The Rolling Stones has to be one of the most prominent bands in the world, still to this date. The band has a long history that spans over 60 years. They were unlike any other bands in the world but were united by one common factor. The connection with drugs.
The Rolling Stones and Drugs go hand in hand. Back in the day, their substance abuse was way too much and it even caught the attention of the Metropolitan Police. Due to this they started a campaign against the band and made them the villains. Still, the band was showing off their abuse of substances publically.
And then, things take a turn. They became lawless and their narcotic use also had an effect on their creativity and imagination. Mick Jagger shared that their album ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ was a total mess due to their drug use.
To elaborate…
Bill Wyman, the bassist of the band from 1962 to 1993 explained, “Every day at the studio, it was a lottery as to who would turn up and what – if any – positive contribution they would make when they did.” He also added,
“Keith would arrive with anywhere up to ten people, Brian with another half-a-dozen and it was the same for Mick. They were assorted girlfriends and friends. I hated it! Then again, so did Andrew (Oldham) and just gave up on it. There were times when I wish I could have done, too.”
Such an environment surrounded the band during the production of the album. This made the album very inauthentic. Mick Jagger talked about it and said that he isn’t really proud of that particular album. During an interview with Rolling Stone in 1995, he said, “The whole thing, we were on acid. We were on acid doing the cover picture. I always remember doing that. It was like being at school, you know, sticking on the bits of colored paper and things. It was really silly. But we enjoyed it. Also, we did it to piss Andrew off, because he was such a pain in the neck.”
About the album, he added, “I probably started to take too many drugs. Well, it’s not very good. It had interesting things on it, but I don’t think any of the songs are very good. It’s a bit like Between the Buttons. It’s a sound experience, really, rather than a song experience.”
“There’s two good songs on it: ‘She’s a Rainbow’, which we didn’t do on the last tour, although we almost did, and ‘2000 Light Years From Home’, which we did do. The rest of them are nonsense.”
The album fell short. But they have really admitted where they went wrong and why they fell short. Jagger’s realization of how their drug use affected them, is another thing we have to respect about him.
