"Mick Jagger" by Keith Adagio

What comes to everyone's minds when they hear the name Mick Jagger? Some will say its the skinny man who prances,twitches his lips and pouts all the time as he sings maybe a danceable or perhaps a rocking tune.

Its been almost 50 years since the Rolling Stones first rocked the world.And the pouting and prancing Sir Mick Jagger is still on the top of rock n'roll mainstream,right alongside fellow knighthoods Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.

Mick's awesome style and charisma has gone down through generations and his influences can be seen on younger rockers such as Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.

It may sound biased but as a writer myself I gotta tell you guys on how I've been influenced by the Stones that I'll never say any bad words against them nor Mick Jagger's,though Mick once scared my daughter Heather in which Im gonna tell you guys later on.

My avid fascination with the Rolling Stones can be traced back to my childhood,I was in grade school and every saturday my dad and I would listen to all these classic rock songs pumping on the radio and he would tell me each band on who sang this and who sang that plus a little trivia about the band and so forth.The Rolling Stones along witht the Beatles got my attention and not only because I hear my dad was listening to it,but because they're really good--theres something about their songs ,I dont know,it seems like its coming from an unknown part of the universe infinitely cooler than our own.At a very young age of 11 I found myself buying all the Beatles albums(I have them all) and then I started having albums by the Rolling Stones as well,and then there was all these other great bands during my teens:Guns N' Roses,the Black Crowes and I remember saving up from my allowance to buy their respective albums..anyway,GN'R was another band and I think we shouldn't go into that.

Anyway,back to the Rolling Stones,I didn't have all the Stones albums like I had with the Beatles in which I have all their great CD albums,but Im pretty sure I have all the best Stones compilation albums and songs that were,should I say,one of the greatest music ever recorded.While Brian Jones was the leader and founder of the Rolling Stones,Mick Jagger is somewhat the spokesman/the lead singer and main writer together with childhood buddy,fellow Stone and guitarist Keith Richards.One would argue and say "Satisfaction" was the best Stones song,though I personally prefer "Under My Thumb" as the strongest and indeed was my favorite song from the band.

Mick,like any other artist from the influential sixties has endured decades and their songs outgrew the newer ones and as Linda McCartney had said on one of her interviews "the main reason the sixties keep coming back is that theres nothing better in the interim".The styles had already been set,and the standard rules for a modern rock band has been written and sealed by the Beatles-who after all,lead the British Invasion of the United States.

Mick with the Stones is a strong force that came along with that of the Beatles'.My,what a life he had,the superstar status,the drug problems and the booze and most of all the women in his life.

We all know that Mick Jagger had several wives and like any other rock star,entertained hordes of groupies.He was once tried and sentenced to prison in 1967 along with fellow Stone Keith Richards after a bust in Richards' house wherein he allowed people to smoke hashish in his country home,two other rock stars avoided the said raid:George Harrison and Brian Jones who would later have a bust of their own.Mick reportedly bursts into tears when he got a three month sentence inside the slammer.Other trials in life came to him such as the 1969 Altamont tragedy,in which he dismissed later on.He was  living a rock star's life and he went through it all,unphased and without any regrets.He was a rock star after all,living up all the royalties.

One funny moment I had was when my daughter Heather, who was then one year old and saw Mick singing "Shattered" on youtube,perhaps Mick's prancing and epileptic-like dance plus the pouting and twitching scared her and made her cry.She's even scared of looking at my Ned Kelly DVD wherein Mick was on the cover[This was Mick's first starring role in a film]. But not for long,a year later,we were dancing around to the music when I saw her grabbing my Forty Licks CD and asked me to play it,she started loving "Start Me Up" soon after that and wanted me to play that song over and over again.Whenever she wanted to hear some music I would ask her what CD would I play and she will smile and say "Rolling Stones!" And I thought,"Sir Mick! You gotta be hearing this,your music has just passed to another generation--my 2 1/2 year old daughter!"

 Ah,the beautiful music that came from the Rolling Stones and other bands,so hard to figure out on how and why they had so much appeal plus on how their songs endured decades and appealed to newer generations of fans most of whom were not even born yet when the songs were first released.

Rock stars like Sir Mick,Sir Paul and the other guys from the sixties will surely continue to appeal to future generations ahead of us.But one things for sure,there will never ever be another MICK JAGGER.

Photo:The Rolling Stones 1967

THE LIZARD KING

Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne,Florida on December 8,1943.His father was a naval officer and right from the start during his childhood his genius in writing poetry was already noticed.

Jim's both life and death were shrouded with mystery.A hyperactive child,he is already doing verbal duels with his English teacher in high school quoting off from Joyce,Kerouac, and Nietzsche.His craving for the classics and obsession with such poetic symbols--intimacy and distance,fire,sex, and reptiles became his vehicle for being a tremendous and brilliant writer/lead singer for the Doors.Jim Morrison reportedly have an IQ of 149.

He claimed at four years old he could remember witnessing a family of American Indians being killed in a car accident in which he would later put references to his songs and poetry such as "Peace Frog" and "The Ghost Song".

THE DOORS

 Morrison eventually studied cinematography at UCLA and there he met his three other bandmates.Fellow UCLA alumnus Ray Manzarek[who would later become the band's keyboardist] was reportedly impressed by Jim's lyrics on how he loved to play with words."Those were the most beautiful lyrics that I've ever heard" said Manzarek,referring to the song "Moonlight Drive" one of the first songs ever written by Morrison.With guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore,the Doors were formed in 1965 and it took them two years before releasing their debut album.

Playing extensively in deserted bars helped perfect their act,and in 1967,the band got a record deal with Elektra Records and released their first album with triumphant success-a new sound was born.

The band claimed not having any hesitations on their chosen career with such strong competition such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.Who was the competition anyway? The Beatles doing the Everly Brothers and the Rolling Stones doing Chicago blues,the band shrugged off their shoulders and went far ahead.The album's mighty success has put Morrison immediately into the spotlight and rock music has never been the same."Light My Fire" is the band's biggest hit by the way.

ROCK STAR

Jim Morrison,"The Lizard King" as he calls himself,changed the way rock music is presented onstage.As fame comes in,management and touring pressures took toll on him that he slowly turned into drugs and heavy drinking which would later affect his life.Taking large doses of LSD-a drug which has awesome hallucinogenic power which he claimed  helped write more and more songs.Inspired by acid,the Doors released more albums with mighty success.



As the Doors became more popular,riots were already becoming a common act following their concerts as Morrison became more and more contempt of his audiences,provoking them to some kind of action.A new idea struck him that he would instigate a riot and stand back and observe the way things were happening.

It was in New Haven,Connecticut that Morrison first got himself arrested,an argument with a cop backstage resulted him being sprayed in the face with a can of mace.He eventually related the incident to his audience and was dragged off by cops after that.He was,for the record,the first rock star to be arrested onstage.

The Doors released more albums and more hits followed, bad publicity seemed to be common with Jim Morrison but nevertheless,rock fans must admit,the guy's a genius and his awesome style and sex appeal that lasted  with new generation of Doors fans popping up every minute.


The worst is yet to happen when Jim Morrison once again caught the eyes of the media and authorities with the Miami incident,wherein it was alleged that he exposed his penis onstage.Fueled with booze and drugs,he was again arrested and was found guilty with profanity and indecent exposure.


MYSTERY

 As I have previously said,Jim Morrison's life is shrouded with mystery as his death.It was said that nobody saw Jim Morrison's dead body apart from his on and off girlfriend Pamela Courson and the doctor who signed his death certificate.Even as early as 1969 there have been ill reports of his passing with wild rumours ranging from falling off a cliff,jumping on a tall building and diving on a dry pool out of being high on drugs,but Jim was always there to nullify them all.He even married a witch named Patricia Kennely in which they signed their names from their own blood.

Finally,Jim took a time off after recording what would be their last album LA Woman  and fled with his on and off girlfriend Pamela to Paris.And then the rumours began spreading again,"was it true that Jim Morrison is dead?" Elektra's manager at the time received a phone call from Pamela and was told to come to Paris immediately.They found the couple's flat in Paris,and there was a sealed coffin and a death certificate attributing to the death of Jim Morrison,the coffin was said to have been interred the following day.Again,rumours that Jim Morrison faked his death once again surfaced,some say he relocated to the Amazon jungle coz he was too tired of being famous and being in the spotlight all the time.The only person who could once again straighten up those rumours is in no longer position to do so--Pamela died in 1974 and the French doctor who signed his death certificate was nowhere to be found.

Today,Parisian authorities believed that Jim died of a drug overdose. 

Jim Morrison Dec 8,1943-July 3,1971


Jim,whether he faked his death or not,is unanimously one of rock music's greatest saints.Jim,you truly are THE LIZARD KING

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio