7 Sticking Their Tongues Out

CHAPTER 7 Sticking Their Tongues Out Even though the Altamont concert had been a disaster, it proved that the Rolling Stones could draw huge, record-breaking crowds. By the early 1970s, the Stones had hundreds of thousands of

fans. They also earned a lot of money! But they owed taxes to the British government. To avoid even bigger problems, they had to leave England. Before the band left the country, they finished work on their next album, called Sticky Fingers. It was released on their own record label, Rolling Stones Records. The record showed off their new logo—a mouth with its tongue sticking out. The album became number one in both America and Europe. And the Stones gave a farewell tour before they left England for the south of France in April 1971. A large house that Keith had rented in the south of France became the band's home base. The beautiful old home had a view of the Mediterranean Sea and a private beach. The Stones didn't have to worry about tours. They didn't have to work around other people's schedules. They could take their time and do whatever they wanted.

The Band's Logo The Rolling Stones logo is a bright red pair of lips, white teeth, and a long tongue. John Pasche created it for the Sticky Fingers album. Although Mick wanted an image of the Hindu goddess Kali—the goddess of time, death, and power, often shown with her tongue sticking out— Pasche has said that he got the idea for the Stones' logo the very first time he met Mick Jagger. The designer was inspired by Mick's own, very large, mouth.

So the group relaxed and wrote lots of new music. When they couldn't find a good recording studio nearby, they built one in the basement of Keith's house. They also used their "Mighty Mobile"— a vehicle that carried all of the portable recording equipment they needed. Soon, the band had enough songs for a double album. Exile on Main Street came out in May 1972.

To promote the new album, the Stones set out on their seventh North American tour in a private plane with their logo painted on the side. Then they toured in Europe and Australia. And they even took the time to stop in Jamaica to work on a new album.

One day in 1974, Mick Taylor told Mick Jagger that he wanted to leave the band and try out some new music. The Stones hoped to hire their friend Ron Wood to replace him. Ron played guitar with the rock band Faces. He was a good musician and a very positive person. He was also a fan of the Stones. Ron Wood left Faces and joined the Stones in 1975.