Stones history on show

Mick Jagger’s stage clothing is part of a Rolling Stones exhibit in London.
Mick Jagger’s stage clothing is part of a Rolling Stones exhibit in London.

LONDON -- From their first apartment through their most recent tours, the Rolling Stones are giving fans a chance to take a deeper look into their lives as the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World."

Here are some key things to see at "Exhibitionism," the band's massive exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London:

• EDITH GROVE. Shortly after the Stones got together in 1962, founding member Brian Jones moved into an apartment in west London with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and James Phelge. The apartment, at 102 Edith Grove, was notorious for being a mess. The exhibition has re-created the scene right down to the old empty beer bottles, a kitchen sink filled with pots and pans and plenty of old Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records ready to be heard by an aspiring band that was, at the time, making only a few dollars per gig.

"The milk bottles were just growing this ... stuff," Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts says through a speaker as visitors walk through.

Jagger and Richards shared the only bedroom with Phelge, a London clubgoer who became their roommate and companion. Jones slept in the living room.

It was at Edith Grove that the band started writing their own music.

• OLYMPIC STUDIOS. Behind a wall of glass is a re-creation of the studio where the Rolling Stones recorded their first single, "Come On," and many of their hits in the 1960s.

There are several instruments scattered around the floor, and a portion of Sympathy for the Devil -- a 1968 Jean-Luc Godard film that shows the song's creation -- plays on a screen in the background.

• CLOTHES. There are lots of clothes, mostly from Jagger, in a room that looks like a museum. There is the famous Omega shirt he wore on the 1969 U.S. tour. There is a replica of the flowing dresslike white shirt he wore when the Stones played a free concert at Hyde Park on July 5, 1969 -- two days after the death of Jones.

From the 1970s, there are plenty of jumpsuits. And from the 1980s, you get the sporty look, when Jagger essentially wore a football uniform on tour.

"Mick kept his clothes, thank God," exhibition curator Ileen Gallagher said.

More recent garments include plenty of long coats and capes, some designed by Jagger's late partner L'Wren Scott.

• GUITARS. From the homes of Richards and Wood, curators chose the 1957 Gibson Les Paul that was hand-painted by Richards and used during the filming of Sympathy for the Devil. At the time, the Stones were involved in a drug case that threatened to ruin the band.

"Yeah, I painted it," Richards says in the notes accompanying the guitar. "I was bored, waiting to go to jail."

• MEMORABILIA. A section is dedicated to old posters and records and the band's first contract.

• 3-D MOVIE. At the end of the exhibit, visitors walk through a backstage area and into a small theater where they can watch a 3-D movie of the Stones performing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Filmed in 2013 when the Stones returned to Hyde Park for a pair of shows, the video brings the viewers right into the concert.

IF YOU GO

"Exhibitionism," through Sept. 4, Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, London. Hours: 10 a.m.-6.p.m. daily. Info: saatchigallery.com.

Travel on 04/24/2016

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