Wild things that happened during the stones 1972 summer tour. a VERY interesting thread
On June 3rd, 1972 The Rolling Stones embarked on a significant American summer tour. It was important since it was their first return back to the US since the Altamont tragedy and everyone in America was eager for their return
The tour was to support the album the stones released in May a month earlier Exile On Main Street.
BUT THE TOUR IS NOT ONLY KNOWN FOR THAT. According to critics and close people who worked with the stones, this was the most craziest raunchiest tour the stones ever did
BUT THE TOUR IS NOT ONLY KNOWN FOR THAT. According to critics and close people who worked with the stones, this was the most craziest raunchiest tour the stones ever did
The tour was so heavily publicized and controversial that a book and two movies was made abt the tour....one being nearly two hour long unreleased documentary and another a concert film. it also gave origin to the common catchphrase, “Sex, Dr*gs and Rock n Roll.”
A lot of crazy shit has happened during this tour and I’ll officially kick this thread off with the story when the stones went to stay at the playboy mansion for a few days that were obviously hectic....get your snacks and drinks
So while staying at the playboy mansion, Keith and saxophone player Bobby Keys (RIP) were in the mansion’s bathroom doing....yeah. This quickly backfired literally when a fire broke out in the bathroom, and the two weren’t even bothered by it until people broke in to put fire out
Luckily it was their last day being in the mansion because the stones had to leave Chicago later that night so they were off the hook I guess. the next story that happened in the mansion was when their crazy ass manager broke into Mick’s room and yelled that he wanted his room—
So he can do very unholy things to a playboy bunny but Mick refused and gave him the keys to use his other room upstairs while also saying to the anonymous girl who was with Marshall that he’ll...do something to her later.
There’s also some awkward conversation that mick has with a girl named Lisa....I’m assuming that were finished sleeping together before Marshall stormed in. Mick was married to Bianca around this time btw
and also a short tale abt a guy who made his lip bl**d bc of mick

The third story centers around Stevie Wonder, who was the big opening act for the stones. Around this time Stevie was everywhere and everyone who went to a stones concert during the summer 1972 tour went crazy for Stevie whenever he opened. But the story I’m abt to tell will—
Make you a bit annoyed with Stevie, Mick and Keith, but let’s get into it so BOOM one night when the stones were going to perform in Houston, TX, Stevie suddenly doesn’t appear to open the band due to him missing only ONE musician. Keith obviously loses his shit and a lot of—
Ppl were surprised by Micks hostile and aggressive reaction (“Fire em, Fire the whole band.”) since he was known to have the most patience when it comes to situations like this. Their road manager Peter Rudge obviously loses his shit and tried to contact Stevie’s team.
Keith and Micks reaction to Stevie dipping on them was reasonable but IMO it wasn’t necessary to fire everyone who was associated and worked with Stevie, especially since HE helped the stones to gravitate towards the black audience. And Stevie’s reason for leaving everyone—
Behind is REALLL petty and he could’ve survived the night performing with one musician missing instead of leaving everyone behind and making everyone look dumb but N E WAYS Stevie came back and everyone went back being friends again

Truman Capote was assigned to write an article regarding the crazy shit that went down in the 1972 tour. The article never happened which leads us to our FOURTH STORY on why the stones nature made him not publish anything!
PHEE sorry for that hour interruption but anyways..
Most people view the stones image as rebellious anti-establishment and flat out chaotic, which many teenagers of the 60s and 70s loved and admired. That all changed however when Mick married Bianca in 1971 and he elevated to high european society and became a beloved socialite
An outcome from this was high class stuck up eurotrash white people who followed the stones around the 1972 tour such as Ahmet Etergun Lee Radzkill Jackie kennedy and most noticeably Truman Capote
Truman's lifestyle was much more different from The stones lifestyle and obviously he clashed with Keith A LOT. Truman's egocentric stuck up demeanor bothered Keith to the point where he knocked on his hotel door room and splattered ketchup on his door
Capote was also not the fan of the stones separate personalities, calling Mick Jagger, "hes as sexy as a pissing toad," and arrogant and called Mick Taylor boring and uninteresting. Mick J clapped back by stating Capote wasn't funny at all and nobody laughed at his jokes. Sad.
As a result from the hectic lifestyle and Keith's threats he eventually left the tour, he only wrote a few anecdotes abt the tour before deciding to abandon the project all together and never saw the stones again he died in 1984 very sad
The FIFTH STORY from the tour has to be the most infamous and well known; Mick and Keith's arrest in New York here is how it went down

While everyone who worked on the tour waited at the airport in Rhode Island, a very annoying ass photographer named Andy Dyckerman pops out of nowhere and bothers the security to take pictures of the stones. Below is what happened next.

The photographer, being childish was sprinting back and forth trying to get a picture of Mick who was hiding behind then tour assistant Chris O’Dell. Then Keith appears, and photographer TRIED! to hassle him and he nearly got himself smacked by Keith which pissed off the sergeant
And immediately came for Keith, and mick quickly reacted by teasing and being an asshole to the officers (as he should ) which led to him behind arrested as well. They also arrested Robert Frank, who was making the movie abt the 1972 tour
As a result from this, the audience was waiting for the stones for TWO HOURS and Stevie Wonder had to perform overtime. The crowd was getting hectic and quickly became impatient, so much to the point where the mayor had to go down to the concert and calm everyone down
He was immediately teased and booed by the predominantly teenage and young adult audience
meanwhile back in jail mick and Keith were literally talking to other convicted criminals and signing autographs like it was nothing

After being in jail and missing out A LOT of stage time, everyone was bailed out by the road manager Peter Rudge. By then, a big crowd was formed outside the cop station to see Mick and Keith and it became so crazy that they had to sneak out through the stations basement
The stones finally perform around midnight and ends the show after 2 in the morning and it was a concert the young kids will remember and tell their kids and grandkids and great gran kids all the time :D
Now the sixth story and probably the final story of this thread was when the security guards nearly clashed with the stones team and....it’s kinda juicy and long so get comfortable
So this is how it all went down. Keith was in a hotel room full of dr*g dealing teenagers and some women until a drunk cop breaks in the room tells everyone to get out. As everyone left, Keith’s close “friend” named Flex, points him out the teenage dealers, as a way to make—
Sure Keith stays away from them. But out of curiosity Keith checked them out. Those dumbass kids blew and ruined their chance to be friends with Keith by saying they’re crooks and basically scamming ppl out of their money which instantly turns Keith off and he leaves them behind—
Flex tells the stones black bodyguard Leroy and their black baggage man Willie that he’s going to deal with the dealer kids who are basically putting everyone in trouble, and Flex confronts them with two big men standing behind him and tells them why they know where the stones—.
Are heading too and why they’re following the whole team around. As this was happening, Willie goes tell Peter Rudge, the road manager, that there’s a bunch of dr*g dealing kids who were following everyone around, and Rudge responded by sending local cops and telling Leroy to—
To throw their luggage outside the lobby and warns the kids to stay far away from the stones and their team.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING THOUGH. REAL DRAMA started as a result from this incident, and shut escalated when the stones team hired a new black bodyguard after hearing abt the drug dealing kids following everyone around the tour. Willie, who was very sus abt flex’s energy and—
His strong bad influence on Keith, tells the new bodyguard that he wants flex gone. The new guard and Willie discuss plans to get flex the fuck out of the tour, since he was doing absolutely nothing but clinging on to Keith, Robert Frank and dr*g dealing friends.
They made a sneaky plan to set Flex up by the new bodyguard telling Willie to bring flex to his room, in which flex agrees. Willie brings flex to his room and the next thing he knew, he was getting whooped and punched and beaten by the new bodyguard, after placing a pistol on—
Flex’s temple. After getting beat up by the new bodyguard, Willie, being petty, tells him that it’s better for him to leave, which happened next day. Flex was gone!
Frank, who silently witnessed the whole thing, went and told the doctor ( for Keith ) about the whole incident, and the doctor calls the airport frantically trying to get Flex. Flex finally answers by saying he was beaten up and he can’t come back
The doctor tells Keith abt flex’s sudden departure and Keith goes insane and screams at Willie if he knew anything about what happened with Flex. Willie, being a sneaky rat, lied and said he doesn’t know what Keith is talking about.
Keith kept bugging everyone on the tour out, frantically asking about what happened to flex, but he predominantly bothered Willie the most and threatened that no band in England would work with him again if he didn’t tell him what happened with Flex.
Willie claps back and says he doesn’t give a shit abt his threats and carries on about his day pretending to be unbothered. Meanwhile, Flex was picked up by the road manager Peter Rudge who flown out earlier to find Flex, who was in terrible condition from injuries he got—