They first came to America in 1964, quickly becoming “accidental tourists” as they barreled around the country in station wagons, vans and small prop planes. More than a dozen tours and countless side trips later, the Rolling Stones have left their mark on hundreds of sites around the U.S. Given the fact that they are back on the road, I thought I’d take a look at some places touched by my favorite band in the world.
Those aren’t just at concert venues, hotels, clubs and recording studios – though there is plenty of Stones-related DNA scattered at those sorts of locations. There are also places that the Stones discovered outside the realm of their show business bubble. Like early explorers, they also set out to find the great escapes, the sanctuaries and natural wonders that, ironically, might then go on to inspire ideas that would require visits back to the more obvious rock and roll haunts.
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“The Greatest Rock and Roll band in the World”
Wandering the U.S. while on a road trip, you could do far worse than to take a few cues from what some refer to as “The Greatest Rock and Roll band in the World.”
In 1968, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and a group of girlfriends, pals, and hangers-on (including seminal music legend Gram Parsons) headed out to the beautiful and mystical California desert. They went to camp out, climb rocks, look for UFOs, and expand their consciousness with the help of some peyote, mescaline, and perhaps some LSD. But as anyone who has been to Joshua Tree National Park knows, it does not take any chemical stimulation to appreciate the majestic and desolate beauty of the high desert.
The Rolling Stones were in the midst of one of their most creative and provocative musical periods when they hit Joshua Tree. The album Beggars Banquet would soon be released, followed shortly by Let It Bleed. But within a year, bandmate Brian Jones would be unceremoniously fired, and then found dead after drowning in his swimming pool. Tumultuous times to be sure, but it’s easy to imagine how the music may have been shaped for the better after several trips to Joshua Tree.
Keith Richards’ reputation as a desert rat had started taking shape back in 1965. In December of that year, just after finishing the band’s American tour, Richards (along with two friends) visited McDowell Mountain Ranch Park just outside of Phoenix to ride horses and camp out along the lower Verde River basin for a taste of the great American West.
Today, a visit to what is now called McDowell Mountain Regional Park is still a treat – a chance to wander and hike in the great unspoiled outdoors. It seems the place may have left quite an impression on Richards, too. According to local real estate records, he recently purchased a small ranch adjacent to McDowell Mountain Regional Park.
If it’s good enough for Andy Griffith and Captain Kirk…
Just after Richards’ jaunt to Arizona, he rejoined the band in Los Angeles for a photoshoot that would expose the Stones to a remarkably beautiful spot located right in the midst of the great American sprawl: Franklin Canyon. You may have already seen it on TV. The popular Andy Griffith Show’s main credit opening featured Andy and his son Opie (Ron Howard) walking toward a lake, toting their fishing poles on a lazy summer day. They were not in North Carolina, in Mayberry. They were right near Beverly Hills. Nestled right off Mulholland Drive, the pine and redwood-rich park is home to Franklin Canyon Lake.
This location was used in the 1960s for such TV shows as Combat, Star Trek, and How the West Was Won, but it is also where the Stones came one day with photographer Guy Webster to shoot what became the cover of their 1966 collection Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass). Originally the photos were to be used for an album called Could You Walk On The Water? But the title was deemed too controversial, the album was renamed Aftermath, and the pictures were used for Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) both on the cover and as an inside booklet. Incidentally, Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence album cover was also shot here.
Rolling Stones on a beach
In 1975, the Stones had taken up residency at Eothen, the artist Andy Warhol’s compound in Montauk, a lonely retreat at the tip of Long Island, New York. Here, Warhol entertained many jet-set celebrities at the five-home compound he co-owned with filmmaker Paul Morrissey. The Stones rehearsed here for their 1975 American tour and a local business ended up inspiring one of their prettiest ballads.
The Memory Motel on Montauk Highway is a 13-room motel and bar immortalized by the Rolling Stones in the song of the same name, which appeared on the band’s 1976 album Black and Blue. Mick Jagger supposedly spent time at the motel because it had a pool table and a decent jukebox, and one night while there he supposedly was inspired to write the beautiful song about “Hannah, a honey of a girl,” and where they spent “a lonely night at the Memory Motel.” (Rumor has it he actually wrote part of the tune at the bar.)
As travelers, many of us can relate to the frustration of finding peace and solitude in an increasingly shrill and urban world. As we sometimes realize in trying to find these escapes, as the Stones pointed out in the song, “You can’t always get what you want.”
But if you follow the lead of a certain band from Britain that always made a point of searching out some of America’s prettiest natural paradises, then you just might find, you get what you need.
Read more from Chris Epting here.
Chris Epting is an author, award-winning journalist/photographer and dedicated road tripper. His best-selling books including James Dean Died Here (the locations of America’s pop culture landmarks), Roadside Baseball, and The Birthplace Book, along with many others that remain popular with many travelers and RVers throughout the country and world. You may learn more about Chris at his author’s site, www.chrisepting.com.
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We were in Muscle Shoals Alabama last year and toured the sound studios. It was great. We saw the studio where the Stones recorded Brown Sugar and the bathroom where Keith finshed writing Wild Horses.
So many other stories too about all the people that recorded there. Not to mention “The Swampers”, the best studio band ever. It you’re in the area it’s so worth the stop.
Great read, the Stones have been my favourite band since their start-up. I was fortunate to see them live in my home town of Leeds, UK, in the sixties. I’ll never forget that experience.
Thanks for the info and memories Chris!
Adam K.
Sidney, BC
Another great article, Chris! Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to the next one.
One of the most talented bands to ever exist and with a catalog of music that will never be matched. They defied the critics, which made them even more special. They define Rock and Roll and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’ ” is the best song ever. Would have loved to see them with Mick Taylor on lead guitar. Thanks Chris.