Rolling Stones Bio
Originally
billed as the Rollin' Stones, the first line-up of this immemorial
English 60s unit was a nucleus of Mick Jagger (b. Michael Philip Jagger,
26 July 1943, Dartford, Kent, England; vocals), Keith Richards (b.
18 December 1943, Dartford, Kent, England; guitar), Brian Jones (b.
Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones, 28 February 1942, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,
England, d. 3 July 1969, Sussex, England; rhythm guitar) and Ian Stewart
(b. 1938, d. 12 December 1985; piano).
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were primary school friends who resumed
their camaraderie in their closing teenage years after finding they
had a mutual love for R&B and particularly the music of Chuck
Berry, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. Initially, they were teamed with
bass player Dick Taylor (later of the Pretty Things) and before long
their ranks extended to include Jones, Stewart and occasional drummer
Tony Chapman. Their patron at this point was the renowned musician
Alexis Korner, who had arranged their debut gig at London's Marquee
club on 21 July 1962. In their first few months the band met some
opposition from jazz and blues aficionados for their alleged lack
of musical "purity" and the line-up remained unsettled for
several months. In late 1962, bass player Bill Wyman (b. William George
Perks, 24 October 1936, Penge, Kent, England) replaced Dick Taylor
while drummers came and went, including Carlo Little (from Screaming
Lord Sutch's Savages) and Mick Avory (later of the Kinks, who was
billed as appearing at their debut gig, but did not play). It was
not until as late as January 1963 that drummer Charlie Watts (b. Charles
Robert Watts, 2 June 1941, Wembley, Middlesex, England) reluctantly
surrendered his day job and committed himself to the band.
After securing a residency at Giorgio Gomelsky's Crawdaddy Club in
Richmond, the Rolling Stones' live reputation spread rapidly through
London's hip cognoscenti. One evening, the flamboyant Andrew Loog
Oldham (b. 29 January 1944, Paddington, London, England), appeared
at the club and was so entranced by the commercial prospects of Jagger's
sexuality that he wrested them away from Gomelsky and, backed by the
financial and business clout of agent Eric Easton, became their manager.
Within weeks, Oldham had produced their first couple of official recordings
at IBC Studios. By this time, record company scouts were on the prowl
with Decca Records' Dick Rowe leading the march and successfully signing
the band. After re-purchasing the IBC demos, Oldham selected Chuck
Berry's "Come On' as the Rolling Stones" debut single. The
record was promoted on the prestigious UK television pop programme
Thank Your Lucky Stars and the band was featured sporting matching
hounds-tooth jackets with velvet collars. This was to be one of Oldham's
few concessions to propriety for he would soon be pushing the boys
as unregenerate rebels. Unfortunately, pianist Ian Stewart was not
deemed sufficiently pop star-like for Oldham's purpose and was unceremoniously
removed from the line-up, although he remained road manager and occasional
pianist.
After supporting the Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Gene Vincent
and Bo Diddley on a Don Arden UK package tour, the Rolling Stones
released their second single, a gift from John Lennon and Paul McCartney
entitled "I Wanna Be Your Man". The disc fared better than
its predecessor climbing into the Top 10 in January 1964. That same
month the band enjoyed their first bill-topping tour supported by
the Ronettes. The early months of 1964 saw the Rolling Stones catapulted
to fame amid outrage and controversy about the surliness of their
demeanour and the length of their hair. This was still a world in
which the older members of the community were barely coming to terms
with the Beatles neatly-groomed mop tops. While newspapers asked "Would
you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?", the quintet engaged
in a flurry of recording activity which saw the release of an EP and
an album both titled The Rolling Stones. The discs consisted almost
exclusively of extraneous material and captured the band at their
most derivative stage. Already, however, there were strong signs of
an ability to combine different styles. The third single, "Not
Fade Away", saw them fuse Buddy Holly's quaint original with
a chunky Bo Diddley beat that highlighted Jagger's vocal to considerable
effect. The presence of Phil Spector and Gene Pitney at these sessions
underlined how hip the Rolling Stones had already become in the music
business after such a short time. With the momentum increasing by
the month, Oldham characteristically over-reached himself by organizing
a US tour which proved premature and disappointing.
After returning to the UK, the band released a decisive cover version
of the Valentinos' "It's All Over Now', which gave them their
first number 1. A best-selling EP, Five By Five, cemented their growing
reputation, while a national tour escalated into a series of near
riots with scenes of hysteria wherever they played. There was an ugly
strain to the Rolling Stones" appeal which easily translated
into violence. At the Winter Gardens Blackpool the band hosted the
most astonishing rock riot yet witnessed on British soil. Frenzied
fans displayed their feelings by smashing chandeliers and demolishing
a Steinway grand piano. By the end of the evening over 50 people were
escorted to hospital for treatment. Other concerts were terminated
within minutes of the band appearing on-stage and the hysteria continued
throughout Europe. A return to the USA saw them disrupt the stagey
Ed Sullivan Show prompting the presenter to ban rock 'n' roll groups
in temporary retaliation. In spite of all the chaos at home and abroad,
America remained resistant to their appeal, although that situation
would change dramatically in the New Year. In November 1964, "Little
Red Rooster" was released and entered the New Musical Express
chart at number 1, a feat more usually associated with the Beatles
and, previously, Elvis Presley.
The Rolling Stones now had a formidable fan base and their records
were becoming more accomplished and ambitious with each successive
release. Jagger's accentuated phrasing and posturing stage persona
made "Little Red Rooster' sound surprisingly fresh while Brian
Jones" use of slide guitar was imperative to the single's success.
Up until this point, the band had recorded cover versions as a-sides,
but manager Andrew Oldham was determined that Jagger and Richard (he
had recently dropped the "s" from his name) should emulate
the example of Lennon and McCartney and locked them in a room until
they emerged with satisfactory material. Their early efforts, "It
Should Have Been You" and "Will You Be My Lover Tonight?"
(both recorded by the late George Bean) were bland, but Gene Pitney
scored a hit with the emphatic "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday"
and Jagger's girlfriend Marianne Faithfull became a teenage recording
star with the moving "As Tears Go By".
1965 proved the year of the Rolling Stones' international breakthrough
and three extraordinary self-penned number 1 singles. "The Last
Time" saw them emerge with their own distinctive rhythmic style
and underlined an ability to fuse R&B and pop in an enticing fashion.
America finally succumbed to their spell with "(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction", a quintessential pop lyric with the still youthful
Jagger sounding like a jaundiced roué. Released in the UK during
the "summer of protest songs", the single encapsulated the
restless weariness of a band already old before its time. The distinctive
riff, which Keith Richard invented with almost casual dismissal, became
one of the most famous hook lines in the entire glossary of pop and
was picked up and imitated by a generation of garage groups thereafter.
The 1965 trilogy of hits was completed with the engagingly surreal
"Get Off Of My Cloud" in which Jagger's surly persona seemed
at its most pronounced to date. As well as the number 1 hits of 1965,
there was also a celebrated live EP, Got Live If You Want It which
reached the Top 10 and, The Rolling Stones No. 2 that continued the
innovative idea of not including the band's name on the front of the
sleeve. There was also some well documented bad boy controversy when
Jagger, Jones and Wyman were arrested and charged with urinating on
the wall of an East London petrol station. Such scandalous behaviour
merely reinforced the public's already ingrained view of the Rolling
Stones as juvenile degenerates.
With the notorious Allen Klein replacing Eric Easton as Oldham's co-manager,
the Rolling Stones consolidated their success by renegotiating their
Decca contract. Their single output in the USA simultaneously increased
with the release of a couple of tracks unavailable in single form
in the UK. The sardonic put-down of suburban Valium abuse, "Mother's
Little Helper" and the Elizabethan-styled "Lady Jane",
complete with atmospheric dulcimer, displayed their contrasting styles
to considerable effect. Both these songs were included on their fourth
album, Aftermath. A breakthrough work in a crucial year, the recording
revealed the Rolling Stones as accomplished rockers and balladeers,
while their writing potential was emphasized by Chris Farlowe's chart-topping
cover of "Out Of Time". There were also signs of the band's
inveterate misogyny particularly on the cocky "Under My Thumb"
and the acerbic "Stupid Girl".
Back in the singles chart, the band's triumphant run continued with
the startlingly chaotic "19th Nervous Breakdown" in which
frustration, impatience and chauvinism were brilliantly mixed with
scale-sliding descending guitar lines. "Paint It, Black' was
even stronger, a raga-influenced piece with a lyric so doom-laden
and defeatist in its imagery that it is a wonder that the angry performance
sounded so passionate and urgent. The Rolling Stones" nihilism
reached its peak on the extraordinary "Have You Seen Your Mother
Baby, Standing In The Shadow?", a scabrous-sounding solicitation
taken at breathtaking pace with Jagger spitting out a diatribe of
barely coherent abuse. It was probably the band's most adventurous
production to date, but its acerbic sound, lengthy title and obscure
theme contributed to rob the song of sufficient commercial potential
to continue the chart-topping run. Ever outrageous, the band promoted
the record with a photo session in which they appeared in drag, thereby
adding a clever, sexual ambivalence to their already iconoclastic
public image.
1967 saw the Rolling Stones' anti-climactic escapades confront an
establishment crackdown. The year began with an accomplished double
a-sided single, "Let's Spend The Night Together"/"Ruby
Tuesday' which, like the Beatles" "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry
Fields Forever", narrowly failed to reach number 1 in their home
country. The accompanying album, Between The Buttons, trod water and
also represented Oldham's final production. Increasingly alienated
by the band's bohemianism, he would move further away from them in
the ensuing months and surrender the management reins to his partner
Klein later in the year. On 12 February, Jagger and Richard were arrested
at the latter's West Wittering home "Redlands" and charged
with drugs offences. Three months later, increasingly unstable Brian
Jones was raided and charged with similar offences.
The Jagger/Richard trial in June was a cause célèbre
which culminated in the notorious duo receiving heavy fines and a
salutary prison sentence. Judicial outrage was tempered by public
clemency, most effectively voiced by The Times' editor William Rees-Mogg
who, borrowing a phrase from Pope, offered an eloquent plea in their
defence under the leader title, "Who Breaks A Butterfly On A
Wheel?' Another unexpected ally was rival act the Who, who rallied
to the Rolling Stones" cause by releasing a single coupling "Under
My Thumb" and "The Last Time". The sentences were duly
quashed on appeal in July, with Jagger receiving a conditional discharge
for possession of amphetamines. Three months later, Brian Jones tasted
judicial wrath with a nine-month sentence and suffered a nervous breakdown
before seeing his imprisonment rescinded at the end of the year.
The flurry of drug busts, court cases, appeals and constant media
attention had a marked effect on the Rolling Stones' recording career
which was severely curtailed. During their summer of impending imprisonment,
they released the fey "We Love You', complete with slamming prison
cell doors in the background. It was a weak, flaccid statement rather
than a rebellious rallying cry. The image of the cultural anarchists
cowering in defeat was not particularly palatable to their fans and
even with all the publicity, the single barely scraped into the Top
10. The eventful year ended with the band's apparent answer to Sgt
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - the extravagantly-titled Their Satanic
Majesties Request. Beneath the exotic 3-D cover was an album of psychedelic/cosmic
experimentation bereft of the R&B grit that had previously been
synonymous with the Rolling Stones" sound. Although the album
had some strong moments, it had the same inexplicably placid inertia
of "We Love You', minus notable melodies or a convincing direction.
The overall impression conveyed was that in trying to compete with
the Beatles" experimentation, the Rolling Stones had somehow
lost the plot. Their drug use had channelled them into laudable experimentation
but simultaneously left them open to accusations of having "gone
soft".
The revitalization of the Rolling Stones was demonstrated in the early
summer of 1968 with "Jumping Jack Flash", a single that
rivalled the best of their previous output. The succeeding album,
Beggars Banquet, produced by Jimmy Miller, was also a return to strength
and included the socio-political "Street Fighting Man" and
the brilliantly macabre "Sympathy For The Devil', in which Jagger's
seductive vocal was backed by hypnotic Afro-rhythms and dervish yelps.
However, while the band was re-establishing itself, Brian Jones was
falling deeper into drug abuse. A conviction in late 1968 prompted
doubts about his availability for US tours and in the succeeding months
he contributed less and less to recordings, and became increasingly
jealous of Jagger's leading role in the band. Richard's wooing and
impregnation of Jones" girlfriend Anita Pallenberg merely increased
the tension. Matters reached a crisis point in June 1969 when Jones
officially left the band. The following month he was found dead in
the swimming pool of the Sussex house that had once belonged to writer
A.A. Milne. The official verdict was "death by misadventure".
A free concert at London's Hyde Park two days after his death was
attended by a crowd of 250,000 and became a symbolic wake for the
tragic youth. Jagger released thousands of butterfly's and narrated
a poem by Shelley for Jones. Three days later, Jagger's former love
Marianne Faithfull attempted suicide. This was truly the end of the
first era of the Rolling Stones.
The band played out the last months of the 60s with a mixture of vinyl
triumph and further tragedy. The sublime "Honky Tonk Women' kept
them at number 1 for most of the summer and few would have guessed
that this was to be their last UK chart topper. The new album, Let
It Bleed (a parody of the Beatles" Let It Be) was an exceptional
work spearheaded by "Gimme Shelter" and revealing strong
country influences ("Country Honk"), startling orchestration
("You Can't Always Get What You Want"), and menacing blues
("Midnight Rambler'). It was a promising debut from John Mayall's
former guitarist Mick Taylor (b. Michael Kevin Taylor, 17 January
1948, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England) who had replaced
Jones only a matter of weeks before his death. Even while Let It Bleed
was heading for the top of the album charts, however, the Rolling
Stones were singing out the 60s to the backdrop of a Hells Angels"
killing of a black man at the Altamont Festival in California. The
tragedy was captured on film in the grisly Gimme Shelter movie released
the following year.
After the events of 1969, it was not surprising that the band had
a relatively quiet 1970. Jagger's contrasting thespian outings reached
the screen in the form of Performance and Ned Kelly, while Jean-Luc
Goddard's tedious portrait of the band in the studio was delivered
on One Plus One. For a band who had once claimed to make more challenging
and gripping films than the Beatles and yet combine artistic credibility
with mass appeal, it all seemed a long time coming.
After concluding their Decca contract with a bootleg-deterring live
album, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, the Rolling Stones established their
own self-titled label. The first release was a three-track single,
"Brown Sugar"/"Bitch"/"Let It Rock",
which contained some of their best work, but narrowly failed to reach
number 1 in the UK. The lead track contained a quintessential Rolling
Stones riff: insistent, undemonstrative and stunning, with the emphatic
brass work of Bobby Keyes embellishing Jagger's vocal power. The new
album, Sticky Fingers was as consistent as it was accomplished, encompassing
the bluesy "You Gotta Move", the thrilling "Moonlight
Mile", the wistful "Wild Horses" and the chilling "Sister
Morphine", one the most despairing drug songs ever written. The
entire album was permeated by images of sex and death, yet the tone
of the work was neither self-indulgent nor maudlin. The band's playful
fascination with sex was further demonstrated on the elaborately designed
Andy Warhol sleeve which featured a waist-view shot of a figure clad
in denim, with a real zip fastener which opened to display the lips
and tongue motif that was shortly to become their corporate image.
Within a year of Sticky Fingers, the Rolling Stones returned with
a double album, Exile On Main Street. With Keith Richard firmly in
control, the band rocked-out on a series of quickfire songs. The album
was severely criticized at the time of its release for its uneven
quality but was subsequently re-evaluated favourably, particularly
in contrast to their later work.
The Rolling Stones' soporific slide into the 70s mainstream probably
began during 1973 when their jet-setting was threatening to upstage
their musical endeavours. Jagger's marriage and Richard's confrontations
with the law took centre stage while increasingly average albums came
and went. Goat's Head Soup was decidedly patchy but offered some strong
moments and brought a deserved US number 1 with the imploring "Angie'.
1974"s "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" proved a better song
title than a single, while the undistinguished album of the same name
saw the band reverting to Tamla/Motown Records for the Temptations'
"Ain't Too Proud To Beg". The departure of Mick Taylor at
the end of 1974 was followed by a protracted period in which the band
sought a suitable replacement. By the time of their next release,
Black And Blue, former Faces guitarist Ron Wood (b. Ronald David Wood,
1 June 1947, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England) was confirmed as Taylor's
successor. The album showed the band seeking a possible new direction
playing variants on white reggae, but the results were less than impressive.
By the second half of the 70s the gaps in the Rolling Stones' recording
and touring schedules were becoming wider. The days when they specially
recorded for the singles market were long past and considerable impetus
had been lost. Even big rallying points, such as the celebrated concert
at Knebworth in 1976, lacked a major album to promote the show and
served mainly as a greatest hits package. By 1977, the British music
press had taken punk to its heart and the Rolling Stones were dismissed
as champagne-swilling old men, who had completely lost touch with
their audience. The Clash effectively summed up the mood of the time
with their slogan "No Elvis, Beatles, Stones" in "1977".
Against the odds, the band responded to the challenge of their younger
critics with a comeback album of remarkable power. Some Girls was
their most consistent work in years, with some exceptional high-energy
workouts, not least the breathtaking "Shattered". The disco
groove of "Miss You" brought them another US number 1 and
showed that they could invigorate their repertoire with new ideas
that worked. Jagger's wonderful pastiche of an American preacher on
the mock country "Far Away Eyes" was another unexpected
highlight. There was even an attendant controversy thanks to some
multi-racist chauvinism on the title track, not to mention "When
The Whip Comes Down" and "Beast Of Burden". Even the
cover jacket had to be re-shot because it featured unauthorized photos
of the famous, most notably actresses Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett
and Raquel Welch. To conclude a remarkable year, Keith Richard escaped
what seemed an almost certain jail sentence in Toronto for drugs offences
and was merely fined and ordered to play a couple of charity concerts.
As if in celebration of his release and reconciliation with his father,
he reverted to his original family name Richards.
In the wake of Richards' reformation and Jagger's much-publicized
and extremely expensive divorce from his model wife Bianca, the Rolling
Stones reconvened in 1980 for Emotional Rescue, a rather lightweight
album dominated by Jagger's falsetto and over-use of disco rhythms.
Nevertheless, the album gave the band their first UK number 1 since
1973 and the title track was a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Early the following year a major US tour (highlights of which were
included on Still Life) garnered enthusiastic reviews, while a host
of repackaged albums reinforced the band's legacy. 1981's Tattoo You
was essentially a crop of old outtakes but the material was anything
but stale. On the contrary, the album was surprisingly strong and
the concomitant single "Start Me Up' was a reminder of the Rolling
Stones at their 60s best, a time when they were capable of producing
classic singles at will. One of the Rolling Stones" cleverest
devices throughout the 80s was their ability to compensate for average
work by occasional flashes of excellence. The workmanlike Undercover,
for example, not only boasted a brilliantly menacing title track ("Undercover
Of The Night") but one of the best promotional videos of the
period. While critics continually questioned the band's relevance,
the Rolling Stones were still releasing worthwhile work, albeit in
smaller doses.
A three-year silence on record was broken by Dirty Work in 1986, which
saw the band sign to CBS Records and team up with producer Steve Lillywhite.
Surprisingly, it was not a band original that produced the expected
offshoot single hit, but a cover version of Bob And Earl's "Harlem
Shuffle'. A major record label signing often coincides with a flurry
of new work, but the Rolling Stones were clearly moving away from
each other creatively and concentrating more and more on individual
projects. Wyman had already tasted some chart success in 1983 with
the biggest solo hit from a Rolling Stones" member, "Je
Suis Un Rock Star' and it came as little surprise when Jagger issued
his own solo album, She's The Boss, in 1985. A much publicized-feud
with Keith Richards led to speculation that the Rolling Stones story
had come to an anti-climactic end, a view reinforced by the appearance
of a second Jagger album, Primitive Cool, in 1987. When Richards himself
released the first solo work of his career in 1988, the Rolling Stones"
obituary had virtually been written. As if to confound the obituarists,
however, the Rolling Stones reconvened in 1989 and announced that
they would be working on a new album and commencing a world tour.
Later that year the hastily-recorded Steel Wheels appeared and the
critical reception was generally good. "Mixed Emotions"
and "Rock And A Hard Place" were radio hits, while "Continental
Drift" included contributions from the master musicians of Joujouka,
previously immortalized on vinyl by the late Brian Jones.
After nearly 30 years in existence, the Rolling Stones began the 90s
with the biggest grossing international tour of all time, and ended
speculation about their future by reiterating their intention of playing
on indefinitely. Wyman officially resigned in 1993, however, and was
replaced by the highly experienced Darryl Jones (b. 11 December 1961,
Chicago, Illinois, USA). Voodoo Lounge was one of their finest latterday
recordings, sounding both lyrically daring and musically fresh. They
sounded charged up and raring to go for the 1995 USA tour. Monies
taken at each gig could almost finance the national debt and confirmation
(as if it were needed) that they were still the world's greatest rock
band, a title that is likely to stick.
Riding a crest after an extraordinarily active 1995, the band's next
release Stripped was a dynamic semi-plugged album. Fresh sounding
and energetic acoustic versions of "Street Fighting Man",
"Wild Horses" and "Let It Bleed" among others,
emphasized just how great the Jagger/Richards songwriting team is.
The year was marred however by some outspoken comments by Keith Richards
on R.E.M. and Nirvana. These clumsy comments did not endear the grand
old man of rock to a younger audience, which was all the more surprising
as the Rolling Stones had appeared to be in touch with contemporary
rock music. Citing R.E.M. as "wimpy cult stuff" and Kurt
Cobain as "some prissy little spoiled kid" were, at best,
ill-chosen words.
The 1997 studio album Bridges To Babylon was a particularly fresh-sounding
release, with Charlie Watts anchoring the band's sound like never
before. His drumming was not only exceptional, but was mixed to the
foreground, giving the record a much cleaner and funkier sound. Richards
appeared much more in control in the studio and his own vocal contributions
were emotionally strong. In addition to a major tour in 2002, the
band issued four new tracks on the outstanding compilation album,
40 Licks. Their entire London/Decca catalogue was beautifully remastered
and issued in replica digipacks during the same period.
At the present time the Rolling Stones credibility has rarely been
higher. No other rock band in the history of popular music has been
able to grow so old so well, and so disgracefully.
