Synopses & Reviews
Although they did not know it then, when the Rolling Stones embarked on their farewell tour of Great Britain in March 1971 after having announced they were about to go into tax exile in the south of France, it was the end of an era. For the Stones, nothing would ever be the same again.
For ten days on that tour, the Rolling Stones traveled by train and bus to play two shows a night in many of the same small town halls and theaters where they had begun their career. Performing brand new songs like "Bitch," "Brown Sugar," "Wild Horses," and "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" from their as-yet-unreleased album Sticky Fingers live on stage for the very first time, they also played classics like "Midnight Rambler," "Honky Tonk Women," "Satisfaction," "Street Fighting Man," and Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie" and "Let It Rock."
Because only one journalistand#151;Robert Greenfieldand#151;was allowed to accompany the Stones on this tour, there has never before been a full-length account of the landmark event that marked the end of the first chapter of the Rolling Stones' extraordinary career.
In a larger sense, Ain't It Time We Said Goodbye is the story of two artists on the precipice. For Mick Jagger and Ketih Richards, as well as those who traveled with them, the Rolling Stones' farewell tour of England was the end of the innocence. No laminates. No backstage passes. No security. No sound checks and no rehearsals. Just the Rolling Stones on the road playing rock 'n' roll the way it was truly meant to be seen and heard.
Based on Greenfield's first-hand account as well as new interviews with many of the key players, Ain't It Time We Said Goodbye is a vibrant and thrilling look at the way it once was and would never be again in the world according to the Rolling Stones.
Review
Kirkus Reviews, 4/15/14
and#147;Perhaps the main value of this bookand#133;is the difference between the rock life then and nowand#133;A book about one of the most interesting eras in the bandand#8217;s history.and#8221;
Synopsis
Although they didn't know it then, when the Rolling Stones embarked on their farewell tour of England in March, 1971, having announced they were about to go into tax exile in the south of France, it was the end of an era. For the Stones, nothing would ever be the same again.
Synopsis
For ten days in March 1971, the Rolling Stones traveled by train and bus to play two shows a night in many of the small theaters and town halls where their careers began. No backstage passes. No security. No sound checks or rehearsals. And only one journalist allowed. That journalist now delivers a full-length account of this landmark event, which marked the end of the first chapter of the Stones extraordinary career.
Aint It Time We Said Goodbye is also the story of two artists on the precipice of mega stardom, power, and destruction. For Mick and Keith, and all those who traveled with them, the farewell tour of England was the end of the innocence.
Based on Robert Greenfields first-hand account and new interviews with many of the key players, this is a vibrant, thrilling look at the way it once was for the Rolling Stones and their fans—and the way it would never be again.
Synopsis
An inside account of the Rolling Stones' farewell tour of Great Britain in 1971
About the Author
Robert Greenfield, a former Associate Editor of the London bureau of
Rolling Stone magazine, has been published in eight different anthologies. His short fiction has appeared in
Esquire,
GQ, and
Playboy magazines.
STP: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones has been re-published three times in England as well as in America by Da Capo Press in a thirtieth anniversary edition.
A long time member of the Writer's Guild, Greenfield has taught English at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California; film at Chapman College in Monterey, California; and served as an Adjunct Professor of Composition and Literature at the University of San Francisco. He lives in California.