Well Stone Me! 

50 years on a new album on its way, here's Swindon's connection to The Rolling Stones

 

Many would argue they are the most successful band of all time, still going strong with a combined age of more than 250 - and the same in millions in album sales (adding a few more no doubt this year).

 

And in 2012 - can you believe it - the Rolling Stones celebrated 50 years since Brian Jones (RIP), Mick Jagger & Keith Richards played their first gig as the Rollin' Stones on 12 July 1962.

 

Less than two years later, they were playing Swindon - not once, but twice! - and the rest, as they say, is history. 

 

Ronnie Wood even came back for some TLC in 1990 - but more of that below!

  

Here's Swindon & Wiltshire's connection to the one-and-only Rolling Stones. 

 

1. Let's Spend the Night Together

 

Kipped down in Swindon: The Rolling Stones

The Stones first ever UK tour stopped by in Swindon and Salisbury on consecutive nights.

Their first appearance in Swindon came at the legendary McIlroys Ballroom, which had also famously played host to The Beatles two years earlier.

On January 16 1964 Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts descended on the town centre and played an eclectic set of mostly covers from their self-titled EP, which included Nat King Kole's 'Route 66' and Chuck Berry's 'Carol'.

The teenage sensations then spent the night in Swindon (a taster of glamour nights to come, no doubt) before playing Salisbury's City Hall the following night.

 

2. You Got Me Rocking

 

Two gigs in 3 months: The Stones played Swindon twice in 1964 in their lead up to hitting number one in July

It wasn't long before Mick, Keef and co returned with two more Wiltshire gigs on their seemingly endless UK tour.

 
A welcome return to the City Hall on 18 March was soon followed by yet another gig back in Swindon at the McIlroy's Ballroom on 9 April 1964.

Just think, if they'd kept that up we'd have had no less than 172 chances to see the Stones live in the area!

(The tour paid off because within 3 months the band had their first UK number one single with 'It's All Over now' on 16 Jul 1964).

 

3. Wild Horses (and other such beasts)

 

On safari: The Stones at Longleat House

Sadly, after topping the charts, Swindon was cruelly confined to the musical backwater as far as the Stones were concerned. (we helped make them - then they dumped us!)

The only other chance local fans would get to see their idols so nearby being a gig at Longleat House on 4 August 1964.

Just two years before the Safari Park opened, Lord Bath invited one of Britain's wildest pop acts to take the roof off the country house as the audience roared in appreciation.

 

4. Not Fade Away

 

Old Town visitor: Charlie Watts

Thirteen years of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll would then pass before the Rolling Stones graced Swindon's stage again - or one and a half members of the band, anyway.

In 1977 Drummer Chalie Watts and the late house pianist Ian 'Stu' Stewart, often referred to as the 6th Rolling Stone, performed at the Arts Centre in Old Town.

Both accompanied the great boogie woogie tandem of Bob Hall and George Green for a series of gigs between 1977 and 1983, when the Stones weren't too busy recording albums.

 

5. Jumpin' Jade Flash

No satisfaction in Calne: Mick Jagger

Mick's designer daughter Jade Jagger, who's always had something of a rebellious streak, doesn't exactly have happy memories of Wiltshire.

 
Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger (some name!) was packed off to St Mary's all-girls boarding school in Calne at the age of 14, only to be expelled two years later for sneaking out after lights to see her boyfriend, Josh Astor, son of the disgraced Tory peer Lord Kagan.

 
Jade was said to be furious when her father packed her off to St Mary's and never really settled in.

"It was such a horrible culture shock," she said. "Here I was, this brash, savvy uptown girl (…) going to this strict boarding school where you weren't supposed to wear white socks because that's what the yobs in town wore."

6. Gimme Shelter (and Guinness!)

Enjoyed a tipple in Swindon: Ronnie Wood

If Jade has rather bitter memories of Wiltshire, bitter is pretty much all that Ronnie Wood can remember from his brief stay at the former Princess Margaret Hospital.

The eccentric guitarist was in a major car accident on the M4 in Swindon on 12 November 1990 and was rushed to PMH having broken both his legs and injured his shoulders.

During his stay at the Swindon hospital Wood, in true rock and roll fashion, insisted on only the best-looking nurses - and a diet of Guinness!

 

7. Under Our Thumb

 

Made in Swindon: Stones' CDs

If you've got a lot of Stones compilations, it's quite likely that some of them were printed right on your doorstep.

EMI, who have published a whole host of Stones CDs, opened their first compact disc factory in Swindon on May 15 1986. This Gimme Shelter EP printed in 1993 is one example.

Those, for now at least, are the Rolling Stones' connections to Swindon (and slightly beyond).

Swindon has certainly played a peripheral part in the biography of one of the greatest bands in rock and roll history. From the first ever tour, right to the (near) 'bitter' end, we've been with them through thick and thin.

Of course we still hold out a hope that one day they might drop in at the Oasis or Town Garden Bowl for an impromptu gig.

But given that they recently performed to some 1.5 million fans on Copacabana Beach in Rio, this could be unlikely!

Guess you can't always get what you want.