Book description
'Sounding like one instrument, a wild whirling bagpipe, the Stones
chugged to a halt. But the crowd didn't stop, we could see Hells Angels
spinning like madmen, swinging at people. By stage right a tall white
boy with a black cloud of electric hair was dancing, shaking,
infuriating the Angels by having too good a time.' The True Adventures
of the Rolling Stones is not just the greatest book about the greatest
rock 'n' roll band, it is one of the most important books about the
1960s capturing its zeitgeist - that uneasy mix of excess, violence and
idealism - in a way no other book does. Stanley Booth was with the
Rolling Stones on their 1969 U. S. tour, which culminated in the
notorious free concert at Altamont. But this book is much more than a
brilliant piece of journalism. It gives a history of the Rolling Stones
from their early rhythm 'n' blues days in west London clubs to the end
of the 1960s; and it interweaves with mastery the two tragic stories of
the decline and death of Brian Jones and the terrifying Altamont concert
itself, where the Hells Angels, supposedly providing security, ran amok
and murdered a member of the audience. Although it took nearly fifteen
years to write, the book that emerged has been rightly acclaimed as 'the
one authentic masterpiece of rock 'n' writing'. The best book so far
about the Sixties.
