* En anglais uniquement
The roots of
the New Barbarians lie in
Ron Wood's need to have a backing band for the supporting tour of his 1974 debut
I've Got My Own Album to Do. He played a gig in Kilburn supported by his
Faces bandmate keyboardist
Ian McLagan, and
Rolling Stones guitarist
Keith Richards, filling out the lineup with bassist
Willie Weeks and drummer
Andy Newmark. Five years later, he had another album under his belt -- 1975's Now Look -- and had become a member of
the Rolling Stones, so when he released
Gimme Some Neck in 1979, he had the pull to do a full tour, especially considering how
the Stones were taking a break between projects that year.
McLagan and
Richards both returned for
the New Barbarians, as did
Stones auxiliary player saxophonist
Bobby Keys, jazz bassist
Stanley Clarke, and
Meters drummer Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste. The group made their debut supporting
the Rolling Stones on a pair of Toronto charity concerts in 1979, then set out on a full American tour that lasted a mere 18 dates. One of those concerts didn't go well, with fans rioting in Milwaukee, leading to a revised version of the band -- one without
Richards, Modeliste, or
Clarke -- fulfilling a date in 1980. After that show, the band was done, a footnote to the
Stones' history. Many years later, a May 5, 1979 show in Landover, Maryland was released as Buried Alive: Live in Maryland in 2006, followed by a 1974 gig in Kilburn called First Barbarians in 2008. In 2016, a Madison Square Garden gig from 1979 was released as Wanted Dead or Alive from MRI. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine