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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.
Let It Bleed
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Mainstreet
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.
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Paint It Black
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 Rolling Stones 1969
Prior to firing Jones, Jagger and Richards decided to bring in Mick Taylor, formerly with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Revived, The Stones delivered “Sympathy For The Devil” (with a minimal contribution from Jones) “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Brown Sugar” and “Gimmie Shelter” (all three with Taylor).
Sympathy For The Devil
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Brown Sugar
Gimmie Shelter
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
The ’69 U.S. tour was a critical moment in The Stones career. After a three-year absence and a new guitarist (Taylor) were they still a viable live act?
The answer was definitely ‘yes’ as the concert album “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!” so amply demonstrated.
The Maysles Brothers (Albert and David) were along to film the tour. Yet, because it was The Stones there had to be controversy and trouble.
Called “Woodstock West,” the Altamont concert, held at the Altamont Seedway outside of San Francisco, was marred by violence, perpetrated by the Hell’s Angels, who were wrong-mindedly hired as security. During an early set by Jefferson Airplane, the band’s singer Marty Balin was knocked out by an Angel.
But things went from bad to worse when The Stones took the stage that night. The violence continued unabetted, with Jagger alternating between pleas for everyone to stop fighting to threating to stop the show if the mayhem continued, His comments fell on deaf ears. In the end, an Angel stabbed a member of the audience, Meredith Hunter, to death. The free concert tragedy haunted the band for years.
The Maysles Brothers put the tour footage, including Altamont, into the documentary “Gimme Shelter.”
Altamont Poster
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.”
Miss You
Ron Wood, formerly of the Jeff Beck Group and The Faces (with Rod Stewart), was enlisted. Wood had contributed to The Stones previous two albums, so his being added wasn’t exactly out of the blue.
With disco the predominate style The Stones responded the “Some Girls” and “Emotional Rescue” albums. The only real standout was the track “Miss You.”
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.”
Start Me Up
“(‘Start Me Up’) was one of those things we cut a lot of times; one of those cuts that you can play forever and ever in the studio,” said Richards.
Mixed 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.
“Hackney Diamonds,” broke the pattern. The Stones first album of original material since ‘05 (“A Bigger Bang”) dropped in ’23.
It was also the first album since Watt’s death in ’21.
Jagger explained the title was London slang for the shards of glass left on the street from broken car windshields.
Led by the single “Angry,” the album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200.
Hackney Diamonds
Angry
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