Andrew loog oldham biography of christopher

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Oldham’s work as a producer with the Stones is up there with George Martin’s work for the Beatles. We simply had a chat, sizing each other up. He was fearless. Inside the car Oldham is laughing maniacally. His father was killed in June 1943 when his B-17 bomber was shot down over the English Channel.

As a teenager, Loog Oldham worked for Mary Quant before he was employed by The Beatles through Brian Epstein’s NEMS organization.

It was dangerous. I let him explain a couple of things in Stoned and 2Stoned that were better coming from him than me.

How did you produce those classic Stones albums? Sometimes it grows. He found it one Sunday evening when he was told to go and see a band called the Rolling Stones.

What made you think you could be a manager of a band like the Rolling Stones?

Andrew Loog Oldham: I didn’t think.

I had no reference point. According to Andrew, “When The Beatles were having hit records and bridging the generation gap, The Stones were saying, you either like us or f**k off.” Every parent hated The Stones, which meant that just about every teenager loved them; ALO was a big part of furthering that feeling.

Loog Oldham’s instincts were usually correct.

Headlines like “Would You Let Your Sister Go with a Rolling Stone?” became iconic, and album-cover notes urged fans to engage in provocative acts, creating a mystique around the band.

Shrewd Business Dealings

Oldham’s business acumen was equally remarkable. The downside is inconsequential. Maybe the story of locking them in a room until they wrote a hit is a little far-fetched, but it was undoubtedly Loog Oldham who saw the sense in getting them songwriting.

Loog Oldham had vision, but he also had a low threshold of boredom and wanted to try everything.

Except everything in these movies would be true – well, almost.

‘Playing God was just my side line, actually. I was twelve.

When I was thirteen, I saw The Girl Can’t Help It with Jayne Mansfield at the Ionic, Golders Green. How does a hustler know?

ALO: Hustler is merely a mantle of disguise one wears when you’re winging it.

No “Puleeze Mister, give us a chance.” It’s your job to have your act together. I was having shock treatment by the age of 23. It was a hint of the storm a-coming.

His Clockwork Orange phase involved henchman Reg King putting the frighteners on those who crossed Oldham’s path. Then one night when he saw Bob Dylan in a dressing room quietly talking with his manager Albert Grossman.

That is life happening to me.

What influenced you growing up?

ALO: In the beginning Paul Scofield on stage as the manager at the Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue (ironically acquired later by Brian Epstein) in Wolf Mankowitz’s Expresso Bongo. The films would be like That’ll Be the Day and Stardust with more than a soupcon of menace from Slade in Flame.

Two movies in fact.