Stoned

Stoned by Oldham, Andrew Loog. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780436288661.

"People say I made The Stones. I didnt. They were there already. They only wanted exploiting. They were all bad boys when I found them. I just brought out the worst in them." - Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham was nineteen years old when he discovered an unknown band called The Rolling Stones. His radical vision transformed them from a starving south London blues combo to the Greatest Rock n Roll Band That Ever Drew Breath. Ultra-hip, flash, brash and schooled in style by Mary Quant, he was a hustler of genius, addicted to scandal, notoriety and innovation. Brian Epstein hired him to break The Beatles, but it was his thrilling work with The Stones that turned him into a legend and introduced sex and hype to an austere, conservative industry. A ferociously brilliant, near-mythical svengali to many, a manipulative upper-class thug to others, he quickly established himself as the most mercurial and anarchic impresario of the decade. Stoned is Andrew Loog Oldhams astonishing story told in his own words and those of his contemporaries captured in seventy original conversations. Mary Quant, Pete Townshend, Vidal Sassoon, Nik Cohn, George Melly, and Lionel Bart are among the colourful cast reassembled for his historic look at one of our eras most influential and elusive figures.