40th anniversary edition of Rolling Stones 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out' will coincide with L.A. Forum shows

By Phyllis Pollack

This week, ABKCO Records will release the 40th Anniversary package of the Rolling Stones live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! November will also mark the 40th anniversary of the two historic Rolling Stones concerts held at The Forum in Los Angeles, California. The reissue of the the Rolling Stones album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! will kick off with the release of an elaborate 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set on November 3, and a subsequent Super Deluxe Box Set, slated for release on November 17.

November 8 will be the 40-year mark for the historic 1969 Rolling Stones appearances at the Los Angeles Forum, which held less than twenty thousand seats.

In commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the release of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, ABKCO Records will issue an extensive limited edition box set. Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! was recorded live at the Rolling Stones Madison Square Garden concerts held on November 27 and November 28, 1969.

The first box set that will be released, the 40th Anniversary Deluxe version, will contain a hardback book, written by legendary photographer Ethan Russell. Within its pages are black and white and color versions of some of Russell’s most famous images from the Rolling Stones 1969 tour. In the book, Russell has penned some of his memoirs from that year. In the upcoming work, he also discusses the cultural backdrop that encompassed the 1969 tour. Some of these events that Russell recalls, which have become iconic in pop culture, include The Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway, the late Yippie activist and writer Abbie Hoffman, the release of the Beatles album Abbey Road and Woodstock. The book also contains a few quotes he recollected from the band’s former longtime bassist Bill Wyman, who was replaced with Darryl Jones, as well as a few statements he recalled from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Photographs in the book include one of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards backstage with the late Jimi Hendrix, as well as one of Mick Jagger in the midst of a discussion with rocker Chuck Berry. The book also contains detailed liner notes relative to the music and bonus DVD included in the box set. The 56-page work also contains the Rolling Stone Magazine review on the album that was written by the late Lester Bangs. Bangs, one of rock music's most revered critics. Bangs had originally written for Creem Magazine. Former Rolling Stone writer Cameron Crowe’s feature film Almost Famous featured Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the role of Bangs. In real life, acclaimed music journalist Dave Marsh served as Creem’s first editor, while Bangs wrote for it. Marsh later wrote for Rolling Stone for fifteen years. Today, Marsh, who is also a prolific Bruce Springsteen biographer, can be heard on three radio shows on Sirius/XM Radio.

The package comes in a six by eight by one and a half-inch box, with the reproduction of the original album cover, which was photographed by David Bailey. In addition to the hardback book written by Russell, the set contains three CDs. In addition to the three discs is a bonus DVD, comprised of five songs that were recorded live at the Madison Square Garden shows, and which had never been released until the emergence of the upcoming box set. The unreleased tracks are “Prodigal Son,” “You Gotta Move,” “Under My Thumb,” I’m Free,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” A collector’s post card, a replica of the 1969 Rolling Stones tour poster designed by David Bird, is also included in the box set.

There will be a code included inside a limited number of the box sets that will allow Rolling Stones fans to download the song “I’m Free” for Guitar Hero 5.

The centerpiece of the package is the original live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! Some of its unforgettable live Rolling Stones anthems include “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Midnight Rambler,” and renditions of the Chuck Berry classics “Carol” and “Little Queenie.”

The box set also has a CD containing live tracks from The Rolling Stones’ iconic opening acts that played both the Los Angeles and New York City 1969 tour dates, B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner. Listeners will get to hear B.B. King’s 1969 renditions of “Everyday I Have The Blues,” “How Blue Can You Get,” “Sweet Soul Music” and more.

Stellar performances from Ike and Tina Turner are classic essentials for any serious collector or fan of music. Arguably, Ike and Tina Turner had one of the best rhythm sections in rock and roll of all time. Songs like “Proud Mary,” their version of The Beatles’ “Come Together” and the heart-stopping “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” remain timeless.

Because live concerts have always been not just about hearing, but also about seeing the band, a special feature of the box set will include a DVD by filmmakers Albert and the late David Maysles, also aptly titled Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The film will flaunt five entire performances of the five previously unreleased Rolling Stones songs. The performances on the DVD are heard in 5.1 surround sound. They also include a vignette featuring Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts, working on the photo shoot for the album cover. Viewers will also get to witness Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards improvising on guitar backstage. Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who was later replaced by Ronnie Wood, is also seen backstage with Hendrix.

Among the vignettes on the DVD, Janis Joplin is seen enjoying The Rolling Stones live show. There is also an episode where the band is waiting for a helicopter, which features members of The Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia is seen, clearly animated. Jagger is asked, “Have you met Jerry yet?”

The Maysles’ bonus Rolling Stones film that will be included in the box set was shown at the New York Film Festival on September 26. The Mayles Brothers are most known for their feature length documentary concert film Gimme Shelter. It was a groundbreaking work when it was released in 1970, giving fans an inside glimpse of behind-the-scenes workings of the 1969 Rolling Stones tour. The title of the film came from a song that had not been released as of the 1969 tour, but would later be released on the Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed. The film remains popular with Stones fans today.

With this month being the forty-year marker for both the Rolling Stones Los Angeles Forum dates and the New York Madison Square Garden dates, the timing for the release of the box set of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out signifies yet another milestone in the history of the Rolling Stones.

In Los Angeles, the first show at The Forum had an extra opening act, blues singer Terry Reid. The concert promotion company for the Rolling Stones1969 Los Angeles shows was Wolf and Rissmiller Concerts.

Larry Vallon, Senior Vice President, National Booking at Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG Live), the world’s second largest concert booking agency, remembers being at the 1969 Rolling Stones Forum shows. Vallon told Examiner.com, “I had started working at the company (Wolf and Rismiller Concerts) maybe a couple of months before. We had a Gordon Lightfoot show after a Kings hockey date in the afternoon, which made the logistics kind of difficult. So anyway, I finished up with Lightfoot, and drove over to The Forum. I walked drove down the ramp, and came up behind the band, and they were going on stage. It was about eleven o’clock at night, and they were just going on for the first show. So the show was extremely late. So then after that, they had to exchange audiences. So eighteen thousand people had to leave, and another eighteen thousand people more had to get in, in the middle of the night. So they wound up throwing Terry Reid off of the second show. I think there was some confusion as to whether Ike and Tina or B.B. King was going on first. Chip Monck was stage manager for The Stones. He had them in reversed order, so that took even longer, to re-set the equipment for them. And then by the time The Stones came on, it was probably like four in the morning. And when they walked out and the audience left, the sun had come up. (Laughs.) So that was a fun night.”

Another person who remembers the tour, but who was not at The Forum shows, is retired concert promoter Barry Fey. Fey was voted as Billboard Magazine's promoter of the year, for three consecutive years, starting in 1979 . He was the first concert promoter to book Led Zeppelin in the United States, and his three-day Denver Pop Festival on June 29, 1969 featured the final performance of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Fey told Examiner.com that the 1969 Rolling Stones tour had originally been slated to open in Los Angeles.

He remembered, “When I heard The Stones were going out, I called Ronnie Sunshine who was working for The Stones, and I said, ‘Ronnie, please, Denver deserves a date from The Stones.’ I fought and I fought, but we were turned down, and the tour was scheduled without a date for Denver.”

Fey added, “The tour was supposed to start with a date in L.A. at The Forum. Well, about two and a half weeks before the date, he called me up, and said, ‘Listen, The Stones have thought differently about possibly opening the show in L.A. They would like to have a soft opening somewhere that no one would know about, and it can’t be a major city. So it can’t be in Denver. Can you find a place to put it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ I called him back in an hour, and I said, ‘There’s a place in Fort Collins at Colorado State University. We could use Moby Gym.’ He called back quickly, and said, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ So we put together a show. It sold out right away. People in Denver knew about it, but it was only nine thousand seats back then at Moby Gym.”

Fey started to laugh as he remarked, “The show was supposed to be such a big secret. We kept it such a good secret, and The Stones kept such a good secret. The show was supposed to be The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner. Well, they kept it such a big secret, that they forgot to tell Ike and Tina Turner (laughs), so they never showed up. So it was just B.B. King, and The Stones.”

Author and music historian Harvey Kubernik, who attended both Los Angeles shows, wrote in Goldmine Magazine that the band arrived in Los Angeles on October 17. He remembers that the band rehearsed in Burbank at the Warner Brothers sound stage, recently used for the film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They. In his 2009 article, Kubernik recalls that the Rolling Stones also practiced near Steven Stills’ Laurel Canyon area home, which was formerly owned by the late legendary Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor Carmen Dragon and his musical family.

Kubernik, author of the book Canyon of Dreams: The Magic And Music, also recalled that a previously arranged hockey match between the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers was rescheduled at the request of Jack Kent Cooke, who owned both The Forum and the Kings.

Jerry Heller was a booking agent at the time of the 1969 Rolling Stones Forum shows. A booking agent, who represented Eric Burdon and the Animals, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Grass Roots, The Standells, the late Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Otis Redding and other artists, Heller would later manage the controversial, multi-platinum-selling rap group N.W.A., and co-managing the late Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records label. Heller says that in the fall of 1969, he, David Geffen and Frank Barselona were the top three booking agents in the country.

Heller was among those who were at The Forum that night. Heller told Examiner.com, “The show started very late. They had some sound and light problems. I had tickets for the late show, and we sat out back in the limousine. It was really hours late. I’m talking like two to three hours late. I was with Bobby Gibson, who at that time was the band’s press agent. We came together. And I was with Susan Richardson, the talent booker for the television show Midnight Special. She was my girlfriend.”

Heller stated, “They started so late that Terry Reid didn’t even go on the second show. Terry Reid was really hot then, especially for a new artist. Everybody was looking forward to seeing him. It was just unbelievable when they finally went on. I remember being there until early in the morning. It was a big huge show, a lot of acts on it. They just kicked ass. People hadn’t seen the Stones in three years. So people were really anticipating seeing them. Three years is a long time in rock and roll years. Some acts don’t even last three years. It was an amazing, phenomenal night. I remember Mick prancing all over the stage, and it was incredible.”

“I remember going backstage because we had our limo there where the Lakers would go in. There were a lot of limos back there,” Heller added. “If the first show was supposed to start at say ten thirty, we got there at nine thirty, and the band didn’t start until two in the morning. It was really something. Wolf and Rissmiller booked it. They were the only major promoters in Los Angeles at the time. I remember Larry Vallon being there, who is now at AEG and he probably did all the work.”

In retrospect, Kubernik noted an important point about the shows. He told Examiner.com, "The set list at the 1969 gigs reflected the band's 1964-1969 world only, and they were debuting "Let It Bleed" in front of an audience who didn't have the album in their hands yet. We heard their new material on the spot and were the fate-selected focus group to witness the sound and the pound in the city where they mixed their albums like Let It Bleed and Beggar's Banquet."

Kubernik reflected, "I have this theory why the '69 Stones' tour, and the two compact L.A. tribal gatherings that long night made impact on all us in attendance. After a quick opener Terry Reid, and then a church-like set from B.B. King, followed by the truly dance trance sexual romp and stomp of The Ike and Tina Turner Revue, we were all so ready and wet for the Rolling Stones to take it the next level, and when it was their turn the band delivered an Inglewood floorgasm.”

In 1969, Denny Bruce was working in Los Angeles with several recording artists. Bruce was managing blues artist Albert Collins, and he was involved in getting Ike and Tina Turner signed to a new record deal. Bruce's roommate was the legendary producer and arranger Jack Nitzsche. Taking a break from writing a speech for an upcoming thirty-year commemorative event for Chrysalis Records, Bruce told Examiner.com that he remembers explaining to Nitzsche who Terry Reid was on the night of the shows, because Nitzche had never heard of him before, and had no idea who Reid was. Bruce and Nitzsche went to the second show together.

Earlier in the day, Bruce spent the day with Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. “Charlie wanted to leave the hotel, like they always do,” said Bruce. “He wanted to find a certain book. He had a child, who by now was a teenager, and he had just moved. Charlie was very interested in horses. He wanted to buy her a horse. So I took him out to some bookstores. He bought some books about Clydesdale horses.”

Bruce continued, “I asked Charlie, ‘Aren’t they too big for England?’ He goes, ‘But that’s what she wants.’ I go, 'No, Charlie. Kids want a pony. Have you ever seen a Clydesdale?’ Charlie said, ‘No, I haven’t.’ Bruce laughs at the memory of this. “I said, ‘Charlie, they’re huge!’ I said, ‘I know you don’t drink Budweiser beer in England,’ trying to explain to him what these horses were.

“We went to the Pickwick bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. It is no longer there now,” Bruce added. “And guess what? People would actually come up to him and say, “Hey, Bill, Bill! Where’s Mick?” (Laughs.)

“Charlie and I had a drink at Musso and Frank's in Hollywood. He would love to talk to me talking about jazz, and asking me about all these black guys that played on Central Avenue. It’s like, ‘Charlie, I’m not that old!’ He wishes he would have grown up in Harlem, and played with Charlie Parker. He related more to that than rock and roll. He was very interested in all of that.”

The 1969 Rolling Stones shows in New York at Madison Square Garden, where Get Yer Ya-Ya's was recorded, and the 1969 Rolling Stones shows held at The Forum, bring back a myriad of unique memories to those who were there. The live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! will certainly bring back memories to any Rolling Stones fan who were at other shows, or just grew up on The Rolling Stones' music.

The Super Deluxe edition of the Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert has all of the content that is included in the Deluxe edition, along with the much-welcome addition of three vinyl Rolling Stones 12-inch LPs. One of the vinyl discs will feature etched images featuring the cover art and the autographs of the band members.