Maybe you saw them on the North American leg of their 40th (gulp) Anniversary Tour. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the rest of the Stones. Well a month ago EMI China released their Anniversary CD “Forty Licks” and the will be headlining shows in China starting in Shanghai next month.
But while in 1967 Ed Sullivan asked Mick to slightly change the lyrics of one of the Stones classics, the Chinese have told The Stones to forget, so to speak, 4 of the 40 licks. Thus, leaving only 36 licks.
[…] Cindy Tai, managing director of EMI China, said: “The songs were submitted to the Ministry of Culture a few months ago. They simply said 'no' to those four songs […] the songs wouldn't be performed at the concerts either and suggested the reason for the ban was probably sex-related. “I think probably those songs have some rude words or something that does not fall into the criteria of the Chinese Government,” […] But there were 130 songs on the playlist for the concerts, “so we need not care about those four songs”, said Wang Long, a spokesman for tour promoters Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co.” […] The Australian 14 March 2003
The songs? 1) Brown Sugar; 2) Beast of Burden; 3) Honky Tonk Women;and 4) Let's Spend the Night Together. Funny thing is, Ed Sullivan asked Mick to sing “Let's Spend Some Time Together” during the Stones performance on his legendary variety show in 1967. Those were the days. These are the days. –thanks for tip, Jon.
