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Out of Our Heads: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Me
Rolling Stones Insider Shares Memories and Rare Artifacts -Back in the mid 1960s, overnight, a street-smart east coast kid went from being a college student to tour manager/moneyman and confidante to the Rolling Stones. The band didn’t eat, drink, or even play unless Ronnie Schneider did his job, and this trusting relationship led to a wild adventure that would soon include the Beatles, Swinging London, and producing the mythical ’69 Stones tour that culminated in the infamous show at Altamont. In his new book, Schneider gives readers an all access pass into the most intimate spaces, from hotels and boardrooms to private planes and backstage debauchery, crunching deals, babysitting the band, tasting wine, woman and dope – this is a front row seat to rock’s last great era; jam-packed with rare artifacts and all the paperwork to back it up.
270 pages, Hardcover
Published May 18, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 28, 2026
A fun read about the Ronnie Schnieder, nephew of Allen Klein who famously managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Ronnie was the manager for four of the Stones tours in the late sixties and early seventies, developed friendships with all of them as well as The Beatles. It gives you a fun inside look at the Stones and their antics on the road at the height of their fame and youthful powers. A must read for any fans of the Stones.
April 30, 2017
Best book on The Stones ever!
And I've read most of them in the past twenty years.
It's a classy book and written so you feel like you're there. The author has known them since the Sixties and was their road manager for five years, traveling around the world with them and
bearing 'round the clock responsibility. His story of Altmont and what really happened there and why is the most accurate one you'll ever read but that's just a small part of this book where the reader feels like he or she is in the dressing room or keeping Keith and Bobby Keys out of jail when they're blitzed on drugs and booze or in the studio when the band are recording. What surprised me was that Ron Schneider is a wonderful writer...one who makes the reader feel you're there with him and Mick, Keith, Bill, Charlie and Brian Jones (and eventually Mick Taylor, that often superb guitarist,) dressing room...on the bus, the train, the plane, the limousine or...that YOU are the THE one being searched by the cops
When I was a entertainment reporter for UPI Los Angeles in the late Sixties and Seventies I knew most everyone in movie and rock music circles. Steve McQueen became a good friend because we
both liked to hang out at the Whisky A Go Go and see all the new acts coming up..from the Chicago Transit Authority to Joe Cocker to Lynyrd Skynrd. And, of course Johnny Rivers, who was very much a part of the Whisky scene. I'm more than half way through "Out of Our Heads," and I kept thinking how much McQueen would love it. "Real rebels," he would have said with admiration.
The neat thing about this book is that it's not just stories. It's loaded with great photos, extremely rare clippings and amazing documents -- contracts, letters etc. etc. It's a book you
will want to read numerous times. I just received my copy five days ago. I'm a fast reader but
this book makes you want to savor it and not miss a word or illustration.
My friend Jimi Hendrix loved to read and I wish that he was here to read Schneider's book. He would be enthralled. (I treasure the many longtime GoodReads followers for the lovely and
touching reviews so many of you wrote about the book I did on Hendrix several years back. It meant a great deal to me and to many of his musician friends). I've been reading since I was two years old and I read all sorts of things -- mainly about art, English and French history and various
forms of music. Anything that's well done and never boring. I only started reading Peter Guralnick's books on music a couple of years ago. I really enjoy and admire his writing and peerless research on everyone from Elvis to Jerry Lee Lewis and all the mainstays of the Southern
music scene through the years.
I hope to meet some of the GoodReads members some day soon. In the meantime I am going to
play two more of my favorite Stones songs...."All Down the Line" and "Just Your Fool" from their
fabulous new Blue and Lonesome album.
Thanks for reading...I really am Chatty Cathy tonight!
Sharon Lawrence
It's some 500 pages and you feel like you're with Ronnie Schneider all the way.
And I've read most of them in the past twenty years.
It's a classy book and written so you feel like you're there. The author has known them since the Sixties and was their road manager for five years, traveling around the world with them and
bearing 'round the clock responsibility. His story of Altmont and what really happened there and why is the most accurate one you'll ever read but that's just a small part of this book where the reader feels like he or she is in the dressing room or keeping Keith and Bobby Keys out of jail when they're blitzed on drugs and booze or in the studio when the band are recording. What surprised me was that Ron Schneider is a wonderful writer...one who makes the reader feel you're there with him and Mick, Keith, Bill, Charlie and Brian Jones (and eventually Mick Taylor, that often superb guitarist,) dressing room...on the bus, the train, the plane, the limousine or...that YOU are the THE one being searched by the cops
When I was a entertainment reporter for UPI Los Angeles in the late Sixties and Seventies I knew most everyone in movie and rock music circles. Steve McQueen became a good friend because we
both liked to hang out at the Whisky A Go Go and see all the new acts coming up..from the Chicago Transit Authority to Joe Cocker to Lynyrd Skynrd. And, of course Johnny Rivers, who was very much a part of the Whisky scene. I'm more than half way through "Out of Our Heads," and I kept thinking how much McQueen would love it. "Real rebels," he would have said with admiration.
The neat thing about this book is that it's not just stories. It's loaded with great photos, extremely rare clippings and amazing documents -- contracts, letters etc. etc. It's a book you
will want to read numerous times. I just received my copy five days ago. I'm a fast reader but
this book makes you want to savor it and not miss a word or illustration.
My friend Jimi Hendrix loved to read and I wish that he was here to read Schneider's book. He would be enthralled. (I treasure the many longtime GoodReads followers for the lovely and
touching reviews so many of you wrote about the book I did on Hendrix several years back. It meant a great deal to me and to many of his musician friends). I've been reading since I was two years old and I read all sorts of things -- mainly about art, English and French history and various
forms of music. Anything that's well done and never boring. I only started reading Peter Guralnick's books on music a couple of years ago. I really enjoy and admire his writing and peerless research on everyone from Elvis to Jerry Lee Lewis and all the mainstays of the Southern
music scene through the years.
I hope to meet some of the GoodReads members some day soon. In the meantime I am going to
play two more of my favorite Stones songs...."All Down the Line" and "Just Your Fool" from their
fabulous new Blue and Lonesome album.
Thanks for reading...I really am Chatty Cathy tonight!
Sharon Lawrence
It's some 500 pages and you feel like you're with Ronnie Schneider all the way.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews