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Early February 1959: Brian gets his first guitar (a Spanish acoustic one) as his 17th-birthday present. From Greg Prevost’s ‘Rolling Stones Gear’ book: “Soon after his return, in late 1959 and early 1960, Brian started playing in local jazz bands, including John Keen’s Trad Band, Jock Henderson’s Dixielanders, and Bill Nile’s Delta Jazzmen. He remembered: ‘I quite honestly didn’t feel much of an urge to do anything else except play music. I thought about different jobs and rejected them: I knew I’d be bored stiff.” Although he was playing alto sax with these trad jazz bands, he became increasingly interested in playing and mastering the guitar. He continued using his very primitive Spanish guitar, but later upgraded to an acoustic Hofner Committee.”
Early February 1962: After working in advertising in Denmark, Charlie return to England and joins Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated.
Early February 1963: Giorgio Gomelsky becomes interested in the Rolling Stones, later becoming their unofficial manager.
1963: Ricky Tick Club, Windsor, England
1964: ‘Valentine Charity Pop Show’, Royal Albert Hall, London, England
1965: Theatre Royal, Christchurch, New Zealand (2 shows) In the photo, Bill and Stu with Dave Russell and the Invaders, the Stones’ New Zealand support act.
2003: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO, USA Street Fighting Man/You Got Me Rocking/Start Me Up/Don’t Stop/Rocks Off/Dead Flowers/You Can’t Always Get What You Want/Monkey Man/Gimme Shelter/Rock Me Baby*/Tumbling Dice/Band introduction/Slipping Away/Happy/Sympathy For The Devil/Can’t You Hear Me Knocking/Honky Tonk Women/Satisfaction/Mannish Boy/It’s Only Rock’n Roll/Brown Sugar/Jumping Jack Flash *With special guest Jonny Lang (guitar)
2006: 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD, USA Jumping Jack Flash/Let’s Spend The Night Together/Oh No, Not You Again/All Down The Line/Love Is Strong/Wild Horses/Midnight Rambler/Tumbling Dice/ Gimme Shelter/Band introduction/This Place Is Empty/Happy/Miss You/Start Me Up/Get Off Of My Cloud/Honky Tonk Women/Sympathy For The Devil/Paint It Black/Brown Sugar/You Can’t Always Get What You Want/Satisfaction
February 1, 2010: Release of ALAN MERRILL’s CD ‘Numbers’, with Bill as guest on two tracks: ‘Baby Doll’ and ‘At the Candy Shop’
