Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75 | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Tour by The Rolling Stones | ||
| Start date | 1 June 1975 | |
| End date | 8 August 1975 | |
| Legs | 1 | |
| Shows | 46 | |
| The Rolling Stones tour chronology | ||
| European Tour 1973 | Tour of the Americas '75 | Tour of Europe '76 |
The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75 was a concert tour, intended for North and South America, that took place during 1975.
Contents |
[edit] History
This was the Stones first tour with new guitarist Ron Wood, after Mick Taylor left the band. (A 14 April announcement merely said he would be playing on the tour; he was not officially named a Stone until 19 December.) Photographs published at the time showed guitarist Keith Richards standing behind or next to Wood, demonstrating to him the fingering positions for various Stones songs, as Wood had to come up to speed on the group's repertoire in a hurry.
Tour of the Americas '75 was not tied to support of any newly released material, as it began more than 7 months after the release of their last studio album at the time, It's Only Rock'n Roll; therefore the compilation album Made in the Shade was released to capitalise on the tour's publicity.
The announcement of the tour became famous in itself. At a 1 May press conference in Manhattan, the band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving down Broadway, playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of New York traffic, a gimmick that groups such as AC/DC and U2 would emulate in years to come.
The mid-1970s were the era of extravagant stage shows, from the likes of Elton John, Alice Cooper and Queen - a new format for the Stones, with their usual act freshly aided by theatrical stage props and gimmicks, including a giant inflatable phallus - nicknamed 'Tired Grandfather' by the band, since it sometimes had erectile dysfunction. This represented a further breakdown in Jagger and Richards' relationship; the pragmatic Richards considering it entirely superfluous and distracting from the music. Once again, Jagger was, if nothing else, shrewdly interpreting market trends. In addition to proposing the tour announcement idea, based on the common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates, Stones drummer Charlie Watts was responsible for the design of the lotus flower-shaped stage for the tour, facts that were touted at the time to help give visible importance to band members other than Jagger and Richards.
The tour officially began on 3 June 1975 at the Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas; however first the group played two warmup shows on 1 June at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The tour continued, playing mostly arenas in the United States and Canada including six consecutive nights at New York's Madison Square Garden and five nights at The Forum in Los Angeles, through the scheduled final North American show 2 August at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. However a planned series of dates in Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela for the balance of August was cancelled in its entirety, due to some combination of currency flunctuations and security worries regarding both fans and outside forces. Four additional U.S. dates were then adding, concluding the tour on 8 August at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Thus when all was said and done, Tour of the "Americas" was a misnomer.
The 1977 live album Love You Live partly documents this tour. The epic song "Memory Motel" on the group's 1976 album Black and Blue also describes the tour in an emotional sense.
[edit] Band members
[edit] Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger - vocals
- Keith Richards - guitar, vocals
- Bill Wyman - bass guitar
- Charlie Watts - drums
[edit] Additional musicians
- Ron Wood - guitar
- Ian Stewart - piano
- Billy Preston - keyboards, vocals
- Ollie Brown - percussion.
[edit] Set list
The most typical set list for the shows was:
Intro music: Fanfare for the Common Man
- Honky Tonk Women
- All Down The Line
- If You Can't Rock Me/Get Off Of My Cloud
- Star Star
- Gimme Shelter
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg
- You Gotta Move
- You Can't Always Get What You Want
- Happy
- Tumbling Dice
- It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It)
- Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
- Fingerprint File
- Angie
- Wild Horses
- That's Life (sung by Billy Preston)
- Outa-Space (led by Billy Preston)
- Brown Sugar
- Midnight Rambler
- Rip This Joint
- Street Fighting Man
- Jumpin' Jack Flash
- Encore: sometimes none, sometimes Sympathy for the Devil
The set was longer than on previous tours, and set list variation was a bit more frequent, with seven or eight other tunes making sporadic appearances, perhaps most notably an a cappella "Lady Jane". Otherwise, as with their 1972 American Tour, the band's pre-1968 catalog was almost completely ignored, and their signature song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" absent.
[edit] Tour dates
- 1st June: Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Dunkirk Hall (2 shows)
- 3rd June: San Antonio, Texas, Convention Center
- 6th June: Kansas City, Missouri, Arrowhead Stadium
- 8th June: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, County Stadium
- 9th June: St. Paul, Minnesota, Civic Center
- 11th June: Boston, Massachusetts, Garden
- 12th June: Boston, Massachusetts, Garden
- 14th June: Cleveland, Ohio, Municipal Stadium
- 15th June: Buffalo, New York, Memorial Auditorium
- 17th June: Toronto, Canada, Maple Leaf Gardens
- 18th June: Toronto, Canada, Maple Leaf Gardens
- 22nd June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 23rd June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 24th June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 25th June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 26th June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 27th June: New York City, New York, Madison Square Garden
- 29th June: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Spectrum Sports Arena
- 30th June: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Spectrum Sports Arena
- 1st July: Largo, Maryland, Capitol Center Arena
- 2nd July: Largo, Maryland, Capitol Center Arena
- 4th July: Memphis, Tennessee, Memorial Stadium
- 6th July: Dallas, Texas, Cotton Bowl
- 9th July: Los Angeles, California, Forum
- 10th July: Los Angeles, California, Forum
- 11th July: Los Angeles, California, Forum
- 12th July: Los Angeles, California, Forum
- 13th July: Los Angeles, California, Forum
- 15th July: San Francisco, California, Cow Palace
- 16th July: San Francisco, California, Cow Palace
- 18th July: Seattle, Washington, Center Coliseum
- 19th July: Fort Collins, Colorado, Hughes Stadium
- 23rd July: Chicago, Illinois, Stadium
- 24th July: Chicago, Illinois, Stadium
- 26th July: Bloomington, Indiana, State University Assembly Center
- 27th July: Detroit, Michigan, Cobo Hall
- 28th July: Detroit, Michigan, Cobo Hall
- 30th July: Atlanta, Georgia, The Omni Coliseum
- 31st July: Greensboro, North Carolina, War Memorial Coliseum
- 2nd August: Jacksonville, Florida, Gator Bowl
- 4th August: Louisville, Kentucky, Freedom Hall Coliseum
- 6th August: Hampton, Virginia, Coliseum
- 8th August: Buffalo, New York, Rich Stadium
[edit] References
- Carr, Roy. The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Record. Harmony Books, 1976. ISBN 0-517-52641-7
[edit] External links
- 'Rocks Off' page tour setlists
- T.O.T.A '75 The official book of the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75
