The two biggest rock & roll bands from 1964, I'm talkin' about -pop- music, are in the today's news.
Although he was not a member of the Rolling Stones at the time, guitarist Ron Wood is in the news. Born in 1947, he was a few year away from his brief debut with swingin' London mod rockers The Creation. Nonetheless, he was part of last year's #1 grossing touring act, the $162 million grossing Stonesfest, and I'm not sure that's counting sponsorships.
And if there were any more proof needed that Ronny's a bonafide Stone by now:
She confirmed reports that Wood, 59, had checked into an alcohol rehabilitation facility in South London this week but insisted he would be on stage and ready to perform with the band for the opening show in Milan.
And you know that's going to be one party night!
Ron, it turns out, was there when the first tour-delaying incident popped:
Wood, who has long battled drinking problems and was in rehab last year, was reportedly with Richards, 62, and their wives on vacation in Fiji in late April when Richards suffered a head injury that forced the Stones to postpone the first 15 dates of their European tour.
Meanwhile, the band that dominated even the Stones in that era, The Beatles, are in the news again. There's been the business about McCartney's divorce from second wife Heather, which is a tough break considering how tragically he lost his beloved first wife, Linda, to breast cancer. It was May-December, I cut him a lot of slack (although not for "Silly Love Songs"), and what a bummer that it's the news story going with his turning 64. The news story:
But far from the enduring love he described when, as a teenager, he wrote the Beatles' classic "When I'm Sixty-Four," McCartney finds his life in turmoil after he and second wife Heather Mills decided to separate after a four-year marriage.
"When I'm Sixty-Four" was reportedly one of the earliest songs McCartney wrote almost entirely on his own, from before they were even called The Beatles, but it wasn't until 1966's seminal Sgt. Pepper album that they recorded and released it. How poignant those once carefree lyrics now seem:
Every summer we could rent a cottage in the Isle of White,
If it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save, grandchildren at your knees,
Vera, Chuck, and Dave
Yeah, so now Sir Paul could certainly own the cottage and another 8000 acres around it, but the "we" is gone...and the tabloids are letting him know it:
The separation is being played out in the full glare of publicity as intense as anything McCartney experienced during his days as a member of the world's most famous rock group.
It's not all good, but hey it's free publicity and what do you know, these guys are still living the rock star lifestyle. Abusing alcohol. Swinging single. Falling out of...coconut trees.
It's enough to make a poppa proud.
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