Chuck Leavell on The Rolling Stones’ U.S. tour: ‘Confident’ and rocking balanced sets
As the legendary Stones eye two big shows in Chicago — the closest they’ll come to Michigan — their keyboardist chats with Local Spins about the tour, which will also feature Albion-bred The War & Treaty.
Even after more than four decades as The Rolling Stones’ keyboardist and music director, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chuck Leavell still gets his thrills touring with the iconic rock band – never taking its legacy for granted.
And midway into their current U.S. tour, Leavell and his famous bandmates have hit their stride with a Chicago stop at Soldier Field looming on Thursday (June 27) and Sunday (June 30), the closest they’ll come to Michigan.
“We all felt confident from the start. We had done the homework in the rehearsal phase and got a good many of the new songs down fairly quickly,” Leavell said in a recent interview with Local Spins while on tour.
“We played probably about 60 or more songs in rehearsals and started sorting out what we could do for set lists. … The reviews were very positive. Jazz Fest (in New Orleans) was very special. We had scheduled it twice before and circumstances caused us not to be able to fulfill playing it, so I guess the third time is a charm.”
Busy On and Off Tour: Leavell (Courtesy Photo)
Charming audiences is nothing new for the Stones or Leavell. Considering his lengthy tenure in the band, Leavell’s comfort level with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and crew – and their exhaustive repertoire – is unsurprising.
“Someone recently told me that they calculated how many shows I’ve done with the band since I came in and the figure is about 870,” Leavell noted. “So if I haven’t gotten things down by now …”
Getting things down for the Stones is only a small part of Leavell’s astounding accomplishments and impressive resume.
Not only was he a key member of The Allman Brothers during their heyday, but the Alabama native fronted his own band, Sea Level, and has since toured/recorded with the likes of Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Gov’t Mule and John Mayer.
Perhaps even more important, he’s established himself as a leading conservationist who co-founded The Mother Nature Network, an environmental news website.
As tree farmer outside Macon, Georgia – on land inherited by his wife, Rose Lane Leavell – Leavell created the award-winning Charlane Plantation and often speaks on conservation issues. He was the subject of an engaging and in-depth 2020 documentary, “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man.”
He also hosts a PBS television program, “America’s Forests,” with two new episodes on the way.
“That will make 13 episodes for us, and now we are hoping to go to a one-hour program from the current 30 minutes. We’ll see how that pans out,” he said, noting he’ll be busy after the Stones tour concludes.
“My documentary has done well, and both of the aforementioned are available on Amazon Prime and some other streaming services. I have probably a half- dozen personal appearances booked before the end of the year, and of course, I’ll be spending a good bit of my time on my tractors and in our woods at Charlane, our tree farm in Georgia.”
FROM ‘ANGRY’ & ‘MESS IT UP’ TO ‘GET OFF MY CLOUD’ & ‘SHATTERED’
But for now, Leavell’s concentrating on his significant role with the Stones, including managing each show’s set lists — lineups that have included new songs from the band’s latest studio album, “Hackney Diamonds.”
“In addition to ‘Angry,’ we’ve done ‘Whole Wide World,’ ‘Mess It Up’ and ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven.’ Keith has also done ‘Tell Me Straight.’ Don’t be surprised if others surface,” he said, adding that the band also has delved into songs they haven’t performed live in years.
Embracing Old and New Tracks: Leavell (Courtesy Photo)
“We’ve done ‘Out of Time’ – that’s a deep track for sure. ‘Get Off My Cloud’ some, ‘Shattered,’ ‘She’s So Cold’ and others.”
The goal for the band’s first U.S. tour since 2021? “We just do our best to balance the set offering with some new ones, some classics and some deep tracks.”
Tickets for Thursday’s Chicago show — $99.50-$2,500 — are available online via AXS.com. Sunday tickets available online here.
Leavell also said he’s happy that Albion-bred The War and Treaty will open for the Stones in Los Angeles in July. He noted that he had asked Michael and Tanya Trotter to sit in with him at a solo gig in North Carolina several months ago, but they had to decline because Tanya’s voice was stressed.
Of course, members of The War and Treaty are substantially more excited about opening for Leavell and the Stones come July 10 at L.A.’s mammoth SoFi Stadium.
“To me, opening for the Stones is the pinnacle of rock ‘n’ roll,” said Michigan native and band music director Max Brown. “Michael, Tanya and I were playing a gig in L.A. near SoFi Stadium a few months ago and Tanya said out loud, ‘I hope we get to play SoFi some day,’ and 10 minutes later we got the call.
“It feels like the culmination of years of hard work and I couldn’t be prouder to be playing this music before I watch one of the best bands ever.”
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