The Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas ’75 was originally intended to reach both North and South America. The plans for concerts in Central and South America never solidified however, and the tour covered only the United States and Canada.
After the departure of Mick Taylor, this was the Stones’ first tour with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Announced on April 14 as merely “playing with the band on the tour,” it would not be until December 19 that Wood would be officially named a Rolling Stone. Gone was the familiar horn section and the tour now featured Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie E. Brown on percussion. Bobby Keys made a guest appearance on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Brown Sugar” at the Los Angeles shows.
The announcement of the tour became famous in itself. On May 1st, 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. The handful of curiosity seekers standing outside 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.”
