Good times roll
TORONTO -- Mick Jagger was the undisputed host last night of SARS-stock, or as he called it "the biggest party in Toronto's history!"
"You're here and we're here, and Toronto's back -- it's booming," proclaimed the 60-year-old rock icon at Downsview Park.
But by the time the Rolling Stones got started at 10 p.m, about 15 minutes later than scheduled with Start Me Up, the crowd seemed ready to wind down.
Standing in a large field under the blazing sun for 12 hours -- gates opened at 8 a.m. and the sun didn't really start to go down until 8 p.m. -- will do that to you.
Still, Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood and drummer Charlie Watts, eventually warmed to the task of reviving the masses with such classics as Brown Sugar, Tumblin' Dice, Ruby Tuesday, You Can't Always Get What You Want, It's Only Rock And Roll and Sympathy For The Devil.
And, eventually, the audience responded. Or at least those who weren't fleeing the grounds in droves trying to avoid the crush of the crowd once the Stones left the stage.
"It's a fantastic night, it's a fantastic time," Jagger said. "You've made us feel really welcome tonight. You've always made us feel welcome in Toronto.
The Stones interrupted their European tour to come across the Atlantic and play in the city where they've rehearsed for three world tours and often played surprise club shows.
The first real surprise of last night was the presence of Justin Timberlake on Miss You, although The Toronto Sun yesterday had exclusively reported the duet would occur.
Unfortunately, Jagger and Timberlake didn't really mesh in terms of style, particularly when Timberlake inserted the chorus of his song, Cry Me A River, into the Stones' disco-inflected chestnut.
Another strange twist was when Richards -- "Unexpected visit, huh?" were the only words I was initially able to make out -- took over lead vocals on a cover of the standard Nearness Of You.
Richards did much better on Happy.
"It's good to be back," he said. "It's good to be anywhere!"
The only other guest to join the Stones -- although U2 frontman Bono was reportedly sighted on the grounds -- was AC/DC guitarist Angus Young who returned to the stage for a cover of B.B. King's Rock Me Baby.
Young's brief appearance was enough to re-energize the crowd and sustain them through three more Stones classics Honky Tonk Women, Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash.
FANTASTIC, SAYS MICK
Not all the politicians were in the VIP section. Some of them were booked to play. Case in point, ladies and gentlemen, your headliners, the Rolling Stones.
"Welcome to Canada!" Mick Jagger yelled cheerfully to the backstage crowd of press, unleashing a string of "fantastics" in a fleeting meeting just before the Stones' headline set.
"I saw the crowd from the back of the stage and it looked fantastic," he said. "One of the most fantastic things we've ever seen. It is the biggest crowd we've ever played to, so it is a fantastic event."
But historic? "Well, in terms of numbers," he said. "But I'm not writing history. You have to do the day first."
For his part, Keith Richards (Charlie Watts and Ron Wood contributed little but bemused smiles) summed up his emotions thus: "I'm just waking up, and it feels great! It's a big day for everybody."
Jagger allowed as to how one or more of his daughters had made their way to the wings to watch Justin Timberlake. Asked for details of the clan in tow, he said enigmatically "We have tons of family everywhere! They're all here!" he said, indicating the carpet of humanity not far away.
Hard to argue with that.
Spector Case Hitting a Wall?
Nearly six months after being implicated in the death of a B-movie actress, record producer Phil Spector remains as unchained as one of his famous melodies.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide investigators have yet to conclude their probe into the alleged slaying of Lana Clarkson, found shot in the head February 3 at Spector's castle-style retreat in a Los Angeles suburb.
As a result, Spector next week likely will receive a one- to two-month extension on his stay-out-of-jail pass. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday.
Spector, arrested in connection with the Clarkson case, has been free on $1 million bail since shortly after the killing. No charges have been filed.
Sheriff spokesman Lt. Dan Rosenberg tells the Associated Press his department is waiting on crime-lab reports.
Without those reports, sheriff's investigators can't pass along their case to prosecutors, and without the case, prosecutors can't decide whether to file charges, or not.
A call seeking comment Spector's attorney, O.J. Simpson defender Robert Shapiro, was not returned Wednesday morning. The lawyer for Clarkson's family declined comment.
Spector, for one, is on the record as saying he did nothing wrong.
In an interview in the July issue of Esquire, the 62-year-old music mogul who constructed the "Wall of Sound" around a box-set's worth of 1960s hits, including "Unchained Melody," "Be My Baby," and "He's a Rebel," said Clarkson shot herself.
Spector described the 40-year-old star of Barbarian Queen as being "loud" and "drunk" the night of her death. In the end, he said, "she kissed [a] gun."
In the magazine, Spector, a renowned gun collector who once reputedly pulled a firearm on the Ramones, said he didn't know where Clarkson got the weapon, or why she pulled the trigger. Reports say the two met the night of February 2 at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, where Clarkson worked.
Homicide detectives seemingly have ruled out the suicide theory, saying they believe a crime was committed.
Rock 'N' Roll Pioneer Sam Phillips Dies
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Sam Phillips, who discovered Elvis Presley and helped usher in the rock 'n' roll revolution, died Wednesday. He was 80.
Phillips died at St. Francis Hospital, spokeswoman Gwendolyn McClain said. No details were immediately available about the cause of death or how long he had been hospitalized.
Phillips founded Sun Records in Memphis in 1952 and helped launch the career of Presley, then a young singer who had moved from Tupelo, Miss.
He produced Presley's first record, the 1954 single that featured "That's All Right, Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky."
"God only knows that we didn't know it would have the response that it would have," Phillips said in an interview in 1997.
"But I always knew that the rebellion of young people, which is as natural as breathing, would be a part of that breakthrough," he said.
Phillips was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2000, the A&E cable network ran a two-hour biography called "Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll."
"When I first heard Elvis, the essence of what I heard in his voice was such that I knew there might be a number of areas that we could go into," Phillips said.
Presley was good with ballads, Phillips recalled, but there was no need to challenge the established balladeers like Perry Como, Frankie Laine and Bing Crosby.
"What there was a need for was a rhythm that had a very pronounced beat, a joyous sound and a quality that young people in particular could identify with," he said.
By 1956, when Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA for $35,000, the rock 'n' roll craze had become a cultural phenomenon and a multimillion-dollar industry.
"It all came out of that infectious beat and those young people wanting to feel good by listening to some records," Phillips said.
Presley died in 1977 at age 42.
Phillips began in music as a radio station engineer and later as a disc jockey. He started Sun Records so he could record both rhythm & blues singers and country performers, then called country and western or hillbilly singers.
His plan was to let artists who had no formal training play their music as they felt it, raw and full of life. The Sun motto was "We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime."
In the early days, before Presley, Phillips worked mostly with black musicians, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas.
After the success of Presley on Sun, others who recorded for the label under Phillips included Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty and Charlie Rich.
"We were starting from scratch together," Phillips said in 2000.
He got out of the recording business in 1962 and sold Sun Records in 1969 to producer Shelby Singleton of Nashville. The Sun studio on Union Avenue in Memphis still exists as a tourist attraction.
In his later years, Phillips spent much of his time operating radio station WLVS in Memphis and others in Alabama. He stayed out of the limelight except for some appearances at Presley-related events after Presley's death.
"I'll never retire. I'm just using up somebody else's oxygen if I retire," he said in an Associated Press interview in 2000.
Born Samuel Cornelius Phillips in Florence, Ala., Phillips worked as an announcer at radio stations in Muscle Shoals, Ala., and Decatur, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn., before settling in Memphis in 1945. Before founding Sun Records, he was a talent scout who recommended artists and recordings to record labels such as Chess and Modern. He also worked as an announcer in Memphis.
His sons Knox and Jerry also were record producers.