The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' US Tour 1978 was a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

of the United States that took place during June and July 1978, immediately following the release of the group's 1978 album ''

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held from October 1977 to February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris ...

''. Like the 1972 and 1975 U.S. tours, Bill Graham was the tour promoter. One opening act was

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

, who was sometimes joined by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

for their duet "Don't Look Back". The Outlaws backed up Peter Tosh. Another act opening was

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

, famous for her song "

At Last "At Last" is a song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film ''Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941). Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US ''Billboard'' pop ...

History

The tour used a stripped back, minimal stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76, possibly due to the emergence of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

scene and its emphasis solely on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza. Continuing a schedule started in 1966 of touring the United States exactly every three years, the Stones played in a mixture of theatres, sometimes under a pseudonym (i.e., at the start of the 1978 US Tour in Lakeland, Florida, as well as in Fort Worth on July 18, The Stones were billed on the tickets as "The London Green Shoed Cowboys"),

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

s, and

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

s, a practice that they would follow for many of their future tours as well. The tour was the first in which

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

used the famous

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures and markets musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Fri ...

drum set that he continued to play with the Stones until his death, as well as his first employment of a China crash cymbal. The concerts featured backing vocals by

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, something that the Stones would get away from beginning with their next tour when Richards handled the majority of the backing vocals himself. Plans were made to bring this tour to Europe, with several locations in major cities booked, but plans were scrapped for financial reasons. This broke the group's similar schedule of performing in Europe every three years, which had started in 1967. This gap-year from touring prompted Keith Richards to join Ronnie Wood on his 1979 United States solo tour, to promote his then-album ''

Gimme Some Neck ''Gimme Some Neck'' is the third solo album by English musician Ron Wood, released in 1979. It was a minor hit and his best performance on the US charts to date, peaking at number 45 on ''Billboard'' during a 13-week chart run. The album artwork ...

'', in the process forming the band

The New Barbarians ''The New Barbarians'' (; also known as ''Warriors of the Wasteland'') is a 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic action film directed by Enzo G. Castellari, written by Castellari and Tito Carpi, and starring Giancarlo Prete and George Eastman. The plot ...

Reception

Rock critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

wrote that the 1978 Tour was an improvement over the group's previous go-around, "especially when Mick aggerstopped prancing long enough to pick up a guitar and get into the good new songs from ''Some Girls''."

, "The Rolling Stones", entry in ''The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll'',

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 1980. p. 200. The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band's greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It meant a return to a mixture of classic Stones numbers ("Tumbling Dice", "Star Star", "Happy", "Brown Sugar", etc.) mixed with blues numbers and Chuck Berry covers ("Let it Rock and "Sweet Little Sixteen" in particular) as well as including a large number of songs from the then-newly released ''Some Girls'' LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with

as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. While no live album was released immediately following this tour, a fair number of bootleg releases showcased its musical qualities – most notably the multi-show King Biscuit Flower Hour FM recording often known as "Handsome Girls". In 2011, a CD and DVD set was released of a July 1978 performance from

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

entitled '' Some Girls: Live in Texas '78''. In addition to the complete concert, the DVD included the three songs played on the ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' television show in October 1978. Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

Doug Kershaw Douglas James Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) is an American fiddle player, singer, and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1948, he began his career as part of the duo Rusty and Doug, along with his brother, Rusty Kershaw. He had an exte ...

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney ...

and

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

. Opening acts included

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

, Journey,

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore sound, Jersey Shore formerly led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen and The ...

, Foreigner,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Furry Lewis Walter E. "Furry" Lewis (March 6, 1893 or 1899 – September 14, 1981) was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. He was one of the earliest of the blues musicians active in the 1920s to be brought out of ...

Atlanta Rhythm Section Atlanta Rhythm Section (or ARS) is an American Southern rock band formed in 1970 by Rodney Justo (singer), Barry Bailey (guitar), Paul Goddard (bass), Dean Daughtry (keyboards), Robert Nix (drummer), Robert Nix (drums) and J. R. Cobb (guitar). ...

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

, The Outlaws, and the

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock music, rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their Vocal harmony, vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five d ...

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

– lead vocals, guitar, keyboards *

– guitars, vocals *

– guitars, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

– bass guitar *

– drums

Additional musicians

* Ian Stewart – piano *

Ian McLagan Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was i ...

– keyboards, backing vocals

Tour set list

A typical

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the tour, with minor variations involving one or two of the numbers being omitted: # " Let It Rock" (Chuck Berry) # "

All Down the Line "All Down the Line" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, which is included on their 1972 album '' Exile on Main St.''. Although at one point slated to be the lead single from the album, it was ultimately released as a single as ...

" # "

Honky Tonk Women "Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single in July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (a country version called "Country Honk" was later includ ...

" # "

Star Star "Star Star" (originally titled "Starfucker") is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In a few select countries, the song was released as a single from the band's album ''Goa ...

" # "

When the Whip Comes Down "When the Whip Comes Down" is a song by the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1978 album ''Some Girls''. "When the Whip Comes Down" was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, although Jagger handled the song's lyrics. ...

" # "

Beast of Burden A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for transportation (e.g. riding horses and camels), while othe ...

" # " Lies" # " Miss You" # "

Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" is a song by American soul group the Temptations, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Released on the Gordy (Motown) label, and produced by Norman Whitfield, it features on the group ...

" # " Shattered" # " Respectable" # "

Far Away Eyes "Far Away Eyes" is the sixth track from the English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1978 album, '' Some Girls''. It was released, as the B-side of the single " Miss You" on Rolling Stones Records, on 9 June 1978. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine made it ...

" # "

Love in Vain "Love in Vain" (originally "Love in Vain Blues") is a blues song written by American musician Robert Johnson. Johnson's performancevocal accompanied by his finger-style acoustic guitar playinghas been described as "devastatingly bleak". He reco ...

" # "

Tumbling Dice "Tumbling Dice" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released worldwide as the lead single from the band's 1972 double album '' Exile on Main St.'' on 14 April 1972 by Rolling Stones Records. A product of Mick ...

" # "

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

" # "

Sweet Little Sixteen "Sweet Little Sixteen" is a rock and roll song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry, who released it as a single in January 1958. His performance of it at that year's Newport Jazz Festival was included in the documentary film ''Jazz on a Sum ...

(Chuck Berry)" # "

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

" # "

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was seen as the band's retu ...

" # ''Encore:'' "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff is w ...

", "

Street Fighting Man "Street Fighting Man" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Considered one of the band's most popular and most controversial songs, it features Indian instrumen ...

" (most shows had no encore). #" Hound Dog" (played only in Lexington and Memphis)

Tour dates

Notes

References

External links

'Rocks Off' page tour setlists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolling Stones Us Tour 1978 The Rolling Stones concert tours 1978 concert tours 1978 in American music June 1978 in the United States July 1978 in the United States Concert tours of the United States

History

Reception

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

Additional musicians

Tour set list

Tour dates

Notes

See also

References

External links