By Elliott West
“Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind”.
Mick Jagger
Introduction
Longevity is rare and for one rock and band, it comes in continuous abundance. It’s music that drove its fans into a frenzy in the 1960s and continues to elate a devoted army and attract new fans by their droves. These now pensioners are spurred on by the musical beat, once rivals to The Beatles, their music just wants you to get up to sing and dance. It’s pure, unadulterated rock and roll, hard-hitting and raw. They are, of course, the made-in-Britain band, the Rolling Stones. Like a rolling stone, they have gathered no moss, only a string of number-one hits, a band first formed in 1962 with an original lineup of Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. A musical driving force whose memorable songs have been created by the Jagger/Richards partnership for the last 60 years, older but just as rebellious when they first formed. So if you have sympathy for the devil or can’t get no satisfaction, this is the band for you.
The Definition of Rock and Roll
Formed in the height of the Swinging 60s, the Rolling Stones’ music was inspired by Muddy Waters, Howling’Wolf, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley. Mick and Keith were childhood friends and classmates at school in the 1950s, growing up in Dartford, Kent and it was when they next met up on platform two at Dartford railway station in October 1961, they realised they shared a love for the same genre of music and a musical partnership was born as a result and the band, The Blues Boys was formed. This would be followed by a gig at the Ealing Jazz Club that April where they would meet members of the band, Blues Incorporated, a group that included Brian Jones on slide guitar and Charlie Watts on drums. This would be a meeting that led to a jamming session between the two bands and the green shoots of the future Rolling Stones band would form.
Brian Jones would later leave Blues Incorporated and set the task to form another group by advertising in Jazz Weekly for new band members. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards applied with Geoff Bradford on guitar and Brian Knight on vocals. However, both Geoff and Brian Knight didn’t like the choice of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley’s songs, deciding to part ways. Brian Jones chose the name of the band during a phone call to Jazz News. When the journalist asked him for the band’s name, Jones scanned the room and saw a Muddy Waters record lying on the floor with one of the tracks on it being Rolling Stone.
Starting Out
The Rolling Stones played their first live gig at the Marquee Club in London on 12 July 1962. This early outing consisted of Jones, Jagger, Richards, Stewart, and Taylor. Bill Wyman would later replace Dick Taylor as bass guitarist after an audition at a pub in Chelsea in the December of that year. Charlie Watts became the drummer in January 1963, first playing with the band at the Ealing Jazz Club in January 1963. However, he didn’t become the permanent drummer until the following month. After this first gig, the band changed their name to The Rolling Stones. Keyboardist Ian Stewart decided to leave the band but stayed on as a road manager.
Manageable
As Brian Epstein was the brainchild of The Beatles, so Andrew Loog Oldham was for The Rolling Stones. This youthful manager, only 19 at the time and younger than all the band members, was so young that he couldn’t sign any contracts or book venues, having to get his mother to co-sign all administrative paperwork. Originally decided to dress the Stones in suits, then with an uncouth and animalistic image, a complete contrast to the clean image of The Beatles. The change of tact worked because the group soon signed a deal with Decca Records. Unlike a lot of artists, the Stones got free rein in this deal, getting triple the royalty rate, full artistic control of recordings and ownership of the recording master tapes. It also allowed them to use non-Decca accommodations to record. So their first album The Rolling Stones was recorded at Regent Sound Studios. This would lead to their first hit single, a cover version of the Chuck Berry song, “Come On” in June 1963. A hit that got to number 21 in the charts. This was followed by another cover, “I Wanna Be Your Man” by Lennon and McCartney which made them the first band to perform on Top of the Pops in January 1964.
The height of their fame didn’t come until 1965. It followed a disastrous tour of the USA where they were mocked for their lack of experience, material and image that was always portrayed as sinister with no smiles on record covers. Hit after hit would follow with smash hits such as “Little Red Rooster”, “Satisfaction” “Get Off of My Cloud”, “Paint it Black”, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, “Ruby Tuesday” and “Gimme Shelter”.
Drugs
The Swinging Sixties may have been all about peace and free love but it was associated with drug taking. The Rolling Stones did their fair share of cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine tablets. Both Jagger and Richards nearly ended up in prison for possession of cannabis and amphetamine tablets leading to a conditional discharge after an appeal but Brian Jones received a £1,000 fine with an order to seek professional help. Perhaps it was a warning that Jones didn’t take too seriously because a month after leaving the band in 1969, Jones was mysteriously found dead in his swimming pool in Hartfield, East Sussex.
The Legacy
The Rolling Stones are one of the few bands that have managed to weather the storm and adapted through the decades. They are just as popular in their twilight years as they were in their youth and have outlived practically every iconic band. They may have lost Charlie Watts but he was always someone who wanted to leave anyway. Yet Mick persuaded him to stay until he left by parting this earth. The genius of The Stones is their lyrics and music. Mick may not be the best singer but he runs a marathon when he performs and gives it his all in a live show. They may be older but they haven’t lost any of their enthusiasm especially when they are on tour, producing record audiences.
Jagger’s dance moves are sublime and he famously taught the late Tina Turner to strut her stuff on stage. The red tongue and lips logo is known around the world, as iconic and a national work of art, designed by John Pasche in 1970, a piece that he was only paid £50 for and a further £200 in 1972. He sold the copyright to the piece to The Rolling Stones in 1984 for £26,000. Jagger and Richards are one of the most successful songwriting partnerships there have been in pop music. Their songs are laden with the sounds of the blues and produce guitar rifts that are truly sublime. Stones’ songs are all about punchy and memorable melodies. They are memorable and rattle around your head and on your tongue for days. Whether fast-moving or slow tunes, they all add up to one thing, raw, euphoric indulgence.
