Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones' inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1968. He lived with them throughout their 1969 tour across the United States, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway—a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation's dreams of peace and freedom. But while this book renders in fine detail the entire history of the Stones, paying special attention to the tragedy of Brian Jones, it is about much more than a writer and a rock band. It has been called—by Harold Brodkey and Robert Stone, among others—the best book ever written about the 1960s. In Booth's afterword, he finally explains why it took him 15 years to write the book, relating an astonishing story of drugs, jails, and disasters. Updated to include a foreword by Greil Marcus, this 30th anniversary edition is for Rolling Stones fans everywhere.

Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones' inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1968. He lived with them throughout their 1969 American tour, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway--a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation's dreams of peace and freedom. But while this book renders in fine detail the entire history of the Stones, paying special attention to the tragedy of Brian Jones, it is about much more than a writer and a rock band. It has been called--by Harold Brodkey and Robert Stone, among others--the best book ever written about the sixties. In Booth's new afterword, he finally explains why it took him 15 years to write the book, relating an astonishing story of drugs, jails, and disasters.

At age sixteen, Bill German began publishing a Rolling Stones fanzine out of his bedroom in Brooklyn. And when he presented an issue to the band on a street in New York, he obviously made an impression: before he knew it, the Stones had hired him to document their career, inviting him in to the studio and to their private jam sessions. He traveled the world with them, stayed at their homes, and, for almost two decades, witnessed their wild parties and nasty feuds. Yet through it all, he never lost his identity as that “nice boy from Brooklyn.” Under Their Thumb is a fish-out-of-water tale about a fan who wanted to know everything about his favorite rock group—and suddenly learned too much. This updated edition, published to mark the Stones’ sixtieth anniversary, features forty new pages of text and more than thirty never-before-seen photos.

"One of the greatest rock books ever written." -- GQ Thirty years ago, the Rolling Stones swept America, taking Exile on Main Street to Main Streets across the nation. Everyone held their breath to see what would happen; the Stones' previous U.S. tour had been a chaotic circus culminating in the infamous death of a fan at Altamont. And this tour (the "Stones Touring Party") was rumored to be wilder than ever: bigger shows in major arenas, with a far larger entourage and even more drugs. Robert Greenfield went along for the ride, and came away with a riveting insider's account, called by Ian Rankin "one of the greatest rock books ever written." The reality lived up to the rumor: take one part Lee Radziwill, a dash of Truman Capote, set the scene at Hef's Playboy mansion, and toss in the county jail for good measure. That was the Stones Touring Party, the ultimate rock 'n' roll band at the height of its spectacular depravity.

This insider's account of the lives of Brian Jones, Keith Richard, and Mick Jagger in the sixties and seventies has become legendary in the years since its first publication in 1979. Tony Sanchez worked for Keith Richard for eight years - buying drugs, running errands, and orchestrating cheap thrills - and he records unforgettable accounts of the Stones' perilous misadventures: racing cars along the Cote d'Azur; murder at Altamont; nostalgic nights with the Beatles at the Stones-owned nightclub Vesuvio; frantic flights to Switzerland for blood changes; and the steady stream of women, including Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, and Bianca Jagger. Here the Stones as never seen before, cavorting around the world, smashing Bentleys, working black magic, getting raided, having children, snorting coke, and mainlining heroin. Sanchez tells the whole truth, sparing not even himself in the process. With hard-hitting prose and candid photographs, he creates an invaluable primary source for anyone interested in the world's most famous rock and roll band.

Here's the inside story: the history of the Rolling Stones - according to the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood have come together for this remarkable project. They've also opened up their personal and band archives to include many rare and intimate images that are interwoven with the text. The book gets right to the heart of what makes the Stones the Stones, as musicians, songwriters, performers, and colleagues. They describe how their music has evolved and how it has affected and changed their lives. They also reveal, with refreshing frankness, how their own lives have helped, or hindered, their music-making. The Stones' own words - insightful, funny, poignant, surprising, and above all, completely authentic - are complemented by insider reflections from key players in their story over the years such as Ahmet Ertegun, David Bailey, and Cameron Crowe. A comprehensive reference section including discography, and chronology, studded with the Stones' personal comments on the music and memories, completes this must-read volume. Here, in their own words and images, is the life and work of a band which has played the soundtrack of our lives for the last forty years.

The longtime bass player for the Rolling Stones combines firsthand reminiscences with personal memorabilia to provide an insider's look at four decades or rock 'n' roll history.