Rating: 
Summary: I like it
Review: So the Rolling Stones are still imitating the Beatles. This book is set up just like THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY book, and is even published by the same publisher. But it's not as good, because the Stones aren't the Beatles. But also it does not go into as much depth--nor with new "discoveries"--as the ANTHOLOGY book. Plus it's much shorter, even though their career is decades longer. (It also isn't a #1 bestseller like ANTHOLOGY). I wish ACCORDING TO...had dug deeper. But I'd rather have it than not, and it does include some wonderful stories and facts and photos. Any die hard Rolling Stones fan certainly shouldn't do without it.
Rating: 
Summary: The more you find out, the less you know...
Review: The headline is from a cliché quoted by Keith Richards, and it is so true of the Stones. This book is not only the history as seen through the eyes of the band, but a wonderful swirling tribute to the greatest rock band ever to grace the boards. The book has a wonderful, natural flow, like a great Stones album. It has surprisingly appropriate essays from an odd assortment (Don Was, Tim Rice, etc.) that give the interviews real context. The photos are great, rare and raw. Not a goon's gallery of sleezy shots, nor over-posed out-takes, but moments that feel natural, unrehearsed. But, at their core, the Stones remain, as they should be - a mystery. When Keith goes on about, "I've turned round and found a pool of blood where the piano player should be," you know there is a story there, but you also know that at it's core, it is just a Keith says - "I't's just a part of the gig." He probably doesn't even remember the year of the tour. Bravo especially to the editors of this tome. There must have been loads of material to digest, and I can't imagine that the Stones make it all easy. It appears that Charlie Watts spent some time helping with the text, but the heavy lifting must have fallen on the hands of Dora Loewenstein and Philip Dodd. They managed to make the book read like the way we imagine the Stones live - larger than life.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Angry at The Stones!
Review: The new Stones "coffee table book" is a disgrace in how it treats Mick Taylor. Ronnie Wood feels "sorry" for Mick Taylor? What a pitiful joke! Ronnie Wood's guitar playing is the only thing that's "sorry"! And that story about Taylor passing a note backstage stating that he was broke and had no confidence. It sounds "fishy" to me, but even if it's true, Wood has no class for repeating it. Even Charlie Watts jumped on the bandwagon with some anti-Taylor remarks. What's the point? It's not like Taylor is cutting into their record sales or anything like that. Why are they being so vindictive? Overall, I still like their music and their shows are entertaining, but this book has angered me. One of the other posters nailed it on Woody: He's just Mick Jagger's mouthpiece. Ronnie Wood couldn't shine Mick Taylor's shoes when it comes to playing guitar. The biggest joke on their last tour was Ronnie's horrible guitar playing on Can't You Hear Me Knockin'. With all their money and all their success, their insecurity shines through with the terrible trashing they gave the most talented guitarist that ever played with them. If it wasn't for Mick Taylor, there would have been no "golden period" for the band. Can you imagine Wood playing on Exile or Ya-Ya's or Sticky Fingers? Those great albums would have been mediocre at best if Wood had played on them!!!! I can't even think about it. It's too upsetting! One last thing on this book: Keith, in particular, really let me down with his comments about Taylor. He says that Taylor hasn't done anything since leaving the Stones. To that I'll reply with one of Keith's own favorite responses: "Rubbish!" Just because Taylor's albums don't sell millions of copies doesn't mean he hasn't done anything or that he isn't a great musician or performer! Let's face it, other than Tatoo You (which was mostly pulled from the Taylor-year archives ANYWAY) and Some Girls, most of their stuff since Taylor left the band is lackluster at best or tired retreads of hits from their golden years with Taylor at worst. The Stones have no class...plain and simple. I saw Mick Taylor at the Stanhope House in Stanhope, NJ recently and he put on a great show! Nobody plays lead or slide like him and noone ever will. Keith and Woody are just jealous because Taylor proves his superiority every time he picks up a guitar. Sign me "Angry at the Stones in Jersey City"!!!
Rating:
Summary: I'm Angry at The Stones!
Review: The new Stones "coffee table book" is a disgrace in how it treats Mick Taylor. Ronnie Wood feels "sorry" for Mick Taylor? What a pitiful joke! Ronnie Wood's guitar playing is the only thing that's "sorry"! And that story about Taylor passing a note backstage stating that he was broke and had no confidence. It sounds "fishy" to me, but even if it's true, Wood has no class for repeating it. Even Charlie Watts jumped on the bandwagon with some anti-Taylor remarks. What's the point? It's not like Taylor is cutting into their record sales or anything like that. Why are they being so vindictive? Overall, I still like their music and their shows are entertaining, but this book has angered me. One of the other posters nailed it on Woody: He's just Mick Jagger's mouthpiece. Ronnie Wood couldn't shine Mick Taylor's shoes when it comes to playing guitar. The biggest joke on their last tour was Ronnie's horrible guitar playing on Can't You Hear Me Knockin'. With all their money and all their success, their insecurity shines through with the terrible trashing they gave the most talented guitarist that ever played with them. If it wasn't for Mick Taylor, there would have been no "golden period" for the band. Can you imagine Wood playing on Exile or Ya-Ya's or Sticky Fingers? Those great albums would have been mediocre at best if Wood had played on them!!!! I can't even think about it. It's too upsetting! One last thing on this book: Keith, in particular, really let me down with his comments about Taylor. He says that Taylor hasn't done anything since leaving the Stones. To that I'll reply with one of Keith's own favorite responses: "Rubbish!" Just because Taylor's albums don't sell millions of copies doesn't mean he hasn't done anything or that he isn't a great musician or performer! Let's face it, other than Tatoo You (which was mostly pulled from the Taylor-year archives ANYWAY) and Some Girls, most of their stuff since Taylor left the band is lackluster at best or tired retreads of hits from their golden years with Taylor at worst. The Stones have no class...plain and simple. I saw Mick Taylor at the Stanhope House in Stanhope, NJ recently and he put on a great show! Nobody plays lead or slide like him and noone ever will. Keith and Woody are just jealous because Taylor proves his superiority every time he picks up a guitar. Sign me "Angry at the Stones in Jersey City"!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Thru the past in a rose colored light.
Review: The recent publication of "According to the Rolling Stones" to coincide with the Forty Licks Tour, is classic Stones-style media manipulation. Looking back over their career & my collection of Stones videos, books & CD's, it is obvious that once again Jagger (& to a lesser extent, Richards) are attempting to revise their personal history and somehow cleanse themselves of their bad-boy image. This particular effort is the penultimate revision of a well-documented history. From the outset, the choices made by the books' editor (Dora Lowenstein, daughter of the financial advisor to the Stones, Prince Rupert Lowenstein) as to whom to include make it obvious this will be a trip thru the past brightly. The single most glaring omission is that of Bill Wyman; yes, he's not currently a Rolling Stone, but one would think that 25+ years as an official Stone would count for something. Obviously, Dora & Co. didn't agree. Other omissions include Mick Taylor (only the spark for the finest Rolling Stones guitar interplay recorded), Andrew Loog Oldham (even Jagger/Richards admit they probably never would gone beyond the Crawdaddy Club without ALO), Bobby Keys (Keith's best friend for many years & the leader of the Stones horn section since 1969) and the Stones women, past & present. Marianne Faithfull & Anita Pallenberg were considered adjunct members of the Stones for many years, most of them the most productive and artistically satisfying of their career. The list of those Missing In Action could also include dead, but on-the-record Stones members such as Brian Jones and (especially missed!) Ian Stewart who was the original founder with Jones of the band. Stewart knew where all the bodies were buried, and never failed to take the Jagger/Richards egos down a peg or 10. Ian's contributions to the Stones legacy are glossed over at best. Instead, in the tween-chapters essays, we have represented two journalists (one of whom has no claim to any contact with any Stone at any time), Peter Wolf of J.Geils Band, Sheryl Crow, Prince Rupert and Ahmet Ertegun. Needless to say, their contributions tend more towards the sycophantic than the enlightening. Many excellent photos, a number of them full-page, are reproduced here, but again, almost none of Wyman, and very few of those in the inner circle. The majority of the photos are (in descending order) Richards, Jagger, Watts & Wood. Poor Ronnie, although a Stone now since the mid-70's, is still attempting to rationalize the fact that he has almost never been giving song-writing credit even when he was the primary catalyst of a riff. The main pleasures of "According to the Rolling Stones" are hearing Charlie Watts speak out openly, especially concerning his period of substance abuse in the 80's. He analyzes and philosophizes on many aspects of the Glimmer Twins collaboration, as well as the contributions of some of the more ignored members of the organization. It's as much a pleasure to read Charlie's words, as it is to hear his lovely, economical drumming. Ronnie is his usual entertaining self, & Keith comes up with some classic quotes as usual. Jagger's contribution is to once again prove what a jerk he's become in the past 20 years. "Exile on Main Street" not a good album? Apparently Sir Mick thinks the sound too muddy. I hate to mention this, your Lordship, but you did start out as a blues band, after all. "Exile" is one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded by anyone. The Mick of 1962 thru 72 would have adored this album. Just goes to show....(and of course, we all know what Mick's solo work has sounded like). Mick is quoted at one point as justifying the Stones later work by saying "as long as it works live, that's all that matters". Keith, on the other hand, offers that he can't stand playing such recent dreck as "Emotional Rescue" or "Undercover of the Night". At least someone in the band still has some musical integrity left! So there it is. "According to the Rolling Stones" won't change anyone's mind about any of the band members, although Mick & Dora might wish it would. I am just praying, that we, the "peeps" in the audience, won't be subjected to a 50th Anniversary Tour/Commemorative Book. The thought of a 70 year old Sir Mick wiggling his geriatric fanny is really too grotesque to bear!
Rating:
Summary: Thru the past in a rose colored light.
Review: The recent publication of "According to the Rolling Stones" to coincide with the Forty Licks Tour, is classic Stones-style media manipulation. Looking back over their career & my collection of Stones videos, books & CD's, it is obvious that once again Jagger (& to a lesser extent, Richards) are attempting to revise their personal history and somehow cleanse themselves of their bad-boy image. This particular effort is the penultimate revision of a well-documented history. From the outset, the choices made by the books' editor (Dora Lowenstein, daughter of the financial advisor to the Stones, Prince Rupert Lowenstein) as to whom to include make it obvious this will be a trip thru the past brightly. The single most glaring omission is that of Bill Wyman; yes, he's not currently a Rolling Stone, but one would think that 25+ years as an official Stone would count for something. Obviously, Dora & Co. didn't agree. Other omissions include Mick Taylor (only the spark for the finest Rolling Stones guitar interplay recorded), Andrew Loog Oldham (even Jagger/Richards admit they probably never would gone beyond the Crawdaddy Club without ALO), Bobby Keys (Keith's best friend for many years & the leader of the Stones horn section since 1969) and the Stones women, past & present. Marianne Faithfull & Anita Pallenberg were considered adjunct members of the Stones for many years, most of them the most productive and artistically satisfying of their career. The list of those Missing In Action could also include dead, but on-the-record Stones members such as Brian Jones and (especially missed!) Ian Stewart who was the original founder with Jones of the band. Stewart knew where all the bodies were buried, and never failed to take the Jagger/Richards egos down a peg or 10. Ian's contributions to the Stones legacy are glossed over at best. Instead, in the tween-chapters essays, we have represented two journalists (one of whom has no claim to any contact with any Stone at any time), Peter Wolf of J.Geils Band, Sheryl Crow, Prince Rupert and Ahmet Ertegun. Needless to say, their contributions tend more towards the sycophantic than the enlightening. Many excellent photos, a number of them full-page, are reproduced here, but again, almost none of Wyman, and very few of those in the inner circle. The majority of the photos are (in descending order) Richards, Jagger, Watts & Wood. Poor Ronnie, although a Stone now since the mid-70's, is still attempting to rationalize the fact that he has almost never been giving song-writing credit even when he was the primary catalyst of a riff. The main pleasures of "According to the Rolling Stones" are hearing Charlie Watts speak out openly, especially concerning his period of substance abuse in the 80's. He analyzes and philosophizes on many aspects of the Glimmer Twins collaboration, as well as the contributions of some of the more ignored members of the organization. It's as much a pleasure to read Charlie's words, as it is to hear his lovely, economical drumming. Ronnie is his usual entertaining self, & Keith comes up with some classic quotes as usual. Jagger's contribution is to once again prove what a jerk he's become in the past 20 years. "Exile on Main Street" not a good album? Apparently Sir Mick thinks the sound too muddy. I hate to mention this, your Lordship, but you did start out as a blues band, after all. "Exile" is one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded by anyone. The Mick of 1962 thru 72 would have adored this album. Just goes to show....(and of course, we all know what Mick's solo work has sounded like). Mick is quoted at one point as justifying the Stones later work by saying "as long as it works live, that's all that matters". Keith, on the other hand, offers that he can't stand playing such recent dreck as "Emotional Rescue" or "Undercover of the Night". At least someone in the band still has some musical integrity left! So there it is. "According to the Rolling Stones" won't change anyone's mind about any of the band members, although Mick & Dora might wish it would. I am just praying, that we, the "peeps" in the audience, won't be subjected to a 50th Anniversary Tour/Commemorative Book. The thought of a 70 year old Sir Mick wiggling his geriatric fanny is really too grotesque to bear!
Rating:
Summary: "Little More Gloss on those Red Lips, Please"
Review: The Stones and the PR industry get along very well. The relationship could be summed up by a London tabloid in the headline, "Stones + PR = Hot and Heavy"
To the Stones, the PR industry is a young professional woman, like one from a Brooks Brothers catalog, wearing a lightweight sweater of elastic, ribbed grey wool over a smile-inducing bust just a little bit larger than one would expect. And the PR industry returns the favor, shining its most flattering light on these four sexagenarians, doing its best work for them. This is an interesting book, just as the bright young lass posited above, is an object of above average interest. One reads with willing eyes, but one also sees, in the way the book reproduces the quotes from the documentary included with the DVD set `Four Flicks,' that a lot of work has been put into polishing the apple. Newsflash: the Stones don't actually talk like that. What look like off the cuff remarks on the DVD are actually set pieces based on the silky quotations crafted for the book. I can't knock it. Darn, I know magazine covers are air-brushed, but I look anyway.
It's a way better book, even if it serves up the Stones like jelly on crumpets, than Wyman's "Rolling with the Stones," which, in comparison, is a view of the Stones from the position of one locked in the rumble seat. He was there, but I think all he did was collect receipts and make diary entries.
The Stones prove themselves not above trading on their legend and even sugar-coating it a little; you can't tell if they hold their noses while keeping up appearances, but I think they do it at Jagger's behest, knowing that it must be if they're to stay in the business they love so well. I've focused my listening energies on the Stones for a about a year now, so I forgive them for the top-dressing, because over time, I have found in their music an eerie combination of the utterly ordinary and completely magical -- everything that anyone's said about them is true -- and this combination is evidence that they do fight the good battle everytime they collectively pick up their instruments to create music. This is why I believe the Stones are the genuine article, authentic (authentic in italics), as the book's sources describe them. It's in the bones, as Keith says, but in saying that, he's just saying it's in all our bones to try hard and even win sometimes.
P.S. I'm authentic too, so why ain't I rich? Because I never mastered PR, not the way the Stones do it. As Bill Clinton might have said, "It's the PR, Stupid."
Rating:
Summary: Photos Plus Some Literary Crumbs
Review: The Stones have great music and are easily among the top three bands of all time. But they carry a certain condescending cool air that communicates that - whatever they do or say is somehow wonderful. At the same time they know they were vastly overpaid for writing and singing catchy tunes. So this book is a combination of beautiful pictures, off the cuff comments by the band members, and PR. It is a basically a photo collection with comments. I would call it photos plus some literary crumbs. It is a great book for Stones fans that want more information, and maybe the odd insider bit of information. The bonus is all of the beautiful photos. For the rest of us non hard core fans that want to know more, more than a few literary crumbs, and done by a better more investigative type writer, we must wait for a more detailed book if and when it comes. Three stars - for hard core fans only. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Closer to the truth
Review: This book is great if you are looking for the driving force behind their rise to fame and stardom. After reading 'The Stones' by Philip Norman, which is a very informative and researched book, and well worth a read , this is very refreshing. It lets you into the minds of the Stones. As soon as you read it, you get an understanding of the obsession with music Mick, Keith and Charlie had. Their relationships and differences, not blurred by third hand news. After reading this, I thought, hell, I cant blame them for living rock 'n' roll. They were in the right place and right time, and by their accounts, they still cant believe where it has led them!!
Good beach or train reading. And Keith is also a pretty good story teller!
Rating:
Summary: Bill Wyman 1 - the Rolling Stones 0
Review: This book is made by interviews to the four remaining Rolling Stones, Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie. They talk about their memories not in a very orderly way and sometimes they contradict each other. This book, as another reviewer put it, is aimed to those who already know the history of the band and want to know the oppinion of the members of the band, as they recall them. There is not in depth analysis of the music or the influence of the Stones, not every important chapter of the saga is covered, many important points are missing or ignored, and Mick or Keith dont talk about the dark points. For example, the book never mentions that Keith had a drug problem! Heh. If you relied in this book only, you would end up thinking that the only member of the band with a drug problem was Charlie Watts. Besides, the interviews are not always that good. Mick Jagger seems totally uninterested and bored. He could have made a little effort, as this is an official book from the band. Keith provides the best quotes and the best memories, as usual. He comes out as the true leader and creative engine of the band. Charlie seems like he doesnt care: "this is only a job, I dont care about the Stones, I never listen to our records"; Ronnie is okay. Brian Jones is mentioned only as the paranoid who used to be a headache and thank God left the band and died. How cynical can you get? Mick Taylor could have been interviewed too, he is still alive and surely he has his own side of the story. Bill Wyman is very much missed, as is James Phelge (their roomate) and people like Billy Preston or Wayne Perkins, temporal band mates. This book could have been so much better..... But Bill Wyman has his own book already (Rolling with the Stones) a more honest and comprehensive effort. The best part of the book would be the photographs and the essays at the end of each chapter by noted personalities such as Sheryl Crow, Ahmed Ertgun, Peter Wolf and others. I have both Wyman's and the Stones own book, and I prefer the one by Bill. If you can read spanish, an even better book would be "The Rolling Stones: Bailando con el diablo".
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