13 January 1991 - Bluestone Studios, Farm, Pembrokeshire, South Wales Second album rehearsals.
Blue Stone was owned and maintained by one Noreen Vaughan. Date and notes taken from 19 November 1994 - NME Magazine, Paul Moody and John Harris timeline.
"It's in the middle of winter and the band entertain themselves any way they can. They use pool cues as baseball bats and fire pool balls across the studio, eventually breaking a large double glazed window. Ian apologises the next morning.
Reni's catchphrase becomes "What day is it?".
After heavy snowfall, the four of them take large silver trays and
toboggan down a nearby hill. Their favourite pastime (besides shooting lit balls of paper at each other through a space heater) is to build a bonfire outside the studio and throw aerosol cans into the blaze, causing lumps of red hot metal to explode outwards like shrapnel.
In tribute to Noreen, Bluestone's owner, John takes her £400's worth of Harrods carving knives and helped by the others, fashions a circumcised nine foot phallic symbol out of snow (in the style of Henry Moore) on the doorstep. Such is its impact that local farmers dub Noreen 'The old cock and ball', a nickname she has yet to loose.
The band refuse to eat anything other than chips, when they are served baked potatoes they throw them on the fire, much to distress of Bluestone's waitress, Pippa...."
From Autumn 2001 - Mojo Collections Magazine Number 4 'David Bowie' - War Of The Roses article by John Harris... “My dad had died two months earlier, and my head had gone,” says Mani. “[Sarcastically] It was nice of Gareth to stick us there, trying to get us to write songs. We always got stuck in these establishment houses in the countryside. There was a photograph hanging on the wall, of this woman, Noreen, shaking hands with Princess Anne. Me and lan nudged each other and said, ‘We’re here again’. And we systematically set about an orgy of destruction.”
1991 - Gareth Evans meets with David Geffen of MCA.
After meeting for dinner, Gareth would walk with a cheque for £300,000. Gareth signed a contract for the sum to be used for the current court proceedings. MCA approved the money. Gary Gersh, head of A&R for Geffen, made out the cheque. Gareth stayed at The Russell Hotel in North London whilst making the deal.
09 March 1991 - Sounds Magazine published an article detailing a £2.2 million Geffen record deal, see Media for the article.
From Blood On The Turntable BBC TV Documentary, Gareth Evans said: I was in America as a guest of Warner Brothers, while I was over there in the Hilton Hotel a message came over from David Geffen 'would I like to go out for dinner?'
10 February 1991 - Rumbelows League Cup semi-final first leg, Leeds United play Manchester United at Old Trafford, Mani attends
Gordon Strachan (former United player) runs into and falls over some advertising hoardings, Mani spits on him. Apparently Mani could be seen on the TV broadcast too.
March 2000 - Jockey Slut Magazine includes a Ian Brown Q&A Session: Is it possible that when the '91 League Cup semi-final between Leeds and Manchester United was one telly, we might have seen various Roses gobbing at a Leeds player taking a throw in? Albino Priest, Lo-Fidelity Allstars. "You would only have seen the one - Gary Mounfield. I think he was gobbing on Gordon Strachan."
February 1991 - Bluestone Studios, Pembrokeshire, South Wales. The band leave the all night rehearsal sessions.
"On leaving, in the dead of night at the end of February, a van comes to pick them up. It gets stuck in the snow and a tractor has to pull them out. As they depart John Squire assures Noreen that all damages will be paid for. Ian signs the Bluestone Guestbook as 'The laziest man in show business'. Reni writes 'What time is it?'. Mani scrawls, 'Nothing off for good behaviour, Viva la proletariat' and, 'PS the sheep are tight'. John Squire in tiny letters simply signs his name."
From February 1998 - Uncut magazine Ian Brown interview: Squire also said “The band were on different drugs at the same time. It can be destructive if everybody’s on a different plane.” True? “Yeah. I smoked weed. You’d have to ask Reni what he was on, and Mani was on everything.”
From Autumn 2001 Mojo Collections Number 04:
John Leckie, meanwhile, was suffering. “We were booking studios and they were being cancelled at the last minute,” he says. “It just dragged on. I was getting calls from lan, usually saying, ‘Oh yeah, we’re ready, we’ve got some great songs, let’s book a studio tor a month.’ We’d be due to go in on a Monday, and lan would phone me the Thursday before at midnight and say, ‘We can’t do it.’ That happened three or four times. It was crazy. Silvertone would just phone me up all the time, asking, ‘Have you spoken to the band?’and I’d be like, ‘Well, have you spoken to them?'”
1998 - Hot Press, Interview by Stuart Bailie, in a bar in Chorlton: "The Gulf War had just started" Ian recalls. "And we used to play Stevie Wonder’s Heaven Help Us All every day. Me Mani and Reni. But John wouldn’t come out of his room. In fact, he was working on the songs Love Is The Law and Happiness Is Eggshaped (later to appear on the Seahorses album).
"So I was watching the Gulf war and reading Exodus and listening to Stevie. And I could hear Squire walking past my door, sniggering, as if to say, he’s a dick, playing Sir Duke. It was alright him playing his Led Zeppelin, but I was a dick for playing Stevie."
20 February 1991 - Ian Brown's 28th birthday
27 February 1991- The Stone Roses feature on the cover of Rage magazine, Issue 10 Mike Noon article with a discography and images
04 March - 06 March 1991 - The Silvertone/Zomba court case begins in the Royal Court Of Justice, The Strand High Court, London. In August 1990 the band were issued with an injunction, they were not allowed to record any new material, and their planned second LP had to be shelved, indefinitely.
Judge Humphries would see the case through, fortunately, in favour of the band.
The four members of The Stone Roses and their management are sued by their record label and publishers who seek a court declaration that the Roses should remain bound by their contract. The band declare the contract to be invalid and they do not appear but are represented by John Kennedy. Barbara Dohmann QC was the band's defence lawyer.
Peter Prescott QC, on behalf of Silvertone, begins “With us, The Stone Roses’ career began to take off – before that their success had been pretty modest.
“It is particularly galling for my clients that the group said that the contract is invalid and they are free to go off with another company.”
This meant that Silvertone had put “money down the drain” and wasted skill and effort. The Roses ‘left’ Silvertone, with whom they originally signed in 1988, to ink a deal with the ‘other company’ on August 22 last year. But Silvertone then took out an injunction preventing them from releasing any records on another label.
Mr Prescott said of the band’s contractual obligations to Silvertone: “They can’t now be heard to say, Boo hoo, I want to get out of it now.” Barbara Dohmann QC, questioned Mark Firman, a lawyer with Zomba Music.
From NME magazine 23 February 1991 'John Kennedy, the group's lawyer, says that the Roses's claim that their contract with Silvertone is not binding will be presented to the court in the form of a legal document running to more than 40 pages. And NME understands that Silvertone's defence case will take up at least three weeks of the court's time. It was originally thought that the case wouldn't be heard until November, but the group were keen for an early hearing as they are still under a court injunction preventing them from releasinf any new material.'
From Melody Maker Magazine, 16 March 1991:
''Peter Prescott, QC, for Silvertone, asked Judge Humphries to grant a declaration that the contract is enforceable. The judge granted an interim injunction stopping the group from recording for any other company pending the outcome of the case. Mr Prescott claimed Silvertone took a big financial risk in signing The Stone Roses before they were established, and invested £1 million in the band before seeing any profit. He said ''Unless they’re an eccentric philanthropist, no record company is going to support a group in this way unless it has an exclusive right to their recording services. It is normal in the trade for such a contract to be entered into - and for a substantial time.'' Mr Prescot added that the group were given legal advice when they signed. ''They can't now say, 'Boo-hoo, we want to get out''.
The group and their manager, deny breach of contract by seeking to join another record company...'' ''...Silvertone, however, admitted that the contract ''had got garbled in some way'' and contradicted itself. Part of the document, read in isolation, said The Stone Roses were tired to Silvertone until nine months after the company had released their minimum recording commitment in the US - even though the company was under no obligation ever to release records in America. If there was no US release, the contract would never end, and the band would be bound to Silvertone for the rest of their lives. But Mr Prescott argued that a reading of the ''the four corners of the document'' made it clear that the contract meant not nine months from release in America but nine months from delivery by the group to Silvertone of their minimum recording commitment. 'The words 'released in the US' must be treated as a mistake'' he said. He asked the judge to give effect to the ''true underlying intention gathered from the words of the document read as a whole.''
The Stone Roses did not themselves appear in court, but it's likely they will be called as witnesses during the case which is expected to last several weeks'
From 04 March 2011 - Clash Magazine/Website article "The Life And Times Of The Stone Roses" Roddy McKenna said:
In the court case, all of Gareth’s skeletons got taken out of the closet and danced in front of the band, and they realised they had been completely mismanaged by him and they sacked him.
So then they end up going into a scenario where they’re unmanaged, they’ve got no A&R guy, they’re being told by everyone that they’re worth millions, they’ve got a lawyer telling them he’s going to negotiate a fantastic deal with Geffen, so no wonder they went AWOL.
From Autumn 2001 Mojo Collections Number 04:
“We weren’t confident of winning,” John Squire said, “but we were determined to do or die. If we’d never been released from that contract we wouldn’t have worked for them again, so we were discussing plans to only release bootlegs, or to just tour.”
11 March 1991 - Greg Lewhrke sent a letter to Gareth Evans
The letter sends thanks from David Geffen to Gareth for helping sign the band.
18-22 March 1991 - The Stone Roses appear in the Law Courts in The Strand, London
The band hear the testimony of Geoffrey Howard, their solicitor at the time of signing the Silvertone deal. Geoff would also later represent and give evidence for Gareth Evans during his legal entanglements with the band in 1992. The case continues.
23 March 1991 - Heaton Park Show Rumours.
March 1991 - Taken From NME Magazine:
''Roses in field on their own - THE STONE ROSES are currently scouring the South East of England in search of an appropriate venue to stage a huge comeback gig in the summer. Insiders confirmed that the Manc four-piece, who have not performed in public since last summer's Spike Island bash, are looking to re-establish themselves in grand style with their biggest live event yet.
August Bank Holiday weekend is thought to be the favourite date. A spokesperson for the band, however, denied reports that they are to perform at a weekend festival planned to take place at Manchester’s Heaton Park on August 10 and 11. Inspiral Carpets, 808 State, The Fall and Buzzcocks have been billed to appear, with a number of other bands from Liverpool and Manchester, said to be involved.
The rumoured show at the time was the Cities In The Park festival. The band were asked to headline Saturday night a few times. When Martin Hannett died the festival was advertised as a tribute to him. The band declined the offer and The Beautiful South and OMD headlined the Saturday Night whilst Electronic and Happy Mondays took to the stage Sunday. 04 August 1991 Sunday - Cities In The Park, Heaton Park, Prestwich, Manchester.
Meanwhile, The Stone Roses, Silvertone court case continues, with the latter claiming that much of the acrimony between label and band arose atter the band refused to appear on Wogan to promote their single. The case is expected to continue tor another two weeks.''
25-26 March 1991 - The Stone Roses appear in court again
Reni does not attend due to illness. Ian and Mani appear sitting with fans while the case continues. The reasons behind the band's non-appearance on Wogan in July '89 are discussed.
During the proceedings Silvertone turn on the band's management. It's revealed in court that Roses manager Gareth Evans' real name is Ian Bromley. He changed it while working at Vidal Sassoon's in the 1960s.
Silvertone allege that Gareth has signed a ten year deal with the band and receives 33.3% of all their earnings. Silvertone also claim that Gareth never provided the band with any detailed information about the finances of his company, Starscreen Management.
Band members hear about the £30,000 Christmas bonus for the first time. They were furious.
The proceedings take a decisive turn when it is revealed that the contract with Silvertone is somewhat one-sided; according to two of several bizarre clauses the label wasn't obliged to release Stone Roses products anywhere else in the world and the band only get half-rate royalties on any greatest hits package.
27 March 1991 - The Stone Roses appear in court again.
Mani and Ian appear in court.
Gareth Evans compounds Ian Brown's assertion that the Stone Roses were inadequately paid by Silvertone Records. Initially, the band were earning only £70 per week before tax and National Insurance deductions. This eventually rose to £200, £150 per week after deductions, but did not include allowances for clothes or equipment.
Silvertone’s lawyers claimed that Evans was being adequately funded, a claim that he denied in court. The band were paid £3,000 per month by Zomba Productions, Silvertone Records’ parent company, and £15,000 per quarter, a total of £8,000 per month. They were also paid a Christmas bonus of £2,000 each in 1989. Gareth aka Ian Bromley dribbled: “I knew Zomba were a hard company,” he said. “I didn’t want to rock the boat; I wanted to get on with the whole thing and relied on the prospect of a new contract as a reward.
We built Silvertone up into what it is now.”
Evans claimed that he looked after all the band’s business interests but the final important decision on signing to Silvertone was made by the band. Gareth Evans, when asked if he was optimistic at the outcome, replied “No f**king comment!” The case is adjourned until 09 April.
09 April 1991 - The court date is moved to 25 May 1991
10 April 1991 - Reni's 27th birthday
20 May 1991 - Ian and Mani were in Rotterdam, after travelling there to watch Manchester United clinch the European Cup Winners Cup.
From December 1995 - United We Stand (Late) Fanzine / February 1996 - Red Issue Fanzine (Manchester United Fanzine):
TJ: Thinking about slightly less aggressive times, what do you remember about Rotterdam?
JS: I was away on holiday having a really ace time (heavy sarcasm).
GM: It was the best night of my life, even Ian Brown went over for that one. We started off in Amsterdam, had a couple of cakes and a good crack, then arrived in Rotterdam and it was pissing down and we had no coats on. First off we sat round the Barcelona end and it was a fucking riot of colour and noise, but I knew inside we were going to do it. The boys couldn't be stopped that night Tony. Inside the ground was three quarters of pure United. It was the best sight I've ever seen at a footy match.
TJ: Is there any truth in the rumour that you left your girlfriend waiting in the car?
GM: Not exactly, we couldn't get there on our own, so we had to get The Hadge (Roses tour manager) to drive us and he's a Blue. So she stayed at the hotel with him. We all went back later pissed up and out of it and he was gutted cos United had a big European success.
JS: The Hadge must have been the only Blue in Holland that night.
TJ: You two have both got match books, where do you sit at OT?
JS: We used to be in F, but we're in the South Stand Lower now.
GM: Yeah, some of the Black Grape boys sit behind us, Muzzer and Bez etc. It's turning into a right little pop stars enclave. Mick no mates will probably want to move down there soon.
20 May 1991 Monday - The band finally won their lawsuit against Silvertone Records.
Q Magazine, Select and Bitz News claimed the final court date was 20 May 1991 Monday. “Gazza misses out but the Roses clean up,” says Gareth, alluding to Paul Gascoigne’s career-endangering injury in the FA Cup final. “We are looking forward to a new release this autumn,” says Mel Posner, head of Geffen’s international A&R department.
The entire case took eight weeks to resolve.
The judge broke the contracts major flaws down to the length, 7 albums, he thought it was too much and the fact that their was no obligation for the record company to release the product. The band could be held within the contract forever. The judge felt that action was not justified.
The Stone Roses were initially represented by local Mancunian lawyer (property specialist not a music business lawyer), Geoffrey Howard. With the band feeling they couldn't afford the real thing, Geoffrey missed the implications of many a sub-clause. Zomba could license product endorsement whether the band agreed or not; they could terminate the contract by a nominal payment at any time, but the band couldn't. The territorial agreements were deemed unfair (i.e. where Silvertone could release Stone Roses records, listed in the contract as "the world and its solar system"!) and a clause which tied the band to the label for nine months after the American release of their last recorded work. Since Silvertone were not obliged to release material in the States, the latter clause could have tied the band to the label forever. A statement from Silvertone claimed that instead of "United States" this should have read "United Kingdom", and was "a drafting error of the word-processor age".
The Stone Roses won, with lawyer John Kennedy (who also worked for The Waterboys, Sinead O'Connor and the Live Aid project among many others), and were free from the injunction and the contract.
According to the band’s former contracts, Silvertone/Zomba gave the band no royalty payment on CD sales and kept merchandising revenue too.
Silvertone would go back into litigation to appeal the case (Announced late June 1991), the entire ordeal would only end in May 1992. The Stone Roses would remain free from their publishing and recording contracts with Silvertone.
The band took what they had left of the new recordings to American label Geffen.
Howard Jones (ex-Roses manager) said “I thought David Geffen was a genius,”.
May 1991 - NME Magazine article.
May 1991 - Q Magazine article
June 1991 - Bitz News article.
July 1991 - Select Magazine article.
July 1991 - Select Magazine Special article.
A June 1991 NME Magazine article included:
‘IN THE most important and highly publicised music Industry trial since Holly Johnson sued ZTT in 1988, THE STONE ROSES have claimed ultimate victory over Silvertone/Zomba.'' 'The label's action, which has set the Roses back 12 months in real terms, was brought against the band following an injunction prohibiting them recording for any other company.'
'Silvertone/Zomba sought a High Court ruling binding the band to their original 1988 recording and publishing contracts, pleading some £1 million was invested to break the then anonymous group. Silvertone's QC Peter Prescotti told the court that the Roses could not now be tolerated “crying ‘boo-hoo, we want to get out.' 'Acting on the advice of highly respected music industry lawyer John Kennedy (whose clients include the Waterboys and Sinead O'Connor), the band claimed that their original contracts were, due to multiple oppressive clauses, unenforceable in English law. Kennedy told NME this week that the case was “extremely hard fought, and at times, unpleasant. “ The Roses' QC, Barbara Dohrnann, agreed.' '...the Roses have been virtually reclusive in Manchester until the trial began on March 5.'''Silvertone/Zomba are currently seeking legal advice, and up to a month is expected to elapse before they announce whether or not to appeal.
No comment was available from the company at the time of press, although insiders appear shocked that Judge Humphries came out so strongly in favour of The Stone Roses.' 'Meanwhile. the band are free to continue business as usual with their new label Geffen.' 'The head of Geffen's international US A&R department, Mel Posner. told NME: "The Stone Roses are now signed to us worldwide. We are looking to forward a new release in Autumn this year.’’ 'The Roses are currently compiling damages claim against Silvertone, which Kennedy verified would be a “considerable sum". It's estimated that Silvertone will also have to find in excess of £700,000 court costs, including the bands’ legal fees.'
From February 1998 - Uncut magazine Ian Brown interview: You couldn’t trust the record company, but you couldn’t trust the manager because he’d got you that deal. It must have felt like you were being shot by both sides. “Yeah, that’s why we sacked Gareth Evans in 1991 and he sued. We were doing more time in courtrooms than in studios. But we had to win the case against Zomba otherwise we’d have ended up on the dole, cos our pride would never had let us record for Silvertone again. There was even talk of doing our own bootlegs. But the court stuff did bog us down, and as a unit we became separate. I was down in the courtroom every day, but they were all in Manchester.
From 06 March 2009 - Uncut Magazine Interview (Clash Music Website) with Ian Brown: And then when you got into your Silvertone tussle and you went quiet for a while. Did that ever get a real, serious consideration?
Yeah, because at the time if we’d have lost the court case in ‘91 with Zomba, we wouldn’t have been able to release any more records so we’d have just done gigs, and the plan was that we would have bootlegged the gigs and sold them at the next gig, so they’d only be available as live albums and we’d have to do new songs as live versions. If we’d have lost that case, that was our plan - just to do gigs and sell bootlegs on the door...
From 04 March 2011 - Clash Magazine/Website article "The Life And Times Of The Stone Roses Roddy McKenna, Zomba A&R Representitive said: To the outside world it’s perceived as Zomba are a terrible label; a crappy contract trying to tie up a poor little band, and it’s not as simple as that. Basically you had a scenario where the band signed an initial deal which was very unfair towards the artist, but the reason for that was that Gareth would not spend the necessary money to get a proper music business lawyer to look over the contract, so he got his own building lawyer in.
Normally in the music business you issue a contract and the lawyers blue line it, because you purposefully put in a load of things you know are going to be taken out - it’s a standard negotiating position. So what he does is he signs the contract and sends it back, giving the record company things like merchandising rights.
So the record company always knew that contract was unsafe and would have to be improved. Basically the band had signed a new contract that gave them much better terms and conditions, so the record company were working on the basis of a new contract, but crucially one member of the band hadn’t signed that new contract. Gareth kept on saying he was going to get on to it, and [Silvertone boss] Andrew Lauder never put pressure on him. So when the band fell in with this smart lawyer, John Kennedy, when they fell into his conniving hands, he took the view that he was taking Zomba to court on the basis of the original contract. The record company was made out to be a far worse animal than they actually were, but they didn’t pay the going rate for the band so they lost them.
26 May 1991 - The band immediately sign to, U.S-based label, Geffen. Geffen apparently offered the sum of £20 (or $20) million for five albums, all information is still unconfirmed including how many record sales would be required.
Gary Gersh, Head of A&R at Geffen Records, financial offer was, apparently, considerably less than at least three of his rival record companies.
The advance for the first LP was rumoured to be approx £1.5 million, Ian Brown later confirmed that the amount was £4 million but minus tax the band saw £125,000 each. Ian and Mani gave money to their parents to help their mums retire from work.
Mani would buy a property in Monmouth. Ian would donate money to charity too. Reni and John also bought their own homes. I think Reni paid for his house in Gorton.
Melody Maker Magazine 09 March 1991 rumoured an initial deal was offered for one album at £2.2 million, but this was actually the advance payment for the first LP of the five.
Mel Posner, head of Geffen's international A&R department, said: "We are looking forward to a new release in the Autumn". If only Geffen knew it would be another 3 years until the LP would be finished.
Ian Brown Interview from Uncut Magazine, June 2006, Issue 109: Is it true you took 100 grand from your Geffen deal and walked around Manchester giving it away?
“It wasn’t 100 grand. I wanted all my money in cash; I didn’t want a bank account. But they made me get an account when I got my recording contract, so I went in and drew it all out. I gave 30 or 40 grand to my mother, retired my mother. The rest wasn’t just to bums on the streets; I gave it to hostels and the Salvation Army. And that Christmas I went and bought big jars of sweets and teddy bears and donated them to kids’ homes.
For myself I bought a car, which was nine grand, but I still lived in a little rented flat. The rest I gave to my family.”
June 1991 NME Magazine article included: '...a five-album deal worth a substantial amount had been agreed. Geffen were not party to any new demos before signing the band, Kennedy advised us' John Kennedy, The Stone Roses lawyer for the Silvertone/Zomba case.
Sounds Magazine 30 March 1991 included: 'One of the band's lawyers, John Kennedy, said of the Geffen deal 'The royalties are good, very good'' '
From March 1995 - Q Magazine, Who the hell do The Stone Roses think they are? (March 1995) by Adrian Deevoy: "Geffen actually signed us in March '91," recalls Brown. "They paid all our court costs but it was two and a half years later before they even sent anyone over. That surprised me. They kept sending money over but didn't want a return. They said, Whenever you're ready, whenever you're happy, just take your time and give us an LP as good as your last one and we'll see what we can do with it.
They trusted us. They'd ring up and say, Have you done anything in the last six months? And I'd say, Yeah, I've been down the beach with my boy. Musically, I've done nothing. And they'd say, Right you are, keep at it. As long as you're happy. And even when we gave them this album, they said, If the next one takes five years, that's OK. Take your time."
So what did you do with the money?
"They gave us a million pounds up front," says Brown, completely unfazed by the figure, "and when we finished the record they gave us another million. I got a house in the mountains in Wales by the sea. But mostly me and him give it away."
"I retired me Mam, first thing," says Mani. "Got her out of the rat race. She had the lion's share of what I had. She's as happy as Larry."...
From 01 March 1995 - Ian Brown appears on the cover of 'The Face Magazine' Issue 78, March 95: Ian currently has about eight grand in his bank account, Reni tells me that later (“I’ve got about three, Mani’s probably got even less and I really can’t speak for John”). “The Second Corning” apparently cost over a million dollars to make in total.
In an Q Magazine interview Ian Brown said: When we signed to Geffern (in 1991) it's true that we got £4 million upfront, but £2 million of that went straight to the taxman, and so we only saw about £125,000 each, which isn't much, is it? Even today, I am very far from being a millionaire, but I couldn't care less, I'm an artist, not a businessman.
From February 1998 - Uncut magazine Ian Brown interview: What about the theories that wealth had made you lose your sense of urgency? “We never had a load of money. We only got £100,000 each, and I gave it away within three days, to my family. The rest of the Geffen advance went on recording equipment, wages and tax.”
From February 1998 - Uncut magazine Ian Brown interview: We got our dough [by signing to Geffen] in 1991, but John moved to the Lake District. So, yeah, that’s when it started… changing.” There was a story that one day you walked around Manchester with £100,000 in a holdall, giving out wads to the homeless. Is this true? “It was a carrier bag.”
1998 - Hot Press, Interview by Stuart Bailie, in a bar in Chorlton: "I got £125,000 in ’91, and I gave it all away. Within three days, it had gone. I gave it to me mother, me brother and sister, and I put 30 grand on the house."...
From Autumn 2001 - Mojo Collections Magazine Number 4 'David Bowie' - War Of The Roses article by John Harris... “We all went to the south of France and hired a helicopter and stayed in £5OO-a-night hotels for a few weeks,” says Mani. “We went, ‘Right, let’s fuck off and spend some money’. We flew into Nice first, chartered the helicopter from Nice to Cannes, then on to St Tropex, and booked into the Hotel Byblos [famously upmarket retreat], stayed there a couple of days, went to Monte Carlo and got kicked out of the casino. “Were we instant millionaires? No, that’s absolute bullshit. I think we took a hundred grand each. But we were in the studio for a year and a bit, which gobbled up a lot of that. I think we got £2 million for the second album, but we could never hope to recoup it.”
May 1991 - Rehearsals, North Manchester
Apparently the band rented Steve 'Adge' Atherton's house in Manchester to rehearse. They rented a van and headed up to his to practise.
May 1991 - John Squire flies to Tenerife with his girlfriend Helen. Helen works as a stallholder on Manchester's Castlefield Market.
May 1991 - Ian, John and Mani travel to the European Cup Winners Cup final in Rotterdam, Netherlands to see Manchester United defeat Barcelona 2-1.
July 1991 - John Leckie Session, Sawmills, Cornwall
21 July 1991 - Sally Cinnamon Japanese Release Date
The CD included an additional booklet with colour 1989 photos of the band, some live photos which I have never seen published since.
July 1991 - Reni plays football with A Certain Ratio
The band's publicist Philip Hall engages the band in their interest in football and finds Reni a team to join. A BBC team is formed that includes members of Yargo and A Certain Ratio. The team train at Platt Fields (Manchester City's training ground) on Tuesday nights. Ian Brown occasionally shows to support Reni.
1991 - Ian Brown's son is born
Notes: From 01 March 1995 - Ian Brown appears on the cover of 'The Face Magazine' Issue 78, March 95
But Ian’s been to the crossroads, says he’s got a perspective on what’s important. You see, Ian’s a dad now. “Yeah, I’ve got one boy, he’s two and a half. It just doubles your joy for living, having a child. I don’t consider myself to have ever got wrapped up in some fame game anyway and now I’ve got a boy I definitely know what’s what. You’ve got to bring them up right, man. Tell them what to do in life, like my father did with me. You’ve got to make sure your child grows up in a place where there’s as much peace as possible.”
Where are you bringing your son up, Ian? “I want to stay around Manchester, but I’ve moved out of Salford. I’d rather you didn’t print where I’ve moved to because loads of people will be flicking round. But I’m splitting my time now between there and Wales. I bought this place in north Wales up in the mountains in an old slate village. It’s got a coal fire and you can see the sea. It’s beautiful. It’s two hours from Manchester and it’s unspoilt. I can take my boy to the beach any day I like. “What it means is you have to start writing songs at seven o’clock at night, because you make sure you deal with your son first. Seeing my boy singing and dancing and jamming about, right? That’s the best. He sits there and he puts the headphones on and..,” Ian Brown stops talking and. sways his bead about in an impersonation of his two-year-old listening to Bob Marley. The whole Brown filmily have probably got that goldfish pout.
So, did fatherhood account for all that time? “Well, after the court appeal in June ’92, I just travelled about. I went to Rome to see where the emperor put his foot down in the Coliseum. I went to Barcelona to see where Christopher Columbus set sail before he went and robbed everyone. I wanted to see where my head was at. “I just thought it was funny that there was so much concern about four people going off and making a record in their own time. I didn’t feel responsible. Between us we’ve spent a million pounds and about half of that’s gone on tax and the rest on recording. That thing Tony Wilson said about working-class bands going off and spending money as soon as they get it. Well, I’m from a working-class background and I went and spent it. But we didn’t go to Monte Carlo and spend it all on a black jack table. I gambled away exactly £5 of it.
August 1991 - Madison Square Garden, New York (capacity 14,000) *Cancelled*
August 1991 - The Forum, Los Angeles (capacity 12,000) *Cancelled*
From 06 April 1996 - Ian Brown & John Squire feature on the cover of NME (New Musical Express) Magazine, 85p:
Evans said they made a critical mistake when they refused to play Madison Square Gardens, in New York, and the LA Forum following the release of 'The Stone Roses'. He believes those gigs would have sparked a wave of American success, similar to that currently enjoyed by Oasis. He said: "That was where they went wrong. They had those two gigs and they didn't play them. The gigs were sold out. If they had played there and played the simple songs from the first album, America would have loved them. But they wouldn't play."
August 1991 - Reni appears in court
Reni appears in court for four charges, including threatening behaviour and illegal parking.
He pleads not guilty.
In court it is announced that Reni is the owner of three houses in
Manchester including one maisonette in a desirable mini-estate, near the G-Mex centre, and is earning reasonable amounts of money from being a landlord. See November for the verdict.
September 1991 - Alan Wren's son 'Cody' is born.
Reni and his girlfriend, a paediatric doctor at St. Mary's Hospital, bring a baby boy into the world. Coleen, Marlon and Cody.
August - September 1991 - John Leckie & Brian Pugsley
pre-production for the Second Coming Sessions at Rockfield Studios
The Stone Roses begin initial sessions for Geffen records, whilst John Leckie & Brian Pugsley prepare for the 1992 recording sessions in Wales & Manchester.
From P.D. McCauley Interview with Simon Dawson on the subject of 'Begging You': "This was really the main one for sample loops. The loops were done before the group came to Rockfield, by a guy called Brian Pugsley, who structured the loops they had created. John had them on disk, and I think Brian just got them in the right place and at the right time -- quite a lot of work, I think. Brian also programmed a bass pulse, a sample of an oscillator generating a sine wave at a low frequency, which we ended up using in the verses of the song. Mani had come up with a bassline, but we liked the pulse. It was quite difficult though because the pulse was a straight sine wave from an oscillator, it had no harmonics, so we had quite a problem at the mix getting it so you could hear it. We were cutting from the bass to the pulse, and matching it up was quite tricky. You can hear it when you've got a really nice pair of speakers.
"Other than that, there are a few different loops in their, old soul loops running backwards, slowed down -- so no-one can recognise them -- and there's also a backwards guitar riff, which John had to learn to play in reverse. We turned the tape over so it ran the opposite way, then John experimented over the backwards music until we found something that worked when we turned the tape back over. It became the main riff, and we decided to triple-track it, so John had to do it the same three times, which is quite hard to do over backwards music! There are also some jets in the middle of the song, which John Squire recorded at an air show with his DAT player holding his mic up in the air, and which we layered in."
From February 1998 - Uncut magazine Ian Brown interview: Were things falling apart within the band? “Yeah. We did Fools Gold and One Love to a drum loop, and Reni played over the top. So now John’s got no confidence in Reni. All we ever hear is that Reni’s the greatest drummer anyone’s ever seen, but we’ve got a guitarist who doesn’t want to play with him. He wants to play to loops. Eventually, Reni’s turning up at the studio going, ‘What the fuck am I doing here?'” That must have destroyed Reni? “Bitterness crept in, but in a way, Reni got enjoyment because he thought that John would have to come round. He never did. When Reni left the band, John never phoned him up. He hasn’t laid eyes on him in two years. He’s said in interviews ‘Oh yeah, I’ve seen him’, which Reni’s blazing about. So yeah, that was the start of the decline.”
The Stone Roses - 02 September 1991 - I Wanna Be Adored / Where Angels Play U.K. Release Date
This was the first time Where Angels Play was released. Silvertone Records included the unfinished recording on the B-side, without the bands approval. It also re-appeared on the 1992 Turns Into Stone compilation, again the release was unapproved by the band and it even funded Silvertone's legal battle with the band regarding their own contract. The label was using the band's music to fund the label's legal fees against the band...utter madness!
The first 25,000 12inch singles included a free print. Press media outlined 'Includes previously unreleased Where Angels Play' Out Now, The First 25,000 12" include a free print...'
Regarding Where Angels Play - From 23-30 December 1989 - Sounds Magazine Interview: “That was meant to be on the album,” says Ian, “but we didn’t get a good enough version of it.”
From 24 August 1991 - NME Magazine:
''THE STONE ROSES have a single, and re-formatted limited edition of their debut album released by Silvertone next month.''
''The single, ‘I Wanna Be Adored', of the band's debut LP, is backed with one previously unreleased track titled ‘Where Angels Play’, recorded during the original album sessions. CD and 12'' Formats will also Include ‘Sally Cinnamon’ recorded live at the Hacienda In '89. Silvertone are also planning to use a video shot in Lanzarote at the same time as ‘Fools: Gold' to promote the track. ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ Is due out on Silvertone through Zomba on September 2, two weeks prior to the re-release of The Roses debut LP on September 16''.
1998 - Record Collector, December 1997 - Hotel, Park Lane, John Reed Interview/article: RC: In summer 1990, you played what, in hindsight, felt like a farewell concert – Spike Island. The only new song was "Where Angels Play". Was that going to be your next single? IB: That was going to be on the second LP but Silvertone released a rough demo on that "Complete Stone Roses", so we dropped it.
From November 2001 - I Am Without Shoes (thestoneroses.net) John Leckie Interview: IAWS: How about Where Angels Play? Was this just a demo that Silvertone put out, and when was it recorded? JL: Where Angels Play was the only "abandoned" track. It was recorded at Rockfield at the same time as I Am The Resurrection (January 1989). It wasn't meant to be heard.
The Stone Roses - 16 September 1991 - The Stone Roses debut U.K. Re-Release
From 24 August 1991 - NME Magazine: ''THE STONE ROSES have a single, and re-formatted limited edition of their debut album released by Silvertone next month.'' ''...Limited Edition gatefold pressed on two 45rpm 12" discs. CDs and cassettes will also carry hit singles 'Elephant Stone' and 'Fools Gold'. All formats of the LP will feature new sleeve art, replacing the legendary mock Pollock painted by guitarist John Squire''
The Stone Roses - 04 November 1991 - The Stone Roses Blackpool Live U.K. VHS Release Date
All releases are missing Sally Cinnamon & Standing Here.
Acclaimed video director Geoff Wonfor, was tasked with making a video for upcoming single 'One Love' at the Blackpool gig. At the time Wonfor was best-known for his work on TV programme The Tube, films such as The Beatles Anthology, Eurythmics Live and McCartney Live.
The recording wasn't intended for release. “It was meant to be a video for just the one song and I said to the band [when he arrived at Blackpool], Well can I shoot you doing it in the soundcheck? They said we’re not doing it in the soundcheck. So, I said so you want me to do it live? They said, no, we’re not doing it in the gig either… I said Well what the hell do you want me to do then? They said, well now you’ve got a thing, haven’t you? So, they didn’t do it in the soundcheck and they didn’t do it live on stage. So, I had to put a video together from close-ups of eyes and drumsticks and guitars and Ian’s hand waving in the air … so I had no sync for them at all…. And that was it; that was the Blackpool gig."
"“Somebody else actually used all my rushes and brought it out as whole gig. When it came out [as a full-length concert film in 1991] it didn’t get a good review in the NME and a lot of people didn’t like it. I couldn’t believe it [when I saw it]. They used all the trims from what I was doing for one song to do an entire gig from. At the gig I was getting my cameramen into it, they were filming other songs, to get them into it, to get them into what I needed. So around what I needed there were just bits and bobs which I was going to slow-mo … but they actually used it as a concert film. But I didn’t actually shoot it as that at all, ever; it supposedly done for one pop video. They then got somebody to put all the trims together for the gig video and credit me as directing the video, cheeky bastards. I had directed it – but I’d directed it for the video… not for a gig… and then I nearly crapped myself when I saw it. It is just bits thrown together."
Wonfor put the footage together for She Bangs the Drums.
Jive/Zomba also used the footage for subsequent videos, to accompany the release of the Waterfall single [1992] and the unreleased Standing Here single.
09 November 1991 - The Stone Roses were approached to play the 50th Anniversary Oxfam Festival
From NME Magazine, 09 November 1991:
THE STONE ROSES have been asked to make a return to the live stage by headlining a show in the grounds of an English stately home next May. The band who haven’t performed live since the Spike Island and Glasgow Green shows of May last year, have been approached by Oxfam to top the bill of the concert to mark the charity's 50th anniversary.
A spokesman for the band said: "They're seriously considering the request, but it's too early to make a full commitment to the event. There are other things in the pipeline and the band are in the process of mapping out their immediate future. ‘Organisers are currently scouting locations in the West Midlands for the concert, which will feature four or five major acts, to be confirmed in the next few weeks. The fund-raising gig is just one of a series of specie! events Oxfam are planning for 1992.
From Melody Maker Magazine, 15 February 1992:
''THE STONE ROSES were at the centre of confusion last week after Oxfam allegedly claimed that the group would be headlining a massive outdoor benefit show for the charity at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire on May 30. A spokesman for the event told MM that he received a fax from Oxfam stating that the Roses would definitely be appearing - but had then been told by the band's agents that they were "not confirmed”. The mainstream deepened just before the Maker went to press last week when the group's own publicists called the MM news desk to insist that the Roses would certainly not be playing the show. Whatever, the event will go ahead, and a number of other leading acts - including Ride and Seal - have been asked to appear. The final bill is expected to be announced within the next two weeks.''
November 1991 - Alan Wren was acquitted on a charge of disorderly conduct. Reni is cleared by Manchester Magistrates on the charges of disorderly behaviour and police obstruction, having refused to move his car which was causing a blockage on Burton road.
He admits to two offences, parking in a no waiting zone and causing an obstruction, and is fined £50. In court Reni states: " I have alreadylodged a complaint about the way I was physically abused by the Police"
From November 1991 - NME or 23 November 1991 - Melody Maker Magazine : " RENI IN THE DOCK, Roses Drummer Accuses Police of Brutality, The Stone Roses' drummer Reni claimed in Manchester City Magistrates' Court last week that he was beaten up by police after being arrested on a charge of causing an obstruction last August. Reni claimed in court that he was attacked in the police station after the arrest, was "raced" along a corridor with his hands in cuffs behind his back, and that he had blood "all over his face" after the alleged assault. Reni has already lodged a formal complaint against the police, and insisted last week that he would take the complaint ''all the way''.
The prosecution alleged that Reni had acted in a "totally unreasonable manner" after being asked to move his car from Barton Road, West Didsbury. Prosecutor Mrs Karen Brooks said that Reni had sworn at a police sergeant, who had been "forced" to grip the drummer in a headlock and have a colleague handcuff him. Replying to the charges, Reni told the court that his then three-month old baby son had been in the car, and that he had "panicked" when told he was being arrested. He claimed that he was dragged out of the car before he had chance to comply with the police's request to move the vehicle. Reni, charged under his full name Alan Wren, was acquitted by the magistrates on a charge of disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty to parking in a no parking area and causing an obstruction, and was fined £50."
November 1991 - Ian Brown buys the 'Garage Flower' Session Tapes Ian & tour manager Steve 'Adge' Atherton go to Strawberry Studios and buy back sixteen 1985 session tapes, produced by Martin Hannett. See 1985 for the Garage Flower Sessions.
John moves to the Lake District.
16 November 1991 - Mani's 29th birthday
24 November 1991 - John Squire's 29th birthday
1991 - Gareth Evan's is sacked.
As far as I am aware The Stone Roses manager was sacked at the end of 1991.
NME magazine released a statement in January 1992 saying Gareth had been let go and the band were without a manager. Gareth would later take the band to court for compensation after being sacked (see 13 June 1992).
From 01 February 1992 - NME Magazine: 'The Stone Roses have parted company with their manager Gareth Evans....'
From May 1993 - NME Magazine -“Basically, we walked out of court and that was it,” Evans says. “Ian Brown said, business is business and that they didn’t want me to have 20 per cent of the Geffen deal. They never thought I’d take issue with them over it, but there you go.”
Ian Brown Interview from Uncut Magazine, June 2006, Issue 109: What was the fatal mistake the Roses made in their final years? The court case? Signing to Geffen? “Not getting a manager. We were all chiefs; no-one could make a decision. We were like this big, lumbering dinosaur, even though we’d only made one album. Maybe there should have been someone there saying, ‘Look, fucking get on with it.’ You’re not going to turn to your pal and say that.”
14 December 1991 - Waterfall Remix Promo Release Date
Promo Only, Acetate Demo 12inch Vinyl. Apparently Silvertone Records asked Paul Oakenfold to do, what he did to Primal Scream's Loaded but the final remix wasn't too dissimilar from the original. Including extended intro, extra percussion, louder backing vocals and Don't Stop bassline snippets thrown in for good measure. The Adrian Sherwood 'One Love' remixes date back to the single release, unreleased up until now and the eventual Waterfall single (see Waterfall 1992)
From a magazine article 02 November 1991: ''Roses Roses: Pool's Gold. THE STONE ROSES are to have more of their back catalogue re-issued by former label Silvertone. Steve Osbourne and Paul Oakenfold are already working on re-mixes of a number of tracks, one of which is believed to be their Top Ten 45 ‘Fool's Gold’, to be released as a single....''
Taken From NME Magazine, 21 December 1991
''...The label, who go back into litigation in early 92' to appeal against the High Court ruling freeing the Roses from both their publishing and recording contracts with the company, issued an Osbourne/Oakenfold mix of 'Waterfall' on 45 last week. The track is backed with 'One Love'.''
Waterfall (7" Version) aka (Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osbourne 7inch Mix)
One Love (7" Version) aka (Adrian Sherwood 7inch Remix)