The Rolling Stones’ 1978 Tour of America took place during June and July of 1978, following the release of the group’s successful “come-back” album “Some Girls.”  (The album‘s lead single “Miss You” reached #1 in the U.S. in August of that year.) Keith Richards’ pending trial for heroin trafficking cast somewhat of a pall over the 25-concert event, with many speculating the tour might just be the band’s last.  One of the opening acts was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Mick Jagger for a duet on “Don’t Look Back”.  The tour used a stripped-back minimalist stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas ’75 and Tour of Europe ’76, in part due to the emergence of the punk rock scene and its emphasis on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza. 

Rock critic Robert Christgau wrote that the 1978 Tour was an improvement over the group’s previous go-around, “especially when Mick [Jagger] stopped prancing long enough to pick up a guitar and get into the good new songs from Some Girls.” The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band’s greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It featured a mixture of classic Stones numbers (“Tumbling Dice,” “Star Star,” “Happy”, “Brown Sugar,” etc.) mixed with blues and Chuck Berry covers, as well as a healthy dose of songs from then newly released “Some Girls” LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with Ronnie Wood as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. 

Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included Linda Ronstadt, Sugar Blue, Doug Kershaw, Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins. Opening acts included Van Halen, Journey, Peter Tosh, Patti Smith, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Foreigner, Kansas, Etta James, Furry Lewis, Atlanta Rhythm Section, April Wine, The Outlaws, and the Doobie Brothers.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

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