After the departure of
Mick Taylor, this was the Rolling Stones' first tour with new guitarist
Ronnie Wood. Announced on 14 April as merely playing with the band on the tour, it would not be until 19 December that he would be officially named a Rolling Stone. Longtime sidemen
Bobby Keys and
Jim Price on brass were not featured on this tour, while
Billy Preston had replaced
Nicky Hopkins on keyboards in 1973. Additionally,
Ollie E. Brown was added as an additional percussionist. Keys made a guest appearance on "
You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "
Brown Sugar" at the Los Angeles shows. The Tour of the Americas '75 was not tied to support of any newly released material, as it began more than seven months after the release of their last studio album at the time, ''
It's Only Rock'n Roll. Instead, the compilation album Made in the Shade'' was released to capitalise on the tour's publicity. The announcement of the tour became famous in itself. On 1 May, reporters were gathered inside the Fifth Avenue Hotel on 9th Street in New York City's
Greenwich Village to attend a press conference where the Stones were scheduled to appear. But the Stones never went into the hotel. Improvisational comedian "Professor"
Irwin Corey gave a typically long-winded, nonsensical performance for journalists waiting for the Stones. The press was still listening to Corey ramble on when they finally noticed that the Stones were playing "Brown Sugar" on a flatbed truck driving down Fifth Avenue. The handful of curiosity seekers standing outside the hotel – who'd heard a rumor of the press conference and who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Stones entering the hotel – were instead treated to the sight of a
flatbed truck rolling down
Fifth Avenue carrying the Stones, their instruments and a wall of amps. The truck stopped in front of the hotel entrance and the band played an extended version of "
Brown Sugar".
Charlie Watts had suggested this adaptation of a promotional gimmick often used by
New Orleans jazz musicians; the idea was later emulated by groups like
AC/DC and
U2. After the Stones finished the song, the flatbed truck rolled down Fifth Avenue another block and the band jumped into limousines. They never attended the press conference. The mid-1970s were the era of extravagant stage shows, from the likes of
Led Zeppelin,
Alice Cooper,
Kiss and
Queen. In keeping with this, the Stones embraced a new format for the 1975 concerts. Their act was aided by theatrical stage props and gimmicks. During "Star Star", a giant inflatable phallus emerged from below the stage. The band nicknamed it "Tired Grandfather", since it sometimes malfunctioned. Most shows also featured an unfolding stage shaped like a
lotus flower, designed by Charlie Watts. In
The Village Voice,
Karen Durbin lamented the penis balloon , "the gimmick seems sophomoric and second-rate, devoid of the multiple meanings that one has come to expect from the Stones. It’s dumb, and you expect the Stones to be smart". The group played two warmup shows on 1 June at
Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The tour officially began on 3 June 1975 at the Convention Center in
San Antonio, Texas. A local judge threatened to arrest the band if they deployed their penis balloon. It was the only time the prop did not appear onstage. It was sometimes painted to resemble a finger. mixed and remastered by
Bob Clearmountain. This show was previously available in excellent audience quality on the 'LA Friday'
bootleg. The title is a reference to a
Rolling Stone review of the show on Friday, 11 July 1975, even though the actual featured show was from Sunday, 13 July. ==Personnel==