Meschiya Lake & the Little Big Horns are growing to be a hot act on the US  roots & retro music circuit an d also cult leaders and stars of the rapidly-growing Lindy Hop swing dance revival. They’ve been called upon to provide the back beat – and style – at huge conventions as far afield as Canada and Sweden.

According to reports we hear that right now, in New Orleans, New York and Chicago, Meschiya Lake is hotter than a Mink in Malta and, together with her band kicks up a real storm. The musicians in the band are all names in New Orleans and currently regarded as some of the best around.

Meschiya (pronounced Ma-shee-ya) was named Best Female Performer of The Year in the 2011 Big Easy Annual Music Awards. They’ll transport you straight to the pulsating heart of the French Quarter.

The band arrives in the UK for the first time to kick start a short tour with a headline show at Glasgow’s 1200-capacity Old Fruitmarket during the city’s Celtic Connections Festival.

The unit will be accompanied by Lindy Hop hot shot exhibition dancers Chance Bushman and Amy Johnson fort this short UK tour

When the 2011 album, Lucky Devil was released on this side of the Atlantic, it received glowing reviews; these are some of the complimentary comments:

Tour Dates

Thurs Feb 2: Norwich Arts Centre

Fri 3: Celtic Connections festival, Glasgow

Sat 4: Celtic Connections Festival, Glasgow (with The Wiyos)

Wed Feb 8: Saltburn Community Theatre, Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Thurs 9: Jumpin Hot Club, The Cluny, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Fri 10: The Forge, Anvil Arts, Basingstoke

Sat 11: Royal Native Oyster Stores, Whitstable

Sun 12: Dingwall’s, London (with The Wiyos)

“Meschiya Lake has given this fantastic music a new lease of life” – R2 (Rock ‘n’ Reel) magazine

“Infused with a sense of salacious mischief” –  fRoots magazine

“Infectious and refreshing” – Maverick magazine.

Here’s some info about the album

Meschiya Lake & The Little Big Horns – Lucky Devil (self-released)

 
 Have you ever downed three shots of strong liquor in quick succession and felt that instant jellying of the legs?

Well grown men big enough to withstand the effects of that alcohol rush have been known to watch Meschiya Lake and experience the same weakening of the knees. Here is a performer whose gloriously down-to-earth, sassy performance is spellbinding: a no-nonsense treasure at a time when many despair about lack of substance and character. In Louisiana, New York and Chicago, she’s hotter than a Mink in Malta and, alongside the kingpins of the New Orleans jazz revival they kick up a stompin’ storm. In April, Meschiya (pronounced Ma-shee-ya) was named Best Female Performer of The Year in the 2011 Big Easy Music Awards, staged annually in New Orleans. The band turned up the heat at the city’s Jazz festival too, reviewer Alison Fensterstock rounding off a complimentary piece for The Times saying: “Close to the end of the set, she sang a Bessie Smith blues with the line, ‘I’m as good as any woman in your town.’ In New Orleans’ music, that’s a bold statement – but she is, and better, too.”

Meschiya enjoyed a more colourful start than most. In 2000, she joined a circus troupe that blended traditional big tent arts with modern sideshow shocks, and honed her performance skills eating glass and insects…and fire dancing.

In 2007, she stepped out to front The Loose Marbles, and joined by jazz dancers Chance Bushman and Amy Johnson, they set the town a-boppin’.

She teamed up for a while with singer Erika Lewis, formed The Magnolia Beacon, and they appeared in clubs from New York to Paris and Berlin.

Once back home in New Orleans, Meschiya formed The Little Big Horns in 2009 and, went on to produce this self financed debut album, Lucky Devil . It attracted positive Stateside reaction.

New Yorker said: “She rocks back on her heels, lifts her chest and opens her throat like an air-raid siren to croon in a thrilling, pre-microphone style that is easily audible above the band – no small feat.”

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Malvern based roots /blues trio BABAJACK have their third album out on 5^th March – titled ‘Rooster’ it’s produced by Adam Fuest at his ‘Twin Peaks’ Studio. There’s a LBI exclusive interview with Babajack here and there’s a link to a preview track as well.

North London Roots rockers ‘ELEPHANT SHELF’ has a long awaited second album at an advanced stage – its being produced by Pete Crisp at St. FM studios in Essex –Pete produced both Hokie Joint albums and while not accorded the over used title ‘legendary’ “He’s very good” so Diana Stone of Elephant Shelf told us. She continued “The album presents a return to a very retro roots/rock ‘n roll sound, it’ll surprise a few people we think”. The album provisionally titled ‘SHAKEDOWN’ is scheduled for release soon. Here’s a taster pre-final mix and video of the title track.

HOKIE JOINT – LONDON DATES AT LAST

Essex based alt-prog-bluesers HOKIE JOINT are planning to make an impact on the London scene  beginning at the HALF MOON PUTNEY

On Wednesday 15^th February. Go to the Half Moon home page for more details – we’ll be telling you more about this gig soon.

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The Live Music Bill, co-sponsored by Lord Clement-Jones and Don Foster MP, cleared its last Commons hurdle on Friday (20th Jan).It is now on the home straight to becoming law.  Two minor amendments agreed in Commons Committee must be ratified in the Lords, probably within a fortnight, and dates set for Royal Assent. Implementation will require secondary legislation.  A lead-in period of several months is likely to allow time for the live music sections within statutory Licensing Guidance to be rewritten.

The Bill represents a historic shift in the treatment of live music under the law.  The Licensing Act 2003, and many preceding Acts,embodied a presumption against most performances unless first licensed,on pain of criminal law sanctions. This harsh treatment, dating back more than 250 years, will end for performances within certain hours and to a relatively small audience.  The potential risks are alreadyregulated by separate legislation.  While there were and are rational grounds for licensing large events, there is also a puritanical streak in English culture that was amplified by licensing legislation.  The enduring puritanism was expressed in often unreasonable objections toeven the mildest live music licence applications, with absurd over-regulation and enforcement by many local authorities.

The Bill could easily have been sunk by a combination of tedious filibustering on Daylight Saving Bill amendments and arcaneParliamentary procedure.  Indeed, it came very close to failing, not because of insufficient numbers in the House to carry a vote (over 130 MPs), but lack of time. Debate yesterday started at 9.30am and had to finish by 2.30pm.  The end time arrived and MPs were still on the Daylight Saving Bill. Many observers present thought the Live Music Bill had been lost.  Lord Clement-Jones said: ‘I was sitting there and I was absolutely,completely confounded. I had no idea what was happening when the Daylight Saving Bill was up.’

Then, as one observer in the public gallery put it, ‘something weird happened’.   MP Philip Davies, the last in a succession of honourablemembers grinding through DSB amendments, suddenly sat down as the Speaker, Nigel Evans, stood up and shouted  ‘Order, order’.  The remaining private members bills titles were read out. Next up was the Live Music Bill.  There followed a short exchange between the Speaker and Don Foster, and the Bill was passed to a loud chorus of ‘Ayes’, with no objections.(View on Parliament tv, scroll to 4hrs 55mins:http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9853 )  The good news flashed quickly around arts and music media:

Jo Dipple acting chief executive of UK Music, the UK commercial music

Industry’s umbrella body, said

 “This is a great day for music. The Live Music Bill will make a real and

positive difference to lives of musicians. There is no doubt that the

current Licensing Act has created needless layers of bureaucracy –

making it complicated and expensive for pubs and other small venues to

host live gigs. The entire industry would like to thank Lord

Clement-Jones and Don Foster MP who have made this change possible.”

John Smith, Musicians Union General Secretary, added-

 “We are delighted that the Live Music Bill has finally made it through

Parliament. It is a real achievement for a Private Member’s Bill to get

through and the MU would like to thank Lord Clement-Jones, Don Foster

and all of the other MPs who helped to pass this Bill.”

http://www.basca.org.uk/news/live-music-bill-passes-third-reading-and-report-stage/

Links to other press coverage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16657152

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/34983/live-music-bill-close-to-becoming-law

Heartfelt thanks is certainly due to Lord Clement-Jones, Don Foster, the

licensing minister John Penrose, many other MPs and Peers who have

tenaciously campaigned within Parliament, especially John Whittingdale,

Chair of the Culture Select Committee, also to the civil servants and

lawyers who have worked hard behind the scenes on the bill, and indeed

to the Coalition government. But the time is not yet ripe to celebrate.

That should be saved for the day the new law comes into effect. And it

will take many months, perhaps years, for the full benefit to be

realised by musicians, venues and the music loving public.

The sharp decline of small gigs in pubs coincided with reform of

entertainment licensing in 1982, when local authorities were given

powers to set their own fees.  These quickly rose by several hundred

percent, and by 2000 the Home Office estimated fewer than 10% of pubs

had entertainment licences, although all of them could still have one or

two live performers (the ‘two in a bar rule’).  But even that modest

musical provision was abolished by the 2003 Licensing Act, legislation

that marks the highwater point of regulation of live music through

licensing.  It was under this Act that even providing musical

instruments became a potential criminal offence unless licensed.  This

ranges from pub pianos to instruments provided by schools for concerts. 

The Live Music Bill does away with that requirement.

One long-time campaigner asked me yesterday what I would do next.  I am not against licensing regimes per se.  Where there are serious risks to the public, inadequately regulated by separate legislation, prior public consultation may be necessary and proportionate.  To that end, perhaps MPs should be licensed.

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Etta had a turbulent personal life with periods of drug addiction and poverty – she channeled all of that heartache into her music. ‘There’s a lot going on Etta James’ voice,’ said Bonnie Raitt to Rolling Stone in 2008 A lot of pain, a lot of life, most of all, a lot of strength’. ‘She can be raucous and down one song, and then break your heart with her subtlety and finesse the next. As raw as Etta is, there’s a great intelligence and wisdom in her singing.”

She was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938, and was largely abandoned by her teenage mother at a young age, and was raised by her grandparents and foster families. She formed the doo-wop singing group Creolettes with her friends in the early 1950s, and they even scored a minor hit with “Roll Me Henry” in 1955.

Etta James signed as a solo act to Chess Records in 1960, kicking off the first great period of her career. Working with producers Harvey Fuqua and Ralph Bass, she landed on the charts with “My Dearest Darling” and “All I Could Do Is Cry.” Leonard Chess heard tremendous potential in her voice;  and in 1961 she  recorded the ballad “At Last” with a string section. The song became a massive hit, and remained her signature song for the rest of her career.

Despite her success, James started to use heroin in the mid-1960s and it had serious effects on her career. At various points she was committed to a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital, though she still occasionally scored hits – most notable the R&B classic “Tell Mama” in 1967.

In the 1970s, James hit the club circuit to rebuild her career – in 1978 the Rolling Stones took her on tour and exposed her music to a new generation of rock fans. The same year she signed to Warner Brothers and cut the classic LP Deep in the Night with Jerry Wexler. Her drug habit resumed in the 1980s, but a 1988 stay at the Betty Ford Clinic set her on a better course. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Etta James continued touring until illness sidelined her two years ago.

In a sense her life is summarized by some words she spoke to Rolling Stone in 1997. “Life’s been rough, but life’s been good. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would live it the exact same way.” Well she carried on with more albums more touring and a final album ‘The Dreamer’ released recently. A true Blues life we might suggest.

ETTA JAMES
The Dreamer

Verve – B005ND87MC

Genre – classic R&B / Blues
Star rating 8/10

Etta James final album is a fitting closure to a true blues life. It shows Etta James’ voice in great shape, remarkable for she was a seventy three year old and ill at the time.  That voice has darkened and deepened over time, inevitably so but her gifts have not diminished and her diction and phrasing remain impeccable and the gritty, dark smoky edge which has always defined her vocal delivery still moves. What she now lacks in volume she more than compensates in
up for in style. Listening to her still makes the hairs stand on end at times. The songs are well chosen and recording of ‘Cigarettes and Coffee’ reveals a lifetime of  experience as she digs in really deep and comes back with something really special – we were silenced by this one.

Her version of Bobby Bland’s ‘Dreamer’ is superb – a stand-out master class in the blues; expressing great control and absolutely no excess or overstatement she makes every note and word count. Her take on Guns and Roses “Welcome To The Jungle” redefines the song but we found it an unconvincing choice ( the producer’s choice we’d hazard)  it’ s a grooving piece of R&B; with swirling Hammond but the song doesn’t entirely fit the treatment. From other reviews it seems that Etta’s version of ‘Misty Blue’ is highly regarded and justifiably so – it is a killer cut – elegant and perfectly poised – a great performance. The final track is ‘Let Me Down Easy’ a soul classic and she gives a classic reading – sensitive and deeply felt.  Highly recommended to one and all this is how you do it.

Review Team

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THE DEVIL’S MUSIC IN THE KITCHEN – BURY ST EDMUND’S DEVIL’S KITCHEN COLLECTIVE

ESTABLISHED AS A ‘REAL’ MUSIC VENUE WITH MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE – NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECIAL FEATURES LONDON’S QUIRKIEST ROOTS BLUES ROCKERS ‘ELEPHANT SHELF’ !

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Rod Stewart recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of has just finished work on his first album of new material in ten years. Stewart says. “It’s seven new songs by R.D. Stewart, that’s me and it’s ready to go.” The album also features four covers including a Tom Waits song. “I don’t think I’ve ever written seven songs for one album” says Rodders. “Some are saying that it sounds like Gasoline Alley revisited, though I don’t see that. It’s hats off to the past, and also hats off to the future.” Stewart hopes to release the LP in May. Well thank goodness we might get something akin t o rock and roll instead of that smooth stuff that’s been served up recently.

Stewart surprised himself when he began writing for the project. “During the American Songbook period I thought that the art of writing songs had left me,” he says. “…but suddenly, it all came flooding back. It was so much more enjoyable than when I used to write songs. I’ve got a bit more to write about now. They’re grown-ups’ songs. There’s no ‘Hot Legs’ or ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy?’”

The new project marks the end of his successful American Songbook series of covers albums. “That’s all dead and gone,” Stewart says. “I did five of those. We milked it dry. They all sold tremendously well. I think 7 million all together.” 

Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck have been planning a collaborative album their first since the original Jeff Beck Group split in 1969, but the project is delayed. “There are contractual problems,” says Stewart. “If Jeff still wants to do it then hopefully we can start on it next year, I signed a deal with Universal, and they just wanted me to do an album by myself. Hopefully we can do it sometime next year.”

Rod Stewart is also beginning to work on his autobiography he said “I’m right in the middle of the book. It’s going to be an epic story.” He said he was just writing, explaining what a powerful influence Bob Dylan was.

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Dick Sims, a keyboardist who played in Eric Clapton’s band for almost a ten years died aged 60 on 8 December after battling cancer. He was 60.

Dick Sims, was from Tulsa, Oklahoma and formed the Tulsa County Band with drummer Jamie Oldaker and bassist Carl Radle. Together, they helped to develop the country-rock style that became known as the ‘Tulsa sound.’ Sims was introduced to Eric Clapton through Carl Radle and the trio first backed the guitarist on his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard. Although it was a collaborative effort, Sims told Tulsa People in 2010, “well you know they weren’t going to name it ‘Eric Clapton and Tulsa County,’ because Eric was already a solo act.” The band stayed on as Clapton’s backing band for nine years, recording on several albums, including the classic ‘Slowhand’. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is recalled as saying that the band was one of the tightest and funkiest units ever.

Sims, also played on Bob Seger’s album ‘Back in ’72 with Oldaker and went on to play his customized Hammond B-3 organ with many other acts, including J.J. Cale, Peter Tosh and Vince Gill. In 2008, after a 10-year hiatus from music, he released his only solo album, Within Arm’s Reach. Eric Clapton dedicated his December 10th show in Tokyo to his late friend.

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DION who co-wrote and recorded such 60’s classics as ‘Runaround Sue’, ‘The Wanderer’, ‘Teenager in Love’ and the classic ‘Abraham, Martin & John’ releases the latest in string of excellent blues albums on Jan24 2012 Tank Full of Blues, will be on Blue Horizon. The album is the third installment of a trilogy that began in 2006 with Bronx in Blue. It features a special song ‘I Read It (In the Rolling Stone),’ which is Dion’s musical tribute to America’s premier music journal Rolling Stone. The magazine is carrying an exclusive premiere of the track that you can hear by following this link –

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-premiere-dions-bluesy-i-read-it-in-the-rolling-stone-20111213?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

 For many UK fans Dion is one of the best kept secrets in the blues – such albums as ‘Bronx in Blue’, ‘Son of Skip James’ SPV42322 CD are minor classics, and for fans of doo wop his modern day doo wop album ‘Déjà vu’ available from www.goldenoldies.com ref COL-CD-2794 is an essential (it’s brilliant!). Dion remains a vital, creative force in modern day music bringing old time values to create a constantly fresh stream of music. Of the song ‘I Read It (In the Rolling Stone),’ he says “Well, this song is my tribute to Rolling Stone magazine for its commitment to good writing about good music – for a good long time,” He continues -”Some of us are still readers in this world, believe it or not, and we’re grateful for good material. This is how a songwriter says thanks. It also includes a nod to my friend Robert Plant. Go ahead Listen up!”

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Courtesy Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation

A new park that celebrates the life and music of Jimi Hendrix is set to open in the guitarist’s hometown of Seattle, Washington in 2012 to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday.

Jimi Hendrix Park, which will be located in the city’s Central District, was revealed last week at a public meeting at the Northwest African American Museum. The 2.5-acre park will include stepping stones featuring his lyrics, rain drums, a sculpted butterfly garden, a performance area, a sound garden and ample green space.

The park is being funded by donations from Jimi’s sister, Janie Hendrix, as well as money from the Parks and Green Spaces Opportunity Fund and the Neighborhood Matching Fund Award in Seattle. Read more about Hendrix here

Rolling Stone magazine listed Hendrix in their greatest of all guitarists 0 here’s what Pete Townshend of the Who had to say

JIMI HENDRIX by PETE TOWNSHEND
I feel sad for people who have to judge Jimi Hendrix on the basis of recordings and film alone; because in the flesh he was so extraordinary. He had a kind of alchemist’s ability; when he was on the stage, he changed. He physically changed. He became incredibly graceful and beautiful. It wasn’t just people taking LSD,  though that was going on, there’s no question. But he had a power that almost sobered you up if you were on an acid trip. He was bigger than LSD.

What he played was fucking loud but also incredibly lyrical and expert. He managed to build this bridge between true blues guitar — the kind that Eric Clapton had been battling with for years and years — and modern sounds, the kind of Syd Barrett-meets-Townshend sound, the wall of screaming guitar sound that U2 popularized. He brought the two together brilliantly. And it was supported by a visual magic that obviously you won’t get if you just listen to the music. He did this thing where he would play a chord, and then he would sweep his left hand through the air in a curve, and it would almost take you away from the idea that there was a guitar player here and that the music was actually coming out of the end of his fingers. And then people say, “Well, you were obviously on drugs.” But I wasn’t, and I wasn’t drunk, either. I can just remember being taken over by this, and the images he was producing or evoking were naturally psychedelic in tone because we were surrounded by psychedelic graphics. All of the images that were around us at the time had this kind of echoey, acidy quality to them. The lighting in all the clubs was psychedelic and drippy.

He was dusty — he had cobwebs and dust all over him. He was a very unremarkable-looking guy with an old military jacket on that was pretty dirty. It looked like he’d maybe slept in it a few nights running. When he would walk toward the stage, nobody would really take much notice of him. But when he walked off, I saw him walk up to some of the most covetable women in the world. Hendrix would snap his fingers, and they followed him. Onstage, he was very erotic as well. To a man watching, he was erotic like Mick Jagger is erotic. It wasn’t “You know, I’d like to take that guy in the bathroom and fuck him.” It was a high form of eroticism, almost spiritual in quality. There was a sense of wanting to possess him and wanting to be a part of him, to know how he did what he did because he was so powerfully affecting. Johnny Rotten did it, Kurt Cobain did it. As a man, you wanted to be a part of Johnny Rotten’s gang, you wanted to be a part of Kurt Cobain’s gang.

He was shy and kind and sweet, and he was fucked up and insecure. If you were as lucky as I was, you’d spend a few hours with him after a gig and watch him descend out of this incredibly colorful, energized face. There was also something quite sad about watching him. There was a hedonism about him. Toward the end of his life, he seemed to be having fun, but maybe a little bit too much. It was happening to a lot of people, but it was sad to see it happen to him.

With Jimi, I didn’t have any envy. I never had any sense that I could ever come close. I remember feeling quite sorry for Eric, who thought that he might actually be able to emulate Jimi. I also felt sorry that he should think that he needed to. Because I thought Eric was wonderful anyway. Perhaps I make assumptions here that I shouldn’t, but it’s true. Once — I think it was at a gig Jimi played at the Scotch of St. James [in London] — Eric and I found ourselves holding each other’s hands. You know, what we were watching was so profoundly powerful.

The third or fourth time that I saw him, he was supporting the Who at the Saville Theatre. That was the first time I saw him set his guitar on fire. It didn’t do very much. He poured lighter fluid over the guitar and set fire to it, and then the next day he would be playing with a guitar that was a little bit charred. In fact, I remember teasing him, saying, “That’s not good enough — you need a proper flamethrower, it needs to be completely destroyed.” We started getting into an argument about destroying your guitar — if you’re going to do it, you have to do it properly. You have to break every little piece of the guitar, and then you have to give it away so it can’t be rebuilt. Only that is proper breaking your guitar. He was looking at me like I was fucking mad.

Trying to work out how he affected me at my ground zero, the fact is that I felt like I was robbed. I felt the Who were in some ways quite a silly little group, that they were indeed my art-school installation. They were constructed ideas and images and some cool little pop songs. Some of the music was good, but a lot of what the Who did was very tongue-in-cheek, or we reserved the right to pretend it was tongue-in-cheek if the audience laughed at it. The Who would always look like we didn’t really mean it, like it didn’t really matter. You know, you smash a guitar, you walk off and go, “Fuck it all. It’s all a load of tripe anyway.” That really was the beginning of that punk consciousness. And Jimi arrived with proper music.

He made the electric guitar beautiful. It had always been dangerous, it had always been able to evoke anger. If you go right back to the beginning of it, John Lee Hooker shoving a microphone into his guitar back in the 1940s, it made his guitar sound angry, impetuous, and dangerous. The guitar players who worked through the Fifties and with the early rock artists — James Burton, who worked with Ricky Nelson and the Everly Brothers, Steve Cropper with Booker T. — these Nashville-influenced players had a steely, flick-knife sound, really kind of spiky compared to the beautiful sound of the six-string acoustic being played in the background. In those great early Elvis songs, you hear Elvis himself playing guitar on songs like “Hound Dog,” and then you hear an electric guitar come in, and it’s not a pleasant sound. Early blues players, too — Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Albert King — they did it to hurt your ears. Jimi made it beautiful and made it OK to make it beautiful.

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THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT IT – MICK JAGGER “ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE”; KEITH RICHARDS “I’D ALMOST COUNT ON IT”

2012 sees the 50^th anniversary of the Rolling Stones will and the word is that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are meeting in December to decide how they will celebrate.  According to industry sources Richards says. “I don’t see why in the world the Stones can’t put together some kind of show next year – I’d almost count on it. It doesn’t have to be the whole spectacle bullshit again, but we’ve got to find our own way through this.” Jagger is reported as saying “Anything’s possible.”, and adding this; “It is quite amazing when you think about it,”

Rolling Stone reported thata top source -AEG Live, Live Nation and veteran Rolling Stones promoter Michael Cohl have already reached out about acquiring the band’s anniversary tour, which is potentially the biggest tour ever. “It would be a total home run,” source is reported to have said.

The world of rock music is fully attentive – Sting says “In Western society the Rolling Stones are iconic figures”. “I hope they’ll stop bickering. I’d like to see them doing what they do.” Joe Perry – “I would love to see them just go and do arenas and have it be as stripped-down as possible, like they did on the Exile tour – when they had the horn section and Ian Stewart was playing keyboards. As close as they could get to that would be great.”

Following a band meeting in September at the Stones’ London office, Keith Richards, guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Charlie Watts were set to meet in November to jam in London. “I would suggest a lot of blues in the beginning,” says Keith Richards. “That’s where the band’s roots are. We’ll start playing some Jimmy Reed stuff and some Muddy Waters stuff and then things will blossom from there. It might bore Mick to death – and that’s the idea. We’re just going to go, and you start from Day One. You’ve got the drums and a couple of guitars and you start hammering away.” Richards reportedly added – “Mick is welcome, I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

Richards’ 2010 memoir, Life (click for review) painted a negative portrait of Jagger and his contributions to the Stones – straining the duo’s relationship. Ronnie Wood reportedly says “I think there’s a healing process waiting to take place,” and added “I think it’s happening now as we speak, but it has to be resolved. Something has to be resolved there. They have to come to terms with going on a working basis, which Charlie and I will help make happen. Wish me luck!”

Bobby Keys, the Rolling Stones saxophonist is recorded as laughing and saying “Yeah; that old healing process…boy, that is an ongoing process. But last time I was onstage with them, there was no blood lost. They always seem to work it out.” Longtime friend Peter Wolf adds, “If one looks at the history of great collaborations, Gilbert and Sullivan didn’t always have a good time at it, either. But once they choose to get together to work, that is usually the great healer.” Mind you we can’t help wondering why he chose Gilbert and Sullivan, why not Gilbert & George, Little & Large or Morecambe & Wise? – It is a common pattern

Keith Richards has said he’s up for another massive world stadium and arena just like 2005′s Bigger Bang tour, but isn’t sure Mick Jagger wants to make such a large commitment. “I don’t know about that,” Richards says. “I don’t think Mick would. We’d like to be ready to be able to do it if the idea starts to happen. I’d even invite Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor back in. Why not? It is 50 years and everyone deserves a party.”

Adds Jagger, “That’d be very complete if it all happened.” Taylor and Wyman have both worked with the Stones recently: Mick Taylor, who left the band in 1974 to pursue a solo career, contributed new guitar work on last year’s Exile on Main Street (click for article) re-issue, and Bill Wyman, who departed in 1992, plays bass on a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Watching the River Flow’ that the band recorded for a 2011 tribute album to late keyboard player Ian Stewart. “I’ve been reading about the possibilities in the press, but Keith hasn’t turned his lips in my direction yet,” says Wyman. “Let’s see what transpires over the next few weeks, and I can then make a serious decision. I’ve got my chops together, and I know that my mate Charlie has his together as well – so let’s see if it ever happens.” Sounds very good to us.

An option that some insiders have floated is the  band playing multi-night runs in major cities; thet touched on this with a short run at the O2 in 2007. “I think the idea of doing multiple shows in certain cities – New York, L.A., maybe Chicago, maybe Atlanta – would be wonderful,” says longtime keyboardist Chuck Leavell. We say fine but don’t forget good old England chaps! Bobby Keys agrees: “In my fantasy of Rolling Stones gigs, I would like to see a gig that’s centralized in one place: Let the people come to us instead of making all that traveling. That’s always the main thing that bothers me about going on the road. It didn’t used to, but hell, now we’re all in our late sixties and shit, and it’s just kind of a pain in the ass.” Strikes us that there is a real good idea here – it would work really well in the UK, say,  a two centre tour?

For its 40th anniversary in 2002, the band launched the massive Forty Licks Tour, playing stadiums, arenas and small venues (sometimes all in the same city) and releasing a career retrospective with new songs. This time around, there is no sign of new material. “I’m not writing for the Stones right now,” says Keith Richards, who has been working on a solo project “…reminiscent of early Chess records.” “I’m cutting my own stuff with [producer and drummer] Steve Jordan,” he says. “There’s no point in writing for the Stones until I know that Mick Jagger is in. He could have every song I’ve ever written. They’re all for him. If he doesn’t like them –– I take them somewhere else.” Adds Wood, “I think we have so much back catalog that we would go out without new material, but then again one of the boys might go, ‘No, I wouldn’t dream of going out unless we have new material. I don’t mind, really.’”

The band last played live together in August 2007 at London’s O2 Arena, wrapping the two-year, $558 million Bigger Bang tour. “We were riding the top of the wave,” says Wood. “I didn’t want it to end.” Since then, the Stones have been unusually busy: Jagger released an album with reggae-soul supergroup  Super-Heavy; Richards published the bestselling Life; Watts toured with his longtime jazz group; and Wood released a solo album, exhibited paintings and hosted a U.K. classic-rock radio show. In between, the group went back into the studio to add new parts to outtakes included with the stellar ‘Exile on Main-Street’ and ‘Some Girls’ re-issues (click for review)

Mick Jagger is probably the least-nostalgic of the Stones, the looming anniversary has had him reflecting on just how far the band has come. “It’s a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago,” he says. “When I think about it, one part of me goes, ‘We’re slightly cheating,’ because it’s not the same band – still the same name, but it’s only Keith and myself that are the same people, I think. I’ve tried to find out when Charlie’s first gig was [but can't]. But it’s an amazing achievement. It’s fantastic and I’m very proud of it.”

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