CASE CLOSED ON ROLLING STONES ALTAMONT TRAGEDY
Alameda, California police have closed the murder case into the death of a ROLLING STONES fan 36 years after he was stabbed at a concert. The Stones' 1969 free show at Altamont Speedway in San Francisco, California is remembered for all the wrong reasons - after teenager MEREDITH HUNTER died in a knife fight, which was captured on film in the 1970 documentary GIMME SHELTER. Initial investigations led police to believe Hunter was attacked and killed by a gang of Hells Angels motorcyclists, who were hired as security for the concert. But gangleader ALAN PASSARO was acquitted after a jury concluded he acted in self-defence. Police refused to close the case, following up leads that a second unidentified man had inflicted the fatal wounds, but Alameda County sheriff's SERGEANT SCOTT DUDEK announced yesterday (26MAY05) that despite ongoing investigations, the authorities concluded Passaro was the only person to stab Hunter, and did so only after Hunter pointed a gun at the stage.Footage from Gimme Shelter was used to show Passaro was indeed the lone attacker.

Stones honored at 50th Ivor Novello Awards in London. The Ivors' Special Songwriting Award went to SIR MICK JAGGER and KEITH RICHARDS.

Keith to Present at Canadian Red Carpet Ceremony

CTV.ca News Staff The stars have landed and you can catch them on Canada's Walk of Fame. Be part of our red carpet audience and get your chance to see your favorite homegrown celebrities up close and personal. You don't want to miss the unveiling of the stars dedicated to this year's inductees including Alanis Morissette, George Chuvalo, Paul Anka, Rex Harrington, Kiefer Sutherland, to name a few. The red carpet is taking place in Toronto, at the Elgin Theatre on Sunday June 5, 2005. If you would like free tickets, please send us an e-mail to wofredcarpet@ctv.ca with your name, phone number, and the number of tickets needed. The inductees won't be the only famous faces at this year's red carpet. You might get a glimpse of additional stars including presenters such as Jason Bateman, Michael Douglas, Gordon Lightfoot, Norman Jewison, Veronica Tennant, and Keith Richards. Hosted by etalk's Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim, this star-packed show is sure to be a summer hit that you won't want to miss.

Stones Shooting Music Video in NY

Click HERE to see thumbnail photos.

Stones Announce Second Fenway Show, more add-ons to follow

Matt Lauer Interviews Mick & Keith

Click here to read Matt Lauer's Today Show interview with Mick & Keith and see a video clip of it as well. The rest of the interview will be on Friday's Today Show-don't miss it!

Stones Announce ON STAGE 2005 Tour in NYC Today!

Rolling Stones On Stage 2005 Tour Dates

August 21 Boston, MA Fenway Park
August 23 Boston, MA Fenway Park
August 26 Hartford, CT Rentschler Field
August 28 Ottowa, Canada Frank Clair Stadium
August 31 Detroit, MI Commercial Park
September 3 Moncton, NB Magnetic Hill Concert Ctr
September 6 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
September 8 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
September 10 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
September 15 East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
September 24 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
September 26 Toronto, Canada Rogers Centre
September 28 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park
October 1 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
October 3 Washington, DC MCI Center
October 6 Charlottesville, VA Scott Stadium
October 10 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
October 15 Atlanta, GA Philips Center
October 17 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
October 19 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
October 21 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Arena
October 28 Calgary, Canada Pengrowth Saddledome
October 30 Seattle, WA KeyArena at Seattle Center
November 1 Portland, OR Rose Garden Arena
November 4 Anaheim, CA Angel Stadium Of Anaheim
November 11 San Diego, CA PETCO Park
November 13 San Francisco, CA SBC Park
November 20 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
November 22 Salt Lake City, UT Delta Center
November 24 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
November 27 Glendale, AZ Glendale Arena
November 29 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
December 1 Houston, TX Toyota Center

See full story and photos from Stones Planet HERE

Stones Press Conference Confirmed for NYC May 10 12:30 at Julliard

NEW YORK - Juilliard School of Music is rolling out the welcome mat for The Rolling Stones - but they're not going to be taking any classes. The rock legends are scheduled to appear at the prestigious school to make an announcement, which is expected to be about a summer tour. The Rolling Stones last went on tour in 2003, a global trek that ranked among the year's most profitable and popular. The Stones are due to appear at Juilliard on Tuesday. If history is any indicator, their announcement should be quite spectacular.

Waiting for the Official Tour Announcement

Ok, I am as anxious as everyone else. The official press conference and tour announcement should be held within the next two weeks. Then we will all finally know for SURE, what the tour dates are, instead of reading all the rumors and speculative crap that appear on almost every Stones message board across the web. I hope to be at the press conference when it occurs and cover it exclusively for Stones Planet Fanzine and the Pittsburgh City Paper. Stay tuned. As soon as I know something official, I will post it here!

Keith Remembers Johnnie

Stones guitarist reflects on friend, idol Johnson

"It's a sad day," says Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, mourning his idol and good friend Johnnie Johnson. "I've been playing Chuck Berry records all day, listening to Johnnie." Johnson died on Wednesday at his home in St. Louis, at the age of eighty, after recent bouts with pneumonia and a kidney ailment. With his death, rock & roll lost a vital link to its roots in the Chicago boogie-woogie of Meade Lux Lewis and the jumping-piano jazz of Earl Hines and Count Basie. Born on July 8th, 1924, in Fairmont, Virginia, Johnson was the son of a coal miner and entirely self-taught on the piano. By the early Fifties, he was in St. Louis, leading his own combo. But on New Year's Eve 1952, Johnson hired a struggling, local guitarist, Chuck Berry, to sit in for another member of the band. Johnson quickly ceded the limelight to Berry's guitar and songs, and both of their lives were changed forever.

Johnson went on to become the greatest sideman in rock & roll, at the very moment the music was being born. He played on most of Berry's biggest and best records of the Fifties and early Sixties, including "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Little Queenie" and "Nadine (Is It You?)." Johnson played with Berry, on and off, into the Seventies, until personal tensions, compounded by Johnson's drinking, caused Johnson to retire back to St. Louis. He was driving a van for the elderly when Keith Richards brought him out of retirement to play at the 1986 shows filmed for the Chuck Berry concert movie, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.

Richards and Johnson quickly became collaborators and more, a relationship that lasted until Johnson's death. The day after Johnson's passing, Richards took a break from spinning those Berry records to talk about Johnson and his rock & roll legacy.

Do you recall the first time you heard Johnnie Johnson -- when you realized who he was and what he was playing on those Chuck Berry records?

That's a good question. I talked to Johnnie about that. It took me a couple of years to track down the band members' names, to know the name "Johnnie Johnson." At first, it was just, "What a great band!" They didn't give credit then. And especially knowing Chuck, you'd never get a credit [laughs].

As a guitarist, what attracted you to Johnnie as a piano player?

Johnnie had amazing simpatico. He had a way of slipping into a song, an innate feel for complementing the guitar. It's the kind of thing I hear when I listen to Muddy Waters with Otis Spann or Pinetop Perkins. Back then, I was also listening to Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr, Big Maceo with Tampa Red. I always thought piano and guitar were a very interesting combination.

Johnnie was a jazzman, too. In fact, most of the best blues piano players were basically jazzmen. You should have heard Johnnie talk about Art Tatum.

But Johnnie came out of jazz, to rock & roll, with a natural energy. He never sounded too smart or clever for the music.

"Natural" is the word. There was also a great sense of humor in his playing. It really fit, because that was what rock & roll was all about. It's a humorous music -- "Too Much Monkey Business." There were a lot of jokes going on.

I was listening to "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and marveling at the power in Johnnie's playing, which was not always immediately evident on the records because of the way he was mixed back, behind Berry's guitar.

It was that left hand. That left hand was a power station. And the right hand -- listen to "Wee Wee Hours." Wow! You knew you were in the wee, wee hours.

It was very fortuitous that I got to do the Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll movie with him. I knew Johnnie and Chuck hadn't been together for years and years, and I didn't honestly know if Johnnie was still playing. The most surprising thing was Chuck said, "Yeah, he's in town . . . I'll give him a call." That, for me, was the crown on the taping. And it was such a beautiful thing, the way he slipped in and, through that movie, had a whole new career.

He looked like such a gentle, unassuming man. It was hard to imagine the brilliance coming out of those hands.

He was a real gent, absolutely. He was such a sweet, warm guy -- almost like a big baby at times. But inside, there was a very strong guy, and it came out in the music. I was fascinated by those huge hands, doing such incredibly precise, delicate work. I always compared them to a bunch of overripe bananas. But he could do amazing things with those bananas.

You produced two tracks on his 1991 album, Johnnie B. Bad, which was the first album he'd ever made under his own name.

One of the tracks I did was "Tanqueray." That was one of his favorite tipples, before he had to give it up. He was an amazing guy to play with: You could close your eyes, listen to him, and you were back in Chicago, at the Chess studios.

One of his last live performances was with the Stones, in Houston in 2003, on the Forty Licks tour. He came out and played "Honky Tonk Women" with you. Was he still in good form?

He seemed in pretty good shape. He'd slowed down a bit, but not playing-wise. To me, he seemed his beaming, old, jolly self.

Did Johnnie ever talk to you about his feelings over the songwriting credits for those Berry hits? [In 2000, Johnson sued Berry for credits and royalties on more than fifty Berry songs, but a federal judge dismissed the case, saying too much time had passed since the songs were written and recorded.]

In a way, I'm a bit responsible. I said to Johnnie, "These songs should really say Berry/Johnson." It was obvious after talking to him and watching him play. But Chuck being Chuck, you'd be lucky to get a quarter. Or you'd end up paying him.

But in the end, with the way Johnnie's career took off again after the Chuck Berry movie, he got his due.

To me, that was the joy of working with him -- to see him get his own record contract, tour the world and work with loads of other people, who got to dig him. Because otherwise, he would have just been Chuck Berry's sideman.

Actually, it was Johnnie's band to start with. Chuck superimposed himself on top. And Johnnie, being such an easy-going guy, was like, "Yeah, he's the frontman now." He'd take it like that.

In a way, Johnnie reminded me a lot of [Stones pianist] Ian Stewart. It was Ian who pointed Johnnie out to me, because he was a Johnnie Johnson freak. So it all comes around.

DAVID FRICKE (Posted Apr 15, 2005)

Veteran British rockers THE ROLLING STONES will be the first entertainers to play London's new $1,425 million ($750 million) Wembley Stadium. The GIMME SHELTER band will make history when they open the new venue by playing three nights in June 2006 as part of their final world tour. The Stones - SIR MICK JAGGER, KEITH RICHARDS, RONNIE WOOD and CHARLIE WATTS - plan to kick off their farewell road-trip with the historic Wembley Stadium dates. A stadium source says, "Wembley are absolutely chuffed to have landed the Stones as the opening act for the new venue. "They are the most famous band in the world, so it makes perfect sense for them to re-launch the world's most famous stadium." The Stones played the former Wembley Stadium, which was demolished in 2002 to make way for the new construction, on numerous occasions.