One of the longest-running acts in the history of entertainment arrives tonight at the Mellon Arena.
No, it's not the Ice Capades, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus or those insufferable "Friends."
Ladies and gentlemen ... the Rolling Stones.
Yes, that scruffy band of English mop-tops is coming to town again, light years removed from their initial visit to Pittsburgh at the West View Danceland on June 17, 1964.
To put that in perspective, back then most homes had black-and-white TVs; the Civil Rights Act had just been passed; the Pirates were playing at Forbes Field; and the average price of a single-family home was $18,900.
Of course, the band members are no longer scruffy or mop-tops. Since the group debuted as the Rollin' Stones in 1962, the act has become one of those cultural touchstones by which lives are measured. If you're a fan, chances are you can remember what your life was like when you heard "Waiting on a Friend" from the last essential Stones album, "Tattoo You," in 1981. Or how you felt when Bill Wyman decided to lay down his bass in 1993. Or what you were doing when any of Keith Richards' drug busts were announced.
Longevity also has brought financial success. Fortune magazine estimates the band has generated more than $1.5 billion in gross revenue since 1989. It seems Michael Phillip Jagger's tenure at the prestigious London School of Economics was time well spent.
More impressive than the Stones' wealth is the band members' ongoing charisma. Sure, Jagger and Richards have creases on their faces deeper than the Grand Canyon. Ronnie Wood looks like a character from one of Anne Rice's vampire novels. And Charlie Watts has the demeanor of a distinguished English nobleman, not one of the best rock drummers ever.
But like the Dylan Thomas poem, they do not go gentle into that good night.
At an age when most people are planning for retirement, the Stones are in the midst of a world tour. Jagger, at 59, still struts around onstage like a man half his age. Richards, 59, and Wood, 55, slash and burn their way through some of the most memorable riffs ever heard in rock music. Watts, 61, is the epitome of cool behind his drum kit. The music still is dangerous, anarchistic and full of the bravado that has served them so well for decades.
Too old? Hardly. After all, they weren't the ones who sang "Hope I die before I get old" - that was the Who. The Stones' commentary on age always was "Time is on My Side."
Seems like it still is.
With Ryan Adams
7:30 p.m. today
$50, $90 and $150
Mellon Arena, Uptown
(412) 323-1919
Anyone who has ever picked up a guitar has messed around with a Rolling Stones song, whether playing a few chords of "Brown Sugar" or trying to follow Keith Richards' loopy chords on "Happy" or "Before They Make Me Run."
Here's what some area musicians and fans have to say about their favorite Rolling Stones songs and albums.
Eric Graf, Boxstep: For me, the Stones really had two amazing periods. First, the mid-'60s period where the greatest rock 'n' roll singles were ever recorded and then again in the late '60s, where the aesthetic is more what we call classic rock. So, from the first period, I'm going with "The Last Time." It's just an amazing single and hook. I know "Satisfaction" is more memorable, but I just love this song. From the late 60s, I'm going with "Street Fighting Man" from "Beggar's Banquet," just an incredible record. I read somewhere that there are no electric guitars on this recording, just acoustic guitars and a sitar. Those opening strums and Mick's reverbed vocals on the first verse leap off the record player.
Tom Moran, The Deliberate Strangers: As an impressionable 12-year-old in 1969, the first album that I bought was "Through The Past Darkly, Greatest Hits, Vol. 2." I came home from school one day and found that my mother did me the favor of returning it to the store for me because there were no 'happy songs' on the entire record. Wouldn't I rather have a nice Beatles record? No. Being impressionable, this episode made a lasting impression on me. But what can a poor boy do 'cept to sing for a rock and roll band?
Danny Stag, Kingdom Come: "Satisfaction." The very first song I ever attempted to play, at age 10, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was playing with the guitar lying flat on my lap, and I was using only my thumbs! When I managed to play the familiar opening riff, I was hooked on guitar.
Joe Grushecky, the Houserockers: The Stones are one of my all-time faves, and picking just one song is almost impossible. That said, the two prototypes today for me are Keith's great opening G guitar style, flat-out swinging rhythm section, great lead lines, lyrics, singing, classic harmonies, swaggering sax in "Brown Sugar" and "Honky Tonk Women."
Mitch Jordan, Brattleboro Blues Band: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." The first "jamming" song I ever heard. I love that saxophone, then the guitar comes in soft and smooth with all that reverb, and the song takes off into a great solo. "Miss You." This is a great fusion of blues, rock and disco. Girls love to dance to it, and guys like to listen to it. "Beast of Burden." Just a good song about love and with a touch of reggae added in.
Ernie Hawkins, blues musician: "The Prodigal Son." It's a Robert Wilkins tune from "Beggar's Banquet," and it just shows they really had a feeling for the blues. It goes straight to the heart of that. A lot of people I meet on my journey still think the blues came from the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. The Stones really brought the blues over here to people, and they did it so beautifully. They rocked out and couldn't have done it better.
Poppa John Tucker, Sodajerk: "Undercover of the Night." It's a great rock song for them, and I still have the 7-inch version on vinyl. It's such an odd song, and a pretty heavy song, for the Stones.
Chuck Kinder, author: "Street Fighting Man" was the Stones' single that hit me most personally. After I had failed miserably at being a flower child back in San Francisco in the early '70s (I was way too redneck for that peace and love business!), I became a revolutionary. I didn't have a political bone in my body, but all the most ravishing albeit hairy underarm chicks were hippy-cum-commies. We would blast "Street Fighting Man" over and over ... to get into a proper revolutionary fervor.
Kevin Finn, solo musician: "Wild Horses." The weird thing was I liked the Flying Burrito Brothers version of it first. Then, when I was a freshman in high school, I started listening to the Stones' version on "Hot Rocks." It's just a pretty good song.
Bill Toms, Hard Rain, the Houserockers: "Rocks Off." Can't beat that guitar sound.
Fran Rifugiato, Strange Brew: I am seriously into the Stones, and my favorite songs change every few days. So they are "Satisfaction," "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll," "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," "Stray Cat Blues" and "Jumping Jack Flash," in no particular order.
Marco Cardamone, owner, Club Cafe: "Angie." My dad's mom's name was Angie, and that song reminded me of her. It's also the first name of one of my current favorite musical artists, Angie Aparo, so it has old and new relevance. "Wild Horses." A great ballad-like tune, not too typical stylistically for the Stones, but proof of their versatility. "Ruby Tuesday." I love the sonic and the hook. Lyrically a little obscure, but a great song nonetheless. "Honky Tonk Woman": Classic Stones. "Paint It Black": another classic Stones song, full of attitude and sonic sensations.
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