• The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

  • By: Stanley Booth
  • Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
  • Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (80 ratings)

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The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones  By  cover art

The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

By: Stanley Booth
Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
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Publisher's summary

Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones’ inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool, in 1969. He lived with them throughout their 1969 American tour, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway - a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation’s dreams of peace and freedom. But while this book renders in fine detail the entire history of the Stones, paying special attention to the tragedy of Brian Jones, it is about much more than a writer and a rock band. It has been called - by Harold Brodkey and Robert Stone, among others - the best book ever written about the '60s. In a new afterword, Booth explains why this book took 15 years to write - an astonishing story of drugs, jails, and disasters.

©2000 Stanley Booth (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

What listeners say about The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superlative rendering of a singular story.

Sullivan reading brings the individual characters to life, particularly Mick and Keith. Highly recommend this audiobook if you're at all interested in the early Stones (through Altamont).

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Incoherent

Rambling, incoherent, and drug addled, so it is probably an accurate reflection of what it was like touring with the Stones in 1969. The parts about the Altamont show were interesting but that's about it. It seemed a lot "deeper" when I read it as a teenager.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Overall - Very Entertaining

Did not enjoy the authors style and almost stopped listening after about 30 minutes. While I never warmed up much to the author I did greatly enjoy the audiobook. So if you do buy the book or the audiobook give it a chance. While you may be annoyed early on it will be worth it to stick it out.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

This book was written in a very non-liner fashion, thus the story line was difficult to follow. Many books begin the story with the 'beginning of the end' and then actually tell the whole story from the actual beginning- which often works well as a literary tool. This reads like the author threw all the chapters in the air at once then organized the book in the order that the chapters fell on the floor. Ugh!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

To those who fall into the standard twaddle that Stanley inserts himself too much into the saga, Booth is a KEY element and is appropriately present. It’s his first person account and to think that he should extricate himself is silly. He’s the swizzle stick that stirs the cocktail.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not good

The book is mostly about the authors experiences with the Stones. There is a weird racial focus on parts of the book that are awkward and turned me off to it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Could have been good

If Stanley Booth would have left himself out of the book and just told the story this book would have been alright.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The book is meh

The book is not nealry as interesting as I'd hoped. The narrator sounds out of place at first but he grows on you and he does a good job with the accents. It really is just a long book with very little of anything actually happening. I think a person who is a big Stones fan may enjoy it more.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Time Machine

The book is a time machine to a tome not unlike our own. Political turmoil, clashing values, and cultural angst has a soundtrack.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to get through the racism and sexism

Very much enjoy the day to day details, but the casual racism and sexism is seriously annoying. This book also needed a much more attentive editor. The narrator/author often comes off as juvenile and a Kerouac wannabe. So many pointless and distracting and apparently unexamined subjective impressions. Finally, the narrator of this audio version truly sucks. His women sound like Monty Python caricatures and his “black” voice is just amateurish and off.

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