Tue 19 Jun 2001 10:27
ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM PART 1

Andrew Oldham in the 60s

PR guru, record producer, svengali, label head, author - Andrew Loog Oldham has seen many sides of life during his eventful career. Now resident in Bogota, Colombia, we asked you to quiz the man himself. Here's the first part of his answers to your questions on topics ranging from Nico to the "firing" of "sixth Stone" Ian Stewart to beating the system.

Fatima Contes from New York asks: Was wondering (since I am of Latin American heritage) if Mr Loog Oldham now speaks Spanish fluently and if he feels safe living in Colombia in view of the current state of affairs there?

Andrew Oldham: "Fatima, no, I do not speak fluent Spanish, though I get by at the tiendra on the corner. The reason is that I do not have to work in Colombia, and this has stopped my having to learn Spanish as a means to putting food on my table. As for safety, when my wife tells me to pack, I will.

"I might be living here in a fool's paradise, I know I don't feel things and daily events in the Colombian way my wife feels them. I do not live in fear, I have survived a bomb explosion in Ireland in the 70s and that somewhat puts a reality bite and clip on fear of the unknown."

Mike Porohnavi from Baltimore asks: I would like to know what your thoughts on Nico are after all these years.

AO: "Mike, I was thinking about Nico just this morning. I'm about to write about her in 2Stoned, my follow-up to Stoned. As far as the data I have she died alone on a stretch of road on the island of Ibiza in the late 80s and my thoughts this morning were that I'm glad I'll have had a number of years straight and sober before I move onto the next.

"One, it helps to clear this universe for yourself and I know it makes life clearer for your children. In 1965 Nico came into my life as I was starting Immediate Records, recorded for me and promoted for us and really helped us play the game. I have nothing but good and fond memories of the lady. I just hope that she didn't die frustrated and unfullfilled, because I know that's how I'd feel if I died whilst I was still getting stoned."

Bogomir Mijatovich from Yugoslavia asks: What was the biggest mistake you made with the Stones?

AO: "Bogomir, your name sounds romantic, like an English seaside town that should have been torn down. An interesting question. One, there are no accidents. Two, there are no victims, only volunteers. I know that's tough data given recent events in your part of the world. I'm not being flippant, my step-father is from Yugoslavia and he's as clear on what's going on as a Vietnam vet is in re-telling his war, and that's not very clear.

"Anyway, to your question, I don't think I made any mistakes that could be deemed as fatal in my time with the Stones. If you want to put on the money hat I'm sure you'd find mistakes, but I did not wear that money hat, otherwise I'd have been a different fellow and, as such, of no use to the Stones in the first place. A guy who made money was not needed until they'd been made famous enough to be able to get it to the money, and that was either Allen Klein, Prince Rupert or Mick himself, depending upon your point of view and paymaster.

"Therefore, I was there for my time, and no more. My job was to make them famous and get records made that got them heard and sold. And that's what I did and did well. To wish for any more expertise other than what I had would be futile and non-productive to the reality of my actual life. Sitting here in Bogota at 57 years old my life is just about as good as it gets."

Matthew Whitehead asks: Who in your opinion is the best and worst member of the Rolling Stones?

AO: "Mathew, it doesn't work like that. If the tone level is such that your mind can meander into that area, then somethings wrong with the band, and the glue ain't sticking. When that glue is sticking you are dealing with the wonder of a band, when four or five come together and sound as one. All the rest is subjective and dangerous bullsh*t, and will be in all my books."

Martin Kinch asks: I have a single by Grunt Futtock called 'Rock n Roll Christian' with Roy Wood singing lead vocal on it. The label says it was produced by The Incredible Andrew Loog Oldham. I'd be grateful to know who was in Grunt Futtock and any other info about this.

AO: "Martin, can I have it? I was in England in '70 or '72 and Don Arden and I both needed some quick cash, so we had Gered Mankowitz take a group photo of some interesting looking friends from the art and photography world and called them Grunt Futtock.

"Then we had a guy who used to work for me at Immediate write up some anal ficticious bio. Then we gathered a few old pals and clients - Roy Wood, Peter Frampton, Steve Marriott, Andy Bown - and engineer Alan O'Duffy and Don Arden threatened to break their legs so they all made the record for nothing. Then Don sold the record to EMI as the next best thing since sliced bread and Don and I went shopping."

Javier Alvarez from Madrid asks: There are a lot of outtakes and covers of the Stones recorded in the studio. Do you think we will have to wait to the end of the band or the death of the members to have these songs officially published?

AO: "Javier, if you are talking about my time with the Stones, 1963 to 1967, I do not believe there are any outtakes that have not seen the light of day in one form or another. We pretty much released nearly everything we made, except stuff like 'Andrew's Blues', and that's been out as a bootleg with 'Cocksucker Blues'. After 1967, when recording became very multi-track I'm sure there became a lot of stuff that never got out there, but I have no idea how much and whether it'll ever see la luce del dia."

Gerardo Liedo from Mexico City asks: Why did you fire Stu? How do you feel now? Was it a good decision or not?

AO: "Gerardo, I did not fire Stu, that was not within my power to do. I just told the Stones that I did not think the English public, because that's all we were dealing with at the time, were capable of being sold an image factor that contained six people. If the band had said, "Andrew, you can't do that" then Stu would have stayed in the band. This would have made a great difference as to what their future would have been and raises the question of whether you'd have been writing me a letter today on any issue on the Stones, had Stu stayed.

"I don't know but I was right at the time. How do I feel as a man in his mid-fifties with knowledge now about decisions that cause pain to others? Obviously different, but we were teenagers or in our early twenties, well, all except Bill, and at that age youth is invincible and does not know the meaning of hurt, except in matters of the teenage heart. It remains a good decision. If you saw a member of Supertramp or Los Lobos down on the corner I doubt you'd recognise more than one or two members. Life's got a short attention span when you work from nine to five and need to be entertained. Pop music is not a memory test, it's an escape and an entertainment. Over the years the Stones have got away with "Andrew fired Stu" - life is not as simple as they'd like that statement to be."

Eric from France asks: Can you name a Stones song that would have sounded different when it was released because you and the Rolling Stones disagreed about it? What differences were they?

AO: "Eric, this question is tough to get an understood on. I don't quite understand what you mean. The Rolling Stones never came to me and said, "Andrew, don't release that record, that's awful." Keith Richard has said I f**ked up the mix on 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby?'. I may have, and that's his call. In theory, we couldn't diasagree because they played it, and then overdubbed on it and then Mick and Keith did the vocals. Then we mixed it, mastered it and released it.

"This process could not have happened if the group had not participated willingly in all the stages. Oh, yeah, there were recordings that didn't stir a nation, but we were all realistic about the quota we had to fill. I hope this has answered your question, Eric, if it has not "je vous en prie" please feel free to re-submit your question so that we can have a complete understood between us."

Helen Hall asks: If Brian was fired from the Stones, would he have gotten a financial deal? People say Brian would have been paid so much per year for the rest of the Stones career, plus a lump sum. Is that the way it worked? If Brian had quit would he get any money?

AO: "Helen, all that of which you speak came after my watch. I believe Brian was fired because he was a liability 24 hours a day. I have been told that money was settled on his estate, but I have no first hand knowledge as to whether this is true. Mick and Allen Klein were running things when Brian was fired and died. If either of those two gents decide to clear their universe and write a book, you can ask them. I believe Bill Wyman is writing a second book of memoirs, if that's true you may have the opportunity to ask your question again. As you know, he was around at the time of which you speak. I was not."

Geoff Kite from London asks: The area that fascinates me about the 60s is communication. It's hard enough getting people together for a gig these days, let only in the 60s. I would be really interested to know whether the adrenaline really flowed as you could never be sure of the outcome, who would turn up etc., and living on the edge was just part of the job, or did everyone had the philosophy of what will be will be?

AO: "Yes, Geoff, I hope you don't mind me asking you if you're flying one as well as being it in name. Okay, "adrenaline", "living on the edge" and "philosophy" were not on the agenda of catchphrases of the day, unless you wanted the piss taken out of you by those you were working with. The game was not to succumb to the man. The man was our elders who'd suppressed our generation with all the data on the sacrifices that had been made, as they had been, in World War 2, and told us to knuckle under, get a steady job and behave.

"So, empowered by the wonder of American music and icons on our local screen, we set about doing anything instead of getting that regular job. The pill came along and helped too, you didn't have to settle down once you'd succumbed to pussy. The Stones got gigs in clubs, I got PR gigs, we met, we got a recording contract together, all was going well, we were all laughing and ahead of the game. Then The Beatles captured the world and America and life changed and became a slightly more serious game. At the time, "adrenaline" we had naturally, and was what got to pilled-up mods on weekends in Pete Townshend's favourite Scene Club "living on the edge" was doing what came naturally and the perks of not having a regular job; and "philosophy" was for Bertrand Russell or those who'd opted for higher education as opposed to our university of the street."

'Stoned'

Coming soon: Part 2 of Andrew's answers to questions ranging from the saga of Immediate Records to Brian Jones plus some advice on how to manage a band in today's music business.

Andrew Oldham's autobiography Stoned is out now in paperback, priced £7.99

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