attends a party at the Hard Rock Café in New York City with Michael J. Fox.
 

    June 1, 1986: Ron Wood celebrates his 39th birthday at his home in New York City, jamming with Don Covay,
        ex-Clash Mick Jones and Paul Schaffer.
 

    Early June 1986: Keith and Patti Richards travel back to New York City on the Queen Elizabeth II.
 

    June 2-4, 1986: Ron Wood and other musicians rehearse for an all-star rock and roll show in New Orleans.
 

    June 5, 1986: Ron Wood takes part in an all-star rock concert in New Orleans, with Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles,
        Fats Domino and others. At or near this date, Mick Jagger attends the birthday party of businessman and noble
        Johannes von Thurn und Taxis at St. Emmeran castle in Regensburg, West Germany.

 

    June 6-7, 1986: Keith Richards joins Chuck Berry onstage at a blues festival in Chicago, as well as Dr. John and
        Junior Wells.
 

    June 8, 1986: Keith Richards joins Etta James onstage in Los Angeles.
 

    June 11, 1986: Keith Richards is interviewed and performs, backed by Paul Schaffer and a bassist, for U.S. TV's
        Friday Night Videos at studios in New York City, following which he leaves New York City for London, England.
        In Memphis, Ron Wood makes a video, and jams with, Jerry Lee Lewis.
 

    June 13-16, 1986: Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall attend billionaire Malcolm Forbes' house party at his castle in
        Normandy, France.
 

    June 17, 1986: Mick Jagger flies from France to London, England.
 

    June 20, 1986: Mick Jagger makes his second solo live performance, appearing onstage with David Bowie at
        Wembley Arena in London, England, for the annual Prince of Wales Trust Concert.
 

    June 21, 1986: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, along with David Bowie, attend film director Julien Temple's
        wedding in London.
 

    June 25, 1986: Ron Wood and Chuck Berry perform together at The Ritz in New York City. Charlie Watts flies in and
        catches the show, along with Andrew Oldham.
 

    Early July 1986: In London, Keith Richards visits Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton.
 

    July 2, 1986: Charlie Watts attends the party thrown by Mick Jagger for Jerry Hall's birthday at their London home,
        along with David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Michael Caine and others.
 

    July 3, 1986: Ron Wood leaves New York City for London, England.
 

    July 5, 1986: Keith Richards flies back from London to New York City. In London, at Wembley Stadium, Ron Wood
        and Bill Wyman take part in a Faces reunion concert.
 

    July 6, 1986: Ron Wood returns to New York City from London.
 

    July 7-8, 1986: In Detroit, Keith Richards produces, and plays on, along with Ron Wood, Aretha Franklin's remake
        of Jumpin' Jack Flash.
 
 

Keith Richards (1988): Recording with Aretha

Aretha Franklin asked me to do Jumpin' Jack Flash with her. And I thought, I know the tune! This gig shouldn't be too difficult! I think I remember the chords to that one!... The thing with Aretha was great, I really enjoyed doing it. The amazing thing about Aretha is this voice, which is almost like a national monument in America, and when she sings, she's chain-smoking. Dionne Warwick's another one who just literally lights the new one with the old one. And they've both got these voices! Maybe I should smoke more!


 

    July 9, 1986: Still in Detroit, Keith Richards and Ron Wood take part in the filming of the videoclip for Aretha
        Franklin's Jumpin' Jack Flash.
 

    July 10, 1986: Keith Richards and Ron Wood return to New York City from Detroit.
 

    July 12-13, 1986: Keith Richards spends time with Chuck Berry in St. Louis, discussing the upcoming Berry film
        project. Keith joins Berry onstage at a club show.
 

    July 14, 1986: Keith Richards returns to New York City, to his new home in Greenwich Village where Patti is
        expecting their second child.
 

    July 15-17, 1986: Ron Wood joins Bob Dylan and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers for three concerts at New York City's
        Madison Square Garden.
 

    July 17, 1986: Bill Wyman breaks up with Mandy Smith over the telephone on her sixteenth birthday.
 

    July 19, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra performs in London's Richmond Theatre, while in New York City Ron
        Wood jams onstage with ex-Howlin' Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin.
 

    July 21, 1986: Mick Jagger's solo single Ruthless People is released.
 

    July 23, 1986: Keith Richards mixes Aretha Franklin's Jumpin' Jack Flash in New York City. Bill Wyman heads to
        Paris for a week with a new girlfriend.
 

    July 24, 1986: Mick Jagger attends a party at London's Hard Rock Café for the knighthood of Bob Geldof.
 

    July 26, 1986: Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Sting and Nick Rhodes attend Mick Jagger's 43rd birthday party at his
        home in London.
 

    July 28, 1986: Keith and Patti Richards' second daughter, Alexandra, is born in New York City.
 

    July 30, 1986: Ron and Jo Wood leave New York and the United States permanently to resettle in England. Keith
        Richards is in Los Angeles to discuss the Chuck Berry film project.
 

    July 31, 1986: Keith Richards leaves for Jamaica for the rest of the summer. Mick Jagger arrives back in New York
        from England.
 

    August 2, 1986: Mick Jagger and David Bowie attend Prince's concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
 

    August 2-3, 1986: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards attend Prince after-show parties in New York Cityy.


    August 3, 1986: Bill Wyman's two-year relationship with minor Mandy Smith is revealed to the press and makes
        headline news. He is forced to remain in France for two months to avoid charges in Great Britain.

    August 3-8, 1986: Mick Jagger and David Bowie spend time in New York together, making plans for a film project.
 

    August 9, 1986: Mick Jagger returns to his home in France.
 

    August 12-14, 1986: Ron Wood jams with Prince at a party in London, then joins him onstage for Miss You at
        Wembley Arena.
 

    August 22-25, 1986: Chuck Berry, along with ex-Clash Mick Jones, visit and jam with Keith Richards in Jamaica.
 

    August 27-28, 1986: Ron Wood records with Bob Dylan in London, England.
 

    Early September 1986: Mick Jagger returns to New York City.
 

    September 8-9, 1986: In New York, Mick Jagger attends a Eurythmics concerts, then celebrates Dave Stewart's
        birthday.
 

    September 11, 1986: Mick Jagger attends another Malcolm Forbes party aboard a yacht in the Hudson River.
 

    September 14, 1986: Elton John visits Mick Jagger at his New York home, after which Mick catches John's Madison
        Square Garden concert. Charlie Watts arrives in New York City to promote the upcoming Charlie Watts Orchestra
        album and concerts.
 

    September 15, 1986: Keith Richards returns to New York City from Jamaica. Mick Jagger flies to Los Angeles to
        discuss his next solo album with Dave Stewart.
 

    September 16-18, 1986: Keith Richards is in St. Louis, rehearsing with Chuck Berry and other musicians for the
        upcoming filmed concerts.
 
 

Keith Richards: Putting new bands together

The whole process of putting those bands together for Aretha and Chuck made me suddenly realize that I did have this ability that I never knew I had 'cause I'd never had to use it, to put certain guys together in the right situation and create a band. That if you gave me the right guys, in ten days I could give you a band that sounded as if they'd been together for two or three years.


 

    September 17, 1986: Charlie Watts flies down to Barbados for a holiday.
 

    September 19-20, 1986: Keith Richards returns to New York City, then flies back down to Jamaica. Ron Wood is
        shooting with Bob Dylan in London for the movie Hearts of Fire.
 

    September 26, 1986: Mick Jagger's film Running Out of Luck (videoclips for the She's The Boss album) is released
        on videotape.
 

    Late September 1986: Mick Jagger starts work on his next solo album in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
 

    September 28, 1986: Bill Wyman returns to England and learns he will not be prosecuted for his relationship with
        Mandy Smith.
 

    Early October-October 14, 1986: Keith Richards rehearses with Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton and other musicians for
        the Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll concert and movie.
 

    October 15-16, 1986: Keith Richards directs, and performs on, Chuck Berry's concerts St. Louis' Fox Theater.
 
 

Keith Richards: Directing Chuck

I played the straight man out of necessity. My job was to get both Chuck and the band together, even though I was dying to turn around and let him have it... Most of the band, the guys behind me, are going, Keith in this situation is going to pull out the blade and just slit the motherfucker's throat. I'm biting bullets because I'm trying to show the band that, in order to get this gig together, I am going to take some shit that I wouldn't take from anybody. I'm not gonna let Chuck get to me that much. Whereas anybody else, it would have been toilet time. Nobody can touch me in  that way. In the film you can see me chewin'. I'm on the edge. At any moment I coud have turned around and downed the motherfucker. But Chuck doesn't understand 'cause he doesn't deal with people. He's the only guy who's hit me and I haven't done anything about it. Far worse things have happened to me in my life than Chuck Berry trying to fuck with me.

I've done what I wanted for him. I think it's the best Chuck Berry live you're ever going to get. I can't see him doing it again. It's good. We both came out of it with a bit more respect for one another. Now I'm going to sleep for a month.


 

    October 17, 1986: Keith Richards returns to Jamaica.
 

    October 24, 1986: Bill Wyman celebrates his 50th birthday.
 

    Late October-early November 1986: Mick Jagger continues early recording sessions for his second solo album at
        S.I.R Studios in New York City, with Jeff Beck.
 

    October 31, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra performs in West Berlin.
 
 

Ron Wood (November 1986):The Stones breaking up?

We can't break up. We've got more albums to deliver.


 

    November 13, 1986: Mick Jagger and David Bowie discuss projects in New York City.
 

    November 15, 1986: Mick Jagger leaves New York City for The Netherlands.
 

    November 17-December 18, 1986: Mick Jagger starts proper recording sessions for Primitive Cool in Hilversum, The
        Netherlands.
 

    November 21, 1986: Keith Richards arrives in New York City from Jamaica. He joins Robert Cray onstage at The
        Bottom Line.
 

    November 23, 1986: Keith Richards jams with Eric Clapton onstage at The Ritz in New York City.
 

    November 27, 1986: Keith Richards flies back down to Jamaica.
 

    November 29-December 7, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra tours North America, performing in Hartford,
        Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Toronto.
 
 

Charlie Watts: Jazz and cleaning up

The jazz orchestra was a good band in the end - during the period we were playing I had cleaned up, so the first phase was completely barmy and the second phase was totally straight: it was the first band I had played with for years where I was completely straight.

I would have died if I had continued using drugs... I just stopped everything. I barely ate for two months, because I'd started to get fat from the drinking... (D)rugs are very hard to give up. For me, anyway. I didn't even take that many. I wasn't that badly affected, I wasn't a junkie, but giving up was very, very hard. Much, much harder than the rest of it... (I stopped when) I slipped down the steps when I was in the cellar getting a bottle of wine...  (I)t really brought it home to me how far down I'd gone. I just stopped everything - drinking, smoking, taking drugs, everything, all at once. I just thought, enough is enough.


 

    December 1986: Ron Wood holds recording sessions at his home studio in Wimbledon, England, along with Bobby
        Womack.
 

    December 1, 1986: The Charlie Watts Orchestra album Live At Fulham Town Hall is released.
 

    December 3, 1986: Keith Richards returns to New York City from Jamaica.
 

    December 4, 1986: Keith Richards watches the Charlie Watts Orchestra perform at The Ritz in New York.
 

    December 5, 1986: Keith Richards holds meetings to discuss a future solo album deal.
 

    December 6, 1986: Keith Richards returns to Jamaica.
 

    December 19, 1986: Mick Jagger heads to the island of Mustique to spend the holidays. Keith Richards returns to
        New York City, the day after his birthday.
 

    December 22, 1986: Keith Richards joins the Neville Brothers in the recording studio in New York City.
 

    December 28, 1986: Keith Richards joins Mick Taylor onstage at the Lone Star Café in New York City, performing
       Key to the Highway and Can't You Hear Me Knocking?.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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