The Rolling Stones UK Tour 1971

History

The Stones had not staged a tour proper in their homeland since autumn 1966. Now they were going out after having announced on the day of their first show that they were becoming tax exiles and decamping to the South of France, which they did shortly after finishing the tour. As a result, this tour was also called the Good-Bye Britain Tour or formulations thereof.

The tour was not lengthy, but audience numbers were enlarged by playing two shows on almost every night. Although Sticky Fingers was still not released, the group expanded the number of selections from it played compared with the previous Fall's European Tour; "Wild Horses" and "Bitch" were among those added. Nicky Hopkins took over from Ian Stewart the role of stage keyboardist.

The Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds and London performances were recorded with the Rolling Stones mobile studio by the Rolling Stones crew,. Almost the entire Leeds show was later broadcast in mono by the BBC. A stereo version of the Chuck Berry cover "Let It Rock" from the same concert was officially released on the Spanish edition of "Sticky Fingers" in 1971.

Press opportunities focused on the usual banter with lead singer Mick Jagger:

Reporter: "Many remark on the tendency of Mick Jagger to be as feminine as masculine. Would you like to be a woman?" Jagger: "If God wants me to become a woman, then a woman I will become."

The Groundhogs served as supporting act for the shows.

Bootlegs

The Leeds Concert has been released unofficially numerous times, making it one of the most well-known bootleg recordings of the Rolling Stones to date (most famously with the title Get Your Leeds Lungs Out, obviously a reference to the Rolling Stones official live record Get Yer Yayas Out). All of these recordings however omit the concerts first two songs, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Live with me". The Marquee Club and Roundhouse Gig have also surfaced on various bootleg records. The 2015 rerelease of the album "Sticky Fingers" has seen an inclusion of the complete and remastered Leeds performance as part of the deluxe edition. The extended version of the album contains bonus studio outtakes as well as parts of the Roundhouse Concert. Subsequently the Marquee Club has been released separately on June 19, 2015 in CD and vinyl format including a DVD of the performance.

The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, harmonica

Keith Richards - guitar, backing vocals

Mick Taylor - guitar

Bill Wyman - bass

Charlie Watts - drums

Additional musicians

Nicky Hopkins - piano

Bobby Keys - saxophone

Jim Price - trumpet

Tour set list

The typical set was:

1. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
2. "Live With Me"
3. "Dead Flowers"
4. "Stray Cat Blues"
5. "Love In Vain"
6. "Prodigal Son"
7. "Midnight Rambler"
8. "Bitch"
9. "Honky Tonk Women"
10. "Satisfaction"
11. "Little Queenie"
12. "Brown Sugar"
13. "Street Fighting Man"

Encore:

1. "Let It Rock"

For the rest of the tour some songs were dropped, at certain shows. "Wild Horses" was likely played at the 1st Newcastle show and almost definitely at the 2nd Newcastle show. It was likely played at other shows. Sympathy For The Devil may have been played as the first encore, with Let It Rock as the second encore, at the 2nd Newcastle 2nd. It may have been played at other shows. It has also been suggested that the band attempted Can't You Hear Me Knocking at least once early in the tour.