Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones were billed as the “World’s Greatest Rock N’ Roll Band.” It took a while to get there, and when they did, they made their mark.

For the record their reign spanned from “Beggar’s Banquet” (‘68) to “Exile On Main Street” (‘72), which also includes the albums “Let It Bleed.” “Sticky Fingers” and “Get You Ya-Ya’s Out” (a live set). It was the Stone’s most creative and accomplished period.

In the world of Rock, four years at the top means a lifetime of lucrative tours.

The Stones began in London when two former classmates, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, bumped into each other at a train station. Jagger, who fancied himself as a singer, had a future (he was a student at the London School of Economics). Guitarist Richards didn’t. But both were major Blues fans.

The pair hooked up with Brian Jones who could play Blues guitar better than anybody and had a talent for making music come out of just about any instrument. That came in handy later on.

Charlie Watts, one of Rock’s all-time great drummers and the relatively quiet Bill Wyman on bass completed the line-up. The Stones originally had a piano player, Ian Stewart, but he got sidelined becoming the group’s road manager (and session pianist).

After ditching their Blues influences the Stones delivered the aggressive “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” one of the two or three best songs of the decade. ”Jagger and Richards came up with several more hits; “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby (Standing In The Shadows),” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “Get Off Of My Cloud” and “Paint It Black” (featuring Jones on sitar), to name a few.

Early on, it seemed the Stones were always chasing The Beatles. Their manager once worked for Brian Epstein, The Beatles manager. The Stones initially wore matching suits just like The Beatles. But they got them soiled and torn so went back to wearing their street clothes,

When The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” arrived, the Stones answered with “Their Satanic Majesties Request,” a pale attempt at “trippy” Rock.

In the mid-to-late ;60s Rock music’s focus shifted from singles to albums. Fortunately, Jagger/Richards had made leaps and bounds in their songwriting and were poised to create brilliant albums. The decision was made, likely at Richards insistence, to stop following The Beatles and get back to their roots.

Meanwhile, Jagger and Richards were arrested for drug possession.  The busts made headlines, but in the end, despite how dire it looked at times, neither served serious jail time.

Also, it had become apparent the Jones was no longer interested in the band he had helped launch. Intimidated by Jagger and Richards’ songwriting prowess and their near absolute control over the band’s image and direction, Jones withdrew sinking deeper into drugs,

Another factor was the desire to tour again… just like The Beatles they too quit touring to allow more time to write and record.

Jones had no desire to return to the road. He was fired by the band and mysteriously drowned in his pool less than two weeks later. It could have been an accident, or he could have been murdered by people staying at his house. There has never been a definitive answer.

The film began with The Stones and especially Jagger in top form before an adoring Madison Square Garden audience. But it closed in the chaos of Altamont, It was one of the most telling, honest and disturbing Rock films ever made. The concert revealed the strengths (and weaknesses) of the Rolling Stones in their prime.

“Exile On Main Street” (‘72) had “Rip This Joint,” “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy.” Though a commercial success it represented the end of an exceptionally creative era. Critics pounced on the “murky, inconsistent sound” and “disjointed musicianship.” But over the years, the album’s stature has risen.

The same can’t be said for their next effort, “Goats Head Soup,” a truly dismal album. The band was able to recover with “It’s Only Rock N’ Roll” (’74), featuring the title track. Unfortunately, it was Taylor’s last album as a Rolling Stone. He left after five years. 

With Richards operating as the band’s sole guitarist, “Black And Blue” dropped in ’76. One critic called the effort “the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.”

When disco collapsed, the Stones returned to their signature sound with “Start Me Up” from Tattoo You” (’81). The band’s ’80’s albums always did well in both the U.K and U.S. but those Rock-solid Stones albums were a thing of the past. The decade came to a close with the “Steel Wheels” (’89) which traded on the single “Mixed Emotions” or as Richards called it “Mick’s emotions.”

The Stones only released one studio album, “Voodoo Lounge” in the ’90s and another, “A Bigger Bang,” eleven years later.

Wyman retired in’92 as the Stones seemed on a cycle of tour/live album, repeat.  

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