The Rolling Stones

:For other uses, see Rolling Stones (disambiguation)

Early history: 1961-1967

Early in their career they played covers of blues, rhythm and blues, country, and rock and roll music. Their first recordings were covers of Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Muddy Waters, and Hank Williams songs, among others. Although founding members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are regarded as one of the greatest songwriting teams in the history of popular music, the band never stopped being inspired by other genres. Reggae, punk, and dance, country music and even Arab music have leaked into their recordings. They are the longest surviving rock & roll band in history, and, in their own words, the greatest.

Related Topics:
Blues - Rhythm and blues - Rock and roll - Chuck Berry - Robert Johnson - Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Muddy Waters - Hank Williams - Mick Jagger - Keith Richards - Songwriting - Popular music - Reggae - Punk - Dance - Country music - Arab music

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The band came into being in 1961 when former school friends Jagger and Richards met Jones, who named the band after a Muddy Waters song. At least two other bands (and one circus tumbling act) are believed to have called themselves The Rolling Stones before the Jagger/Richards/Jones band was formed. The original line-up included Jagger (vocals), Jones (guitar), Richards (guitar), Ian Stewart (piano), Charlie Watts (drums) and Dick Taylor (bass). Taylor left shortly after to return to art school, and was later to form The Pretty Things. He was replaced by Bill Wyman. United by their shared interest in rhythm and blues music, the group rehearsed extensively, initially playing in public at The Marquee Club in London, where Alexis Korner's blues band was resident. They soon got their own residency at The Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, which was run by Russian emigre Giorgio Gomelsky, and began to establish themselves as London's premier live act, even being honoured with a visit from The Beatles. At first, Brian Jones, a guitarist who also toyed with numerous other instruments, was their creative leader, despite Mick Jagger increasingly becoming the focus during live performances. The band rapidly gained a reputation for their frantic, highly energetic covers of the rhythm and blues songs of their idols and, through their recently appointed sharp young manager Andrew Loog Oldham, were signed to Decca Records (who had passed when offered The Beatles). At this time their music was fairly primitive. Keith Richards had learned much of his guitar playing from the recordings of Chuck Berry, and had not yet developed a style of his own, and Jagger was not as in control of the idioms as he would soon become. By the time of their first single release; a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On", Ian Stewart was, at the insistance of Andrew Oldham, officially not part of the band, though he continued to record and perform with them. The band, although unhappy with this decision, agreed that it was neccessary in order to maximise their chances of success. Another of Oldham's ideas was to convince Keith Richards to drop the 's' from his surname to become "Keith Richard", presumably in a bid to give him greater pop star credibility.

Related Topics:
1961 - Ian Stewart - Charlie Watts - Dick Taylor - The Pretty Things - Bill Wyman - London - Alexis Korner - Andrew Loog Oldham - Decca Records - The Beatles - Chuck Berry

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The choice of material on their first, self-titled EP, reflected their live shows. Similarly, the album The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers) which appeared in April 1964 featured versions of such classics as "Route 66" (originally recorded by Nat King Cole), "Mona" (Bo Diddley) and "Carol" (Chuck Berry). The performances were pivotal in introducing a generation of white British youth to rhythm and blues music, and helped to fuel the "British Invasion" of America. More importantly perhaps, whilst The Beatles were still suited, clean-cut boys with mop-top haircuts, The Stones cultivated the opposite image: decidedly unkempt, and posing for publicity photographs like a gang of surly yobs. This made many girls go crazy for their bad boy image, and soon made them a teen idol group. The follow-up album, The Rolling Stones #2 (Now in the U.S), was also composed mainly of cover tunes, only now augmented by a couple of songs written by the fledgling partnership of Jagger and Richards, having been locked in a room by their manager, who refused to let them out until they had written something they could release. Encouraged by Oldham, the band toured Europe and America continuously, playing to packed crowds of screaming teenagers in scenes reminiscent of the height of Beatlemania. While on tour they took time to visit important locations in the history of the music that inspired them, recording the EP Five By Five at the studios of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois.

Related Topics:
EP - 1964 - Nat King Cole - Bo Diddley - Chuck Berry - British Invasion - America - The Beatles - Teen idol - Europe - Beatlemania - Chess Records - Chicago, Illinois

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Back at home these early years of success represented a rare period of stability in the personal relationship between the band members. Jagger, Richards and Jones shared a squalid London flat in Edith Grove, Chelsea, throughout much of 1963 along with friend, reprobate, and later biographer James Phelge. The three Stones became so fond of Phelge that they used his name as part of the 'Nanker/Phelge' pseudonym to indicate early band writing compositions. Two years later Brian Jones began to see Anita Pallenberg, an actress and model who introduced them to the circle of society in which she moved: a group of young artists, musicians and filmmakers. Prompted by Oldham, who possessed sufficient business acumen to see where money was to be made, Jagger and Richards became more prolific songwriters and 1965's Out Of Our Heads contained much self-penned material, including the classic "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," and saw the dynamic of the band begin to change, with Jagger and Richards starting to emerge as the perceived leaders of the band. Jones, not unaware of his reduced importance, retreated into drug abuse, alienating both Richards and Pallenberg, who began a relationship that would last over ten years. During this period Pallenberg seemed to exert an influence on the music as somebody who's opinions the band trusted, particularly on the dark single "Paint it Black", and the (for 1966) shockingly sexually ambiguous video for "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby (Standing in the Shadows)? ". With the main songwriters maintaining their rate of production, Aftermath (1966) continued the progression, consisting entirely of Jagger/Richards compositions including "Mother's Little Helper," about pill abuse, and the misogynistic "Under My Thumb," whereas on Between the Buttons (1967) they wore the influences of their many contemporaries, including The Who and The Kinks.

Related Topics:
1963 - Anita Pallenberg - 1965 - Out Of Our Heads - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Aftermath - 1966 - Pill - Misogynistic - Between the Buttons - 1967 - The Who - The Kinks

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