Picture special: A new Rolling Stones book features stories from Hamilton people about band's legendary 1964 gig in the town10:54, 1 OCT 2015 UPDATED 12:15, 1 OCT 2015
BY ROBERT MITCHELL
Author Richard Houghton made an appeal to readers of the Advertiser to come forward, and they did.
It’s been over five decades since 2000 people crammed into a Hamilton ballroom for a legendary gig by the Rolling Stones – and now a new book will shine a light on that remarkable night by telling the stories of people who were there.
Amongst the performances remembered in You Had To Be There: The Rolling Stones Live 1962 – 69 are the concerts that took place in the Chantinghall Hall Hotel on May 18, 1964.
Last year, author Richard Houghton made an appeal in the letters page of the Hamilton Advertiser for people who were there to come forward, and was delighted when many of our readers did exactly that.
Richard, who lives in Manchester, said: “I’ve been lucky enough to capture some great anecdotes of people who saw the Stones on their journey to stardom. They started out as a group of rhythm and blues aficionados sometimes playing to a handful of people in a pub and became the greatest rock and roll band in the world.”
Although 2000 people managed to cram themselves into the ballroom at the Chantinghall Hotel on that night in 1964, it is also remembered because another 1000 mobbed the streets outside because of a forgery scam.
A queue snaked its way all the way to Peacock Cross, and the police had to send for reinforcements from Motherwell and Wishaw.
Youngsters who succumbed to the heat or hysteria tried to recover in a makeshift ambulance room in the hotel’s foyer, while in the ballroom a few scraps broke out.
Michael Prater was just 10 when the Rolling Stones came to Hamilton, and he recalls: “I stood outside, unable to get in.
“There was a riot at the show due to forged tickets and the place was packed solid. Cars were damaged and there was a lot of unruly behaviour.”
Patrick McCue was aged just 15 when he went to the Hamilton show. He said: “Two of my friends who were into the Stones’ music managed to get three tickets and persuaded me to accompany them to the gig.
“There we were, three mods, all decked out in our black plastic coats and trilby hats to match. My enduring memory of that evening, after what can only be described as the best gig I’ve ever been to, is the chaos following it.
“The cloakroom staff had lost the ticket stubs and it was to be 50 at a time to go into the cloakroom and pick up their coats. I duly picked up my black plastic coat and headed outside. My friends emerged 30 minutes later sporting what could only be described as expensive Crombie coats!”
Author Richard Houghton added: “This book is not just about the Rolling Stones. It’s also a window on the past, a look at what it was like to grow up in 1960s Britain.
“Teenagers hadn’t really been invented until the Rolling Stones came along and they played a part in opening many people’s eyes to what was possible. The Stones helped to make the Sixties swing.”
You Had To Be There: The Rolling Stones Live 1962 – 69 can be ordered from
gottahavebooks.co.uk or via www.amazon.co.uk.
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www.dailyrecord.co.uk]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-01 21:29 by Cristiano Radtke.