FORGET sex, drugs and rock n roll, when The Rolling Stones first started out they were serious, strait-laced musicians who worked their fingers to the bone, according to photographer Gus Coral. Gus, who worked with the band during their first ever tour and studio recording session in 1963, spent weeks documenting their life on the […]
FORGET sex, drugs and rock n roll, when The Rolling Stones first started out they were serious, strait-laced musicians who worked their fingers to the bone, according to photographer Gus Coral.
Gus, who worked with the band during their first ever tour and studio recording session in 1963, spent weeks documenting their life on the road and is now displaying the never-before-seen pictures in a London gallery.
Speaking about spending time with Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, Gus, 82, said: “I thought they were just average, like normal young men.
“They were proficient musicians.
“But it wasn’t rock n roll at the time.
“They were doing a job and trying to make it. There was no drinking or anything like that, they were quite strait laced.
“They wouldn’t lark around, they took themselves very seriously. Especially when they were recording.
“They saw it very much as a job that had to be done.”
While the group have now sold over 250 million records worldwide and are currently on tour in North America, Gus said they didn’t have it easy at the start.
He added: “There was no way I could have seen how big the band or Mick was going to be.
“Mick was very good but there are very good people who don’t make it.
“The picture of them struggling to get the cash together for the taxi was how it was then, they were not mega rich.
“One of them didn’t have any money – so they had to try and get it together. It’s how it was.
“The tour wasn’t selling either, so Don Arden who was working as their promoter, had to bring in Little Richard and The Everly Brothers to sell tickets.
“Looking back now it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come.”
The collection of photographs are being curated by Zebra One Gallery before they go on show to the public at The Curtain, in London, from November 18 to December 2.
