The singer who hated playing with The Rolling Stones: “A bit annoyed”
It was going to take a lot for any musician to compete with the likes of Mick Jagger whenever The Rolling Stones took the stage.
Even though the band are still going strong these days, the fact that Jagger could still go through the insane regimen of running around the stage every time they play is a testament to mankind as a species, especially considering all the misbehaviour that the band got into back in the day. But even when Jagger was turning into a rock and roll legend, he remembered upsetting more than a few people when The Stones first started headlining every venue they played.
Then again, there aren’t many bands that came after The Stones that didn’t at least bow in reverence to what they were doing. The entire ethos of hard rock came from them making songs that were a bit more gritty than what The Beatles had done, but when you look at their influences, it wasn’t all that out of the ordinary when you look at the blues singers that they had been listening to.
Compared to the voice of Howlin’ Wolf, Jagger is almost quaint, but the voice was only one part of his job. He was an electric performer in every sense of the word, and he was going to try his best to make people like Tina Turner proud whenever he worked on his dance moves every single show. But even someone as electrifying as Jagger was no match for one of the greatest frontmen in show business.
From the minute that James Brown took to the stage, he was going to give every audience the greatest show that he knew how. He was ready to dance his ass off and give every single ounce of energy that he could to the crowd. His scream was fantastic, his feet never stopped moving, and the man could sweat like no one else whenever he got up onstage, but the idea of The Stones going on the bill after him was a body blow to his ego.
Brown was already understood to be one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived, but the thought of The Stones putting the Fabulous Flames as the opener felt like a step down. Brown could tear those British kids apart in the first few songs of his set, but Jagger remembered that there was a lot more coldness between them during that show than he really expected when he first showed up.
Every tour was supposed to give the audience a good time, but Jagger felt that Brown put more into his show because of how pissed off he was, saying, “The experience was… that James was a bit annoyed about not being the last on the show and as I was the only one that had met him before — of all the people working on the show, including the producers of the show — I was like the fall guy. And, of course, it didn’t work. It might have somewhat assuaged his… but it played out and it was what it was. He did this amazing performance and we went on after, but, in the end, I don’t think it really mattered.”
Because, really, getting Brown second on the bill was what really propelled those shows forward in the end. Brown was playing like he had everything to prove, and when you have ‘The Godfather of Soul’ opening up for you, you’re going to do everything you can to deliver the best show possible so that the audience doesn’t feel underwhelmed the minute that you come onstage.
It wasn’t the optimal bill by any stretch, but sometimes bands need that extra push to give their fans something to remember. There are plenty of artists who are going to give bands a run for their money, but competing with James Brown with a rock and roll band is like any punk rock band trying to outdo Iggy Pop. You can try all you want to, but you’re never going to defeat the absolute master.
