Thirty years ago, the Rolling Stones swept America, taking Exile on Main Street to Main Streets across the nation. Everyone held their breath to see what would happen; the Stones' previous U.S. tour had been a chaotic circus culminating in the infamous death of a fan at Altamont. And this tour (the "Stones Touring Party") was rumored to be wilder than ever: bigger shows in major arenas, with a far larger entourage and even more drugs. Robert Greenfield went along for the ride, and came away with a riveting insider's account, called by Ian Rankin "one of the greatest rock books ever written." The reality lived up to the rumor: take one part Lee Radziwill, a dash of Truman Capote, set the scene at Hef's Playboy mansion, and toss in the county jail for good measure. That was the Stones Touring Party, the ultimate rock 'n' roll band at the height of its spectacular depravity.
A journalist who rode along with the Rolling Stones on their 1972 US tour chronicles what he witnessed on and off the stage.
The Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour of the United States was perhaps their best—and certainly most notorious—ever. Their previous visit in 1969 had ended in the nightmare of Altamont; now, three years later, they had just recorded their two finest albums, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, and were musically in their prime—if also personally at their most dissolute and debauched.
Robert Greenfield, one of America’s finest writers, went along for the ride and came back with a riveting account of high living, excess and rock & roll fury, from the Playboy Mansion to the jail cells of Rhode Island. This was an extended tour Party, capital P, to which all America’s hip, rich and glitzy were invited, from Truman Capote to Stevie Wonder, Annie Liebowitz to Hugh Hefner. The result has been acclaimed as one of the all-time classic music books.
Previously published as STP: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones, this reissue uses the original title and features a new introduction by the author.
Praise for Stone’s Touring Party
“A compelling account of the Stones trashing America during 1972. . . . Greenfield was allowed the kind of access journalists can only dream of today.” —The Times (UK)
“One of the greatest rock books ever written.” —GQ
“Exceptionally well-written and highly readable.” —Jerry Hopkins, Los Angeles Times
“Unsparing in its picture of the calculation and lyrical decadence behind the tour.” —John Rockwell, New York Times
“Skip this review and rush right down to your local bookstore and get a copy . . . reads like the best fiction.” —Ed War, Creem
