ROLLING STONES

The rock group the Rolling Stones have often been described as the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world. Despite its complimentary nature, however, this label is inaccurate. The Stones did not just play rock’n’roll: they also put black rhythm and blues (R&B) firmly into the mainstream of international popular music, and thus laid the foundations for all rock music since the 1960s.

The group was formed in 1962, and, after various early changes of personnel, the line-up featured vocalist Mick Jagger (b. July 1943), guitarist Keith Richard (b. December 1943), guitarist Brian Jones (1942–69), drummer Charlie Watts (b. June 1941), and bassist Bill Wyman (b. October 1936). Jones was asked to leave the group in June 1969, when his drug habit began to have a detrimental effect on the band’s music, and was found drowned in the swimming pool of his home the following month. He was replaced by Mick Taylor (b. January 1948), an accomplished blues guitarist. When Taylor left in 1974, he was in turn replaced by Ronnie Wood (b. June 1947), who had previously backed Rod Stewart in the Faces. In 1993 Wyman quit the band, but the Stones did not replace him.

The Rolling Stones in 1964. From left: Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richard.

The Stones were originally inspired by a shared love of rock’n’roll artists such as Chuck BERRY, and bluesmen such as Muddy WATERS, from whose song they took their name. After earning a reputation as a stunning live act, their third single, a version of Buddy HOLLY’S ”Not Fade Away,” made No. 3 on the charts in March 1964. The following month, they released their eponymous first album, and knocked the BEATLES off the No. 1 spot in the album charts for the first time in 51 weeks.

The Rolling Stones album was crammed with songs written by the artists who had inspired them, and introduced black R&B to a mass white audience for the first time. In the summer of 1964, “It’s All Over Now,” a cover of a song by soul artist Bobby Womack, became the first of the Stones’ eight No. 1 singles in the U.K. during the 1960s.

The biggest rivals to the Beatles in the mid-1960s, the Stones were scruffier, angrier, and appeared to advocate drugs and casual sex—in 1967, Jagger and Richards were briefly imprisoned for drugs offences. With their roots in black music, the Stones were seen as a bigger threat to established social mores than were the Beatles. This mix ensured that the Stones initially appealed mainly to young outsiders, an identity that remained with the band until the members were well into their 30s, and had themselves become part of a new musical establishment.

REVOLUTIONARY WRITING

In 1965, the group’s manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, locked Jagger and Richard in a room until they wrote a song. “The Last Time,” with its lively looping riff, was the first of a series of action-packed singles that made Jagger and Richard a key writing partnership of the 1960s. Their run of hits included “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which shot to No. 1 in both Britain and the U.S. Other hits from the Jagger-Richard partnership included “Get Off My Cloud,” “Paint It Black,” “Mothers Little Helper,” “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and “Honky Tonk Women.”

RELENTLESS POWER

These singles were perfectly crafted: few groups understood the importance of a strong song-intro in the way the Stones did, while their tight playing drove their three-minute rushes of rhythm with relentless power from beginning to end. Jagger’s strident vocals commanded attention, while Richard sometimes used unusual guitar tunings to achieve a distinctive sound. A solid beat from bass player Wyman and drummer Watts then provided the perfect backing for Jagger’s sensuality and athleti-cism, making the Stones a riveting stage act.

With their sell-out concerts, and their singles topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, the Stones had to put their energies into albums in the late 1960s. This coincided with the fact that the rock audience had suddenly moved its affections from singles to albums. The Stones—with the invaluable help of their new producer, Jimmy Miller—seamlessly switched their focus onto the long-playing medium.

FOUR HIGH-OCTANE ALBUMS

The album Beggar’s Banquet (1968) featured country rock and a rock samba in the song “Sympathy for the Devil,” and a awesome new power with “Street Fightin’ Man”. The brutal Let It Bleed (1969) saw them attain new heights (or depths) of decadence, with tracks such as “Gimme Shelter” and “Monkey Man.” It also featured one of the great rock ballads, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” which used the London Bach Choir to sing the opening lines and the climactic ending. The live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! (1970), recorded during their U.S. tour of 1969, captured the unrestrained excitement of which the group was capable, and is still regarded by many as one of the best live rock albums ever made. The album Sticky Fingers (1971) found the band at its zenith, kick-starting with the high-octane hit single “Brown Sugar,” before moving on to jazz rock, blues, country, and entrancing ballads. The lyrical content was provocative as was usual for the Stones. In this instance, they peppered the songs with drug references and lascivious sex, notably in Marianne Faithfull’s “Sister Morphine” and “Wild Horses.”

LATER WORKS

After those four albums, it was hard for the Stones to reach such heady heights again, although they did have their moments. The double album Exile on Main Street (1972) found them still close to their best, if somewhat weary. Goat’s Head Soup (1973) and It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (1974) featured some passable songs, but the band seemed to be treading water. Black and Blue (1976) experimented with reggae with some success, while Some Girls (1978) was an energetic response to the jibes of Britain’s punks. Tattoo You (1981) was their last fully satisfying album, although they still produced excellent singles, such as “Tumbling Dice,” “Angie,” “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll,” the disco-influenced “Miss You,” and “Start Me Up.” In 1997, they brought out a new album, Bridges to Babylon. They also remained a potent live act into the 1990s.

The Rolling Stones molded the blues, R&B, and rock’n’roll in their own inimitable image to make music that was always restless, intriguing, exciting, and usually good for dancing. They created a unique style of rock music, and although they spawned many imitators, they have yet to be matched for originality and panache.

Graham McColl

SUGGESTED LISTENING

Beggar’s Banquet; Black and Blue;

Exile on Main Street;

Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out; Let It Bleed;

Singles Collection: The London Years;

Some Girls; Sticky Fingers;

Tattoo You.