Jumping Jack Flash
Recreating the Rolling Stones
By Young Hutchison

The attraction to what Jumping Jack Flash does is simply that you can never go back in time to see the Rolling Stones in their 1960's majesty. I mean, not even the Stones can pull that one off. Or should I say, especially the Stones can't, now that they've reached their mid '60's! Given that the Stones were the soundtrack to the lives of millions of people worldwide, it should seem obvious that a band would come along that would re-create the Stones in their prime, and Jumping Jack Flash was it. Or them…. whichever. In any case, the only way to re-live the days when Brian Jones was the leader of the band, swinging London was in full, uh, swing, and "birds" were chasing the boys through the streets, is to queue up to see JJF.

The lads took it one step further when they recently recreated a 1960's performance starring both themselves and a Beatles group (Paperback Writer) at the 1950's Star Theater in Oceanside. Billed as "Her Majesty's Royal Command Performance," it was a sell-out to a thrilled audience, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Canada. Well after all, it's a bit easier to travel from Canada then to travel back in time 40 years!

Becoming the Stones, so to speak, is a somewhat daunting task, reports Young Hutchison, JJF's Keith Richards. "People expect that our Mick (Mick Adams) will strut and dance a certain way, or that I will have Keith Richard's raunchy, arrogant look about me as I prowl the stage. They notice the nights that I don't black out my tooth (a tip of the hat to Keith Richards famously poor 1970's dental hygiene)!" This level of detail is what audiences demand, and extensive and on-going study of the real article is how it is achieved. "At one point, we had voice and dance coaches involved to help us create the illusion of seeing the Stones," says Hutchison, " but now Mick views and reviews film footage in his efforts to avoid becoming repetitive on stage."

Band members Hutchison, Mick Adams, Gary Roach (Charlie Watts), Pat Hennessy (Brian Jones) and John Burton-Hogg-Lord-On-Thames (Bill Wyman), all agree that another tough task is deciding which of the over 400 songs in the Stones catalogue will make the set list on any given night. Says Roach, "It's crazy-how do you pick 15 songs out of 400 when so many of them were huge hits?" It never fails that somebody in the crowd will yell out the exact song that the band agreed to drop from the list, the band reports. "You can almost bet on it" says Adams. "It's become an inside joke within the band."

And so the obvious question that most people have is, "What's it like to be a Rolling Stone, if only for a night?" Hutchison smiles and says, "It's exactly what you imagine it would be like -- sweaty and mad and an utter rush!"

Yeah, pretty much what we figured.

Performance info at:
www.jjflash.biz
www.myspace.com/jumpingjackflashband

(Winter 2007)