Editing Stanley Booth

{{Short description|American music journalist (1942–2024)}}
{{for|Anglican bishop|Stanley Booth-Clibborn}}
{{More footnotes|date=October 2023}}
{{infobox person
|name=Stanley Booth
|birth_date={{birth date|1942|1|5}}
|birth_place=[[Waycross, Georgia]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2024|12|19|1942|1|5}}
|death_place=[[Memphis, Tennessee]], U.S.
|alma_mater=[[University of Memphis|Memphis State University]]
|occupation=Music journalist
}}

'''Stanley Booth''' (January 5, 1942 – December 19, 2024) was an American [[music journalist]] based in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. Characterized by [[Richie Unterberger]] as a "fine, if not extremely prolific, writer who generally speaking specializes in portraits of roots musicians, most of whom did their best work in the '60s and '50s," Booth wrote extensively about [[Keith Richards]], [[Otis Redding]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[James Brown (musician)|James Brown]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Gram Parsons]], [[B.B. King]], and [[Al Green (musician)|Al Green]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stanley-booth-mn0001328936/biography |title = Stanley Booth Biography, Songs, & Albums |website = [[AllMusic]]}}</ref> He chronicled his travels with the [[Rolling Stones]] in several of his works.

==Life and career==
Booth was born in [[Waycross, Georgia]], and received a degree in English and [[art history]] from [[University of Memphis|Memphis State University]] (where he cultivated a lifelong friendship with fellow student [[Jim Dickinson]]) in 1963.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tulane.edu/news/tulanian/knee_deep_in_the_blues.cfm |title = Tulane University|website=Tulane.edu}}</ref> After leaving a graduate program at [[Tulane University]] without taking a degree, he began his journalistic career while maintaining a [[day job]] with the Tennessee Department of Welfare.<ref name="auto"/> His early oeuvre includes notable articles on Memphis musicians like Presley (including a seminal 1967 article for ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' regarded by James Calemine as "the first serious article" written about the singer)<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=http://swampland.com/articles/view/title:stanley_booth_can_i_get_a_witness |title = Swampland:Stanley Booth: Can I Get A Witness|website=Swampland.com}}</ref> and Redding, the latter of whom Booth witnessed writing the famous song "[[(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay]]" with [[Steve Cropper]] at [[Stax Records|Stax Studios]] on the Friday before Redding's death.

After befriending Keith Richards at the instigation of [[Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart]] while covering the trial of [[Brian Jones]] in 1968, he ensconced himself in the band's inner circle; shortly thereafter, he traveled with the band during their [[The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969|1969 American tour]]. During this period, Booth was introduced to fellow Richards confederate and Waycross native [[Gram Parsons]] of [[The Flying Burrito Brothers]] (he reviewed ''[[The Gilded Palace of Sin]]'' for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' contemporaneously) and was present at the infamous [[Altamont Free Concert]], where a concertgoer was killed by a member of the [[Hells Angels]].

Although his 1970 profile of [[Furry Lewis]] received the annual ''[[Playboy]]'' Best Nonfiction Award, Booth retreated to a cabin in the [[Boston Mountains]] of [[Newton County, Arkansas]] for many years following a 1971 drug conviction of a year's probation. Subsequent setbacks, including circumspection toward the Rolling Stones' [[The Rolling Stones American Tour 1972|1972 American tour]] (which he attempted to cover but ultimately castigated as "an ugly scene full of [[amyl nitrate]], [[Quaaludes]], [[Tequila Sunrise (cocktail)|tequila sunrises]], [[cocaine]], [[heroin]], and too many pistoleros, and it left me with more material than I could ever use"), precipitated a long creative interregnum typified by "[[clinical depression]], drug problems and domestic upheaval"; these problems were exacerbated by a [[LSD]]-induced back injury in 1978.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9212321/True-Adventures-Of-the-Rolling-Stones-author-Stanley-Booth-interview.html |title = True Adventures Of the Rolling Stones: author Stanley Booth interview|website=Telegraph.co.uk| date=19 April 2012 }}</ref> Nevertheless, his long-gestating account of the 1969 tour (''Dance with the Devil: The Rolling Stones and Their Times'', later republished as ''The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones'') was finally released to rapturous reviews in 1984.<ref name="auto1"/> However, the book's effusive reception (including plaudits from Richards, who has characterized the book as "the only one I can read and say, 'Yeah, that's how it was...'") belied lingering contractual issues that ensured Booth made "next to nothing" from his work.<ref name="auto2"/>

In addition to an essay collection (''Rythm Oil'') and a biography of Richards, Booth also published articles in ''Rolling Stone'', ''[[GQ (magazine)|GQ]]'' and many smaller journals. He appeared in many documentaries, not only on Southern music and the Rolling Stones, but [[Tom Thurman]]'s ''Movies of Color'' and ''[[Peckinpah]]''. For some years Booth lived near [[Brunswick, Georgia]] with his wife, the poet [[Diann Blakely]]. Subsequently he resided in Memphis, and was finishing the successor to ''Rythm Oil'', currently entitled ''Blues Dues''; a memoir, ''Tree Full of Owls''; and ''Distant Thoughts'', a series of letters chronicling the unfolding literary relationship and love story between Booth and poet Blakely.

Booth died in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 19, 2024, at the age of 82.<ref>[https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/12/20/stanley-booth-obituary-rolling-stones-music-historian/77107271007/ Stanley Booth dies: Memphis author, music historian covered Rolling Stones, Elvis and more]</ref>

==Selected works==
* "Furry's Blues," 1970 (''[[Playboy]]'' article)
* ''Dance with the Devil: The Rolling Stones and Their Times'', 1984
* ''Rythm Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South'', 1991
* ''Keith: Standing in the Shadows'', 1996
* ''The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones'', 2000 (revised iteration of ''Dance with the Devil'')

==Articles and essays==
* [http://www.bluesforpeace.com/unsung-heroes/stanley-booth.htm "Blues Dues," by Stanley Booth (''Blues For Peace'')]
* [http://www.salon.com/music/sharps/1997/11/21sharps.html "Sharps and Flats: Various Artists - ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'': Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture."] ''Salon''. November 21, 1997.
* [http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive/May98/archive-memphis.html "Memphis and the Beale Street Blues"]. ''[[Gadfly Online]]''. May 1998.
* [http://bluesaccess.com/No_34/rush.html "Bobby Rush: A ''Blues Access'' Interview"]. ''Blues Access''. Summer 1998.
* [http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive/December98/archive-flannery.html "Crying in the Wilderness"]. ''Gadfly''. December 1998.
* [http://www.chapter16.org/content/unanointed-unannealed "Unanointed, Unannealed"]. ''Chapter 16''. January 20, 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324153210/http://option-magazine.com/2011/05/18/bea-shall-overcome-the-unexpurgated-version/ "Bea Shall Overcome: The Unexpurgated Version"]. ''[[Option (music magazine)|Option]]''. May 18, 2011.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{External links|date=October 2023}}
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*{{IMDb name| 1143268}}
*{{discogs artist|Stanley Booth}}
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/lewis/grafik/booth.pdf Furry's Blues].- Playboy 17 #4 (1970), p.&nbsp;100-02, 104, 114, 193-94 (OCRed pdf file 775 KB)
* [http://www.swampland.com/articles/view/d/372 James Calernine on Booth]
* [[Dwight Garner (critic)|Dwight Garner]]/Robert Stone, [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1997/12/cov_04feature.html "Save These Books!"/''The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones'']. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207104640/http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1997/12/cov_04feature.html |date=2011-02-07 }} ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]''. December 4, 1997.
* [[Diann Blakely]], [http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/getting-respectable/Content?oid=1185436 "Getting Respectable."] ''[[Nashville Scene]]''. March 29, 2001.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170106135229/http://www.mojo4music.com/1983/mojo-issue-101-april-2002/ "Mojo Magazine Cover" April 2002, Issue 101, Elvis Issue that included Stanley Booth Article]
* Elvis CD Collectors Forum Aug 11, 2013 - [https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=78454 ''Lookin' for Trouble?''] Mojo Magazine April 2002 Stanley Booth Elvis Article reprint 
* Dave Bry, [http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/very-recent-history-a-dispiriting-end-to-an-earlier-decade "Very Recent History: A Dispiriting End To An Earlier Decade."] ''[[The Awl]]''. December 4, 2009.
* Michael Murray, [https://abcnews.go.com/WN/rolling-stones-satisfaction-released-45-years-ago/story?id=10577661 "'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,' 45 Years Later."] ''[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]].'' May 6, 2010.
* Reed Johnson, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jun-06-la-ca-dennis-hopper-20100606-story.html "An Appreciation: Dennis Hopper was a man of his times."] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. June 6, 2010.
* Ethan Russell, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-russell/music-words-pictures-exil_b_735813.html "Music, Words & Photography: 'Exiles' in Paris -- Whole Lotta Rolling Stones."] ''Huffington Post''. September 24, 2010.
* David L. Ulin, [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2010-oct-28-la-et-book-20101029-story.html "Book Review: 'Life by Keith Richards."] ''Los Angeles Times.'' October 28, 2010.
* [[Zoe Heller]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/t-magazine/5well-mick-dek.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&pagewanted=1 "Mick Without Moss."] ''The New York Times''. December 3, 2010.
* [[Dan Chiasson]], [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/mar/10/high-stones/?pagination=false "High on the Stones."] ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''. March 10, 2011.
* [[Greil Marcus]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110609080447/http://lareviewofbooks.org/post/5217227852/heart-of-stone "Heart of Stone."] ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]''. May 5, 2011.
* [http://www.cupblog.org/?p=4638 "Second Read: Ted Conover on Stanley Booth's ''The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones''"]. [[Columbia University Press]] ''blog''. November 4, 2011.
* [http://www.criterion.com/films/637-gimme-shelter '' Gimme Shelter'' (1970)] - [[The Criterion Collection]]
* [http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=musicians&bcpid=1740031443&bclid=1772834549&bctid=71380175001 Biography: The Rolling Stones]
* [http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Rolling_Stones wordIQ.com: The Rolling Stones - Definition]
* Richard Williams, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/06/rolling-stones-rocknroll-adventures-booth?newsfeed=true "Rock'n'Roll Adventures of the Rolling Stones"] ''[[The Guardian]]'', April 6, 2012.
* Kevin Perry, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120415060227/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2012-04/11/rolling-stones-stanley-booth-gimme-shelter-screening "Watch the Stones take Shelter with Stanley Booth!"] ''British GQ.com'', April 11, 2012.
* [http://www.canongate.tv/authors/stanleybooth?channel=true "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!"] ''[[Canongate TV]]'' Issue 8, Spring 2012.
* [[Sean O'Hagan (journalist)|Sean O'Hagan]], [https://www.theguardian.com/music/audio/2012/may/04/music-podcast-rolling-stones "Interview"]  ''The Guardian Podcast.''  April 4, 2012. 
* Jon Wilson, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g63w2 "Interview"] ''[[Front Row (radio programme)|Front Row]].'' April 18, 2012.
* Mick Brown,  [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9212321/True-Adventures-Of-the-Rolling-Stones-author-Stanley-Booth-interview.html "Interview"]  ''[[The Daily Telegraph]].'' April 19, 2012.
* Andy Wilson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120423130921/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2012-04/19/rolling-stones-altamont-gimme-shelter-stanley-booth "News"]   ''GQ.com.'' April 19, 2012
* [[David Hepworth]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120503162317/http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/word-podcast-212-talking-authors-about-stones-otis-redding-van-morrison-showbands-and-london "Podcast"] ''[[The Word (UK magazine)|The Word]].'' April 27, 2012.
* Davis Inman, [http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/05/pieces-of-the-sky-the-legacy-of-gram-parsons "Article"]  ''[[American Songwriter]]'' May 18, 2012.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150128084657/http://magazine.100percentrock.com/reviews/book-reviews/201209/257 Book review: ''The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones'' by Stanley Booth. ''100% Rock Magazine.''] September 3, 2012.
* Dorian Lynskey, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/29/christmas-gifts-2012-best-music-books "Christmas Gifts 2012: The Best Music Books."] ''The Guardian''. November 29, 2012.
* Paul Wilner, [http://nodepression.com/article/book-review-stanley-booth%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Crythm-oil-music-american-south%E2%80%9D "Book Review" Stanley Booth’s “Rythm Oil - Music of the American South” ] ''The Journal of Roots Music''  NO DEPRESSION  February 22, 2013
* Stanley Booth, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150421105446/http://classics.esquire.com/booth-elvis/ "February 1968: A Hound Dog, To The Mansion Born"] Esquire Digital Magazine Reprint April 2015

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Stanley}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:American diarists]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:University of Memphis alumni]]
[[Category:People from Waycross, Georgia]]