• 5/3/13 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
• 5/5/13 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
• 5/8/13 – San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion
• 5/11/13 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand
• 5/15/13 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
• 5/18/13 – Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
• 5/20/13 – Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
• 5/25/13 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
• 5/28/13 – Chicago, IL – United Center
• 5/31/13 – Chicago, IL - United Center
• 6/3/13 – Chicago, IL - United Center
• 6/6/13 – Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
• 6/9/13 – Montreal - Centre Bell
• 6/12/13 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
• 6/14/13 – Boston, MA - TD Garden
• 6/18/13 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
• 6/21/13 – Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
• 6/24/13 – Washington, DC - Verizon Center
• 6/29/13 – Glastonbury, UK – Glastonbury Festival
• 7/6/13 – London, UK – Hyde Park
• 7/13/13 – London, UK – Hyde Park

From the official Rolling Stones website:

The Rolling Stones, who rocked London and New York in 2012, announced today that they will kick off their 50 & Counting tour in Los Angeles at the STAPLES Center.  (Date TBA pending NBA/NHL playoff schedules.) The tour debut will be followed by performances in Oakland, San Jose, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Toronto, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

50 & Counting continues the exhilarating celebration of the band’s first 50 years—five decades of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood bringing their iconic music and ground-breaking stage shows to audiences around the globe.

The Rolling Stones were recently crowned the ‘Best Live Band’ at the NME Awards in London, and over the past 12 months have thrilled fans with their release of a greatest hits collection, GRRR!, a groundbreaking documentary filmCrossfire Hurricane, a photographic book The Rolling Stones: 50, and have taken the stage by storm for their first live shows in many years. The tour is the band’s highly anticipated return to the stage.

“50 & Counting has been pretty amazing so far,” said Jagger. “We did a few shows in London and New York last year…and had such a good time that we thought…let’s do some more.  It’s a good show.  Lots of the classic stuff everyone wants to hear…with a few little gems tucked in here and there.  The stage is shaped like lips and goes off into the venue so I get to run around in the crowd.  It’s great fun to be able to get that close to the audience.”

“From day one at rehearsals it sounded so fresh.  You could tell that everybody was dying to get their teeth into it.  It was like…open the gates…let us out!” said Richards. “Cause man, it is the life and blood of us to play in front of people.”

Head over to Chuck’s Gigs page for all the shows, with links to purchase tickets.

Both 1978 Albums from the Band Founded by Ex-Allman Bros. members Chuck Leavell, Jaimoe and Lamar Williams

Both Albums Have Been Out of Print for Years

Features “That’s Your Secret” and “A Lotta Colada”

New Liner Notes by Scott Schinder

SEA LEVEL: Cats on the Coast/On the Edge. CD
Sea Level started as an Allman Brothers offshoot, boasting three members (keyboardist Chuck Leavell, percussionist Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson and bassist Lamar Williams) from the mid-‘70s edition of the band, but became a major act in its own right with its tasty blend of jazz, blues and Southern rock (in other words, they would have fit nicely into today’s jam band scene). These two albums both came out in 1978 but chart major changes in the group; Cats on the Coast saw the addition of guitarist Davis Causey, percussionist George Weaver and multi-instrumentalist Randall Bramblett to the line-up, while Jaimoe and Weaver left and drummer Joe English joined for On the Edge. Despite the changing line-ups, these two records are remarkably consistent affairs featuring such signature Sea Level songs as “That’s Your Secret” and “A Lotta Colada;” they have, however, both been out of print for about a decade and command big bucks online. Our Real Gone reissue offers both records on a single, 70 minutes-plus CD, with notes by Scott Schinder…rediscover one of the most underrated outfits of the ‘70s!

Cats on the Coast

1. That’s Your Secret
2. It Hurts to Want It So Bad
3. Storm Warning
4. Had to Fall
5. Midnight Pass
6. Every Little Thing
7. Cats on the Coast
8. Song for Amy

On the Edge

9. Fifty-Four
10. King Grand
11. Living in a Dream
12. A Lotta Colada
13. This Could Be the Worst
14. Uptown Downtown
15. Electron Cold
16. On the Wing

Michigan Live recently posted about Chuck and his book Growing A Better America:

World-class musician Chuck Leavell has played piano and keyboard for over three decades with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

He’s also a renowned and passionate forest conservationist and environmentalist.
Leavell co-founded the Mother Nature Network and his new book is “Growing a Better America: Smart, Strong, and Sustainable.”

The subject of Leavell’s recent talk at Michigan State University was stewardship and partnership.

“It’s important that we all be good stewards of our lands and natural resources,” says Leavell.  “And partnerships are important to make this stewardship go as well as it can.

“We’re stronger if we work together, and we can achieve common goals by working together.  But if we’re at odds and pointing fingers when things are difficult and not meeting challenges together, we won’t get anywhere.”

Leavell began a love affair with forests and conservation when his wife inherited 1,000 acres of land from her grandmother in 1981.  He’s optimistic about America and how we are stewarding our precious land.

“America is doing a tremendous job in forest management,” Leavell says.  “There was a time when we didn’t manage our resources as well and had kind of a slash and run operation, but we’ve learned a lot since that era and now have almost as much or maybe a little more forest land in the country than we did 100 years ago.

In Growing a Better America Leavell goes well beyond forest conservation and looks at many dimensions of sustainability.

“We’re experiencing phenomenal growth in America, but as we go forward is that growth going to be rapid, rampant, and reckless or can it be smart, strong, and sustainable?”

Please visit the Michigan Live site to hear Kirk Heinze‘s Greening of the Great Lakes conversation with Leavell.

Chuck Leavell will probably best known to most readers as the keyboardist for the Rolling Stones, a post he has held since 1982. He takes centre stage on this new album, which is a stripped-down tribute to blues piano players including Leroy Carr, Little Brother Montgomery and Otis Spann.

The aim of the album is clear: ”It was important to me [to do] this project to expose the piano as an important instrument in blues history.”

1. No Special Rider
2. Evening Train
3. Wish Me Well
4. Low Down Dirty Dog
5. Losing Hand
6. Naptown Blues
7. Back To The Woods
8. I Got to Go Blues
9. Boots and Shoes
10. Mean Mistreater
11. Southern Casey Jones
12. If You Haven’t Any Hay
13. Memphis Town
14. The Blues Is All Wrong
15. Vicksburg Blues

The detailed sleeve notes, written by Leavell and Larry Cohn, provide a potted history of the role of the piano from the 1880s, when ”most American families, rural as well as urban, had a piano in their homes and churches. Widespread availability of the guitar had yet to arrive.” There’s also a section offering biographical notes on some of the finest blues pianists, whose songs are covered on the album.

The core band is a trio, with Leavell (piano, organ, and tailor-made blues lead vocals) joined by Chris Enghauser (stand-up bass) and Louis Romanos (drums, Cajon). Special guest stars pepper the album and they include Keith Richards and John Mayer.

The songs cover various differently paced slices of blues, from fast (Wish Me Well – driven by John Mayer’s excellent guitar) to slower, Gospel-tinged numbers (Back to the Woods).

In some cases, the story behind the songs are just as interesting.Southern Casey Jones was written by Jesse James (it’s not even clear if that was his real name), who recorded four sides for Decca back in 1936. Only two were ever released and James was never heard of – or from – again. It is good to see such songs rescued from historical oblivion. Doubtless there are hundreds of others buried in the archives, just waiting to be rediscovered.

The playing is exemplary throughout. The piano shines particularly brightly, but not so much it doesn’t allow the others to breathe.

Stand out tracks: Evening Train, Wish Me Well, Boots and Shoes.

Relix recently posted some of Chuck’s thoughts on touring with The Rolling Stones:

Fan & Friend

[My role as musical director] is something that developed over time. Back around Steel Wheels [1989], I began to take notes during the rehearsals—making charts for certain songs, noting the tempo we did and so forth. I did it mainly for my own use, but when we would go back over some song that the band didn’t know that well, I became the “go-to” guy for the arrangement and other details. As time went on, I made more notes and charts and started giving them input on setlist choices. Also, I came from a unique perspective: I was a fan way before I came into the band and encouraged them to do certain songs that they had never, or rarely, tried onstage. As we did more rehearsals and more tours, the book of charts and notes I took expanded into two huge volumes, all alphabetized and organized for easy reference. That gave me the ability to make it easy to pick just about any song out of the deep well of material and help everyone to navigate the tune. Since doing this essentially made me know most of the arrangements by heart, when we would get to the stage and anyone might not be sure of when a solo was coming up when a bridge or other special part was to happen—they would physically look over to me for some guidance. I began giving signals for that kind of thing.

Setlist Shenanigans

I keep all of their setlists for reference, so when we would go back to any given city—either on the same tour or the previous one or two—I would encourage the band to play as many different songs as we could from the last time we played there. We look at the set much like a theater play: Act 1 might be the opening four or five numbers, Act 2 might be getting into a ballad or two and less known numbers, Act 3 might be some jam or production numbers leading into Keith Richards’ two songs, and Act 4 is sort of the “home run.” We sort through the songs by section. I have an Excel program on my computer with all the songs in categories: rockers, icons, ballads, soul, cover songs, blues and so forth.

Guest Stars

It’s been great to have [former Stones] Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor, and guests like Mary J. Blige, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Florence Welch, Gary Clark Jr. and my good pal John Mayer onboard this run. Of course, the fans that have followed the band through its entire career, or most of it, were really excited to see Bill and Mick onstage. Bill and I stayed in touch through the years after he left, and so, on a personal level, it was wonderful for me. Mick is also much loved by the fans for his time with the band. He brought a lot to the table in those years and brought it with him to the stage for these shows. It was tough to only have them play a song or two, but we also wanted to accommodate the other guest artists—and, of course, to play as the core band we have now. Eric was a highlight for me as I played with him for two-and-a-half years. He killed it on “Champagne and Reefer.” Mick doing “Midnight Rambler” made for a cool jam. Since I have been working with John Mayer over the past two years, he was my suggestion—and I’m so glad he could make it.

Stu’s Band

The Stones have a history of great keyboardists and piano players: Ian [Stu] Stewart, Jack Nitzsche, Nicky Hopkins, Ian McLagan, Billy Preston and others that made brief appearances—like my pal Mac Rebennack [Dr. John] and another one of my heroes, Leon Russell. In the beginning, it was really Stu’s band, and when I came in, he became my big brother. He treated me so well and looked after me as the “new guy.” He was such a great guy, unique individual and fantastic boogie and rock player. I got to know Nicky a bit—we were introduced in ‘82 by Ronnie Wood when we played Wembley Stadium. I was such a big fan and was quite nervous when we met. He invited me to lunch the next day, and we went—just the two of us. We traded stories, and we wrote letters to each other after that for years. I always called him “The Master of the Motif.” He had this unbelievable ability to find these little vignettes that just made a song like “Angie” and “She’s A Rainbow.” It’s sad that he, Stu, Billy and Jack are no longer with us.

Watch the video here.

LOS ANGELES — For one night only, the Rolling Stones were an up-and-coming band again.

The legendary group rocked a small club in Los Angeles on Saturday night for a minuscule crowd compared to the thousands set to see them launch their “50 and Counting” anniversary tour a week later on May 3 at the Staples Center.

The band kicked off Saturday’s hush-hush 90-minute concert at the Echoplex in the hip Echo Park neighborhood with “You Got Me Rocking” before catapulting into a mix of new and old material, as well as their bluesy covers of classics from Otis Redding (“That’s How Strong My Love Is”), Chuck Berry (“Little Queenie”) and The Temptations (“Just My Imagination”).

“Welcome to Echo Park, a neighborhood that’s always coming up – and I’m glad you’re here to welcome an up-and-coming band,” lead singer Mick Jagger joked after the second song of the evening, “Respectable.”

Despite clocking in several decades as a band, Jagger, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood showed no signs of slowing down Saturday.

Jagger, who promptly ditched a black-and-white track jacket emblazoned with the band’s logo after the first few songs, worked the crowd into a sing-a-long frenzy with “Miss You,” complete with a harmonica solo from the strutting frontman.

Tickets to the Echoplex concert were sold earlier in the day for $20 each – a fraction of what tickets to the tour cost.

Hundreds of fans lined up outside the El Rey Theatre across town earlier Saturday for a chance to attend the spontaneous show. Buyers were limited to one ticket, and they were required to pay with cash, show a government-issued ID, wear a wristband with their name on it and be photographed. Their names were verified at the venue, which has a capacity of about 700.

Cameras and smartphones weren’t allowed inside the Echoplex, which usually plays host to hipster bands and mash-up dance parties. The lack of personal recording devices made the Stones’ performance feel even more exclusive and old school, freeing concertgoers’ hands of the gizmos that have become commonplace at concerts nowadays, and further bonding the crowd, many of whom built up camaraderie during the confusing ticket lottery earlier in the day.

Toward the end of Saturday’s show, the band was joined by former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor for their version of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain,” as well as “Midnight Rambler.”

The band, which was backed by Darryl Jones on bass, Chuck Leavell on keys, Bobby Keys on sax and Bernard Fowler and Lisa Fischer as backup singers, encored with the hits “Brown Sugar” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

“(This is) the first show of the tour, probably the best one,” Jagger said at the end of the 90-minute set.

Bruce Willis, Gwen Stefani and Skrillex were among the famous faces in the sold-out crowd.

Rumors of the surprise show spread across social networks last week after the band teased the appearance on their Twitter accounts. The dance-pop band New Build, which was originally scheduled to play the Echoplex on Saturday, was first to leak details about the performance.

“Our gig got shifted b/c the Rolling Stones are playing Echoplex,” the band posted Friday on Twitter. They joked that they were looking forward to “having it out” with the Stones.

The Rolling Stones performed a few dates together in London, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Newark, N.J., last winter, but didn’t announce a tour until earlier this month. They will play 17 dates in the United States but said they may add more down the line. The lowest price for tickets to the show at the Staples Center, which has a capacity of about 20,000, is $250.