Old Time Used To Be’s: “Well I went down, to the Chelsea Drugstore…”
The King’s Road is a very famous street here in London and is a stones throw (pun intended) from where we live. In it’s 60′s heyday, it was a major place for hipsters and happenings. The usual R&R lore applies…Ringo & George shared a flat here, the “Swan Song” record label, home to Led Zeppelin, was here, etc.
The Chelsea Drug Store (circa early 1970′s)
Living in London, I hear all kinds of stories such as this. A local know-it-all-told me about one cool place in particular: The Chelsea Drug Store. Yes, that same Chelsea Drug store from the Stone’s, “You Can’t AlwaysGet What You Want”.
We all know the lyric:
“Well I went down, to the Chelsea Drug Store
To get your, prescription filled
I was standin’ in line, with Mr. Jimmy
Man, didi he look pretty ill”
I hadn’t put it all together before: I live in Chelsea, the Stones are English, the Chelsea Drug store (if it was an actual place) should be somewhere in the neighbourhood. Honestly, in the context of the song, I thought it was a reference to a local “dealer’s” house where, ahem, illegal prescriptions got filled.
The guy I was speaking to told me where the Chelsea Drug Store was. I knew exactly where he described it to be, so I heel-toed it over there an snapped this picture.
It’s a McDonalds now. Figures…only Burger King allows you to “have it your way”.
Oh, and speaking of R&R lore and legendary tales: have a look here to read up on a theory of who “Mr.Jimmy” actually was.
For the record, this song is off of my fave Stones album Let it Bleed. I’ve often referred to it as my fave start-to-back album of all time (still holds true). It is Keith’s album. He plays most all the guitars on it. Plus, you know you are in for a ride when the album starts of screaming, “Gimme” and then decides that, in the end, you can’t always get what you want…
Here is a version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from the famed Stones bootleg, Brussel’s Affair (’73). The sax on it is top shelf…
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Here is a bit on the Chelsea Drug Store from the Royal Borough of Kensington’s website:
The modern glass and aluminium frontage of the Chelsea Drug store shocked Royal Avenue residents when it opened in July 1968. They were even more appalled by the clientele. The residents demanded that access to the King’s Road was closed, which was done in 1971. Chelsea Drugstore was modelled on Le Drugstore on Boulevard St Germain in Paris. Arranged over three floors the complex included bars, food outlets, a chemist, newsstand, record store and boutiques. It was open 16 hours a day, seven days a week. A major attraction was the ‘flying squad’ delivery service. This was made up young ladies in purple catsuits using motorcycles to make home deliveries.
