Keith Richards/London,UK 1992

The solo albums of the Stones members, especially Mick and Keith, tend to attract a lot of attention when released, but after a while they tend to be overlooked. The best example of this is Keith’s second solo album “MAIN OFFENDER”. This album did not receive good reviews from fans immediately after its release, which was the opposite of the great popularity of his first album “TALK IS CHEAP” (especially in Japan). At the time, attention was focused on the fact that he went on a small-scale world tour, unlike his first album, which only toured in the United States. In that situation, there were hopes for a performance in Japan, but it never happened. I can’t help but think that this also played a part in the decline of the popularity of “MAIN OFFENDER”. However, the album “MAIN OFFENDER” is by no means a bad work. Rather, it seems that the cause was not the content, but the bad timing of the release. At the time of “TALK IS CHEAP”, Keith had been said to be unable to make an album even if he recorded a solo work, but he finally completed it, and it was very well received as his first album. In that respect, “MAIN OFFENDER” was his second album, so there was no hope for a fresh impact. If there was a weakness in the album, it might have been that it lacked Stones-style killer tunes such as “Take It So Hard” and “Struggle”. Also, while “TALK IS CHEAP” had a wide variety of songs, “MAIN OFFENDER” was divided into straight rock and R&B numbers, which was the charm of the album, but it seems that this was never understood. It seems that the R&B numbers like “Hate It When You Leave” were the key to this album, rather than the single cut “Eileen”. Contrary to the popularity of the album mentioned so far, there is a wealth of footage of the tour after the release. Among them, the TV footage from Buenos Aires and Cologne are both classics of this tour. 1992-93 was a period when the Stones had decided to take a complete break, so the opposite situation to 1988 when the Stones were about to resume made such a tour possible. Keith and the Expensive Wines, who had toured the above places in November, realized their first UK tour in December. Moreover, the Marquee Club in London was chosen for the first day. Not only was it the stage for the now officially released 1971 TV gig, but it was also the memorable place where the Stones had their debut gig in 1962. Keith returned there. On this day, which was essentially a secret gig, Mick, who was working on the album “WONDERING SPRIT” at the time, was among the audience. A music magazine at the time also featured Mick watching the gig with his brother Chris. Even though the Stones were on hiatus, it was a very groundbreaking event that Mick showed up at Keith’s solo gig. Later, when asked about this by a Japanese music magazine, Mick complained that “the sound was too loud” and that “Keith couldn’t sing ‘Gimme Shelter'”, but when the interviewer asked him, “You seemed to be having a lot of fun considering that, didn’t you?”, he gave a wry smile, which meant that Mick was being told that he was actually having fun. This is the kind of gig that Mick would come to see, so it’s a miracle that the sound source exists. What’s more, the sound quality of the audience recording that captured this gig is very good, so it’s even more so. The first release of this precious sound source was a CD called “YAP YAP” (ICJ15). However, it was an incomplete version in which three songs, including “Too Rude”, were cut in order to fit it on one disc. Before that, when this was released, the popularity of “MAIN OFFENDER” had suddenly dropped, so it seems that very few people got it. And 10 years have passed since the sound source capturing the precious gig has not appeared on any new items. When everyone had already forgotten about it, “IT’S OLDIE ROCK AND ROLL” appeared. The complete recording finally appeared, and it was highly praised by specialist magazines because it was recorded from the master. The sound source of this day has good sound quality and is warm. It conveys the realism of the Marquee and the closeness of the sound image to the fullest. In addition, Keith and the band’s performance was also in top form. I think it was also a big factor that they had already been relieved from the pressure by finishing the TV recording stage in Buenos Aires and Cologne. And in Boston in 1993, which is the biggest standard video of the “MAIN OFFENDER” period, Keith’s voice was a little hoarse. Keith at the Marquee gig is also in top form in that respect. The wines really suit club gigs. The classic live footage listed above can now be easily seen on YouTube, so if a good audience recording is released after a long time, it will surely attract the attention of enthusiasts around the world. If you play it at a high volume, you’ll be in high spirits! Live at Marquee Club, London, UK 2nd December 1992 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc 1(44:11) 1. Take It So Hard 2. Eileen 3. Wicked As It Seems 4. Gimme Shelter 5. Too Rude 6. Yap Yap 7. How I Wish 8. Big Enough Disc 2(50:46) 1. 999 2. Time I s On My Side 3. Hate It When You Leave 4. I Could Have Stood You Up 5. Bodytalks 6. Band Introductions 7. Will But You Won’t 8. Happy 9. Whip It Up Keith Richards – Guitar, Vocals Waddy Wachtel – Guitar, Backing Vocals Ivan Neville – Keyboards, Guitar, Backing Vocals Charley Drayton – Bass, Drums, Backing Vocals Steve Jordan – Drums, Bass, Backing Vocals Bobby Keys – Saxophone, Percussion Sarah Dash – Vocals Babi Floyd – Backing Vocals, Percussion