Stanley Booth

Originally published: 1st Vintage books ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1985, c1984.

The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Greil Marcus

True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Stanley Booth has the inside line on the drive and inspiration from the Rolling Stones' rhythmic master and most enigmatic member--Keith Richards. The author's conversations with Keith bring forth Richards' own assessment of his continuing craft, his conflicted relationship with Jagger and the Stones, and his debt to the blues' greats. Photos.

Standing in the Shadows

Keith

Here are Stanley Booth's acclaimed writings about the South and the music that emanates from it. Rythm Oil—you don't have to know how to spell "rhythm" to have it in your body and soul—is a potion sold on Beale Street in Memphis. The home of Sun Records, B. B. King, Elvis Presley, Howlin' Wolf, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Memphis is also the home of fantastic stories and broke-down dreams. As Booth makes his way from Memphis to the Mississippi Delta to the depths of the Georgia woods exploring the sounds, the music, and the culture of the American South, "he has produced some of the most gracefully written, thoughtful, and thought-stirring musings on the characters—the famous and the forgotten, the infamous and the unknown—who command the kingdom or drift through the shadowland of the South's rich-chorded patrimony" (Nick Tosches, Los Angeles Times).

A Journey Through The Music Of The American South

Rythm Oil

Describes the history of the rock group, the Rolling Stones, and portrays the experiences of the members of the band

The Rolling Stones and Their Times

Dance with the Devil

"Stanley Booth's book is the only one I can read and say, 'Yeah, that's how it was.'" —Keith Richards Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones' inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1968. He lived with them throughout their 1969 American tour, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway—a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation's dreams of peace and freedom. But while this book renders in fine detail the entire history of the Stones, paying special attention to the tragedy of Brian Jones, it is about much more than a writer and a rock band. It has been called—by Harold Brodkey and Robert Stone, among others—the best book ever written about the sixties. In Booth's afterword, he explains why it took him 15 years to write the book, relating an astonishing story of drugs, jails, and disasters. Stanley Booth is the author of Rythm Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South and Keith: Till I Roll Over Dead. He has written for Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Playboy. He lives in Brunswick, Georgia.

Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones' inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1968. He lived with them throughout their 1969 tour across the United States, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway—a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation's dreams of peace and freedom. But while this book renders in fine detail the entire history of the Stones, paying special attention to the tragedy of Brian Jones, it is about much more than a writer and a rock band. It has been called—by Harold Brodkey and Robert Stone, among others—the best book ever written about the 1960s. In Booth's afterword, he finally explains why it took him 15 years to write the book, relating an astonishing story of drugs, jails, and disasters. Updated to include a foreword by Greil Marcus, this 30th anniversary edition is for Rolling Stones fans everywhere.

Keith is the biography of Keith Richards, written by one of his old friends, Stanley Booth. Drawing on extensive, in-depth interviews, the book explores Richards' relationship with Mick Jagger and the Stones, his views on his evolving craft, his experiences in the London music scene, and much more. Keith offers a personal study of the Rolling Stones legend, an "intimate portrait of one of the great molders of contemporary pop music" (Booklist).

This collection of over 50 years of writing about the South and its music by Stanley Booth, one of the undisputedly great chroniclers of the subject, is a classic, essential read. Booth's close contacts with many of the musicians he writes about provide a gateway to truly understanding the music and culture of Memphis and other blues strongholds in the South. Subjects include Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, William Eggleston, Ma Rainey, Blind Willie McTell, Graceland, Beale Street and much more.

Stanley Booth

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