Chapter One; In which I am pulled over by police officers in Arkansas during our 1975 tour and a stand off ensues…

It is not the salacious tittle tattle or the schoolboy sniggering (or the size of one M. Jagger’s penis) that sets this title apart,  but perhaps it is that the Rolling Stone’s music is still an (the) anthem in London illustrates the depth of adventure and brio that spawned the world’s self styled greatest rock and roll band. Even the opening lines are self deprecating for the amazing story that follows, however much we think we might have known, even those who lived it in parallel with the band vicariously through every single release, every mega concert, every girlfriend. It is a wonderful true story of our time.

There is, out of many, an anecdote where Keith Richards girlfriend Patti gets pregnant. His response he declares was to change the dungeon into a nursery.

One of the best parts is the opening saga of life growing up in Deptford, south London before all the drugs and dramas…but also elegant exposition on how the music changed the 20th century (“we were just unpaid PR for Chicago blues”)….

A word also for the brilliant job done by co writer ex- Sunday Times reporter James Fox – who has just signed to do similar for artist Damien Hirst – who brings context and organisation and as Richards jokes: “it is impossible sometimes not to be a parody of oneself”.

The book like the music though is not parody. Nor is this just showbiz schmaltz…