OU Chorale Backs Rolling Stones; Sometimes, You Do Get What You Want

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Oakland University Chorale conductor Michael Mitchell tells the story this way:

“Excellent,” charismatic Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger said after a couple dozen of Mitchell’s best female classical vocalists hit the last high note in a pre-Rolling Stones concert rehearsal Wednesday afternoon.

For Mitchell’s money, you “can’t get no satisfaction” quite like that.

“To hear that from Mick Jagger,” the still-elated conductor said Thursday in a phone interview with Patch.com, “that was pretty cool.”

Chorale members had spent the last four months rehearsing the towering intro to the Rolling Stones’ melancholy tale of decadence, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” practicing so they would get it just right in their cameo performance at the Stones’ 2015 ZIP Code Tour concert in Detroit’s Comerica Park Wednesday night.

Local choirs like OU’s elite touring choral ensemble, hand-picked by the Rolling Stones’ choir director in London, have been backing the song’s signature intro all along the 15-city North American tour, which winds down July 15 in Quebec, Canada.

“It’s a really cool thing for the Rolling Stones to do,” Mitchell said. “It’s cool and unique they got to sing backup for the Rolling Stones, and singing with the Rolling Stones looks good on a resume. How much better does it get?”

Mitchell said having the Music Department’s best vocalists showcased by mega rock superstars before a sold-out crowd of 40,000 is a platinum, map-placing opportunity for youngish OU – at not quite 60, younger than the youngest of the aging but still agile Rolling Stones, guitar virtuoso Ronnie Wood, who’s 68.

“Oakland University is a relatively young school ... so this is a really big deal to do something on this scale and have that many people come to know about you,” Mitchell said of the exposure for the Music Department, whose alumni earn spots in prestigious graduate schools.

“And it’s exciting to be able take these young college students and expose them to music of the Rolling Stones – which is really great rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.

“A Big Deal As Long As I Can Remember”

The concert was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Mitchell as well.

“The Rolling Stones have been a big deal as long as I can remember,” said Mitchell, 53. “They were big before I was conscious of music. I got my first Rolling Stones 45 when I was 9. I’ve always been a fan of them, even though I teach classical music.”

In a way, his students’ chance to perform with a band as famous as any in the world is Mitchell’s teachable moment – an immersive rock ‘n’ roll music appreciation class introducing a new generation to the musical genius, visceral showmanship and unfailing stamina of the Rolling Stones.

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The students knew about the Rolling Stones, of course – who doesn’t? – but mostly as their parents’ and grandparents’ rock ‘n’ roll heroes and, well, ancient.

“The Rolling Stones have been playing together for more than 50 years – big stadiums for 40 years – and having a great time doing it,” Mitchell said. “They play well, they have fun, they do it with energy. The level of energy Mick Jagger – he’s 71 years old – puts in the show is unbelievable and impressive. He’s every bit as good as he ever was.

“It was,” he said, “a good thing for my students to see.”

After two rehearsals at the stadium Wednesday afternoon, the Stones joined the OU ensemble onstage for a third run-through, the one that earned Jagger’s praise.

Jagger said hello and shook Mitchell’s hand, then the band mingled amicably with the vocalists before retiring to their dressing rooms.

“They were very friendly and kind,” Mitchell said. “It was nice.”

“Genuinely and Earnestly Excited”

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” isn’t a musically difficult piece“ compared to the complicated level of classical music they’re capable of, but it was a challenge to get the sound the same as it was in the original album,” Mitchell said.

Co-written by Jagger and Keith Richards and featured on the 1969 “Let It Bleed” album, the original version of the song featured backing vocals from an all-boys ensemble of the London Bach Choir.

“Imitating that sound with university music major women is tricky,” but not impossible for a group of future opera singers, the conductor said. “They listened to the recording once and knew what they had to do.”

The performance also presented some logistical challenges. The 24 vocalists were split on two smaller stages anchoring the main stage of the lavish set. They relied on monitors to hear themselves and one another in the biggest performance of their lives, at least in terms of audience.

“They’re used to singing in front of hundreds of people, but not tens of thousands,” Mitchell said. “They were so excited about the whole thing, and thought it was really neat.”

For the conductor, the biggest thrill was the effect performing with the Rolling Stones had on his students.

“The chance to see my students so genuinely and earnestly excited to be singing was the best part of it for me,” Mitchell said. “And for them to do it really well and be proud of themselves and so excited and happy – when you’re a teacher, you can’t ask for more than that.”