So I don't know if Mick read my blog about how I thought the Stones were squandering their legacy by bringing up people like Keith Urban and Katy Perry to sit in with them on their current tour, and not featuring former Stones guitartist Mick Taylor on more songs. http://www.985thefox.com/pages/mikebell.html?article=11286100 But last night in Los Angeles at Staples Center, the Stones got it right for real Stones fans. No "guests" other than a choir from USC to sing the choir parts on "You Can't Always Get What You Want." AND Mick Taylor on three songs! 

Here's the set list for last night...

Get Off of My Cloud

It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)

Paint It Black

Gimme Shelter

All Down the Line

Faraway Eyes

Sway (with Mick Taylor; song request from fans)

Doom and Gloom

One More Shot

Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (with Mick Taylor)

Honky Tonk Women

You Got the Silver

Before They Make Me Run

Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)

Miss You

Start Me Up

Tumbling Dice

Brown Sugar

Sympathy for the Devil

ENCORE: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (with the University of Southern California Thornton Chamber Singers)

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

As I said, I don't know if Mick read my blog (ok, I KNOW he didn't read my blog) but I'll take credit for it. 

I was re-reading Heart's autobiography, "Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll" over the weekend, and I came upon an interesting fact I had missed on my first read of the book: Jimmy Page was at a listening party for a new Heart LP, AND I WAS THERE TOO!

The downside is I didn't know he was there. Never saw him. Didn't get to meet him.

I remember the party vividly. This was mid eighties Seattle where I lived and worked at the time. This was also Heart's era of big hair and big stage outfits, which the record label apparently insisted they wear to the listening party, which is why I remember it so well. 

According to the Wilson sisters in their book, Jimmy was wasted with a capitol W!

Still, it would've been cool to meet him anyway. Just as long as he didn't throw up on me or anything.

What I remember most about that party (besides the big hair and Mad Max Thunderdome stage clothes) was that my ride forgot about me and left and I had to take the city bus back to my place downtown.

Ahh. Life in the big time!                                                                                                                    

I like whisky, but lately I've developed a fondness for Bourbon. Here's some fun facts about Bourbon. Enjoy! 

• In 1964 Congress declared bourbon a "distinctive product of the United States" and it was recognized as "America's native spirit."
• For a spirit to be called "bourbon," it must be made from a mash mixture of at least 51 percent corn and must be aged in new, charred oak barrels. 
• Bourbon has been the preferred drink of presidents (Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson), famous writers (Mark Twain) and countless other politicians, performers and notable citizens. 
• As whiskey ages, a portion evaporates over time. It is this portion that the late Master Distiller, Booker Noe, referred to as the "Angels' Share"— the portion the angels' would enjoy for themselves. 
• Jim Beam Bourbon was around when George Washington — a distiller himself — was alive. At the time, the Constitution was only 19 years old. Since then, the Constitution has been amended 27 times, but the formula for making Jim Beam bourbon remains the same. [Note: I think they meant to say that the Declaration of Independence was 19 years old, as the Constitution was only 8 in 1795]

As we continue to celebrate all things Stones this week, here are some fun facts to dazzle your friends with!

1. Their 1963 hit “I Wanna Be Your Man” was written and donated to the band by John Lennon and Paul McCartney on request of the Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

2. The cover to their 1971 album Sticky Fingers was designed by Andy Warhol.

3. It is also rumoured that Andy Warhol designed their famed ‘tongue’ logo — but it could have also been John Pasch or Craig Braun.

4. Over 1,500,000 fans turned up to see them play at the Copacabana Beach Show in February 2006.

5. The Stones’ first gig featured Mick Avory on drums, who later went on to drum for the Kinks.

6. Former member Bill Wyman (who joined them for their 50th anniversary show) has spent his time since leaving the band pursuing various hobbies such as metal detecting.

7. Director Martin Scorsese has used their song “Gimme Shelter” in four of his films.

8. One of the cameramen on their 1970 documentary, Gimme Shelter, was none other than legendary film director George Lucas.

9. The cake on the cover of the Rolling Stones 1969 album Let It Bleed was baked by Delia Smith, who later achieved fame with her cooking show.

10. Their only studio album that has failed to reach the top 5 in the UK album charts was 1997′s Bridges To Babylon, which peaked at number 6.

11. The first single from Bridges To Babylon, “Anybody Seen My Baby,” featured Angelina Jolie before she became famous.

12. Their beloved 1972 album Exile on Main Street had the working title of Tropical Disease.

13. Bill Wyman’s last gig before leaving the band was in 1990 on the Urban Jungle tour at Wembley Stadium.

14. Keith Richards named his child with Anita Pallenberg, Marlon, after film star Marlon Brando.

15. Their 1967 single “We Love You” featured John Lennon and Paul McCartney on backing vocals.

16. The Rolling Stones were first signed to the record label Decca in 1963 after George Harrison suggested them to the label head. It wasn’t until 1971 that the band set up their own label.

17. Many of their albums have been produced by a team called “The Glimmer Twins,” which is actually just a pseudonym for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

18. The Stones were playing their song “Under My Thumb” when Meredith Hunter was stabbed at their infamous concert in California in 1969.

19. The song “One Hit (to the Body),” featured on their 1986 album Dirty Work, featured Jimmy Page on guitar.

20. There are rumours that David Bowie is singing the backing vocals on their song “Time Waits For No One.”

21. Bobby Keys played on every album in their 69-74 glory days and still tours with the band today.

22. Keys is best known for his solo work on the song “Brown Sugar.”

23. The band’s country period — when they recorded songs like “Dead Flowers” and “Honky Tonk Woman”– came about from Richards’ friendship with country legend Gram Parsons.

24. Jagger admits that he never felt comfortable singing the country songs as he felt his voice was more suited to blues music.

25. Wes Anderson is another director who loves the Stones, using “Ruby Tuesday” in The Royal Tenenbaums and “I Am Waiting” in Rushmore.

26. The 60s throwback television show The Wonder Years featured an episode where the lead character, Kevin, and his friends go on an unsuccessful quest to find the venue the Stones are rumoured to be playing in their hometown.

27. They are still referenced to in television today. A recent episode of the show Mad Men featured the lead character, Don Draper, hanging out backstage at a show in an effort to get approval for using the band in an ad.

28. The recent Maroon 5 hit, “Moves Like Jagger” highlights the way Mick Jagger continues to influence generations of frontmen in bands to this day.

29. Andrew Loog Oldham publicized the band by asking, “Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?” This positioned them as the bad boy alternative to the Beatles.

30. Contrary to popular belief, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were actually good friends.

31. The band members refused to wear matching stage suits like the Beatles wore early on.

32. Piano player Ian Stewart, widely considered the “6th Stone,” was never an official member of the group because Oldham felt he didn’t fit their image.

33. In 1963, the band took out a Christmas ad in a paper saying “Best wishes to all the starving hairdressers and their families,” when their long hair was considered controversial and outrageous.

34. Bill Wyman owns a restaurant in London called Sticky Fingers.

35. While Jagger and Richards did a lot of drugs (and Brian Jones did enough to kill himself), Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts abstained for the most part.

36. The band’s name comes from one of their major influences, Muddy Waters, and his tune “Rollin’ Stone Blues.”

37. In 1963, their tour van skidded off a bridge, but luckly no one was seriously harmed as it didn’t flip over.

38. Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool a few weeks after leaving the band on July 3, 1969, and the coroner’s report listed “death by misadventure.”

39. Richards was arrested for heroin possession in 1977. As part of his sentence, he played two shows for blind children in Toronto.

40. When Mick Taylor left the band in 1975, The Stones considered a variety of musicians including Jeff Beck, Wayne Perkins, Havey Mandel, Rory Gallagher and Peter Frampton before deciding on Ron Wood.

41. In 1983 Jagger was commissioned to write his autobiography, but quit the project and gave his advance back after finishing the first manuscript.

42. Their 1981 world tour was the first tour ever to be sponsored when Jovan perfume paid them $4 million.

43. The Rolling Stones are the highest earning rock band in history with concerts that have grossed over $750 million.

44. Rumours credit Bill Wyman with coining the term “Groupie” during their 1965 Australian tour.

45. Jagger was knighted in 2002. Richards felt it was hypocritical of him to accept it since the band has always been critical of the British monarchy and English law.

46. In 2002, they played a private concert for a Texas investor named David Bonderman for a fee of $7 million.

47. The band headlined the most-attended concert in Canadian history, the SARS benefit show dubbed “SARSstock” in Toronto in July, 2003. Supporting bands included AC/DC, Rush, and the Guess Who.

48. Their tongue logo was inspired by the Indian Hindu goddess Kali The Destroyer.

49. They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in January 1989.

50. The producers of A Clockwork Orange briefly toyed with the idea of casting Jagger in the lead role as Alex and having the rest of the Stones along as his “droogs”.

There's a word for it. It's called "pandering." It means (among other things) "To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others."

I submit to you that the Rolling Stones are pandering on their latest, and most likely last tour, by bringing some current "pop" stars onstage to help them sing some of their biggest hits. 

I have never seen thew Rolling Stones perform live. They played here in Bakersfield back in the mid 60s, but I couldn't comvince my parents to let me go. I was probably eight. 

I do know that if I get the chance to see the Stones live, I don't want to see Katy Perry, or Pink, or even Gwen Stefani within a hundred yards of that stage. 

You'll notice on our Facebook page today, a link to a story about Kety Perry joining the Stones on stage to sing "Beast Of Burden." 

You'll pardon my french here, but WTF?! 

I want to see the Rolling Effing Stones onstage! I don't want pop stars sitting in. AND I especially do NOT want to see Mick Taylor rejoin the band for just one song every night. 

What the Stones are doing by trotting out Pink to sing "Gimme Shelter" with them is the equivalent of the Stones bringing out Pat Boone back in the 60s. And I like Pink. But not onstage with the Rolling Stones! 

No other band in the history of music has performed as an intact unit (for the most part) for over 50 years. The closest runnerup is Count Basie and his Orchestra. And ONLY Count Basie lasted the full run. 

I get that Perry and Pink and Stefani et al are BIG Stones fans. 

But watch the show from the cheap seats with the rest of us. 

As a space geek, and a David Bowie fan, for me, it doesn't get much better than this. NASA Astronaut Chris Hadfield performing "Space Oddity" on orbit in the International Space Station! 

Mine was "Meet The Beatles."

I  had to do chores around the house to earn the money to buy the LP. My late brother didn't get the Beatles at first. He was more into pickup trucks and Roger Miller, George Jones, and Buck. 

I think he didn't get AS excited as I did because I was SO excited. Our sibling rivalry was like that. 

I wanted to grow my hair like the Beatles. My dad wasn't having any of that! Looking back, it really wasn't that long.

My mom was fully supportive of my love of rock & roll. She took me to the Crest Drive In to see "A Hard Days Night." 

Later in her life, my mom could be found in front of the MTV watching "Headbanger's Heaven." Religiously. 

So what was the first record you ever bought? What was the first record that changed your life? 

Post your comments on our Facebook page. 

You're just taunting them. 

Real life Beavis.

 Don't even want to guess. 

(Photos: The Smoking Gun)