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The Rolling Stones in the press: “The Rolling Stones’ Biggest Failure!”
THE ROLLING STONES’ “BIGGEST FAILURE” Back in ’65, the Stones laughed off what they called their biggest flop — their first U.S. tour in ’64. They’d just conquered England, but America barely noticed. “We were on the lowest rung of the ladder!” they admitted. Funny thing? That “failure” lit the fire that turned them into the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band. Sometimes you’ve gotta fall flat before you start shaking the planet.
Ask anyone about his biggest success, and he won’t hesitate to tell you about it. It brings pleasant moments to mind and it feels great. But ask anyone to tell you his biggest failure and he’s liable to—
Say, “I’d rather not discuss it.” Make a face that warns you’re treading on dangerous ground. Or just tell you he’s never had any.
We thought about all these possibilities before we put this question to one of your and our favorite groups—The Stones. But we decided that you’d want to know the answer and that the boys wouldn’t keep this information back. So we took a deep breath and plunged right in.
“Although we’ve never admitted this before,” Keith said “we did have one time that we all remember as being terrible. And it happened right here in the States!” We looked surprised at this, and then Mick started to talk—
“It was our first trip here that was really our biggest failure. We were the top group in England. But when we got to the States in June of 1964, we discovered we were far from the top here. In fact, we were just about on the lowest rung of the ladder!”
Charlie (who’s usually terribly shy), broke in—“It was awful. We were a king-size flop. I remember one concert we gave in upstate New York. The theatre held 11,000 people—but less than 800 showed up. It was like playing to an empty house. In fact, that’s just what we did. For once, the fans could actually hear us sing!”
“We all laughed at that.” If you went to any of the concerts the boys gave on their second American tour, you know you could hardly hear a word they sang. The applause and screams drowned them out!
Brian continued: “It wasn’t just that our audiences were small that hurt, either. Most of the people who saw us laughed at us. We were really the first of the really ‘long-haired’ groups. Next to us, The Beatles looked like they’d just gotten haircuts! And people would stare and point at us like we were some kind of things from outer space. I admit we looked different, but we didn’t deserve all that!”
The boys admitted they felt so badly about the failure of their first tour, they didn’t want to go back to the U.S. ever again. But when they got back to England and calmed down a little, they realized they couldn’t give up so easily. And in just a matter of a few months after their first tour, they started catching on here. Their records climbed high on our charts and they started to receive hundreds of fan letters. All of a sudden, they were successful!
Brian added: “We were glad when this happened. I, for one, love the U.S. In fact, I think I’d like to live in California. Our second tour was a lot more fun. We worked harder and we don’t judge people as quickly. We think Americans are wonderful. We’re all a lot happier with our success now.”
All of us at TEEN PIN-UPS couldn’t be happier for The Stones, either. They’re great guys and we know they’ll always be tops with us. How about you? (Ref. The Rolling Stones Biggest Failure)
Like what you see? Help keep it going! This site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh Rolling Stones content coming your way every day. Thank you!
