In England what had happened in the Sixties is an upending of some of the expectations of the class system so that talented people, from Liverpool, from the East End, from anywhere that were working class or lower middle class, who were photographers, or film-makers or fashion designers or actors or musicians – came bursting through the door, just threw it open. The Genie was out of the bottle. Suddenly, popular culture, which had been ersatz American was upended by all of these people saying, ‘Wait a minute’ and doing it with humor and wit and style and all of it came together and that’s what was so exciting about being in England in the Sixties: just this profusion of surprise in every creative media that you looked at – in every form that you looked at. And it was everywhere. And class didn’t go away but David Bailey got to be king, Albert Finney got to be king, and Mary Quant got to be queen. And you bluffed your way into it, talked your way into it, whatever but it was just enormously exciting to be there. And we all knew it. It was the beginning of practically everything.”

“The music came across the airwaves,” says Keith Richards, “and suddenly it felt like the world was actually changing….I knew what I wanted to do: get this band together. I was becoming this very unlikely missionary for a new kind of music. That’s what Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf did to me. Elvis, Buddy, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee, Little Richard, Bo Diddley – it’s what all those cats did to me. I’m only eighteen, and already people ain’t hearin’ this music anymore, and it had lit my life up! Now one way or another I got to keep the flame alive! We were disciples.”

By the time the Rolling Stones embarked on their 1969 U.S. tour - their first since 1966 – the sixties were in full flood. The Stones were the last active performers of the “Big Three” (Dylan, the Beatles, the Stones.). The Beatles were squabbling and would soon break up. Bob Dylan had injured himself in a motorcycle accident and was reclusive. The Rolling Stones tour, about to begin, would be the biggest tour rock music had ever seen. We banded together in Los Angeles in September of 1969 and started to prepare. Join us.

This book of the Rolling Stones tour ‘Let It Bleed’ is an essential addition to any real music fans collection!

http://www.letitbleedbook.com/ www.ethanrussellphotographs.com