Stu on stage

October 17, 1969 the Rolling Stones and their entourage - including aide Ian Stewart and engineer Glyn Johns - flew from London to Los Angeles to prepare for their first US tour (November 7-30) since 1966. During their stay in Los Angeles the Stones spent time at Elektra Studio and Sunset Recorders to complete tracks for their upcoming album "Let It Bleed". Jimmy Miller and Glyn Johns assisted with the sessions, just as they did back in London.

Then rehearsals for the US tour moved to a soundstage at Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank. There the band worked out a polished yet raw selection of instantly identifiable Rolling Stones numbers. The only concession to the old days were two Chuck Berry numbers, 'Carol' and 'Little Queenie', while three blues numbers were featured regularly - Robert Johnson's electric 'Love In Vain' plus an acoustic interlude featuring Mississippi Fred McDowell's 'You Gotta Move' and Robert Wilkins' 'Prodigal Son'.

The rest of the numbers were Jagger-Richards songs. Besides Ian Stewart coming on stage (though not really visible to the audience) to play piano on 'Carol' and 'Little Queenie' (and sometimes 'Honky Tonk Women') there were no auxiliary musicians beyond the Stones' basic band.

Adapted from the following source: Christopher Hjort, Strange Brew. Eric Clapton & The British Blues Boom, Jawbone, 2007.