Recording Over Rolling Stones Tracks in London
Aug 16th, 2007 by deedee
Excerpt from Vinyl Highway, by Dee Dee Phelps, Chapter Twenty-Three
The evening of the session, Dick and I arrived by cab at Decca Records. It rained that day and the city streets glistened. As we pulled up in front of the studio we noticed another cab unloading Andrew Oldham, Brian Jones and Keith Richards. Andrew introduced us to Keith, who simply nodded, and we started into the building.
I had purchased a new pair of shoes that morning. They were black, pointy high heels. Walking through the glass doors of Decca Records, we crossed a large ruber mat containing hundreds of tiny holes. As I hurried to catch up with Dick, my right heel got caught in one of the holes. Unaware, I moved forward, but the heel held. I lost my balance and fell hard onto my stomach, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Like a beached whale, I lay on the ground gasping for air.
Andrew, Dick, Brian and Keith stood in a circle above me, staring down. I felt my face flush as I struggled to breathe. “Ahhh. Ahhh.”
Dick poked me with his foot. “For God’s sake,” he hissed. “Get up. This is embarrassing.”
I responded with another gasp and managed to choke out, “I can’t breathe!”
A security guard came running over.
“Great steaming nit!” he shouted. “She’ s had the bloody wind knocked out of ‘er. Just leave her be, mates. She’ll be alright in a minute.”
I lay there sprawled on the mat, trying to force air into my lungs. Everyone else froze. No one spoke. Finally, with a gasp, I felt air enter my lungs and after several more moments, made a half-hearted attempt to rise. The singers went into action, hauling me up by my arms, picking up the sheet music and the contents from my purse scattered all over the floor of the foyer.
“Are you alright?” Andrew asked.
I nodded. Dismissing the accident, our group paraded into one of the studio’s control booths. Nobody said anything further about my dramatic entrance.
To find out what preceded this event and how it turned out, check out the Vinyl Highway link on: www.dickanddeedee.com