Mick At 70

Mick Jagger turned 70 on Friday, July 26.

He did not invite me to celebrate with him. I must try harder to raise my profile.

Mick is in a unique situation. I can see Keith bluesing into his eighties and beyond because it has been done. Many blues singers and musicians play well into their nineties and there is no reason not to.

I have a theory that love of blues triggers longevity, but that is a topic for another time and place.

Mick is different because Mick has to move. Has to dance. It is part of what he does, part of who he is. He moves uniquely; if you saw him projected as a shadow dancing across the stage you would know it was him from the moves.

And he is still kicking ass at the age of seventy. He keeps himself in great shape, but how far can a body go being subjected to what he subjects his body to?

Can you end a sentence with to?

I think when The Stones decide to hang it up, it will be Mick's decision. Because he won't be able to perform the way he always has.

Unless................he adapts. Big league pitchers adapt as they get older. They come in spitting fire. 99 miles an hour. They get older and they are throwing at "only" 95 or slower.

They learn how to pitch. They get crafty. They master new pitches, they master situations and know exactly how to get somebody out without blowing back their hair.

Mick could do that. I could see him scaling down his performance to suit his physical limits while still delivering an explosive performance.

And all the girls will still want to sing "Gimme Shelter" with him.

Apparently The Stones have played around with lyrics as they age.

Hendrick Hertzberg notes that the original lyrics to "The Spider and the Fly" included these lines:

"She was common, flirty, she looked about thirty....
She said she liked the way I held the microphone"

On The Stones "Stripped" album the lyrics were changed to:

"She was shifty, nifty, she looked about fifty....
She said she liked the way I held the microphone"

The NY Times, in an article discussing Mick's birthday, brought up an interesting point of view.

The article references a column written by Russell Baker in 1972 concerning the kids growing up in the sixties.

In the column "he predicted that being young was so enjoyable that "the kids" would never give it up, and would refuse to reproduce. By bringing down the birthrate, he theorized, the 60's people would stay in control forever while the dwindling number of youths in the future would be trained to sit in their shadows."

The Times points out that this of course did not happen, ironically noting that Jagger himself has 7 kids. But in talking about Jagger they say "But maybe some people can will their way around the aging process. Or, at least, if you're doing something you love to do, you can rise above it."

Amusing Mick Jagger quotes:

When he was 29: "I'll never tour when I'm fifty."

When he was 31: "I'd rather be dead than sing "Satisfaction" when I'm 45."

Keith Richards will turn 70 on December 18. I will be working relentlessly to raise my profile between now and then.