Start Me Up… Getting the Rolling Stones to sign my album

By Piece Of History Collectibles

Mar 20, 2018

When it comes to autographs, the Rolling Stones are considered by many to be the most desirable and coveted signatures to obtain of any living celebrities. Getting Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood & Charlie Watts to sign an item nowadays is no easy task to say the very least. The “Tattoo You” LP cover pictured above took me 2 years to complete. Many hours of waiting, traveling & being denied go into assembling such a piece.

It began in New York City in 2010. A friend had called me after spotting Mick Jaggers car waiting at the side door of a hotel that he frequents. While it was a long shot, I decided to go and give it a try. Whats the worst that could happen? I hopped in a cab and away I went. Sure enough, Mick came out moments after I had arrived. It was just myself and a friend there to ask the Stones frontman if he could sign an autograph. In his normal fashion, Mick walked right by us ignoring our requests. He’s known to be very difficult about signing autographs and rarely agrees to do it. He got in the back seat of his Mercedes and drove off. We noticed he hit the red light at the end of the block. Not ready to give up, we approached his window and asked if he could sign. My friend started dancing and singing “Start Me Up!” To our surprise, the window came down and Micks security guard took one album from each of us and passed them to Mick in the back seat. When he passed them back to us both signed, it felt like such a great victory. One down!



I was faced with a difficult decision. Do you keep the album signed by Mick as is, or do you try to get the other members on it? When I made plans to go to Cleveland for the 2012 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and saw that Ronnie Wood was going to attend, I made up my mind that I would undergo the challenging task of adding the rest of the band to the the album cover. After all, I had already gotten the toughest one out of the way. Ronnie Wood is a very humble down to Earth guy and he’s always a pleasure to meet. He was the easiest signature to get for sure. Ronnie was very occomadating when he left the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives following an event. He signed multiple items and even added some very cool sketches to a few of them. He added a self portrait face sketch beneath his signature on the Tattoo You album, making it that more of a unique piece. 2 down!



Since the bands original Bass player Bill Wyman doesnt travel to the United States anymore and is known to no longer sign Stones items, I just needed Keith Richards & Charlie Watts on the Album to “Complete” it. When I heard the Stones were performing at the 12/12/12 Hurricane Sandy Relief concert in NYC, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity for me to add the last 2 members to the album. I found out that Keith Richards & Charlie Watts were staying at the same hotel. I went there a couple times, but never saw any sign of them. I questioned if they were even there and if I was wasting my time. When I was about ready to call it a day, I saw a truck pull up. A moment later I spotted Keith Richards walking out of the hotel. He stopped and signed for the 3 of us who were waiting and went on his way. It felt great to get Keith out of the way, just needing Charlie to finish it off. 3 down, 1 to go!



Now 2 years in the making, I could finally see the finish line. If Charlie Watts will just sign one, its all done. I walked to my car to grab a bottle of water when another SUV pulled up. I spotted a big security guard looking fellow come out and talk to the driver. I thought, “Ok now, this has to be Charlie.” Sure enough, the Stones drummer came walking out a few minutes later. He didnt say much, but happily signed 1 each for the 3 of us and left. Mission complete! Within 15 minutes I managed to knock out the last 2 signatures. I never would’ve thought that I would’ve been able to get something like this. It’s certainly one of the best items I’ve ever obtained. With a little hard work, patience and persistence it came together quite nicely.

Piece Of History Collectibles

A Piece of History Collectibles has been an established name in the autograph industry since 2004. We specialize in personally obtaining autographs from the biggest names in entertainment.

I used to attend a ton of Phillies games every year and I'd watch the players come over and sign autographs before the game. One day I decided to give it a shot and I went down and had a few players sign a hat. After that I was on a mission to get the whole team on the hat. Collecting turned into a full on hobby to help pay for my Phillies tickets. I could go and get players to sign whatever I could, then sell my doubles to cover ticket costs. This was great because I got to meet all of my favorite players, I had autographs to give friends and family which make great gifts, and I got to attend Phillies games for free!

I collected Baseball players autographs for about 2 more years until I ended up trying to meet some of my favorite musicians. I had no idea at the time what path this would lead me down. My hobby turned into a full time business. As I traveled collecting autographs from celebrities of all kinds, I met a lot of other collectors. Once I was in this network of collectors, I constantly got tips of where celebs are appearing which kept me very busy. The mission is to acquire the best names on the best items. I take pride in providing awesome authentic autographs direct from the biggest names in the entertainment world. That's what a Piece of History Collectibles is all about.

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