S.T.P -- Robert Greenfield -- 1974

 A Journey Through America With the Rolling Stones

 
Robert Greenfield lived and traveled with the Rolling Stones as they prepared for and executed their 1972 tour of the U.S. and Canada. S.T.P. was an acronym for "Stones Touring Party", which consisted of the band, crew, handlers, PR flacks, security, photographers, film crew, celebrities, groupies, hangers-on ... and Greenfield, pet journalist. Considered to be the first in-depth account of the 1970's traveling circus Rock-and-Roll tour, it was well-regarded at the time, but fell flat with the public. Only 5000 copies were printed.

The book is a product of an interesting moment in time. Rock and Roll had survived its teenage Fad period before morphing into a viable artistic vehicle for young adults by the mid-sixties. After that second, short-lived interval (certainly over by Altamont, if not already by 1968) Rock and Roll transformed into a mass-market commercial product performed in 10,000 seat arenas. There's not much here on the music, or any discussions of the artistic process. This is an account of the tangled, incestuous group of small corporations that barnstormed North America in their effort to separate Stone fans from as much of their cash as possible. There's plenty on the tour manager, stage director, security staff, devoted fans, even the fricking baggage guy. Not so much on the Stones.

The Stones were the shit at that particular time. Every show sells out immediately. Angry fans unable to procure tickets stage riots in several cities. Most venues become armed camps, surrounded by scores of the local gendarmerie. The road warriors of the S.T.P are mostly confined to their rooms. Unfortunately, American hotels of 1972 are not up to European standards, particularly in the provinces. Boredom in the long hours between performances leads to scenes of debauchery and degeneracy. Will Keith Richard survive?

OK, you know how that turns out.

S.T.P is very much a document of its time; as such it doesn't hold up particularly well fifty years later. Greenfield was practicing the "New Journalism", popularized by its most prominent practitioner and fellow Rolling Stone writer, Hunter Thompson. Unlike Thompson, Greenfield doesn't paint himself as a participant in the Pagan rites. It's not clear Greenfield interacted with the Stones at all. Most scenes play out as if observed by a fly on the wall. But he must have been somewhat high in the caravan's hierarchy since he rode in the Limos at least some of the time instead of being assigned to the buses with the rest of the proles.

Much of the book riffs on the landscape and mores of those unfortunate squares living in whatever tragically un-hip burgh the Stones are storming. All cops are fat and stupid, and Angela Davis is a heroine. The evening's concert is merely background material. Celebrities flock to the S.T.P. tour, and there's as much about those ephemerals flitting in and out as there is about the Stones. But does anyone today know or care who Princess Lee Radziwill was? Is Terry Southern remembered by anyone under 65? And Truman Capote will never be noted for anything besides In Cold Blood.

Unless you're a die-hard Stones fan or a Rock historian I wouldn't recommend this book. Try instead Greenfield's 1992 Bill Graham Presents, a tremendous work that is the best Rock and Roll history I've ever read.