Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesBritish publisher John Blake claims he has a copy of an unpublished memoir Mick Jagger penned in the early ’80s that the Rolling Stones frontman doesn’t want to release. Blake has written a piece about the alleged book for U.K.’s The Spectator in which he share its history and some of the anecdotes that appear in it.
Blake, who says he was given the 75,000-word manuscript by a mutual friend of Jagger’s about three years ago, describes the book as “a little masterpiece…a perfectly preserved time capsule written when the Stones had produced all their greatest music but still burned with the passion and fire of youth and idealism.”
Among the interesting stories that allegedly appear in the book are Mick’s recollections of buying the historic mansion Stargroves while he was high on LSD, and of visiting his family after a long and debauched Rolling Stones tour and being greeted by his mother, who simply complained about his shaggy hair.
Blake also says Jagger discussed his love-hate relationship with Keith Richards, maintaining that Mick described his longtime musical partner as “always late, always smashed, but ‘a creative genius.'”
According to Blake, respected U.K. publisher Lord Weidenfeld convinced a reluctant Jagger to write the autobiography in an attempt to get his own story out to the public, following a wave of unauthorized books. Jagger initially accepted a one million-pound advance to write the memoir, but reportedly struggled with the project and eventually abandoned it.
After Blake received the manuscript, he says, he reached out to Jagger’s manager about finally publishing it and was told that Mick was initially open to it. However, he says, the rock legend became sidetracked by various projects and eventually decided he never wanted the book to be released.
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