Stones in Exile Page #2

looking after his kid, Marlon.

No one knew the Stones

in the South of France,

so that they were

able to act and live normally.

We'd go to the zoo,

we would go to the beach.

In the afternoon,

Anita would look after Marlon,

and Keith would play music.

Every morning it would be the same.

It was a normal way of life.

We've been seeing a lot

in the music papers over here,

some pictures of you and

a very beautiful lady called Bianca.

- I believe.

- Yeah.

And all those rumours,

that you must have read about,

anything to say about them?

- No.

- In a word!

Not really.

What can I say,

but rumours, rumours...

Mick Jagger came to St Tropez

for a quiet wedding.

It's been chaotic and it's brought the town

to a standstill.

We knew they was getting married,

and we kind of knew the date,

we were thinking,

"Well, it's on on Saturday,

"and Mick hasn't mentioned it.

"Maybe we'd better

buy him a wedding present."

Then Mick called up

the day before the wedding

and said, "Hi, Bill. I'd like to invite you

to our wedding reception."

And I said, "OK. Thanks."

So, it was a bit strange.

- You can stop taking photographs.

- Shut up, man.

People came from all over the world

for the wedding.

Some musician had to go back on tour

or recording, or something like that,

and some other had nothing to do.

So, like usual,

it ends up at Keith's house.

In the South of France, if you have money

you can get anything.

On the right you've got Marseilles,

which is a very well-known place

for illegal products,

and on the other side,

you've got Italy, with the Mafia.

So, you join the two together,

and you understand.

I had a non-verbal agreement

with Keith.

This was very simple.

You get high

on music and photography,

stick to it, I take care of the rest.

At the beginning,

it was interesting and fun,

but the thing is,

it was fantastically disruptive.

Of the band, of our lives,

of our social life, everything.

I hated leaving England.

I did, because,

when you got down there,

you had to try to replace

everything you loved, cos it wasn't there.

You had to, sort of, buy...

try to buy PG Tips to make your tea.

Then you had to deal with the French milk,

which wasn't the same.

Then you bought Bird's Custard

and Branston Pickle and piccalilli

and all the English things

you were used to in your life,

you had to import them all

because they weren't there.

I'm not a very good mover.

And no, I didn't like...

And I was English and I couldn't

see living in France, and that.

I mean, the mental thing was a bit,

sort of... strange.

You were in exile, particularly me,

I couldn't speak French or anything.

I joined the Stones May or June of '69,

and so, I hadn't earned enough money

or done enough work on that level

to have any kind of tax problems.

But one of my most vivid memories

is being flown there in

our own private jet.

I thought, "My God. This is the high life,

this is wonderful."

We looked around for studios,

but, especially in the South of France

in the early... in 1971,

there was no good rooms to work in,

and the equipment was shabby,

and nobody felt comfortable

in anywhere we looked at.

We tried various cinemas

and public halls that one might rent,

and we just never found a suitable site.

In the end, we chose convenience,

I suppose, over sound,

and went for the basement

of Keith's house.

We said, "We have this truck,

our own mobile studio.

"Why don't we just forget about them

and just bring in the truck

"and work around the problems?

"At least, this way,

we don't have to ask our interpreter

"every time we want to turn it off or on."

Good afternoon!

Basically, I think that the

Stones really felt like exiles.

"It's us against the world now.

F*** ya."

That was behind the attitude.

We said,

"We're all gonna do this, boys.

"We're all just gonna move out

and be a family and do it,

"and here's the place."

And, in a way, it was energising.

I ended up there because that's where

everybody else went.

My boys that I play rock'n'roll with

left the country.

We were invited to go and we went.

I didn't mind living

between Nice and Monte Carlo.

Didn't mind that a bit.

Didn't mind all the pretty girls

around the countryside.

Yes, sir, buddy.

South of France and a young man

in his 20s,

a rock'n'roll musician,

that's a mighty good combination.

I'm tellin' ya!

That's when you're shitting in tall cotton.

Can you say that?

I just said that.

The Stones, during that time, were quite

spread out across the South of France,

so it was a little difficult

to get everyone together

for long periods at a time.

They'd get together for a few days

and then everybody would want

to go home and see their families.

Then there was the fact that Bianca

was in her late stages of pregnancy

during that period,

so Mick was constantly in Paris

where Bianca was.

So it wasn't the best conditions at all.

I remember,

we just couldn't seem to get started.

- There. Come in again.

- Charlie should...

Yeah, it would make it so...

Andy, could you turn the

piano up just a bit?

...just have the off beat.

Charlie, did you get that?

Do you want to try that?

It would be nice to change the drum sound

when it comes back in again.

I'd just moved to France,

and I used to have to drive,

a six-and-a-half, seven-hour drive

from where I lived,

on these little roads.

I couldn't do it every night,

play and go home,

so I lived with Keith.

I lived in a room upstairs and Keith lived

in a huge bedroom above that.

We had... It was quite...

I mean, it was pretty together, really.

In a mad sort of way.

We would work any time in 24 hours.

So, if it was 11 o'clock at night

it would go for another 12 hours,

or if it was at 12 o'clock midday,

it would go for 12...

You know, whatever time.

That's why you had to live there.

I'm 21 years old, and there I am

in the South of France,

working with the best band on the planet,

getting paid good cash money.

Come on, it was pretty cool!

It was my initiation into how

you can actually live rock'n'roll.

At that point in time, the Rolling Stones

were the centre of the world.

I might have been somewhat delusional,

but music was very important back then.

It was the heyday of...

"Music's going to change the world."

All that rubbish.

And they were changing the world.

What a lot of people forget is,

they were doing it, they really were.

The Rolling Stones, at the time,

it's not a five-piece band any more.

It is an eight-piece band,

with the horns,

Jim Price, Bobby Keys,

with Nicky Hopkins.

And, all those people,

they have kids.

And it's like, the Rolling Stones,

it's like a tribe.

During the night,

all those musician and technicians,

during the day, all those kids.

So, it's impossible

to separate the family life

from the professional activity downstairs.

The tribe grows bigger and bigger

and bigger.

Running.

Which amps are you coming out of?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes