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The Rolling Stones’ Historic 1971 London Marquee Gig

On March 26, 1971, The Rolling Stones were at London’s Marquee Club to play their last UK gig for two years before an invited audience.

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Mick Jagger
Photo: David Redfern/Redferns

In March 1971, everything was in place for the release of The Rolling StonesSticky Fingers the following month. So why did they go on tour in that month? Bands have often toured in support of their albums, either starting a tour shortly after the release of a record or making their new album available sometime during the tour – but in this case, The Stones decided to tour before the record hit the shelves, starting in Newcastle on March 4 and ending ten days later at London’s Roundhouse.

The reason for this Stones UK tour, their first since 1966, was a matter of expediency. For tax reasons, all five Stones had decided to move to France, and they needed to be out of the country before the new tax year started in the first week of April.

Their final concert in England, although not officially a part of the tour, prior to heading for the South of France, was at London’s Marquee Club on March 26. According to the Melody Maker, it was “before a small but elite audience that included Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Ric Grech, and Andrew Oldham.”

A film crew was there to capture the event and it is the closest we can get to “see” the band on their ’71 tour, as all but one of the songs on their Marquee performance was played during the tour.

Their set kicks off with “Live With Me” from Let It Bleed and after a typical Ian Stewart piano intro the band immediately hit their stride, helped by their new horn section of Jim Price and Bobby Keys who effortlessly add a funky southern soul vibe.

The Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers - From The Vault - The Marquee – Live In 1971

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The Stones used the opportunity to showcase four of Sticky Fingers’ nine tracks. The first number at the Marquee that had been played throughout their March tour was “Dead Flowers.” The second Sticky song is, “I Got The Blues,” which had not been a part of their tour set. The latter is a Stax-influenced ballad reminiscent of Otis Redding with Keys’s tenor sax to the fore. Following their Marquee performance of this song, it would not be played again on stage until 1999’s No Security Tour.

The band’s affection for the songs of Chuck Berry is well documented. The Stones included two originals from the Chess Records legend on their 1969 tour, having featured them on Get Yer Ya-Yas Out; they maintained the tradition for their 1971 UK tour, as well as their tour of Europe the previous year, by this time covering “Let It Rock.”

At this time (and forever after) and for a few years before this, one of the highlights of their concerts was “Midnight Rambler”; their Marquee version of the song that first appeared on Let It Bleed is superb. “Midnight Rambler had its live debut at Hyde Park in 1969. At the Marquee, the band seems to operate from inside the song, at one with every nuance of this classic. Mick Jagger is brilliant, both vocally and on the harmonica, while Keith and Mick Taylor give the song an “edge” that has rarely been bettered.

The Rolling Stones - Midnight Rambler [Live] HD Marquee Club 1971 NEW

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A Stones’ show without “Satisfaction”? It has rarely happened since it came out as a single in June 1965 and here the band take the opening of the song at a more languid pace than on most other occasions, making it sound like a new song in places, yet it still manages to build to its more traditional climax.

The set closes with new songs, both are from Sticky Fingers and both are on the single that heralded the album. The opening riff to “Bitch” is classic Keith and, like many other numbers from the set, it benefits from Price/Keys’s horns and a rock-solid backbeat from Charlie.

“Brown Sugar” brings the set to a fitting climax. It would be two years before the band would again play concerts in Britain. As their former manager Andrew Loog Oldham told the New Musical Express at the time, “They’re still the most fertile live group there is. They’re still into songs. The music business has nothing to do with real life, whereas The Stones do.”

The Rolling Stones’ From The Vault – The Marquee – Live In 1971 DVD is available here.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. danshaf

    March 26, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    Very nice, but two things to note. The song “Bitch” is started by Mick Taylor and not Keith Richards. And, speaking of Muck Taylor, specific mention should have been made of his superb and virtuosic playing throughout this set. How could this go unmentioned? Maybe the writer didn’t notice.

    • Richard Havers

      March 27, 2017 at 9:25 am

      It’s the riff that is Keith’s from this song, agreed it’s Mick T that opens the number on the gig. We agree that Mick T is in fine form throughout, but as with everything Stones, it’s about the ensemble playing, the sum of the parts, not the individuals…

  2. DMZABO

    February 24, 2022 at 8:39 pm

    This is a great show from the floor to the back stage door. I wish I had a time machine to go back to this event so that I could witness the greatness that is The Rolling Stones per the move to France. Just to see this version of Midnight Rambler would be awesome. Also witnessing The Glimmer Twins belting out Dead Flowers together on one mic like they used to do would be mind boggling! Damn some people there sure were so lucky to have witnessed this gem of a show.

  3. ML Jones

    September 2, 2023 at 7:06 am

    I believe this was one of the most iconic moments in rock history.
    Keif showing up about 10 minutes before the gig was to start after he looks
    like he’s coming off a 48 hour bender. Mick with his epic absolutely no stage presence
    just look down at his guitar and provide amazing guitar licks. Even with the mistakes they
    made on Midnight Rambler, still the best version I’ve ever seen.
    It was gritty, raw, dirty and I’m not talking about Keith Richards personal hygiene, I’m talking about the entire performance of the band. I would given anything to be there but of course I was
    only 10 years old at the time.

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