rolling
stones “the world’s greatest rock and roll band” -rock and roll hall of fame Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in Dartford in 1962.The earliest settled l i n e - u p c o n s i s t e d o f B r i a n J o n e s ( g u i t a r, harmonica), Ian Stewart (keyboards, piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith R i c h a r d s ( g u i t a r, v o c a l s ) , B i l l W y m a n ( b a s s ) a n d C h a r l i e W a t t s ( d r u m s ) . S i n c e W y m a n ’s r e t i r e m e n t i n 1 9 9 3 , t h e b a n d ’s f u l l m e m b e r s h a v e b e e n J a g g e r, R i c h a r d s , W a t t s a n d guitarist Ronnie Wood who joined in 1975. Darryl Jones (bassist) and Chuck Leavell (keyboardist) are regular contributors but not full band members. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Rolling Stones in 1989, noting that “critical acclaim and popular consensus has accorded them the title of the “ W o r l d ’s G r e a t e s t R o c k a n d R o l l B a n d . ”
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early
HISTORY In the early 1950s, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were childhood friends and classmates at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford in Kent until their families moved apart. In 1960, when Richards, on his way to c l a s s a t S i d c u p A r t C o l l e g e , a n d J a g g e r, o n h i s w a y t o class at London School of Economics, met at Dartford railway station, the Chuck Berr y and Muddy Waters records Jagger carried revealed a mutual interest, leading to the re-establishment of their friendship a n d t h e f o r m a t i o n o f a b a n d w i t h D i c k Ta y l o r. R i c h a r d s , Ta y l o r, a n d J a g g e r f o u n d B r i a n J o n e s a s h e s a t i n p l a y i n g s l i d e g u i t a r w i t h A l e x i s K o r n e r ’s seminal London R&B band, Blues Incorporated, at the Ealing Jazz Club. Blues Incorporated contained two other future members of the Rolling Stones: Ian Stewart and Charlie Watts. Stewart found a practice space and joined with Jones to start an R&B band playing Chicago blues. Besides Stewart, Jones, and J a g g e r, t h e f i r s t r e h e a r s a l o f t h e a s - y e t - u n n a m e d b a n d a l s o i n c l u d e d R i c h a r d s a t t e n d i n g a t J a g g e r ’s behest. At the first rehearsal were guitarist Geoff Bradford and vocalist Brian Knight, both of whom refused to join the band citing objections to playing the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs that Jagger and Richards p r e f e r r e d . I n J u n e 1 9 6 2 t h e l i n e - u p w a s : J a g g e r, J o n e s , R i c h a r d s , S t e w a r t , Ta y l o r, a n d d r u m m e r To n y Chapman. Jones christened the band during a phone call to Jazz News. When asked for a band name Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor of which one of the tracks was “Rollin’ Stone”.
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THE 1960’s
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we were the first pop group to break away from the whole Cliff Richard thing where the bands did little dance steps, wore identical uniforms and had snappy patter -Bill Wyman
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J a g g e r, R i c h a r d s a n d J o n e s w i t h S t e w a r t a n d Ta y l o r o n bass billed as “the Rollin’ Stones” played their first gig in July 1962 at the Marquee Club. Their material included the Chicago blues as well Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs. Bassist Bill Wyman joined in December 1962 and drummer Charlie Watts the following Januar y 1 9 6 3 t o f o r m t h e b a n d ’s l o n g - s t a n d i n g r h y t h m s e c t i o n . The Rolling Stones’ then acting manager Giorgio Gomelsky secured a Sunday afternoon residency at the Crawdaddy Club, which, Gomelsky said, triggered an “international renaissance for the blues” and was a s e m i n a l f a c e t o f “ S w i n g i n g L o n d o n ’s ” a d v e n t . A n d r e w L o o g O l d h a m b e c a m e t h e b a n d ’s m a n a g e r. B e c a u s e h e w a s t o o y o u n g t o h o l d a n a g e n t ’s l i c e n s e - he was nineteen and younger than any of the band - he partnered with booking agent Eric Easton as his m o t h e r s i g n e d f o r h e r y o u n g s o n . G o m e l s k y. O l d h a m changed the spelling of the band name from “the Rollin’ Stones” to “the Rolling Stones” and changed the spelling of Richards last name to Richard because i t “ l o o k e d m o r e p o p ” . S t e w a r t d i d n o t f i t O l d h a m ’s m o u l d , s a i d W y m a n , o f “ p r e t t y, t h i n , l o n g - h a i r e d boys,” and was removed from the line-up in May 1963 to become road manager and occasional pianist for the band until his death in 1985.
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Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman
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musical DEVELOPMENT Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards’ songwriting partnership later contributed to their taking the leadership role in the group. The Rolling Stones are notable in modern popular music for assimilating various musical genres into their own collective sound. Throughout the band’s career, their musical contributions have been marked by a continual reference and reliance on musical styles including blues, rhythm and blues, country, folk, reggae, dance, and world music, exemplified by Jones’ collaboration with the Master Musicians of Jajouka, as well as traditional English styles that use stringed instrumentation like harps. Brian Jones experimented with the use of nontraditional instruments such as the sitar and slide guitar in their early days. The group started out covering early rock ‘n’ roll and blues songs, and have never stopped playing live or recording cover songs. Jagger and Richards shared an admiration of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter, and their interest influenced Brian Jones, of whom Richards says, “He was more into T-Bone Walker and jazz blues stuff. We’d turn him onto Chuck Berry and say, ‘Look, it’s all the same shit, man, and you can do it.’’Charlie Watts, a traditional jazz drummer, was also introduced to the blues through his association with the pair. “Keith and Brian turned me on to Jimmy Reed and people like that. I learned that Earl Phillips was playing on those records like a jazz drummer, playing swing, with a straight four...”
Jagger, recalling when he first heard the likes of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, and other major American R&B artists, said it “seemed the most real thing”he had heard up to that point. Similarly, Keith Richards, describing the first time he listened to Muddy Waters, said it was the “most powerful music [he had] ever heard...the most expressive.” He also stated, “when you think of some dopey, spotty seventeen year old from Dartford, who wants to be Muddy Waters-- and there were a lot of us-- in a way, very pathetic, but in another way, very... heartwarming”.
Keith Richards
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Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
THE STONES Number 1
SINGLES Their first international number 1 hit was recorded in May 1965 during the band’s third North American tour. In recording the guitar riff with the fuzzbox that drives the song. Issued in the US in June 1965, it spent four weeks at the top of the charts there, establishing the Rolling Stones as a worldwide premier act. The US version of the LP Out of Our Heads (released in July 1965) also went to number 1; it included seven original songs. Their second international number-1 single, “Get Off of My Cloud” was released in the autumn of 1965, followed by another US-only LP: December’s Children. Aftermath (UK number 1; US 2), released in the late spring of 1966, was the first Rolling Stones album to be composed entirely of Jagger/Richards songs. On this album Jones’ contributions expanded beyond guitar and harmonica. To the Middle Eastern-influenced “Paint It, Black” he added sitar, to the ballad “Lady Jane” he added dulcimer, and to “Under My Thumb” he added marimbas. Aftermath was also notable for the almost 12-minute long “Goin’ Home”, the first extended jam on a top-selling rock & roll album.
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