How the Rolling Stones Went From Anti-Authoritarian Heyday to Grandfathers of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll

The Rolling Stones by Bob Spitz review: All the old riffs with no fresh licks

Bob Spitz’s The Rolling Stones is what is known in publishing as a cat killer. That is, it’s so big — 690 pages — it could kill your moggy, should it come through your letterbox. Besides a dead cat, you’d also be left with a rather turgid history of a band whose history we already know so much about. I’ve read dozens of books about the Rolling Stones, and judging by Spitz’s tremendously boring book, so has he. There is nothing new here, and it r…

How the Rolling Stones went from anti-authoritarian heyday to grandfathers of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll

Bob Spitz’s skilful if serviceable biography, simply titled ‘The Rolling Stones’, could have revealed more of the band’s latter years