Richards had volunteered to give her a ride himself, and she was so impressed by his thoughtfulness that after his arrest, she approached the judge and appealed for leniency - and suggested they perform the benefit concert in lieu of jail time. According to " The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography," the band had befriended a blind woman named Rita Bedard, whom they met after she hitchhiked to all their shows (via Rolling Stone). Around 10,000 people were in attendance (and in spite of Oshawa, Ontario, residents worrying their city was about to be pillaged and burned to the ground, everyone was Canadian-level polite), with 2,600 tickets reserved for blind concert-goers.Īnd how that came about is Stones-level strange. It wasn't just a small, token affair, either. The story most frequently repeated by friends was that he had actually been killed by a builder working on his home (a home that, incidentally, had previously been owned by Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. That sparked rumors all over again, whispered speculation that he hadn't died accidentally, but that he had been murdered. In 2009, the Guardian reported that more than 600 new documents pertaining to Jones' death had been handed over to police. Was his death an open-and-shut case? Just another story of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle taking a brilliant musician too soon? Maybe, maybe not. According to Rolling Stone, Jones had floated away from the group post-"Beggar's Banquet" and announced he would be leaving not long after. Sadly, no one was truly surprised, as he'd been fired from the group just a month earlier on the heels of an arrest over drug charges. Its B-side, " Neighbours", would become an airplay hit and a video was also made for the song.The official ruling was "misadventure," and there were all kinds of reports of sleeping pills, alcohol, and drugs all playing a part. The song was played heavily on the Stones' tours of 19, but has been played scarcely since. Released as the third single from Tattoo You, the song became a radio hit in the US, where it reached No.
"Hang Fire" was first written and recorded during the Some Girls sessions in Paris. The phrase originally denoted the instance when a gun, using an antique type of ignition such as percussion cap, or flintlock, would fail or markedly delay to fire when the trigger was pulled. The title expression "hang fire" (by formal definition) means to do nothing, to delay, wait, hold back, or hesitate. Richards was asked about the track in a 1981 Rolling Stone magazine interview where he admits the track relates to England and the "ugly politicians" who had caused the country to decline when the "money got tight". The lyrical irony and commentary on English society harks back to some of the group's more socially contentious songs of the sixties such as " Mother's Little Helper", " 19th Nervous Breakdown" and " Street Fighting Man". The song is one of the few times the band wrote an overtly political song, and it is notable that it was never released as a single in England, even though the band was touring Europe during the single's North American release.
#THE ROLLING STONES HANG FIRE FULL#
You know marrying money is a full time job/I don't need the aggravation/I'm a lazy slob. The lyrics lament an unemployed working-class Englishman who would rather bet the horses than try to marry into the upper class, the only way to get ahead in English society. In the sweet old country where I come from, Nobody ever works, Yeah nothing gets done/We hang fire, we hang fire. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Hang Fire" is a fast-paced, up-tempo rock and roll track, which belies the happy beat with sharp, satirical lyrics directed squarely at England's economic decline through the 1970s.
" Hang Fire" is a song by the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album Tattoo You.