'I recorded early Stones demos, but no-one was interested'

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The Rolling Stones posing for a picture on 6 December 1964 in London By John Devine in Manea, and Aimee Dexter After more than six decades they are still one of the world's biggest rock bands and have just released their 25th album, Foreign Tongues. But Alan Florence remembers when he helped The Rolling Stones record some of their early demos before they were signed by a major label. When one of Florence's colleagues, Glyn Johns, mentioned bringing the band into a recording studio where they worked as engineers in 1963, he thought "oh, that's a funny name". "It was very interesting to see these guys from day one and to see the success they've had, which isn't too bad," the 83-year-old, from Manea in Cambridgeshire, added. Image source, John Devine/BBC Image caption, Alan Florence worked as an engineer on one of The Rolling Stones' first studio recordings Florence was in his early 20s when he worked for IBC Studios — a London-based company that operated independent recording studios during the 1960s and 70s. He recalls that, while he was working there, his manager would sometimes allow staff to invite artists they knew to record in the studios if there was spare time available. Florence said Johns told him he wanted to bring a band called The Rolling Stones in. "We arranged the time and one evening in came the guys, with obviously the original chap Brian Jones as well, who sadly isn't with us anymore [Jones drowned in 1969 ], and we did four tracks," said Florence. "We got acetates [records] cut of the four tracks and the company sent the acetates to all the big names and no-one was interested, which surprised us." Johns went on to further work with the Stones, as well as a stellar career as engineer or producer with dozens of famous names including The Beatles , Led Zeppelin, The Clash and New Model Army. Florence said the 1963 session featured the classic 1960s five-piece line-up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and the band's long-standing keyboard player/associate Ian Stewart. Not long after that first session, The Rolling Stones returned to the studio to record another four tracks. Having worked with the band twice, Florence remembered them as being very polite and well-spoken, describing them as "college boys", and "not yobbos". Florence said the new recordings were added on to a tape alongside their earlier work, all eight of which were R&B covers, but he could not now recall the songs. "I thought, 'you know - a tremendous band', and we sent them off again and no-one was interested, and we were very disappointed so we left it at that," he said. Image caption, The Rolling Stones performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2013 A few months later, Florence said he was asked to take the tape to his manager so he could reclaim the cost of The Rolling Stones' recording sessions. It proved to be a career-changing moment. Florence's manager was in conversation with a man called Andrew Loog Oldham who was interested in taking the band on. Oldham, who would go on to manage and produce The Rolling Stones for several years, bought the recordings for £98, which Florence said "sounds feeble now, but was a lot of money then". Soon after, Florence moved to another company just as the band started to become well known and eventually signed with Decca Records, in 1963. Florence continued to work alongside the artists. "I wish I was on like 5% of what they made," he joked. And, as for the band today? "They're not bad for 80-year-olds, I must say." Figure caption, Mick Jagger & Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones, chat with BBC Radio 2's Vernon Kay Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below. Get in touch Your Voice